Attempt at Prime Focus

[Outcast (Carlton)]

Viewing conditions here in FNQ a little hazy with the temperature up a little & the humidity starting to rise.

Finally discovered how to use the focusing zoom aid in EOS utility live view but, still not happy with the focus & sharpness of my images.

Visual views are much sharper so, clearly my focusing efforts need some work. Perhaps a Batinov Mask is in the near future.

Images taken with Canon EOS 1100d (unmodded) & 2.5x Powermate.

Jupiter is a stack of 16 x 1/80 sec images at ISO 1600. Images stacked in Affinity Photo.

Saturn is a single shot at 1/20 sec, ISO 1600. Tried to stack multiple images but, it just turned out a mess.

I have a video capture of Saturn that I might try & process tomorrow; need to download some software to separate the video images prior to attempting a stack.

[Lee]

Hey, they aren't bad - you know where you've gone astray it seems - you could try a quick Hartmann mask for focusing also....

[xelasnave]

May I offer my congratulations...I could not even get the thing in frame I recon.
Planets are really difficult and more so if the sky is hazy.
You did great and I hope you can share more in the future.
Alex

[Outcast (Carlton)]

Thanks guys,

Appreciate the encouragement. Had the scope out again tonight, conditions a little better but, planets still shimmering in & out of focus even visually. Didn't attempt any photo's tonight, still learning my way round the scope. Finding my goto's are a bit off; still trying to figure out where I might be off in my initial setup. I get the two star alignments done but, the scope isn't really landing on the setup stars & then after alignment, the goto's are not far off but, still off. Planets not in FOV with a 40mm Super Plossl so, not sure where I'm going wrong.

Tracking is brilliant once I centre the object & resync. Had Vega sitting dead centre for two hours whilst I had a break & did some other chores so..... maybe my initial setup of the tripod, mount & OTA is a little off.

Ah well, the fun of learning, it really is a great hobby & the view are stunning with the bigger scope.

Originally Posted by xelasnave

May I offer my congratulations...I could not even get the thing in frame I recon.
Planets are really difficult and more so if the sky is hazy.
You did great and I hope you can share more in the future.
Alex

Originally Posted by Lee

Hey, they aren't bad - you know where you've gone astray it seems - you could try a quick Hartmann mask for focusing also....

[Mickoid (Michael)]

Originally Posted by Outcast

Viewing conditions here in FNQ a little hazy with the temperature up a little & the humidity starting to rise.

Finally discovered how to use the focusing zoom aid in EOS utility live view but, still not happy with the focus & sharpness of my images.

Visual views are much sharper so, clearly my focusing efforts need some work. Perhaps a Batinov Mask is in the near future.

Images taken with Canon EOS 1100d (unmodded) & 2.5x Powermate.

Jupiter is a stack of 16 x 1/80 sec images at ISO 1600. Images stacked in Affinity Photo.

Saturn is a single shot at 1/20 sec, ISO 1600. Tried to stack multiple images but, it just turned out a mess.

I have a video capture of Saturn that I might try & process tomorrow; need to download some software to separate the video images prior to attempting a stack.

Carlton, Autostakkert is a free download that does this. It needs an .AVI file though so you have to convert your camera's native video format to .AVI first. Download (for free) Pipp software and load your camera video files into this, it will output a .AVI file for you. Stick to the default settings first and have a play around later, that way your first attempt using the software should give you a reasonable result. Autostakkert outputs a .TIF file (default) which you open up in Registax (again, it's free), you then play around with the wavelet sliders to get some detail and sharpness from what looks like a fuzzy image - this part is fun and you'll be amazed at what can be extracted to produce a really nice image.

Good luck and by the way, they're pretty good images you've produced from the method you've been using but video is the way to go.

[Outcast (Carlton)]

Thanks Michael,

Downloaded those programs & will have a crack with the images I have.

Originally Posted by Mickoid

Carlton, Autostakkert is a free download that does this. It needs an .AVI file though so you have to convert your camera's native video format to .AVI first. Download (for free) Pipp software and load your camera video files into this, it will output a .AVI file for you. Stick to the default settings first and have a play around later, that way your first attempt using the software should give you a reasonable result. Autostakkert outputs a .TIF file (default) which you open up in Registax (again, it's free), you then play around with the wavelet sliders to get some detail and sharpness from what looks like a fuzzy image - this part is fun and you'll be amazed at what can be extracted to produce a really nice image.

Good luck and by the way, they're pretty good images you've produced from the method you've been using but video is the way to go.

[xelasnave]

There is so much to do.
I still have not goto really sorted.
First night it worked now it does not.
It may be a long way off for you but look into plate solving...that seems the way to go finally and enables you to be within fractions of a degree on a slew...or so they say..
Good luck and hang in there.
Alex