I'm not very impressed at all. Save all your comments like 'looks OK' etc. I know they are bad.
Toucam, GS 12" Dob (no tracking), Registax, Photshop, Rubbish Bin.
Geez I need help with this stuff. I'm feeling rather down about the results. I can't wait until my tracking is fitted. Damn hard trying do adjustments as the image zooms off the screen.
for mars what exposure setting have you got and what is the gain? 1/500 and 0 gain from memory, worked for me.
as you say, it is a pain without tracking to adjust each setting a little in the 10 seconds that you have before she has gone off the screen.
it does get easier the more you do it. i have just done mars and in roughly an hour, was able to firstly use the moon to focus and then swing over to mars and get 17 passes @ 480x @ 5frames per second = 600 odd images.
i spose i know what exposure setting i need before i start and fine tune.
keep at it ken!
you are better than what i was at the start. and yes it is damn frustrating.
and yet, you get a night it all comes together and you feel a million bucks!
Image Controls
Frame rate - 15 - this is ok when seeing is bad, goto to 5 if seeing is good
Brightness - 1/2 way (50%) - excellent
Gamma - 7/8 way (approx 85%) - try 10%
Saturation - 100% - excellent
Camera Controls
White balance:
set to - Auto - excellent
Exposure:
Shutter speed - 1/25 second - goto 1/100 or even 1/500 if not using a barlow
Gain - approx 5% - this is good
Actually Ken those pictures are very good for no tracking.I am amazed you even managed to get Venus on the sensor without tracking.Your pics will get much better.
Nice Venus. I always find it hard to capture as when I've tried imaging it, its been fairly low and I tend to loose my way whilst trying to swing the dob back at it for another imaging pass. It seems to get easier for me when the object is easier in the sky? (I think I loose my way more cause my scope is heavier and slides faster when tipped over) It looks pretty big? What mag were you at?
As silly as it may sound, I'm terrible at imaging the moon. I see heaps of people get these nice clear shots of it (even dobs), and I can't seem to get any of mine right! Yours is quite good by my standard! Be proud of it!!
I had a look in my collection of bits and found enough to get the drive built without any outside machining.Just a matter of drilling a few holes to stick it all together,so hang in there.You should see my early 20D pics.
I had a look in my collection of bits and found enough to get the drive built without any outside machining.Just a matter of drilling a few holes to stick it all together,so hang in there.You should see my early 20D pics.
Bert
Don't rush it for my sake Bert. Better for me to be patient than to have a rushed construction to shut me up from whingeing.
I'd love to see your early 20D pics. I'll have a look next time I'm at your place.
Ken said: I'd love to see your early 20D pics. I'll have a look next time I'm at your place.
What I meant was they were terrible, light pollution,lack of knowledge what settings work etc
You only learn by doing.
Bert <!-- / message --><!-- sig -->
LOL! I'm doing, I'm doing. I'll give it a few more hours tonight. Just waiting for the fog to disperse at the moment. Everything is wringing wet! Then I'll be back out there trying something.
They look great Ken, it's only your second try. For venus you just need a shorter shutter, like 1/500s because it's very bright.
You should try k3ccdtools - it shows you a little white level meter so you can judge your exposure. If it's at 255 (the highest) then you're overexposing everything.
Hooray dobbers!
