Posts Made By: Alex McConahay

Here is my test run at the LCROSS impact site. Taken about 15 minutes before impact. The real run is 15 Gigabytes, and I have not had the courage to try to
process it yet.

(By the way, unless you really use a lot of imagination--the post impact will look essentially the same as the pre-impact. No big dust plumes!!!!)

This is only my third video shot I have tried to process. There are a lot of mysteries in this Registax thing.

C9.25 on G11 (@F10/no Barlow), DMK from Imaging Source/15 FPM. Registax. Palomar Mountain, CA.

Alex

Here's my North America from this weekend.

Canon 450, 15min x 10, 800 ISO, F 5.6, 63 degrees, Canon 75-300 zoom at 300, on a Losmandy G11, guided by ST-4.

Alex

I've been using a Taurus Tracker III lately. It seems to have cured some of my image drifting/flexure/mirror flop problems. It is still hard to find guide stars, but not as hard as I have had with other off axis guiders.....

At any rate, I seem to be having some lens flare--some kind of internal reflection. Anybody have any experience with this thing and can give their experience or advice? I am using the Focal reducer.

Alex

I finally caught the ISS moving in front of the moon!

WO 66 Apo on LXD 55 mount, Imaging SOurce DMK 41, 15 fps. 12/29/09 Moreno Valley, CA.

Alex

Check your preferences. The ad may still be there, but you have told Astromart to display on your computer for only a week or something.

Alex

So, I'm thinking of doing some narrow band imaging with my ST-7.

Step 1 is to get some narrow band filters.

I see one level is like the Orion at 7 nm bandpass, another is Astrodon at 5 nm, and a third at 3 nm bandpass. I know what that would mean optically, but what does it mean practically?

I mean, I'm sitting in my light polluted back yard. If it is going to cost me $900 or $1000 or more to get into narrow band imaging, I wonder if I want to go there. If it is only going to cost $350, sure, its worth a try. If I spend the $350 how close will I be to what I would have gotten with the $900? How long before I decide that I need to get the $900 to "do it right?" Will I be getting haloes, and lots of IR light leak, and parfocal problems, and whatever?

I have the pier mounted Gemini G-11, an off axis guider, ST-7, CFW, and whatever tube is needed to pull this off, I should think. It's just the filters I don't yet have. I don't want to get "entry level" and then find out they don't make it at all and have to spend more. On the other hand, I mean, I'm working an ST-7 here. I'm obviously not into premium performance--just want to take some pretty pictures.

Alex

I got inspired by thread 1 on the topic, but did not want to hijack the thread.

But, I just started a series for our club newsletter called "The Cheap Observer's Report." (It's a play on words from our newsletter's wonderful monthly "Chief Observer's Report".....) At any rate--seriously, I gotta write something once a month about money saving tips in astronomy. What topics would you guys suggest?

Alex

I used to be able to use this on my XP to combine registered FITS files out of Images Plus.

But it does not work there any more. Nor does it work in my Vista Desktop.

Has it changed, or has IP, or what.

It just hangs after I select the files to open.

I am using it with Canon 450 files. Are they too big? Bit depth too deep? Doesn't work with color? What?

Alex

I finally got a sunspot after how long!!!

DMK 41 on TV85/G11. 200 frames of 600. Autoexposure camera settings. Registax and Photoshop. Thousand Oaks white light filter. Then colorized cause I like yellow suns.

Alex

How does one determine the ideal exposure in video based imaging.

I am using a DMK 41 from Imaging SOurce. I use IC Capture. I go for a pleasant looking picture on the screen, and check the histogram.

Is tht all there is to it?

I cannot seem to find a good description of what the different settings are for.

Does adjusting gamma have any effect on the captured image, or just on how it is displayed?

ANybody have any good hints?

Alex