After smoke, extended cloud cover, and wind.... I have finally had a chance to setup the new Planewave CDK 12.5 and get some test data.
Bit of a difference to the FSQ....
For one, I can't really get away with no flats and I can't be as lazy with the alignments on the portable setup.
Anyway, collimation is stock as is from the factory (USA) to Australia. Brief checks with a holographic laser and later on a bright star showed it to be pretty tight. I may refine it once I get a bit more confident in knowing that any fiddling I do will be an improvement..... not the opposite.
Took my first flats ever, even though I now have a flatman it was a bit hard to get it setup where I located the rig for testing, so I had a go at skyflats just on sunset. Definitely made a difference! Not perfect I am sure, but wow! flats are cool!
Anyway,
Here is the test image details:
STT-8300M @-20C (0.44" sampling for 1x1, 0.88 2x2)
AO-8T operating @ 4Hz
5x 600 seconds for Luminance (bin 1x1)
1x 300 seconds for each R:G:B (bin 2x2)
Portable setup in my backyard, only 50 point T-Point, usually I operate at 200 but time was very limited, Pro-Track and PEC on.
Target off-set so I could use a guide star for the AO, avoided the rotator so I could utilise the sky flats I captured.
I'm pretty happy with the results, considering its only 65 minutes. Longer subs would be better, but this will be something to tune over time, depending how the small wells go.
Thanks Dave, it is nice gear but needs a home so I can collect data more efficiently. Thats the next priority.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tilbrook@rbe.ne
Great start Chris!
Looks like your going to get some superb images from your setup.
Look forward to the results.
Cheers,
Justin.
Thanks Justin, I hope so! Will take a bit of tuning to find optimal sub length to get the most out of the 8300 sensor with these optics.
Quote:
Originally Posted by strongmanmike
Ah I can hear the excitement and I agree with Justin, the sky is the limit now (literally ) I would say Chris
Mike
Thanks Mike, indeed it has been very limiting lately. Mostly because of the time it takes to setup and get everything going for an imaging run. Permanent setup you can get an hour here and there and over the course of a week you're up at 10-20hours of solid data.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RickS
A great first light, Chris! Looking forward to more...
Thanks Rick, me too! I was amazed at how deep this thing can go when the subs were downloading and appearing on screen.
Lots of nice detail but maybe some alignment problem with the stars?
Yes, 1x sub for RGB doesn't help for registration with the clearer (stacked) luminance. RGB was only hit with darks, flats and bias, then combined. FHWM is quite well defined, but the seeing is definitely present. Even still, the luminance only has 5 subs, nowhere near enough at 0.44" sampling. Image is pretty raw, no deconvolution at all in the luminance or RGB, no routines applied for noise reduction which is very much present given the subs are collected from suburbia.
My mount alignment wasn't perfect either, about 160 arc seconds out, pro-track (with minimal points) handled it ok.
Yes, 1x sub for RGB doesn't help for registration with the clearer (stacked) luminance. RGB was only hit with darks, flats and bias, then combined. FHWM is quite well defined, but the seeing is definitely present. Even still, the luminance only has 5 subs, nowhere near enough at 0.44" sampling. Image is pretty raw, no deconvolution at all in the luminance or RGB, no routines applied for noise reduction which is very much present given the subs are collected from suburbia.
My mount alignment wasn't perfect either, about 160 arc seconds out, pro-track (with minimal points) handled it ok.
Yes - you can force alignment in Photoshop using the warp function.
Great field of view for this object. I like the detail too.
Thanks Paul, mega data would be good for this target. Not sure how 30min subs would go with small wells, 15-20mins may be about the limit.... Worth a try though.
For a first light, its a ripper result Chris...more so that its a portable set up at the moment. Some great details starting to come through the barred spiral structure. As others have said, things don't look aligned star wise. Perhaps they are aligned but the stellar profiles are radically different between the different filtered masters. Processing looks relatively clean too. To get rid of the magenta cast you need to add more green to the image. A quick glance at the histogram reveals the red and blue channel black points need to be raised which is the reason for the cast. In any case, minor points. You are well on your way to producing some fantastic work with your set up. Thanks for sharing.
For a first light, its a ripper result Chris...more so that its a portable set up at the moment. Some great details starting to come through the barred spiral structure. As others have said, things don't look aligned star wise. Perhaps they are aligned but the stellar profiles are radically different between the different filtered masters. Processing looks relatively clean too. To get rid of the magenta cast you need to add more green to the image. A quick glance at the histogram reveals the red and blue channel black points need to be raised which is the reason for the cast. In any case, minor points. You are well on your way to producing some fantastic work with your set up. Thanks for sharing.
Cheers for the feedback Jase, this is something I really need to focus on regarding processing. I do very basic histogram stuff, like slide the bar until it looks black, though not clipped. I will read up on using the histogram for individual channels and how to fine tune black points. Probably very basic, but no doubt fundamental to the final image.
So long as I can build a library of good data I will be happy..... then I can spend many hours learning the finer things about processing. No doubt posting silly questions on this forum about how you guys push the most from your data
I'm just happy it all works! Software has been a massive stuff around. Some things work in theskyx, some things don't.... or some things did work, then I load a new build and boom, no longer functions. i.e STT-8300M with AO-8T is not supported. I break into / compromise systems for a profession, usually systems in pre-production or during the initial development cycle.... Even at those lower levels of release, the systems are more refined / polished than this thing. Mount is great but it is sold with beta release software to drive it.... I figure the amount of time I have lost to buggy software I'd have spent more time polishing turds (processing images).
Software has been a massive stuff around. Some things work in theskyx, some things don't.... or some things did work, then I load a new build and boom, no longer functions. i.e STT-8300M with AO-8T is not supported.
Aint that the truth! We've all experienced it. Get the system to a functional and stable state then disable all automatic software updates, especially those from the good people at microsoft. Then meticulously read the release notes of the software to evaluate whether to manually upgrade or not. Bisque are notorious for ballsing up their daily build when it comes to ASCOM compatibility. I'm sure in a parallel universe software works harmoniously. If you've got a working system, make an image of it so that you can easily restore if it all goes kaboom. I have two fitpc systems which are mirrored. Should one die, the other can simply be plugged in. Like most things, its all great when it works. You're on the right path. Try to get the equipment and software issues out the way for more routine data acquisition. This will allow you to focus on the challenging stuff like processing. You want getting the data to be the easy part and with good equipment, it can be.
I agree flats are critical with CDK. You got some great details there from the 65mins.
I know what you mean about Daily Build for the Sky X. It knocked out my ability to connect my camera. I have to revert to an earlier build. Even that seems bugged.
SB software and gear seems to have to be regarded with care. Great when it works but it often doesn't and some debugging is going to be required. Good advice from Jase about a stable version. I don't normally go for the newest and latest software build but got suckered by the advanced slew feature in the latest build.
