1st trial IR/UV in -6.5 degrees

[ballaratdragons]

I finally got to try out my new Astronomiks IR/UV Filter with the Toucam.

It was -6.5 degrees and foggy, but I don't care. Nothing was going to delay me from trying my filter! :P

A clearer night should give better results. :thumbsup:

Amp glow is still the killer!!!!!!!!!
But here are my first foggy frozen IR/UV attempts.

1. Cent A
2. Grus Galaxy Trio
3. NGC 253 in Sculptor
4. 'S' spiral Galaxy
5. Thermometer!!! :eyepop:
6. The Sculptor Galaxy
7. Tarantula
8. Trifid

[Dr Nick]

Very nice! ;)

I think you definetelly need to consider some flats or something to stop that amp glow, but the images are still allright on the bottom-right. ;)

I like NGC 253 a LOT!

Well done! ;)

[ballaratdragons]

Thanks Nick, Yep, NGC 253 is the Southern Hemispheres answer to Andromeda. :thumbsup:

I'm suprised it not imaged more :shrug:

and for the umpteenth time, Flats, darks, Bias, etc don't get rid of Amp Glow :rolleyes:
It has to be taken out in processing, or turned off in the camera with an 'Amp Off' mod.

Pity, coz I would love to image these objects at longer exposures. :)

[Rob_K]

Good going Ken, you're always moving forward! :thumbsup: :thumbsup: Like 253, Cent A, Tarantula - great detail! But little distant galaxies hanging in space always do it for me! :whistle:

Cheers -

[Ric]

Great images Ken, the Sculptor galaxy is a favourite as well.

I reckon that amp glow must be sending you around the bend though. Just out of interest have you considered moving onto something like a DSI or their equivalents.

Still you are doing some great work with the Toucam.

Cheers

[ballaratdragons]

Thanks Ric.

Yep, I am going ga-ga from Amp Glow. I have just spent hours trying to get rid of it in the images but it sucks the data out with it.

Yep, most certainly wanting to upgrade to something like a DSLR or whatever doesn't give blobby stars like the webcams, etc give.

But it's always down to the old Dollar. Which I don't have. That's why I keep persisting and pulling my hair out :lol:

[Ric]

Yep I know exactly what you mean Ken, and just when your are getting somewhere some beggar lobs another bill at you and wrecks everything:doh:

It's soooooo annoying

Cheers

[monoxide]

nice shots, i see what you mean about the amp glow though, nice work
since im trying to work out processing ive been butchering lots of pics lately and couldnt resist having a go at the amp glow, i see what you mean about losing some of the detail though.

[ballaratdragons]

:lol: Yep, I'm sure Amp Glow was invented to frustrate us :P

or designed for the bigger plan of making us buy more expensive gear off them :lol:

[Tamtarn]

Ken even with the amp glow they are still super shots.

When you are able to upgrade to another camera you will already have the expertise to get the most out of your images.

Well done :thumbsup:

Minus 6.5 deg shows a lot of dedication :cold: or your just crazy :screwy:

[ballaratdragons]

Thank you.

I wasn't out in the -6.5, I was in the control room which was a lovely -5.9 :lol:

[mill]

Very nice images Ken.
It is just weird that the amglow is only in the upper left hand side of the image.
What would happen if you put the cam in upside down?
If the ampglow would still be in the upper left hand side it might be an reflection.
If the ampglow comes in the right bottom of the picture it would mean that maybe the ccd chip is more sensitive on that side.
Just an suggestion but it might work , unless you have already tried that.

[ballaratdragons]

It's in the upper left coz that's where the Amp is. Yep, tried all sorts of angles just in case there was stray light. Made no difference.

[tornado33]

Nice pucs, gee its odd that darks cant remove it as by rights the same amount of glow should be in the dark, thus subtracting it should in theory remove it. What software to you use to remove darks, flats etc? I note that the pro version of K3 ccd tools 3.0 allows one to get raw images off the toucam, similar to how I use Iris to convert RAW DSLR images to the bayer filter array monochrome images, which gives near perfect results when subtracting darks.
Scott

[ballaratdragons]

Scott,

I just use Registax 3. When I do try, I only use Darks, not Flats or Bias or any other flavour.

There is a downloadable free program that converts the Toucams EEPROM to raw, giving fantastic detail, but it comes with a very strict warning that it could possibly destroy the memory in your Toucam. So I am reluctant to try it.

http://www.astrosurf.com/astrobond/ebrawe.htm

[Ric]

Hi Ken, I'm just wondering there is a lot of discussion regarding the amp glow but what is your first impressions of the IR/UV filter you were trialling.

I've been using an Astronomiks IR/UV for a few months now and I am very happy with it performance over the standard Meade IR filter.

Cheers