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davidpretorius
28-11-2005, 10:11 AM
Hi,

Seeing: 7 to 8/10 up high (i have seen 6 stars in the trap for the 1st time in my scope with my eps at my house - yay)
Trans: 10/10
Ambient temp: 9.1
Mirror temp: 9.3
Time: 3.30 am
Altitude: 22 degrees
2.4x barlow = aprox 480x
electric focusser = broken
5fps

Still way too low, but wanted to try the colour i would get if i took out the raw mode.

Managed 280 frames, 50 of which made the cut. ME deconvolution seems to be a better option. There are 1500 images taken at 15fps to play with at a later date as well. Tries Qfocus as the capture software and whilst a little unfinished, it is very good!

Electric focusser needs to be fixed and altitude needs to be higher.

I also don't like the position of my secondary. Used my cheshire with red light torch to check centre spot and the whole view was not centred. I will now invest in a good sight tube as the cheshire is not accurate enough.

Very close to buying a motorized dob solution in next few days. Time & money will tell. It has been fun while it lasted, but the 7 seconds of imaging and then re align, 7 secs of imaging, realign - it is starting to give me the you know whats!!!

Had a loveley morning though. Got to quickly see sombrero galaxy for the first time, the acamar double, rigel double, 6 stars in the trap, all the usual suspects eta, tuc, orion (no pink for me) and a big one that i have been chasing - ngc 4945. I have tried a few times months ago when this one was on the challenges, but only a small amount of detail. Last night was great, easily seen in the 30mm ultra wide and others. I will be coming back to this one and a hunt for the southern pinwheel over the next few weeks to do some drawings.

iceman
28-11-2005, 10:16 AM
Great effort Dave!

I know exactly how you feel about dob-based non-tracking imaging.. I have an EQ platform to show for it :)

bird
28-11-2005, 11:53 AM
Hmm, let's look at your stars... I see a tracking platform in your near future...

davidpretorius
28-11-2005, 12:03 PM
you are so right mr bird!!!



ok, have processed the 15fps and updated my best of 2005 composite with saturn and mars

bird
28-11-2005, 01:11 PM
With that saturn image DP - do you bother to align the colours when you recombine in Astra Image? It looks like the green and blue need a bit of shifting, dont you think?

Bird

davidpretorius
28-11-2005, 02:32 PM
yes, i have aligned down and to the right with both, but will have another go

asimov
28-11-2005, 04:47 PM
Hey nice job sir!!

Nice mini observing report too!! More elevation, correct.

davidpretorius
28-11-2005, 04:49 PM
thanks

atalas
28-11-2005, 05:36 PM
All work and no play make Davo an Astro imager ! :camera:

davidpretorius
28-11-2005, 10:56 PM
third time lucky with colour alignment (thanks bird). i feel like i am getting somewhere.

gee the blue channel is messy!!!!

i will try again tonight but with raw mode

I have given gary beal the go ahead on buying his motorized dob setup. So sorry guys, the bad weather has already struck striker in qld.

Ken has gone to eq, i am going to motorized dob. sorry for defecting fellow pure dob users!!!! i don't think i have the right to call myself a "dave" anymore!!!

ballaratdragons
28-11-2005, 11:16 PM
Haha! I can see it now. We started advising newbies to get an 8" dob and that has gradually (over many months) migrated to advising newbies about the 12" dob and even starting to inform about the 16".

Now we will be advising newbies to buy a 12" or 16" dob "but make sure you either motorise the dob base and wack it on a Mick Pinner wedge trolley or get an EQ with tracking". :lol:

"Oh, and don't forget to start out with a TouCam or Meade imager. The $2000 camera can wait till later" :lol: :lol:

Aaah! How times change. ;)

davidpretorius
28-11-2005, 11:20 PM
yes, ken back in those good old days....................

Jonathan
29-11-2005, 01:49 AM
Nice work Dave. I like your "best of 2005" collection.

asimov
29-11-2005, 06:59 AM
The $2000 camera can wait........but not TOOO long...

bird
29-11-2005, 08:53 AM
That saturn looks a lot better now DP, you can really see the difference when you split the colours and look at them seperately. We've had solid cloud+rain here for the last 2 weeks, and from the sound of purchases happening on IIS that's not going to change anytime soon...

Bird

TidaLpHasE
30-11-2005, 01:19 AM
;)Great stuff Dave, your dedication to learning the processing techniques will pave the way for you to produce stunning images in the future.

I admire your patience and experiments with different softwre, i give up on processing and put it in the too hard basket, i think i will wait for your indepth tutorials to hit the forums and the covers of astro mags;)


Keep these awsome pics coming, and keep at the learning, you will be soon helping out all us newbies like a pro:prey2:

davidpretorius
30-11-2005, 05:20 AM
thanks for kind comments trevor.

It is a team effort. I was looking thru old emails the other day and the help asimov gave me when choosing a scope was awesome. I had 5 or 6 emails outside the forum from him and he did n't know me from a bar of soap!

Until i take the plunge and go the 350d, then i learn from you and westsky.

great community, great forum: mainly because of this sharing of ideas and learning as group!

matt
30-11-2005, 05:38 AM
Onya DP

I agree. You're moving along at a fair clip. You've really immersed yourself in the whole caper, and it shows in how quickly you're advancing.;)