FRANKENSOL 17 March 2013 salvage

[h0ughy (David)]

i must be nuts. i have spent most of my time processing out the malformed videos and converting them back to the right orientation, then saving as a tiff and then get out the tape and put it together - believe it or not there are 27 frames in this - which i think gives it a rustic CR@P charm This was never to be a pretty image, and it was an after thought - kinda reinforces my thoughts eh?

if the B&W doesn't make you sick then look at the colour version. FRANKENSOL is the first time i have tried a mosaic of the sun. next time i will read up on it and plan it out better.

On another SAD note this will be the second time that i have had to return the blocking filter diagonal of the lunt for repair. the coating is going again I noticed that my images from astrofest were far superior to the ones i am taking now - then i looked, fainted and then got angry. Next i just wanted it fixed so its off to be replaced again Lunt have to do something about their quality control

[mithrandir (Andrew)]

Originally Posted by h0ughy

if the B&W doesn't make you sick then look at the colour version. FRANKENSOL is the first time i have tried a mosaic of the sun. next time i will read up on it and plan it out better.

David, what are you using to stitch the mosaic?

Originally Posted by h0ughy

Lunt have to do something about their quality control

What quality control?

[Steffen]

The scars are showing a bit, but I'm sure the creature has a kind heart

Cheers
Steffen.

[sheeny (Al)]

Very arty Dave! Is it a Young Frankensun? Obviously not. I haven't heard anything of Frau Brooker (neigh)... oh, there she is.

It looks to me like you're changing your exposure setting between capturing parts of the mosaic. It's vitally important to use the same capture settings for each part of the mosaic so the brightness of features at the edges are the same. I set my exposure for the centre of the disc (the brightest part) then do not adjust anything except maybe focus if I think its drifted.

If you are stitching the mosaic in PS you can cheat a bit if the edges are still showing after stitching but feathering the edges with a black brush in the mask for the offending layers before you flatten the image.

Sad to hear about your Lunt Blocking Filter AGAIN... I can imagine how frustrating that is. I haven't taken mine off my scope to check... I've had enough technological troubles lately (computers, tractor, car...) ... I don't want to look for more ATM.

Al.

[h0ughy (David)]

Originally Posted by mithrandir

David, what are you using to stitch the mosaic?

What quality control?

manually aligned in PS.

i didnt bother to try and make the seams invisible - was pointless

[h0ughy (David)]

Originally Posted by Steffen

The scars are showing a bit, but I'm sure the creature has a kind heart

Cheers
Steffen.

i hope so

[multiweb (Marc)]

There's an IKEA plugin for Photoshop that does the same thing.

[h0ughy (David)]

Originally Posted by sheeny

Very arty Dave! Is it a Young Frankensun? Obviously not. I haven't heard anything of Frau Brooker (neigh)... oh, there she is.

It looks to me like you're changing your exposure setting between capturing parts of the mosaic. It's vitally important to use the same capture settings for each part of the mosaic so the brightness of features at the edges are the same. I set my exposure for the centre of the disc (the brightest part) then do not adjust anything except maybe focus if I think its drifted.

If you are stitching the mosaic in PS you can cheat a bit if the edges are still showing after stitching but feathering the edges with a black brush in the mask for the offending layers before you flatten the image.

Sad to hear about your Lunt Blocking Filter AGAIN... I can imagine how frustrating that is. I haven't taken mine off my scope to check... I've had enough technological troubles lately (computers, tractor, car...) ... I don't want to look for more ATM.

Al.

Al please do pull it off and have a look - you need to give it a good examination. What sparked me to look were the big differences in the image quality from when it was replaced to a few recent images.

[RB (Andrew)]

Originally Posted by sheeny

Very arty Dave! Is it a Young Frankensun? Obviously not. I haven't heard anything of Frau Brooker (neigh)... oh, there she is.
Al.

Oh Al, how I would love to see David singing and dancing to "Putting on the Ritz".

[Merlin66 (Ken)]

David,
As I think I've mentioned before, the Interference transmission filters (ITF) at the front of the blocking filter assembly (In both the Lunt and the Coronado) are prone to failure.....
There has been a lot of discussion and debate on these failures, and it now seems that humidity (and/ or moisture) is causing the failures.
The composite filter sandwich has an epoxy edge seal to prevent this happening, but with usage, temperature cycling etc etc this seal can (and does!) breakdown. Once the seal has gone it's only a matter of time......

[h0ughy (David)]

Originally Posted by Merlin66

David,
As I think I've mentioned before, the Interference transmission filters (ITF) at the front of the blocking filter assembly (In both the Lunt and the Coronado) are prone to failure.....
There has been a lot of discussion and debate on these failures, and it now seems that humidity (and/ or moisture) is causing the failures.
The composite filter sandwich has an epoxy edge seal to prevent this happening, but with usage, temperature cycling etc etc this seal can (and does!) breakdown. Once the seal has gone it's only a matter of time......

is there an answer? what other ways are there to use the scope? 80% of us leave in a coastal environment!!! as for humidity, well how can you escape that. in an obsevatory you dont pack your scope away, its covered but with the weather we have had - gawd we have had 80% of the time cloudy or raining over the past 12 months......

[iceman (Mike)]

Lovely jigsaw puzzle Dave!

[Merlin66 (Ken)]

On the solar forum we're investigating alternative ITF's....
There seems to be a 25mm sized filter which technically does the same job...but it need more testing and evaluation.
If it does work, the price is around us$140 and it should have a longer life......

[Merlin66 (Ken)]

One of the guys has resorted to storing the filters in a vacuum bag with dessicant!!!

[LewisM]

Throw all the bits into Microsoft ICE and see what it does - ICE is a super bit of software.

[Matt Wastell (Matt)]

Hi David
Sorry to hear about the BF - what a pain in the bum. I had a good look at my scopes and both appear to be OK - heres hoping the Qld weather does not cause any grief in the future!?