Heads Up 5th June

this is the main message area for anything solar :)
Post Reply
User avatar
Stardust5858
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Posts: 1500
Joined: Tue Oct 29, 2019 11:44 am
Has thanked: 803 times
Been thanked: 1182 times

Heads Up 5th June

Post by Stardust5858 »

Contrary to the forecast I jumped out of bed and opened up the dome by 8am. Managed only a short session in CaK but at least I was able to get something before complete cloud cover came in, rain forecast later. Seeing seemed quite good, screenshot for info.
Attachments
Screenshot (106).png
Screenshot (106).png (876.69 KiB) Viewed 457 times


10ft x 6ft Solar RoR with Warm Room
Lunt 60mm Double Stack HA
80ed WL+ Lunt Hershal Wedge + Badder K-Line filter.
100mm AR + Lunt b1800 Ca-K module.
Neq6 Eq Mount.

2.7m Pulsar Dome.
11in Celestron SCT + White Light Filter.
70mm AR Stellavue.
12inch OO Newtonian.
Eq8 r Pro Mount.
User avatar
krakatoa1883
Almost There...
Almost There...
Posts: 1041
Joined: Sat Jun 11, 2016 9:41 am
Location: Mediolanum
Has thanked: 153 times
Been thanked: 496 times

Re: Heads Up 5th June

Post by krakatoa1883 »

Fine image, Nigella. Noted you keep the gamma all to the right, is it just for this picture or is it your normal practice ? I usually disable this function while taking the video.


Raf
My solar images and reports with articles on solar equipment
User avatar
Stardust5858
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Posts: 1500
Joined: Tue Oct 29, 2019 11:44 am
Has thanked: 803 times
Been thanked: 1182 times

Re: Heads Up 5th June

Post by Stardust5858 »

krakatoa1883 wrote: Sat Jun 05, 2021 2:25 pm Fine image, Nigella. Noted you keep the gamma all to the right, is it just for this picture or is it your normal practice ? I usually disable this function while taking the video.
Hi, I do usually use the gamma around 85 when higher in the sky, sun was quite low down. I'm no expert by a long chalk still in the experimental period. Does disabling the gamma when capturing make a difference? Many thanks Nigella.


10ft x 6ft Solar RoR with Warm Room
Lunt 60mm Double Stack HA
80ed WL+ Lunt Hershal Wedge + Badder K-Line filter.
100mm AR + Lunt b1800 Ca-K module.
Neq6 Eq Mount.

2.7m Pulsar Dome.
11in Celestron SCT + White Light Filter.
70mm AR Stellavue.
12inch OO Newtonian.
Eq8 r Pro Mount.
User avatar
krakatoa1883
Almost There...
Almost There...
Posts: 1041
Joined: Sat Jun 11, 2016 9:41 am
Location: Mediolanum
Has thanked: 153 times
Been thanked: 496 times

Re: Heads Up 5th June

Post by krakatoa1883 »

I usually apply the gamma in post-processing, use little of it in H-alpha as it helps while focusing. I think it's only a matter of personal preferences.


Raf
My solar images and reports with articles on solar equipment
User avatar
Stardust5858
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Posts: 1500
Joined: Tue Oct 29, 2019 11:44 am
Has thanked: 803 times
Been thanked: 1182 times

Re: Heads Up 5th June

Post by Stardust5858 »

krakatoa1883 wrote: Sat Jun 05, 2021 5:44 pm I usually apply the gamma in post-processing, use little of it in H-alpha as it helps while focusing. I think it's only a matter of personal preferences.
Okey dokey, many thanks.


10ft x 6ft Solar RoR with Warm Room
Lunt 60mm Double Stack HA
80ed WL+ Lunt Hershal Wedge + Badder K-Line filter.
100mm AR + Lunt b1800 Ca-K module.
Neq6 Eq Mount.

2.7m Pulsar Dome.
11in Celestron SCT + White Light Filter.
70mm AR Stellavue.
12inch OO Newtonian.
Eq8 r Pro Mount.
EGRAY_OBSERVATORY
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Posts: 6871
Joined: Mon May 18, 2020 4:45 pm
Location: Essex, S.E.England
Been thanked: 4900 times

Re: Heads Up 5th June

Post by EGRAY_OBSERVATORY »

Thanks Ella for your latest and one of these days, I will try FC and copy your settings with my Cak scope.

Cheers
Terry


User avatar
Ivan
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Posts: 1849
Joined: Thu Apr 08, 2021 11:50 pm
Location: Russia, Yaroslavl
Has thanked: 3465 times
Been thanked: 2250 times

Re: Heads Up 5th June

Post by Ivan »

Hello Nigella

Thanks for the screenshot.
I, too, cannot sit still, if time permits and there is at least a small hope for a clearing in the clouds.

Ivan


User avatar
Stardust5858
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Posts: 1500
Joined: Tue Oct 29, 2019 11:44 am
Has thanked: 803 times
Been thanked: 1182 times

Re: Heads Up 5th June

Post by Stardust5858 »

EGRAY_OBSERVATORY wrote: Sat Jun 05, 2021 7:44 pm Thanks Ella for your latest and one of these days, I will try FC and copy your settings with my Cak scope.

Cheers
Terry
Go for it Terry, lol.


10ft x 6ft Solar RoR with Warm Room
Lunt 60mm Double Stack HA
80ed WL+ Lunt Hershal Wedge + Badder K-Line filter.
100mm AR + Lunt b1800 Ca-K module.
Neq6 Eq Mount.

2.7m Pulsar Dome.
11in Celestron SCT + White Light Filter.
70mm AR Stellavue.
12inch OO Newtonian.
Eq8 r Pro Mount.
User avatar
Stardust5858
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Posts: 1500
Joined: Tue Oct 29, 2019 11:44 am
Has thanked: 803 times
Been thanked: 1182 times

Re: Heads Up 5th June

Post by Stardust5858 »

Ivan wrote: Sat Jun 05, 2021 7:45 pm Hello Nigella

Thanks for the screenshot.
I, too, cannot sit still, if time permits and there is at least a small hope for a clearing in the clouds.

Ivan
Hope you get some clear skies Ivan.


10ft x 6ft Solar RoR with Warm Room
Lunt 60mm Double Stack HA
80ed WL+ Lunt Hershal Wedge + Badder K-Line filter.
100mm AR + Lunt b1800 Ca-K module.
Neq6 Eq Mount.

2.7m Pulsar Dome.
11in Celestron SCT + White Light Filter.
70mm AR Stellavue.
12inch OO Newtonian.
Eq8 r Pro Mount.
User avatar
marktownley
Librarian
Librarian
Posts: 42274
Joined: Tue Oct 18, 2011 5:27 pm
Location: Brierley Hills, UK
Has thanked: 20442 times
Been thanked: 10248 times
Contact:

Re: Heads Up 5th June

Post by marktownley »

Thanks for the overview Ella :)


Image
http://brierleyhillsolar.blogspot.co.uk/
Solar images, a collection of all the most up to date live solar data on the web, imaging & processing tutorials - please take a look!
User avatar
Montana
Librarian
Librarian
Posts: 34563
Joined: Mon Oct 17, 2011 5:25 pm
Location: Cheshire, UK
Has thanked: 17672 times
Been thanked: 8794 times

Re: Heads Up 5th June

Post by Montana »

It was a wonderful day yesterday, sunny all day long and the seeing wasn't too bad till 11am either, I've nearly filled the hard drive :hamster:

Well pointed out by Krakatoa, I've only just noticed this. Gamma is great in small amounts, it can help get extra contrast on the screen to help focus, or add more bright range to see a prominence without the exposure increasing too much. However, for capture you should keep it at the cameras zero level. For every camera that is a different value and is impossible to say, usually it is about in the middle of the dial on Firecapture. If you capture with too much gamma either way you will be losing massive amounts of data in your dynamic range (losing the whites or the darks). I also get bad artefacts in stacking too with excess gamma on a prominence. Very small touches are fine to work with, but too much can be very bad. Try around the middle and see how much more dynamic range you can achieve in post processing.

Alexandra


User avatar
Stardust5858
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Posts: 1500
Joined: Tue Oct 29, 2019 11:44 am
Has thanked: 803 times
Been thanked: 1182 times

Re: Heads Up 5th June

Post by Stardust5858 »

Montana wrote: Sun Jun 06, 2021 12:39 pm It was a wonderful day yesterday, sunny all day long and the seeing wasn't too bad till 11am either, I've nearly filled the hard drive :hamster:

Well pointed out by Krakatoa, I've only just noticed this. Gamma is great in small amounts, it can help get extra contrast on the screen to help focus, or add more bright range to see a prominence without the exposure increasing too much. However, for capture you should keep it at the cameras zero level. For every camera that is a different value and is impossible to say, usually it is about in the middle of the dial on Firecapture. If you capture with too much gamma either way you will be losing massive amounts of data in your dynamic range (losing the whites or the darks). I also get bad artefacts in stacking too with excess gamma on a prominence. Very small touches are fine to work with, but too much can be very bad. Try around the middle and see how much more dynamic range you can achieve in post processing.

Alexandra
Thanks Alexandra appreciate your input.


10ft x 6ft Solar RoR with Warm Room
Lunt 60mm Double Stack HA
80ed WL+ Lunt Hershal Wedge + Badder K-Line filter.
100mm AR + Lunt b1800 Ca-K module.
Neq6 Eq Mount.

2.7m Pulsar Dome.
11in Celestron SCT + White Light Filter.
70mm AR Stellavue.
12inch OO Newtonian.
Eq8 r Pro Mount.
RodAstro
Im an EXPERT!
Im an EXPERT!
Posts: 385
Joined: Sun Oct 29, 2017 9:51 pm
Has thanked: 286 times
Been thanked: 399 times

Re: Heads Up 5th June

Post by RodAstro »

Hi Nigella

One thing to note when using Gamma is your frame rate seriously drops, nearly halved especially when capturing.
Not a massive problem for full disk but more of a problem for high res.
I only use Gamma (occasionally) when focusing because of this.
I did have to go and check this for you as I was not sure because I have not used Gamma for a long while, that's why the screen captures where in cloud on the screen captures, not a good morning.
On the screen captures everything is set the same just one with Gamma and one without.

Also using ROI helps a lot with download speed, I have an old non SSD hard drive and it hesitates the capture at full frame resolution as it writes but by just clipping off the wide field edges of the ASI174 chip with ROI this does not happen.

I hope this is helpful Rod
Attachments
fire capture with gamma.jpg
fire capture with gamma.jpg (130.56 KiB) Viewed 371 times
fire capture without gamma.jpg
fire capture without gamma.jpg (135.5 KiB) Viewed 371 times


User avatar
Stardust5858
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Posts: 1500
Joined: Tue Oct 29, 2019 11:44 am
Has thanked: 803 times
Been thanked: 1182 times

Re: Heads Up 5th June

Post by Stardust5858 »

RodAstro wrote: Mon Jun 07, 2021 12:17 pm Hi Nigella

One thing to note when using Gamma is your frame rate seriously drops, nearly halved especially when capturing.
Not a massive problem for full disk but more of a problem for high res.
I only use Gamma (occasionally) when focusing because of this.
I did have to go and check this for you as I was not sure because I have not used Gamma for a long while, that's why the screen captures where in cloud on the screen captures, not a good morning.
On the screen captures everything is set the same just one with Gamma and one without.

Also using ROI helps a lot with download speed, I have an old non SSD hard drive and it hesitates the capture at full frame resolution as it writes but by just clipping off the wide field edges of the ASI174 chip with ROI this does not happen.

I hope this is helpful Rod
Thanks Rod, really appreciate it.


10ft x 6ft Solar RoR with Warm Room
Lunt 60mm Double Stack HA
80ed WL+ Lunt Hershal Wedge + Badder K-Line filter.
100mm AR + Lunt b1800 Ca-K module.
Neq6 Eq Mount.

2.7m Pulsar Dome.
11in Celestron SCT + White Light Filter.
70mm AR Stellavue.
12inch OO Newtonian.
Eq8 r Pro Mount.
Post Reply