hello There I shot these images with the GSTAR CCD Camera I bought off Steve.Massey.The image software I tried was VirtualDub-then tried PC CAM software they seemed to work O.K.The I used windows movie Maker You can view live with it like the others.After I captured a couple of Megs Of video .I grabbed some still images form the Video file these are the results .I used Neat image on some to get a Cloudy effect I stacked some in CS3 and diid curves- contrast -masking etc;.Movie maker ghanges the AVI file toRWV which wont work in Registax.The other software Virtual and PC cam Keep it as Avi so you can stack in Registax.You can see by the pics of my gear I used the ED80 skywatcher on Konus Eq4 mount.My field of view using the GSTAR on the ED80mm x600mm f/lenght according to Steve Massey was 38 arc minutes across and 27 arc minutes vertical.I still can't use registax properly to stack deepsky video files yet I have to learn that process. reguard's tony
Hi Tony,
Great shots.
Did you use a focal reducer to fit the whole of M42 into the FOV?
You need to download a copy of DeepSkyStacker to stack your images. It's free. When you run your video capture through Virtual Dub and sort out your individual images, you click on "save image sequence" , then this collection of .bmp's can then be imported for stacking in DeepSkyStacker.
Heaps easier than hand stacking in Photoshop.
Good luck with the learning curve and keep on posting your images.
They were taken without a focal reducer.I own one that is the next step take some video's with it it is 0.6 focal reducer.I have a Nebula filter which I want to try .I still have to learn how to save stuff from virtualdub too.Thanks Tony
Hi Tony ,
Your field of view looks really good.I use an lx90 with a focal reducer to give me between F5-F6 and all i can get of M42 with my g star is shown in the pic below. I too have been having problems with registax . when trying to stack more than 300 pics it just sits there. Deepsky stacker has no problems handling a 1000 or more pics, though i suspect registax is better at stacking.
regards philip
Hi Tony ,
Your field of view looks really good.I use an lx90 with a focal reducer to give me between F5-F6 and all i can get of M42 with my g star is shown in the pic below. I too have been having problems with registax . when trying to stack more than 300 pics it just sits there. Deepsky stacker has no problems handling a 1000 or more pics, though i suspect registax is better at stacking.
regards philip
Can you image the horse head nebula with your Gstar.Yes I have a 0.6 focal reducer I'm going to try it next time .How much experience do you have with your Gstar. Tony
Go to Steve Quirks Frog rock. Page on the Web he has set up a registax Tutorial.In step by step proceedures.The trouble with registax when you do deepsky stuff Registax demands a lot of memory.If you put in a lot of frames E.G.300 to 600 etc the poor old computer locks up.If you are running only 512 of memory you will have trouble . Do your processing in batches of 150 frames at a time .Steve explains this on his FROG ROCK WeBSITE.Remember When you process a planetary image in Registax It is a small area and easy to align. when doing Deep Sky It has to align -stack and optimise a very large area tis is where you can get into trouble by inputing too many frames. tony
I captured this on the 17th using the Gstar with a 16-100mm lens mounted on front. I don't have tracking, so my images aren't too good.
Good one I want to see if I can image it .If you like GSTAR images Steve Massey ans STEVE quirk book Atlas of the Southern Night Sky.Is a good book full of Gstar Images. For $45.00 it is a good buy. Tony
I had a look at that book today, but didn't buy it. Steve Massey is coming up my way in the new year, doing a Gstar workshop. Thought I'd buy it then and get him to sign it.
Hi Tony,
Great shots.
Did you use a focal reducer to fit the whole of M42 into the FOV?
You need to download a copy of DeepSkyStacker to stack your images. It's free. When you run your video capture through Virtual Dub and sort out your individual images, you click on "save image sequence" , then this collection of .bmp's can then be imported for stacking in DeepSkyStacker.
Heaps easier than hand stacking in Photoshop.
Good luck with the learning curve and keep on posting your images.
Can you explain more about saving bmp's i CAN'T FIND THE SAVE image sequence in the file menu. reguard's Tony
In Virtual Dub to Save Image Sequence.
Go to "File"
and it's the 16th item down the list
In Virtual Dub Mod
Go to "file"
and it's the 12th item down the list
Thanks you for your help I saved some images in Bitmap and loaded 40 of them in Deepsky stacker.It processed them ok. the only thing is when I save them in a folder out of Deep sky stacker I can't open them. I'll have to work that out . reguard's Tony
Nice ones Tony!!
I don`t know how I missed your post but have just realized that wasn`t in deep space section! Looks like you are having fun with your new toy!
Keep at the processing there as you will always be improving and you shall discover ways to improve.
cheers Gary
Try opening the image in Zoombrowser Ex and then save it as a jpeg or a bmp.
Hello there I'm finding my saved images from Deep sky stacker now and there going to the folder I selected I don't know what I did before But every thing is working OK know.. thanks very much for your help .Tony
