27x120s on a G11 with QHY8 on C11 at prime focus, autoguided with PHD and QHY5 with meade OAG adaptor and capture in Nebulosity 2. Stacked in CCD Stack and processed in PS3.
Took this last night before the moon rise to test all my "bits and pieces" on a C11 I have on loan. Imaging at that FL is a bit scary at first. Everything is magnified and seems to "jump" all over the place. Goto and finding objects is a bit of a challenge too. I'm used to image at 650mm FL maximum so that was a bit of a shock. The processing part is great though coz there are so many pixels in the stars to play with
Focus is soft. No mask yet so I eyeballed it ... and the camera is not exactly square either (see right of the frame) but the tracking is sorted out.
So overall I was happy with a pretty picture and having heard a few rumors about imaging with SCTs I can now see some real potential in the scope once working around a few things.
Focus looks good to me, collimation could do with some work though... it reminds me of my first C11 image where I thought focus was off, but inspected the collimation the following night and realised that it was out quite a bit...
Other than that, your guiding looks good, field of view is stunning! The OAG is the only way to go, otherwise you'll be struggling with mirror flop issues and all sorts of flexture problems.. I know I did!
Good work mate, Give that collimation a touch up and you'll be producing some fantastic work..
Geez Marc! You weren't kidding when you indicated you wanted to get into a little more longer focal length work. Grit your teeth and go for it. Alex has nailed the collimation issue. Can see that in the full frame, but I really admire the details you've obtained. A good sign of things to come when you get the rig dialled in. Well done.
Geez Marc! You weren't kidding when you indicated you wanted to get into a little more longer focal length work. Grit your teeth and go for it. Alex has nailed the collimation issue. Can see that in the full frame, but I really admire the details you've obtained. A good sign of things to come when you get the rig dialled in. Well done.
Thanks Jase. Yeah I'm doing a bit of reading and looking into locking this mirror into the "sweet spot".
Nice everything, the collimation may be a problem, yes, but it's still very pleasing so imagine what it could look like with perfect colimation
As far as focusing goes, can you zoom in on a star in the FOV and just focus manually on it on the screen? If so, that is all I have ever done, no masks, no focusing routines nothing...? I seem to nail the focus every time with this very boring method?
Nice everything, the collimation may be a problem, yes, but it's still very pleasing so imagine what it could look like with perfect colimation
As far as focusing goes, can you zoom in on a star in the FOV and just focus manually on it on the screen? If so, that is all I have ever done, no masks, no focusing routines nothing...? I seem to nail the focus every time with this very boring method?
Mike
Thanks Mike... That's because you're a natural. After a couple of glass of wines I need BIG focusing knobs.
Yeah Marc, I strongly recommend getting yourself a motorized crayford and getting some form of autofocus setup... Definitely the way to go... Focusing is SO much faster, not to mention, you click a button and wait for it to say its done...
Yeah Marc, I strongly recommend getting yourself a motorized crayford and getting some form of autofocus setup... Definitely the way to go... Focusing is SO much faster, not to mention, you click a button and wait for it to say its done...
Quote:
Originally Posted by jase
Hear! Hear!
(anything the maximises data acquisition time is a good thing)
Actually I looked into focusmax a while ago but is it real worth it? I mean for remote imaging, yeah, you've got no choice but when you're next to the scope? Involving a program into the focus routine is another computer involved. Another potential point of crash. I like to keep things simple.
Manual focusing Mike?, yep, its boring alright . Autofocus makes that time consuming stuff sooo twee .
Thanks Fred. Nah.... I tend to be old school with things like focusing. If I could do without a laptop on the field I'd gladly do so. I don't like to rely on too many programs. Only tracking and data acquisition for me. That's it. No more no less. Being in the IT industry I hate bloody computers and servers. I do astrophoto for relaxation . I remember those two blokes in Crago one night pulling their hair over a Meade LX200 autofocus set-up for over two hours and I couldn't help thinking WTF!?
LOL now we have a stoush over whether to manually focus (with a moto focus that is) or use an auto focus routine
I think in the end it comes down to what you have at hand I guess?
Having said that I do waste a bit of time sometimes going in and out juuuust in case the focus wasn't peeeeeerfect when I was about to start imaging, sometimes I do this a few times too ....? I think I generally get pretty sharp images in the end though so I must be doing something right ..ok price to pay for a few minutes less imaging time me thinks
Oh, yeah, im with you there. If you can do without a lappy going mobile, then autofocus is a small sacrifice. I ment permanent. I have wasted whole nights fighting with a lappy in the field.
Looks good Mark,
I went straight to the full frame and looked at the Fickle Finger!
well done
I have a Event Horizon 10 to 1 motorised but now that I use a (home-made) Bahtinov mask, I focus it by hand not even using the motorised option)
keep up the great work
frank
Looks good Mark,
I went straight to the full frame and looked at the Fickle Finger!
well done
I have a Event Horizon 10 to 1 motorised but now that I use a (home-made) Bahtinov mask, I focus it by hand not even using the motorised option)
keep up the great work
frank
Thanks very much for the feedback and comment Frank.
Yeah I love my Bathinovs too. I've got one in every size but not for the C11 yet.
when i bought my focuser for the C11 I figured, the motor is only $100 extra, may as well... I used it with the hand controller for a while, then figured the FCUSB was only $70, so I got that... that did away with the hand controller which was nice, then Fred put me onto focusmax after my first use of CCDSoft's @focus... Now I wouldnt be without that setup..
I'm used to image at 650mm FL maximum so that was a bit of a shock. The processing part is great though coz there are so many pixels in the stars to play with 
... and the camera is not exactly square either (see right of the frame) but the tracking is sorted out. 
I mean for remote imaging, yeah, you've got no choice but when you're next to the scope? Involving a program into the focus routine is another computer involved. 
Another potential point of crash. I like to keep things simple. 
I do astrophoto for relaxation . I remember those two blokes in Crago one night pulling their hair over a Meade LX200 autofocus set-up for over two hours and I couldn't help thinking WTF!? 
