first light with ToUcam didnt go so well...

[AlexN]

Alright, I received my spc900nc in the mail yesterday, and with the brisbane skies as clear as they were, I got out side at around 1:30am when I got home from work, found Jupiter high in the sky..

After setup, I found it relatively easy to find Joop in the frame, and to keep it there.. I captured a few videos using philips Vlounge software, as I couldnt get k3ccdtools to work (probably less that it wasnt working and more that I didnt know what I was doing.) Anyways, The videos appeared OK at best, although visual through my ep's was as good as i've seen.

Following Mike's guides in the article sections, I processed one of the images using virtual dub, ppm center and registax4...

The first thing that I've realised is that I should have used a barlow, as the joop image is TINY in a 400x400 frame..

Anyway, heres my image.

I want any and all tips, no matter how minor and insignificant as they may be...

Thanks guys..
Alex.

[iceman]

Where's the colour gone? :) Did you remember to untick the black and white checkbox?

A barlow will help with image scale, but as you're using a dob it will also increase the frustration factor by a scale of 2 or more as well :)

For a first attempt, it's good!

[matt]

Like Mike said, get the colour working and work on some image scale, if you fancy the challenge of trying to keep it in the field of view.;)

Get those few things worked out first...and then continue on from there:thumbsup:

[edwardsdj]

Hey Alex,

Thanks heaps for posting this.

As an example of what went wrong on my first attempt: I had the webcam set for 320x200 resolution. Mike quickly pointed out that the native resolution is 640x480 and my image scale would double simply by selecting this. I'm pretty sure you're using the full resolution though.

I cannot emphasise enough how much the assistance of people on this forum helped me rapidly develop my technique. Mike, Matt, David, Jeanette and Bird (among others) all offered invaluable advice to me and I am deeply indebted to them all.

You do really need a barlow. I happened to have a Celestron Ultima 2x Barlow lying around that I'd never really used much. In truth, I wish I had a 3x or 5x Televue Powermate.

I don't own a Powermate, but from the image scale you are experiencing, a 5x might be good.

I'm actually very impressed with the amount of detail you have been able to capture and would be thrilled with that result for first light of the camera. Remeber that my first Jupiter was far from my first image with the SPC900NC.

As originally pointed out to me by Jeanette (jjjnettie), you can increase image scale by resampling in RegiStax. The better the seeing and the more frames you have, the better this works. I pretty much was always resampling 2x on Saturn. If your Jupiter was 2x bigger (4x the area) is would look heaps better.

You can do the resampling without buying any new equipment.

Don't hesitate to ask if you need specific instructions on what I mean.

Excellent result for first light Alex :) I'd be thrilled with that :)

Take care,
Doug

[matt]

Excellent advice, Doug.

Just a small point to consider, however.

While resampling in Registax is a good thing, and I often use it, nothing can replace true image scale at capture.

Try and get your image scale there, rather than resampling. If your original scale is too small to discern any true fine detail, all you'll be mostly doing is creating a large blob.

Of course, much of your image scale at capture will be defined by things like the aperture/focal length of your scope, the seeing conditions and what barlow you are using etc

[AlexN]

thanks everyone for the advice. As soon as i get home from work its time for round 2!

I have a 2x barlow that i can use, ant to be honest i had no issues keeping jupiter in the frame at prime focus.
I'll have a look at it, but if i recall correctly, i de-selected color in registax.

I am thrilled with the result, its leaps and bounds on what i managed with my digital slr with the afocal method. Thanks again for the positive feedback. Hopefully there'll be a better image tomorrow.

Cheers. Alex

[AlexN]

Round 2 of imaging complete.... captured 7x 10~13sec recordings with the barlow in, and even while it was recording the GRS was visible!

Fingers crossed for a better result! well... onto round 2 of processing....

I'll be back here in an hour or so!

Alex.

[AlexN]

heres round 2... I found using the 2x barlow made a big difference, I was able to see my focus a lot better in the preview screen which helped...

I've got a few more clips to process so i wont waste time.. Heres the pic.. Let me know what you think.

Cheers.
Alex.

[AlexN]

and heres a 3rd go.... and I think this one is a bit better...

I've posted 2 images, the first is just using registax/photoshop the 2nd has the astral imaging deconvolution filter applied (through photoshop cs2)

im very happy with these results for day 2 of my astro-imaging... :D


Cheers for the tips guys... give me a few weeks to figure this out (and buy a HEQ5) and I think I'll have something a bit more interesting for everyone to look at...

[skwinty]

Fantastic improvement Alex, I am sure your pix will improve in leaps and bounds now.:thumbsup:

[AlexN]

thanks mate. I'm much happier with my later images, and am quite keen to hone the skills alot more..

[iceman]

Excellent improvements, Alex.

The last lot need RGB channel aligning. At the end of registax, go to the "Estimate RGB" tab and let it do its thing. It will improve it even more.

Or, you can use photoshop or astraimage to realign the channels.

[edwardsdj]

Hey Alex,

Awesome results Alex. You are capturing some great detail now.

Great you had that 2x Barlow lying around. If you can get more distance between the barlow and the webcam, image scale will increase even further. The only thing I had in my accessory box to do this was a star diagonal. Worked well for me :)

Again, great results. I'd be thrilled with these.

Have fun,
Doug

[Robert_T]

Hi Alex, now you're cooking! Mike's beaten me to the tip that an extension tube between your barlow and the camera (even pulling the camera out as far as it will go will increase your image size)...

Best of luck with the Jupiert season, the best is still to come:)