SolarChat!

PDB

Was attending our Astrophotograpy day last weekend. One presentation was about solar eclipses. Seems this might be a good choice to test: http://www.strickling.net/eclipsedroid.htm If you test it carefully on beforehand (do general rehersal) and set all parameters correct it might free give you time...

PDB

Hello, image already dates from 2nd of February. Original processing was not very good, so tried today with reprocessing the file multiple times in AS!2 with last stack as reference. Seems to give slightly better results. Has anyone already used this "last stack as reference" to process th...

PDB

When trying to login in the forum usually get this: 500: Internal server error This error is generated when a script running on the server could not be implemented or permissions are incorrectly assigned for files or directories Troubleshooting suggestions: Temporarily disable any rewrite rules by r...

PDB

Hello Alexandra,

nice and sharp pictures. Seeing was probably not bad. We had a few hours of sunshine this week, and a weekend promisses lots of rain. Can imagine you were very happy.

Rgrds,

P.

PDB

Hello David, What works best is, like Eric suggested, tilting the camera. (Some cameras like my ASI120 need very heavy tilting, others like my ASI178 with focal reducer need none, so trial and error) In some cases it is possible to get rid of them in post processing. (Tried on your image with but no...

PDB

That is not good news Franco. Sorry to hear, but nice pictures.

Of course there will be plenty of sunshine in the coming weeks.

P.

PDB

Thanks. Beautiful sunrise this morning so promising and will try some higher resolution images today. (Hope collimation of the C8 is still ok)

P.

PDB

Hello,

Quick session today before the sun was hiding behind trees again. Some hazy clouds passing over the image from time to time.
80mm f/6 - ASI-178MM - AstroSolar ND5 + Green Filter
Processed quickly in AS!2-ImPPG-Gimp (image reduced to 50%)

: 2017-01-18_T_11-28-29.jpg (147.23 KiB) Viewed 990 times

Regards,

Paul

PDB

Most of references i found state that small AP's to be used with high resolution and larger AP's with lower resolution/poor seeing. see also http://www.astrokraai.nl/tut/guide_dennis_put.htm http://www.planetary-astronomy-and-imaging.com/en/autostakkert2-comparing-alignment-point-sizes-for-jupiter/ ...

PDB

Does not look as anyone is selling cell only. (But always good to have some spare sheet of film) The filter cells I use come from EURO-EMC in Germany (http://www.euro-emc-astro.de/pdf/sf100.pdf document is in German) Think these are very good, and you can replace the Solar Film fairly easy. They are...

PDB

Thank you Derek (can't compare to your pictures ...)
Little bit of sunshine today, but the only thing to get a quick setup if the old D40 with 400 tele and astrosolar, but pixel size of that camera is just to big to get decent resolution. Then had to run again for rain and snow ...

P.

PDB

yep! Showing on SDO. (and raining)

Still lots of things to do ... Solar scintillation monitor is finished an working, now building a controller to get my focuser motorized.

P.

PDB

;) Clouds, rain, frost, Sun too low, most of the time behind trees. No spots for over a week now. At noon little bit of sun and clouds. Took my old Nikon D40 (despite a few defective pixels) and Sigma 120-400 tele to take a few shots. (And of course 2 airplane transits which I just missed) This seem...

PDB

Hello Frederic, will send you a list with all the problems i still have with Genika 2.12, but first need to test it on both my PC's. (This will take a while because I want to run the tests in different setups to see if there is an interaction with other software or setups I am using) BTW the focusse...

PDB

Would be nice if I got normal focussing to work.
Jog window is not even working with my Ascom focusser.
Works without problems from the ASCOM box and from FireCapture.

Genika has too much bugs for me.

Paul

PDB

Thanks, think this was a good test. Could have done this without the SSSM, but then probably needing 6000+ frames captured. (Should not have taken the C8, came close to resolution once for maybe 1 or 2 seconds) Will also use this tool to monitor seeing and help me decide if a bigger scope (and what ...

PDB

Hi Alexandra, if about aligning East-West/PolarAxis by observing the drift (N/S) of a star near meridian an east or west horizon and adjusting accordingly. http://astropixels.com/main/polaralignment.html http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-resources/accurate-polar-alignment/ Work quite well whe...

PDB

If your telescope is not placed on a patio but on a field of grass, and every time at the same place you could try the following. Take a copper pipe (does not rust) and cut 3 pieces of about 1 to 2 ". Allign your tripod as good as possible, en then mark the 3 points where the tripod reaches the...

PDB

Nice "glimpse"
Seeing conditions must have been fairly good to get that detail.

Regards,

Paul

PDB

Alexandra, 30 seconds exposure, I can only dream of that. Did a test 2 months ago and at f/6 after a 10 second exposure, background is already gray. (Too much light pollution, that is why I turned to solar.) Have you tried making lots of short exposures and then stack them? Very nice and sharp CaK i...

PDB

Hello, Took the C8 today but very difficult seeing conditions never reaching the resolution of the C8. Did further testing with the SSSM. During a 300 second run the SSSM captured 103 reasonable frames. 20% stacked in AS!2 This is what I got. Not good, little bit overprocessed, but considering the s...

PDB

Thanks guys.
Mark: you should give it a try. Difference with normal capture is that you save a lot of frustration, disk space and processing time. Without the plugin you can make as good images as without it but you will end up wih much more frames in the captured files.

Regards,

Paul

PDB

Hi, due to cold weather (Quark does not like that) back to white light imaging. Used the Baader Astrosolar and an old W58 green filter. The Solar Continuum filter in combination with the Baader AstroSolar 5 gives too dark images so I switched to an old W58 filter. PR-2016-12-03-1106_8-PDB-W58__SSSM_...

PDB

Hello Mike,

not bad at all. Just curious how you keep your Quark working when it gets colder. Mine seems to go off band when outside temp drops too much. (Light stays green, but CW completely moved compared to using in warmer weather)

Regards,

Paul

PDB

Hi Alexandra, despite the cold weather I did a quick test today. Power up the Quark inside to -5, then quickly take a video, take it back inside warm it to 0, video and inside warm up to +5. The images were bad, no time for good focus or waiting for seeing, but the Quark seems fairly on band at 0. L...

PDB

Thanks. Conclusions: working with FC pluging and SSSM really helps. Only shot 3 videos that day and left the decision of capturing based on seeing to the plugin. Result: 3 videos with high percentage of good frames. Quark and cold: as Derek mentioned not a good idea. Will need to redo images with di...

PDB

Mark, of course i was running the Quark fairly outside manufacturers operating temp specs. Outside temp was just abobe 0°C, but the light on the Quark was green. But to my mind not enough heat is transferred to the etalon. I first noticed this last month when outside temp started to be below 15°C. D...

PDB

Hi,

Some images taken earlier today. Seeing not so good (can be seen on the SSSM graph). Not that much contrast except for the spots. Maybe to cold for the Quark.

: 20161129.jpg (228.66 KiB) Viewed 1509 times

Regards,

Paul

PDB

Thanks Alexandra an Mark. Weather is promising today so new try. SSSM seems to be working ok and the plugin is really helpfull. Little bit worried about the Quark. Don't seem to have much contrast on images lately. Don't really know if that is due low sun, atmospheric conditions or Quark not doing s...

PDB

Hello, Sunshine today, but the sun is getting very low giving me only a very short observation window before tree branches get in the way. But an opportunity for testing with the Solar Scintillation Seeing Monitor and Joachim's plugin (excellent!) for FireCapture. Outside temp was 1°, so outside spe...

PDB

Hi, so first real outside testing today. This is what I got in the SSSM Measure1.jpg I had the impression seeing was worse than what the device was reporting. Only could get this poor result. (but of course Quark runs at f/24.5 and that seemed to be to much today) PP2016-11-25-1019_5-PDB-Ha__SSSM_1....

PDB

Perfect job Joachim!

I will test it out a soon as I get some decent sunshine. The SSSM monitor with the Nano now seems to function as expected while testing during a short period of sunshine. (But then trees got in the way ...)

Kind regards,
Paul

PDB

some response to our thread on "Cloudynights" http://www.cloudynights.com/topic/55698 ... eshooting/

Paul

PDB

Hi Joachim, The capacitor is of NP type so that should be ok. When directly displaying the values from the A0 pin, I see they are slightly lower with the Nano. There might just be some interference on the circuit, but to find that out i will need to find a scope. Could be from my USB ports. (Had alr...

PDB

Hi, with a bit of sun and passing clouds did some quick tests this morning. The board seems to be working but I get different results if I connect it to the Nano or the Arduino Mega. Results from the Mega seems more what I expect. The only difference I see between the 2 setups is the supply voltage....

PDB

Waiting for the sun, but did some measurements and testing. Discovered that I soldered 1 wire to the wrong place; after correcting that something started to work. Holding the smartphone led almost in contact with the BPW34 photodiode I was able to generate input values even higher than 1. Seeing val...

PDB

Thanks Joachim, looking forward for your updated FC plugins as well. This should be a great help. Hopefully I can start checking if I soldered all wires and components correctly on the print. Not having electronics background, that sometimes goes wrong. (Having written software since the the 70's th...

PDB

Hello Joachim, making some progress, but still waiting for the LMC6484 to arrive. (Hopefully on monday). Meanwhile did some testing with the firmware loaded in the Arduino just putting some voltage (3,3V and 5V) to the analog pins. There is a small glitch in your modified sketch versus the original ...

PDB

Hello Mark, that is an excellent article you have written. Some remark: the Rowan adaptor is not free of light leaks either. I have to tilt the adaptor so far the flanges do not fit perfect anymore. (But can solve it with electrical tape). Usage is not really practical. So I am considering the Dayst...

PDB

Hello Mark, Great detail on the H-Alfa full disks. Do you know how the prism was oriented in the camera and how much correction in tilting the image? It looks as if the left side of the image is not as sharp as the right side. (Had this also if I had to apply to much tilt in my tilt adapter) Is this...

PDB

Hello Joachim,

also started to build one, but have a question on whicht type of cable you used to connect the sensor. In the original doc a coax cable is recommended, but looks like you have used someting different. Suppose it is also a shielded cable?

Rgrds,

Paul

PDB

Hi Jim, maybe you should post the original as well ;) Processing is very good on this one. BTW: time-lapses time consuming. I only managed to get 2 prom timelapses that worked out good. Most of the time after processing 40 to 45 files you find out only 2 or 3 are good, and the others ruined by the s...

PDB

thanks. Alexandra: looks like a new one, but no number on SpaceWeather yet. Mark: yep, I ran out of electrical tape yesterday. But meanwhile problem is fixed. (Did a quick test earlier, but there were to many cloud patches passing in the view to stack a picture) With the sun getting low (an most of ...

PDB

Hello, after weeks of bad seeing (impossible to do some imaging) or bad weather, finally some fairly seeing around noon today. (At least some short periods) Had some problems with the ASI-120 and the tilt adaptor (light leaks through the tilt-adapter, need to fix that) so had to go back to the ASI-1...

PDB

Great Image!

Wish I had that seeing and altitude. Living at a 19m (62ft) elevation did not help me getting good images lately ... (Gbytes ended up in the waste bin)

Regards,

Paul

PDB

hi Ewan, USB ports are not always plug and play. For camera devices you should have no problems, but the way USB2SERIAL devices attach to specific COM ports is erratic in Windows 10 (and probably also in older versions). Some adapters, like the built in prolific adaptor in the Skywatchter AZ-EQ5, ar...

PDB

Thanks Charles,

always trying to keep the histogram in balance, also in post. (Hate these washed out whites)

Rgrds,

Paul

PDB

Good to hear problem is solved.

Rgrds,

Paul

PDB

Thank you Alexandra. This was part of test series I made yesterday to see if there is any difference capturing in 16 (12bit from the camera) or 8 bit. I have seen some arguments saying 8 bit is sufficient but after checking the results, 12 bit gives more detail. (Not much but noticeable). Unfortunat...

PDB

Hello,

one image from today. 80mm - Quark @f/26 - ZWO ASI-120MM-S (bin x2)
Good transparancy - fair seeing

: P2016-09-27_T_11-29-27-0259_HA.jpg (93.7 KiB) Viewed 892 times

Regards,

Paul

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