SolarChat!

rray6

Thanks Mark and Jochen for the suggestions. New Mexico climate can be harsh on things like grease and o-rings. I sent an email to Lunt yesterday detailing the issue. Hopefully, they will get back to me soon with some direction. I had been planning to put some silicone grease on the threads but will ...

rray6

I have a question concerning my equipment that someone might be able to answer. I have a 10-year-old Lunt LS-80THAPT-B18F with the DSII internal double stack module. I was viewing the sun yesterday from my New Mexico observatory and I noticed that the pressure tuning knobs for both the telescope and...

rray6

Thanks all! Good information.

-Robert

rray6

Does anyone know of any tutorials for the ZWO T / T2 Tilter Adapter? I just got one to help combat those pesky newton rings but there were no instructions with it or on their web site (that I could find). I contacted ZWO support and all they told me was to loosen the small screws and tighten the lar...

rray6

rray6

Don't know what I was thinking...

rray6

Thanks for those comments. I will not be in a big hurry to sell my trusty, known-quantity Lunt to take a chance on getting a good Quark. Actually, now that I think about it, it's not that hard to transport between my imaging locations.

rray6

I currently do my solar imaging with a Lunt 80mm THa PT DSII scope and for the most part, I love it. My biggest complaint is that I do imaging/observing in two different locations (1000 miles apart) so I am constantly having to transport the scope. I have been noticing some beautiful work on this fo...

rray6

It's been a while since I've posted but it's also been a while since I did much solar imaging. I'm at my place in New Mexico but the clouds have not been kind. Last Saturday morning (Oct 2), I got a quick break in the clouds and was able to catch a short video of a massive prominence on the sun. Thi...

rray6

Very nice shots! That camera looks like a winner for solar.

-Robert Ray

rray6

Thanks, George. I would probably like to try the circular polarizing filter but I am not sure where and how to install it. Since you use it on a similar scope (LS80THa DSII), could you provide some directions or direct me to some website that discusses the installation? Thanks.

-Robert

rray6

Hello All, I've been away from solar imaging for a while but am currently dusting off my Lunt LS80 THa DSII and starting anew. One thing that I always had some trouble with was reflections. I have heard about the Lunt Anti-Reflex Filter that is specifically for the LS80 THa/DSII. I ran a quick searc...

rray6

Could it be that part of the problem (FPN) with the 178 is due to rolling vs global shutter?

-Robert

rray6

Well, you have given me a lot to think about. Who said solar imaging was easy?

rray6

Yes, I would like to see some samples of fixed pattern noise, too.

-Robert

rray6

Terry, Thanks so much. I knew of this Astronomy Tools Calculator but never used it much. After plugging in my scope data, I think I could get some good use from the ASI 178 for several of my scopes depending on my barlow use. In any case, I think it will be a good addition to my cameras. And that ca...

rray6

Hello All, I've been off my solar game for a while (a personal solar minimum) but have been slowly starting to get back into it. I was checking my camera situation and realized that my old ZWO ASI 174MM was weather-damaged due to a leaky roof. I want to replace it with the same or something better i...

rray6

I certainly agree with you there, Alexandra. My Grasshopper is also showing signs of age which is why I posed the question. But a faster frame rate Grasshopper does sound good.

rray6

I am curious what others think is the best camera on the market for solar imaging. I have been using a PGR Grasshopper 3 for several years and was wondering if there are any improvements out there on the market with better resolution, frame rate, etc. Just curious....

-Robert

rray6

I think you already found the method, Alexandra - again, very nice composite with great detail. The videos might be helpful to others. I found them very instructive.

Robert

rray6

Thanks for the comments. You're right - seeing an eclipse through the naked eye with all the phenomena going on around you is the most important thing. I know plenty of imagers who went to the eclipse with nothing more than a cell phone camera and spent the whole time observing and not recording the...

rray6

Hi All, I was able to catch the nice double-arched prom this morning as many of you other did. This region threw out a number of X-Class flares all week and it was exciting to see this arch as it was going around the edge. I took so many videos that I almost ran out of disk space. Still have many mo...

rray6

Hello All, I have been on hiatus for a while and not producing any solar images - hence I have not been on the forum for a while. But the eclipse got me back into it again. I braved the crowds (and forest fire smoke) in Madras, Oregon. I gather many of you were also in Oregon - shame we didn't meet ...

rray6

Whoops! I see you were talking about a different kind of composite. I was able to do a stacked processing of 7 bracketed shots of totality using a method by Russell Brown of Adobe (another video). https://vimeo.com/221971705 Here is my totality composite. Robert R Brown Technique Corona2crop_a_1020....

rray6

Hello Alexandra, It has been awhile since I have posted on this forum mainly because I have not been doing any astro or solar photography. But the eclipse got me back into it and I am back doing solar observing and imaging again. I was in Madras, Oregon and was able to photograph the entire eclipse ...

rray6

Incredible!

Robert

rray6

Sorry, Jim. I missed the last question. I am across the valley from New Mexico Skies, a few miles west of Mayhill, NM. Other nearby towns include Cloudcroft (14 miles to the west of me) and Ruidoso (about 50 miles to the NNW). I am in the Sacramento Mountains at about 7150 feet (2180 m) in elevation.

rray6

Thanks, Jim. No, I did not use the tutorial (thanks for bringing it to my attention). I simply selected the disk (prom shot), inverted the selection, and then copied and pasted it over the detailed disk shot. I got lucky but I am sure I can do better, especially after consulting the tutorial. Robert

rray6

Excellent!

rray6

It has been a while since I have posted here mainly because skies have not been friendly and I have been going through hoops at work to finally get a retirement package. Now that I have officially joined the ranks of the retired ( :seesaw), I should be spending much more time at my observatory and i...

rray6

Beautiful work once again, Alexandra. I just got myself a Quark but have yet to use it. The sun has been hiding a lot over here, too. I appreciate the discussion about ERF since I have a WO 132mm f/7 and will need to apply some additional filtering - I would rather not spend for a front ERF if possi...

rray6

Even though I have been solar observing for a while, this feels like a newbie question. Most of my solar observing and imaging is with my Lunt LS80 scope. I also have a 132mm f/7 refractor which I have occasionally used with my Baader Herschel wedge as well as with my Lunt straight-through CaK filte...

rray6

Sorry, Mike. It took me a while to get back - I got some malware and had to reformat my stupid PC. I have the Sony ICX687 CCD sensor in my grasshopper. Newton rings only bother me when I use a Powermate.

Robert

rray6

Thanks, I will try the bag/cling film method. I only have problems with barlowed shots and the rings are terrible. I use a Grasshopper 3.0, too - I was hoping that camera would rid me of them but not so.

Robert

rray6

It's been a while since I posted - weather has been poor (what else is new?) and my Grasshopper had to go back to PGR (power issues), etc. So I decided to process some of my more recent images. I am plagued with the usual Newton rings at high power and dust spots in my Lunt 80 DS. I have had limited...

rray6

I got interested in this thread and looked up the ZWO ASI174MM. I found it for a favorable $600 USD. Imaging Source and Basler both carry what appears to be the same cameras (IMX174 sensors) but they are 50% more (~$900 USD). Why is ZWO that much cheaper? Am I missing something?

Robert

rray6

Is it too early to discuss the pluses and minuses of the new Point Grey Quad Tap Grasshopper3 (6.0 mp at 25 fps)? Or has this been discussed lately and I missed it?

Robert

rray6

Thanks for the sentiment. You're right - never nice. I do consider myself somewhat lucky. My $6000 SBIG STT8300 was sitting there in the observatory in its case in plain sight. Not as easy or inconspicuous a target as the two smaller solar filters but still accessible. So things could have been wors...

rray6

Sadly, no. I contacted both Baader and Lunt because I normally record serial numbers and had none for these two filters. They confirmed that they do not put serial numbers on these items. I plan to mark the new ones as well as anything else I have without identifying numbers. I suppose it is sad tha...

rray6

Thank you, Alexandra. I changed locks, and there is now a motion-detecting camera inside watching at all times, ready to email me if trouble erupts again. Unfortunately, my home insurance deductible was too high to help. I am now looking into separate insurance for specialty items like this. There w...

rray6

It's been a while since I have posted here. Earlier this summer, I had a bad experience - two of my favorite solar imaging filters (Baader Hershel and Lunt CaK) were stolen out of my observatory in New Mexico. Never recovered. I won't bore anyone with details but, as you can imagine, it is a horribl...

rray6

If you are talking about the dust motes, I still haven't determined the best way to do that. I tried flats once but obviously did something wrong. I usually just darken the backdrop with Levels until they go away.

Robert

rray6

Most all of you do mosaics with such good results that I finally decided to try it myself. This is a simple 4 quarter-panel mosaic taken on January 20 at my New Mexico observatory - weather was windy but otherwise clear (and cold). I used my Lunt LS80 DSII and Grasshopper USB 3.0 and stacked each pa...

rray6

Thanks for the comments. Slight correction for my description - make that 100,000 KM not miles for the pillar prom - pardon my non-metric-ism....

Robert

rray6

Finally able to take some shots from my New Mexico observatory. I missed the head-on flares from AR1944 but was able to catch some nice proms just north of the cluster as it is about to turn away from us - taken today, Jan 12, late morning (MST). I have a lot of footage and was able to quickly proc...

rray6

Really fantastic shots, Alexandra. I unfortunately missed this one - I was at my New Mexico observatory last week but had to pack up my equipment on the 29th for the trip home. I really like that scale you used but I'm having trouble obtaining the template. I went to the Astrolabo.fr site but I was ...

rray6

I have tried this with a variety of shutter speeds and settings. I have been imaging all week. On Monday, I started out with 26 fps in the morning. I stopped for lunch and when I started up again, I was getting 17 fps. I noticed this right away and restarted the program (Firecapture). The frame rate...

rray6

All of a sudden , I cannot get a frame rate higher than 17 fps. The max should be 26 and I used to get that regularly. I am having the same frame rate issue with both FlyCapture (2.5) and Firecapture (2.3beta). The weather has been uncooperative for me for some time so this is my first outing in a w...

rray6

Thanks for the kind words, Alexandra, Mark, and Walter. The sun does seem lower this year to me primarily because we had a lot of needed rain this summer. As a result, my trees have grown and filled themselves with leaves - not complaining really (my wife loves it) but because of this, I only have a...

rray6

Once again, Alexandra, you are blowing us all away. Beautiful shots! And congrats on the wooden spoon!! :rockon: :rockon: :rockon:

Robert

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