Ngc 6188

[xelasnave]

The harder I try the worse it gets.

The ethernet cable was dragging the stars around so oval stars that ruined my day..er night,

I have been suspicious about my focus but happily I finally got the focus better thanks to John (Oskar) a leader in the field of Astrophotography who helped me out with some excellent advice..thanks John :thumbsup:

However this is the first image obtained while the rig was controlled via Asiar plus and my tablet while laying in bed giving me a return on my investment of time and money in the ethernet connection to the observatory....the meridian flip got fouled by the new ethernet cable but as I was watching via my two security cameras, I was able to call a halt and drive down to sort it all out...

Gear.. Askar 130, ZWO mount, OAG, 2600 mono...this was a RBG and I tried my new learning to control the colour but as I learnt that last week most of it I had forgotten.... four hours at 120 seconds after culling 5 hours:D

But nevertheless, I am very .happy with this image compared to what I have been getting lately ..the oval stars had me very worried thinking tilt at first...anyways..the stars here are not bad and I will hold onto that aspect of the journey...guiding was under .40


alex

[glend]

Alex, me thinks thou does protest to much. I think your image is very nice. Just one comment on imaging through a flip, back when I was imaging with my Celestron Edge HD8, the flip always drove me crazy, so much so I simply abandoned the effort. Ever since, even with the Edge long gone, I satisfied myself with imaging in the east to the Meridian, then going to bed. There is always another night to catch more subs, and you never need to worry again about balance, cable problems, misalignment on the other side, mirror shift if it is that kind of scope, etc. The KISS principle never frustrates.:thumbsup:

[oska]

Awesome Alex, really well done. Whatever you did/changed, it worked. I love the mega starfield.

You're welcome mate, always happy to help if I can.

[xelasnave]

Thanks very much Glen I have been trying so hard on the Dragons and for what ever reason just was not happy with my result...looking at it I think there are too many stars which probably just means I would like them smaller and less busy...

Once I was of the same attitude as you with the flip and really never bothered with it and had the same approach of firing only to the East but since I have been using the Asiair plus a flip is just taken care of as the Asiar plate solves and repossitions and refocused and recallibrates guiding so it has been a game changer for me....I have spent so much imaging time on the Dragons it has left me time poor ...I tried with the 80 mm and failure, and the 115 mm and failure and there was a whole lot with the Askar that were useless...so Dragons has been where I have had my bitter experiences..due to gear problems to be fair and I can see that now....
Anyways thanks again for your encouragement.
Alex

[xelasnave]

Thank you John I appreciate your encouragement as I was far from happy with this image too the point that I was not going to post it...I feel it is somehow wrong ...cartoon like..stars too busy ..but as I said its probably because of all my failures I see it badly.
Thanks for your kindness ...both of you have cheered me up I must say.
Alex

[AstroViking]

Looks good to me, Alex. It's a very "busy" region, star-wise, so having plenty of stars is not a bad thing. (Although they do make the processing more difficult.)

Cheers,
V

[xelasnave]

Thank you Steve.

I think it would look better if I could tame the stars.

I like stars in an image as opposed to a strarless image but heck it would be nice if they were only pin point...maybe that's why folks pay big bucks for a top shelf refractor...but not me I still feel sick from my Askar purchase...what was I thinking?

alex

[xelasnave]

John (Oska) helped out and worked on the stars for me. Thanks John ...great improvement in my view.
Alex

[RugbyRene]

I'm considering doing exactly the same thing. Flips work 2 maybe 3 times out of ten.

[xelasnave]

I think I don't have problems with the Askar set up because it is on a ZWO harmonic drive mount..you can't balance that mount and apparently there is little need to...I added a counter weight bar and weight but heard recently the reason for a counter weight is only because the zwo tripod could over tip..mine is on a pier so apparently I don't need the counter weight..I don't know really and mention it in passing.

I think with my other mounts problems are avoided because I use Asiair plus units.

My guess is any balancing issues may be overcome because Asiar re calibrated guiding after a flip which I suspect helps sort out balance issues simply because guiding is calibrated which would adjust for difference in balance....I don't know really and until I have sorted other stuff on my non ZWO mounted rigs (3 of) I think it is too early to comment further...however they do flip every time... it's the star shapes after I will look at when those rigs are in order.

But certainly prior to Asiar I never did a flip..ever..but now is is so routine I dont think about it...although I do like to be there or watch on the security cameras in case of something like the other nights eternet cable foul up...first time foul up.

The beauty of Asiar is it makes everything simple and I think it is the best thing I have ever purchased..polar align, plate solving, goto, framing, focus, imaging schedule etc...and cheap compared to a lap top.

Alex

[ronson]

Well done Alex, good to see things are lining up after the tech improvements.

For the stars challenge - many people go the star removal path (StarNet++ or StarXterminator), do the stellar and non-stellar processing separately and when recombining control how many stars they want. It's controversial as you have read here and in other forums, but everyone is to their own :)

[xelasnave]

Thanks for everything.

I only found out minutes ago that Astropixelprocessor ( known for stacking) has a star reduction feature....I have APP but don't use it yet as I am still learning how to use it but this may be a big help...

Alex

[alan meehan]

Alex lovely shot very 3d like ,like Glen said i too dont bother with a flip but asiair seems its working for you Well done

[xelasnave]

Thanks Alan, I hope you are doing well.

alex