My image in semi-final three

[ballaratdragons]

WOO-HOO, my Orion Neb image is in the semi-finals vote for the 'May Imaging Contest' in Cloudy Nights!!! :)

Wish me luck!

http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=0&Board=low&Number=1638515&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=all&vc=1&fpart=1

[matt]

Onya Ken:thumbsup:

Truly, a very good effort with the modded marvel;)

[ballaratdragons]

Thanks Matt.

I don't think they have any prizes, and I usually don't like the idea of competitions, but I stuck it in to see how it went anyway and ended up in the semi-finals :lol:

[dugnsuz]

Nice one ken,
Voted for you - hope you get through.
Cheers
Doug:thumbsup:

[ballaratdragons]

Thanks Doug :)

[Kal]

Go Kenny Go! Go Kenny Go! Gooooooooo Kenny!

Good luck mate!

[ballaratdragons]

Thanks Andrew.

I hope you guys don't vote for me just coz it's my pic. If you do vote, vote for the one you think should get the vote. It's only fair. :thumbsup:

[RB]

Sorry Ken, as much as I wanted to vote for the ol' BallartDragons, I honestly thought that this other guy, Dragon Man's image, was the best, especially considering the equipment his was up against !

Too bad :P

[h0ughy]

LOL I agree and is the cheque in the mail Ken?;)

[ballaratdragons]

:(
:lol:



:P

[[1ponders]]

You got my vote Ken, 'cos I honestly think it is the best shot there. I don't know if it was how the others were compressed to upload them, but they look very rough considering the equipment and processing programs used.

[Astroman]

I thought the same as Paul, the others do look rough for the equipment they are using. Yours on the other hand is awesome for the equipment you are using. It's not the price of the equipment, its how you use it :)

[ballaratdragons]

Thanks Guys. Makes all the effort in imaging worth it when I read stuff like that :)

I don't have to win anything now, you've made me feel like a winner already

[gbeal]

I always root for the little guy (you are only a dwarf right Ken), good to see such a great image taken with what could be considered less than great equipment. I mean the other two are with top notch CCD gear. No offense mate.
Here's hoping.

[glasseyes]

Hi Ken,
Top effort on making the finals Ken. I voted for you too !
LX200, SBIG, Takahashi, naah, I know how much work you put into those diffraction spikes.
:thumbsup:

[jjjnettie]

Good luck Ken.

[Ric]

Good one Ken, hope you do well.

Cheers

[ballaratdragons]

None taken Gary.

I know the Toucam is scraping the bottom of the barrel compared to the others :lol:

But hey, if ya got a barrel, roll with it :rofl:

[WadeH]

Very nice image Ken. Good luck in the voting!

[h0ughy]

This post would like to apologise for the previous Joke, even though it is a well worn yarn with many uses, I am afraid that Ken has stepped beyond the bounds with that joke. to all the offended barrels out there, we are sorry.:P

Ken could have said "tubular wooded storage devices" or "a container" for the storage of bulk material. But lets face it, his light bucket and photon capturing device certainly did the job. And if you keep a toucan chained up for too long in one spot your eventually going to be wading in the deposits:D :P .

Methinks time for ken to move to next level;) :thumbsup: :whistle:

[xelasnave]

Ken I agree with those folk who made the observation that you did so well considering the gear you were up against...

I hope others realise the effort to achieve your result... in any event it is a great image and I voted for you..yes because it was you... and that is fair as I expect the others get a few votes that way as well... but that does not detract from your image... frankly I thought given the gear of the competition they could do better whereas I think you pushed yours as far as it could go..great work there.

You deserve to win on merit and as far as I am concerned you are the winner... I hope they get it right.

Great to see you doing so well and your recent appreciation note to those who helped you... you desreve a prize for that also.
Good luck
alex

[ballaratdragons]

Upgrade Camera Donations happily accepted :lol:

[ballaratdragons]

Alex,

you certainly know how to embarrass a guy!

But thanks.

[h0ughy]

but they dont make a threecam:shrug: :help: :D

[ballaratdragons]

:lol: Boom Boom!

[Doug]

Good one Ken. Yours is the only one in focus so that should count for a lot.

Doug

[Tamtarn]

Great news Ken ............. Down to the final three WOW !!! :eyepop:

Good Luck :)

As others have already said .... You're already the winner in our eyes :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[netwolf]

Ken I had to vote for you mate, as you produced the best with the least equipment. That means that there is more of your effort in that image, at least that's my 2cents. Hope you win. Simply add up the cost of the equipment for the other two users, and you will see what I mean.



Regards

[ballaratdragons]

If I win this semi-final, my image goes up against the finalists from the other sections: DSLR's, and CCD dedicated Astronomy Cameras. There's some fantastic images in those sections :eek:

Oh well, it's all fun :lol:

[Omaroo]

Excellent result Ken :)



What's "Desire" ?

Cheers
Chris

[ballaratdragons]

It is a capture program for long exposure webcam imaging :thumbsup:

http://www.pmdo.com/wdesire.htm

[Omaroo]

Excellent Ken... Thanks!

I'll be modifying my ToUcam soon, and was actually wondering what s/w to try. It'll be great being able to use the ToUcam along with the other camera - hopefully & finally for deep-space stuff :)

[astronut]

Excellent image Ken, you're the winner!!:thumbsup:
So far as you Chris, it's about time!!!:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

[Omaroo]

:thumbsup:

:whistle:

:doh:

:sadeyes:










:D

[ballaratdragons]

Chris, I hear of so many people getting Toucams Modified for long exposure, but where are they???

Where are the images from all these modified Toucams? :shrug:

[Omaroo]

Hey there Ken :)

I've just been taking mine apart. Tell you what - the pins that you have to work with on one of the chips are ...err... VERY small. This is going to be interesting, to say the least. I planto go out tomorrow and buy all the bits I need now for cooling as well. I'll mount it all in a new case that'll have a peltier, a large heat-sink as well as a fan. If it all hangs together and I don't go and stuff it up I'll give it a go on the 9th - which is when I'll next be near a scope that is well set up for tracking.

I'll keep you informed if you're interested.

As far as other images.... yeah... where are they folks???? :)

[ballaratdragons]

:thumbsup: Thanks Chris

[xelasnave]

How does a 2ucam go at shorter f/ls:shrug:
I would think 300 would be great for it...to get wider field of view.or mosaics and reduced ...wow given the detail you are getting Ken... give up your day job..go professional mate:thumbsup:
And what about a special section for this aspect of photography...a combination Solar and Deep Sky.
Again good luck ..I cant wait:)
alex:) :) :)

[ballaratdragons]

Dunno Alex, never tried short (300mm) FL. Should work though. When I use the supplied little lens it works OK.




What 'day job'? I haven't worked in months since I wrecked my elbows and Arthritis set into them :sadeyes:

and I don't think there are Professional Toucam picture-taker jobs :lol:




Probably need a lot more Webcam contributors for that to happen.

[cahullian]

Nice one ken I would give you my vote but I'm not a member of cn.

Gazz

[janoskiss]

Impressive Ken if you look at the equipment the others are using. Good luck! And will be keeping an eye out for that cheque in the mail. ;)