Hi All,
Still putting the QHY8 Camera to test, now on the LX200-10" at F-10 which is a difficult task, but herewith first trial of ngc5128 which is 3 x 5 Min. Exp. combined No DF removed (seems its not required-no noise), guiding was Not Spot on, Ill try and get it right next time, The Pix. is cropped for transmission, about 10%, so this will give some idea of the small FOV (about 23 x 35 arc min.).
You have some tracking issues which you know off. Maybe try to image at f6.3, this will help in the sharpness, as you can see the image is a little washed due to the tracking, so it wont be sharp and detailed. Also looks like you may have used a noise removing program ?.. for the image.
Hi Gamma,
Thanks for the comments Theo.,just getting the hang of the QHY8 at the moment (see my Pix. of ngc5128 w/Canon this Post) and If you know of any F-6.3 Focal reducer that will work with the LX200-10" and the QHY8 id love to know about it.
Great work Jim. As I said previously, I admire your endeavours to auto guide at F10 - slowly I see that you are succeeding. I haven’t yet managed to make this repeatedly successful, using my Tak EM200 which is a GEM, let alone a fork.
Off to a great start Jim ! I want one of those CCD's too dude.
Try the Celestron 6.3 reducer on your scope,It should work ok and make things a bit easier...It's a real ask at that focal length on anything but the best of mounts .
If your want some help on processing just email me and I'll be glad to help sought out some of you clipping issues and help you with some more advance layering techniques to bring out contrast and detail.
Good luck and have fun !
Hi All,
Many thanks for all your comments, much appreciated, Well this was a first go with the QHY8 Camera on this object, Ive done it many times using the Canon, but something new with the QHY8, Ive taken some 4000 odd Astropix with the Canon and took a while to get used to that, Louie yes id appreciate any hints you can give on Taking/Processing pictures with the QHY8, at the moment I use I.P. to process, and Astrowin to take them, Maxim has some issues, but its early days for this Cameras software, hoping for a plug-in for Astroart (which im used to using) soon, Louie the Meade/Celestron Focal reducers will Not Work with DSLR Cameras and their large CCD chip, If/Whoever develops one for this job will make a fortune.
Hi Jim
No reducer eh? boy Jim,that only leaves you one option....a faster scope ? of cause the day you get the seeing to support the focal length you are using will give you some brilliant res ! but hey,It might be cloudy that day.
Jim I use Astroart 3 to capture align & combine,save in fits and It goes straight into PS ! by using a lot of these other programs you give up a lot of your control over to the software and this doesn't sit well with me.
Yes,I'm waiting on AA support for the QHY8 and I'll be buying one too mate they are a bargain for what you get and I've already seen the potential of these CCD's.
On reducers,I did hear of a good reducer for SCT and bigger chips but I can't remember which brand It was...If I remember I'll let you know
I,m in a similar position to yourself using aQHY8 camera at long focal length.s The 6.3 focal reducer should work OK as I have recently started using the Meade version on my 18" f4.5 yes it has some vignetting but the field is flat , without using a coma corrector. I am also having problems using Maxim for calibration of flats it tells me the images have colour information and cant be used plus I think the debayered images look strange. I was supprised to read you are using IP as I tried to debayer in IP once and the programe crashed. I think this camera has potental with the right software.
Clear skies Ken C.
Hi Ken,
O.K., in IP just do the de-bayering using the Canon 300D item, seems to work O.K. Im posting some images today (now) taken with the QHY8 and processed this way, I tried the SXV25 item but no-go, The best colour ive been able to obtain so far is using MIKEs plug-in in Astroart, however this will only save as a Jpg or Bmp which ends further processing.
Im not sure why you guys are having issues with Maxim, as i dont have the same problems. What versions are you using ?.
I use maxim to do the focusing and either use Maxim or Astrowin to do the imaging. I then use Maxim to do the Colour debayer (make sure x and y are ticked and Quality is selected in the check boxes) then i use the color balance to fix the colour to how i like it. Then stack them.
What about nubulosity ?, anyone tried this yet..
