NGC 3242 Redone at F6.3

[westsky]

Hi guys
just got in from a good night with the DSI
I redone 3242 @ F6.3
This is the result , the only processing I did was to adjust the colour balance and curves a small amount.
C11 @F6.3 20x 30sec
David.

[astro_south]

Excellent David!!

How would it go at f10?

[westsky]

Good question let you know tomorrow :-))

David.

[[1ponders]]

That's fantastic David. I'm really looking forward to when you think *you* have got the DSI working well. If you keep going this way you may even temp me into getting one. There may be a 300D going up for sale soon if I keep seeing you images improving at this rate.

[westsky]

Paul , nothing wrong with the DSI, the problems start when I start the processing :-))
I have found the DSI responds to green very well, this image is almost as it came from the camera, it took about 2 mins to process.
reds and blues need a bit more work, and once I get my head around using the FITS format I expect to get better images, all I want now is a Halpha filter and a better IR filter but they ain't cheap so it will be a while yet.

David.

[iceman]

Really nice David! One of your best!

[Saturn%5]

Wow that is nice.

[Robby]

Stunning Paul,
You will be an expert by the time you come to NZ... Also perhaps I'll have that Star-Mate cable ready for you by then too... Soryy for the delay, I had forgot...!!
Cheers

[Striker]

Nice work David.......your making the choice of C11 a little easier........

I think Robby has been drinking.....lol....

[atalas]

Yes very nice David!

Louie:)

[rumples riot]

Lovely image David, I got the DSI about 5 months ago and tried it on the planets and found it was really hard to handle. I would be most interested in its application on DSO's. From what you have posted so far, it looks pretty good. Do you have any tips as a starting point with its use? What settings do you use generally and how do you do your darks?

Thanks for any information you can supply.

[ving]

Mmm... prudy! :D
well done :)

[westsky]

Thanks Guys, I must admit this was the easiest image I have ever taken and that includes film, I think at the time the sky was the best it could be, I never dropped a frame in 20 shots, and the quality was over the 100% mark on all frames, nights like this are so rare.

Paul H, Forget the DSI on the Planets it sucks, although I have seen a few good Jupiter shots with the DSI the work involved in getting them is not worth it stick with the LPI or Toucam.
Settings for the DSI.
I guess you already know about focusing and all the minor stuff so I'll skip that part.
I have a 25mm EP that is set using the parfocal ring to the DSI focus this is a big help you can remove the DSI and use the EP to center the object in the EP and then it should be on the DSI chip and be focused.
Gain is set around 85 to 95
offset about 45 to 50
these change depending on the object.But they don't change much.
Center the object in the frame and let the software do the auto contrast stuff,
click Long Exposure button and set your exposure to whatever the mount will take, so start at 30 sec's and if there is any star trails drop the exposure by about 5 secs till you get no star trails.or up the exposure till you get star trails then drop by 5 sec's.
next hit the Preview button, this will take a long exposure and you then make the changes to the image to get the best you can on the screen,To give you an idea I can see the spiral arms of M83 after a 20 sec exposure,
Adjust the bottom slider to the left, this is the white balance, just enough to start seeing the green histogram turn white you will see the object change it's like adjusting the contrast..
Top slider goes to the right this is the black balance it darkens the background.Adjust till the first spike in the green histogram turns black
go to the Colour tab highlight "soft" and then auto it should give you a nice colour image or at least some colour.
draw a square around a star or bright point and hit start, go inside and make a coffee. 20 mins later you should have a good image
see really simple isn't it :-))

Make sure that you have the "subtract Darks " marked.
I do my darks as I need them throughout the night,
I leave the DSI running when I first start for about 10 mins without taking any shots this helps cool the camera , then I will do my darks,
as the camera cools and also the night cools I take another series of darks( make sure you have the delete darks box checked)
If you get a big tempreture drop through the night do the darks again.

Thats about it I think, if theres anything you don't follow ask away
I,m sure I have missed something somewhere :-))
I have been taking all my images in BMP normal operation format this will give a single RGB image
The FITS format is better but there's lots more processing involved it gives you 3 images R,G and B you then process each image and stack them. You will need "Fits Liberator" to use in Photoshop it's a free download.The Meade image processing software is good to use with FITS files but harder with BMP files, it gives less processing choices with BMP.
one day I will understand how to do the Fits image but at the moment I find it tough.

when you do the adjustments to the preview image just go by what your eye tells you is right,

David.

[Comet Hunter]

Great shot David, well done!

[rumples riot]

Thank you very much for a very comprehensive description of how to use this camera that I gave up on. I don't get star trailing for nearly 15 minutes so I should be bale to take some nice long shots.

Thanks once again.

[Mick]

Very nice David, keep up the good work. :)

[westsky]

Thanks Andrew I did enjoy getting this one.

Paul I forgot a couple of things.
When you do the adjusments to the preview image uncheck the "auto Contrast" otherwise the software will keep doing the auto thing.

With Darks the way the DSI use's them is it picks a Dark image that is close to the image length that you are shooting at, so if you plan on taking 1 min exposures which is what I would be aiming for with your mount then set your dark exposures from 20secs to 1.5 mins this will take maybe 15 or 20 mins, plenty of time for coffee :-))
Just leave the cap on the DSI to take your darks.
I have heard that in light polluted sky that you should also use flat frames but as yet I haven't tried this.

I removed the IR filter and all my images have been filter free , I plan on trying the IR filter to see if it makes any difference, will let you know what happens .


Make sure the track and combine box's are checked, this stacks all the images as one.
another thing get the latest autostar suite update from the Meade website it makes a difference and use a USB 2 port, the DSI runs like jelly with USB 1.1
The DSI loves power, so try to get 240v to your comp

have fun and post them images you are going to get
david

[Mick]

David I hope you don't mind I cropped your image and enlarged it, I love the detail you have captured as I said before beautiful image.

[westsky]

don't mind at all Mick, it looks good at this size you still retained the detail
can you give me an idea of how much you enlarged it, i want to get an idea of the image size at F10. and I can't shoot it again tonight the clouds and rain will get in the way :-))

David

[Mick]

I used Nikon view 5, I think it said x2 (200%), good luck David.