Mars again. Taken Monday night (2014-04-01@17:01UT) in average seeing. Meade LX200ACF 10", Powermate 2.5x (new addition and first light), Canon 600d using Liveview 5x in Backyard EOS.
The Powermate makes a dramatic difference but I still have some things to improve in the processing.
I figure I can use more magnification and still get a decent histogram, so I'll pursue that. I wonder, though, rather than spend days/months incrementally improving processing with a DSLR, if it'd be more worthwhile looking at getting a better camera (more sensitive, faster frame rates and lower noise - the chroma noise in the uncooled DSLR is horrendous, now that I have image scale large enough to see it).
Last edited by Astro_Bot; 05-04-2014 at 07:58 PM.
Reason: Typo
I tried imaging this the other night and was rewarded with a bright blob with a white spot on the side your result is impressive!
To get a idea of your image scale, how much have you cropped this image? And how on earth do ya record at 5x liveview? Also, roughly what number of frames do you use?
Jo, Liveview 5x mode is selectable in Backyard EOS in the planetary tab. It's 1024x680 centre-cropped (not quite 1:1 pixel mapped, but extremely close). For display, I scaled up x2 - easier to see in a browser (well, with my older eyes, anyway).
Frame rates are a bit variable in Liveview. In 5x mode, with my laptop, they vary from around 15-25fps. At this image scale, Mars moves clearly in about 10 minutes, so I keep videos to around half that, which means around 6000 frames at a typical frame rate - that's what I set in BYE. (You can see why I want a camera with faster frame rates - and probably a faster laptop - I want to get >20,000 frames within 5 minutes).
Choosing how many frames to stack depends on quality. If there is a hard and fast rule, I don't know it. I've been using <10% for Mars, sometimes as low as 4%. I'm still experimenting.
Yes, buy yourself a DBK21AU618.AS planetary camera to use with your nice 2.5x powermate, there is a VERY nice one going for $400 on IceTrade right now which is an excellent planetary camera.
This IS the camera that you are looking for. You need to buy it right now
Yep, AB, one reason why you need to buy my DBK camera so you can get really serious and stop faffing around with a DSLR, I did it once and got some good results with my powermate and 5 x on BYE, but it is sooo much easier with the DBK, hint hint.....
Seems you need to now move on to a high speed cam - if you want to catch Mars this apparition perhaps time to bite the bullet asap - either colour or go the full hog monochrome and filters!
I'm planning on a monochrome camera and filters - for maximum resolution - but timing is determined by budget and I can't buy anything else right now.
I'm looking at the ASI120MM or QHY-5L-II ... of which I'm leaning toward the latter simply because it's cheaper, and maybe easier to fit into a tight spot as a guide camera - its other purpose.
Chris, thanks for the encouragment. The DBK21AU618.AS may well be an elegant camera for a more civilized age, but it's no substitute for a good blaster .. ahem ... monochrome cam and filters ... at your side.
your result is impressive!
