|
Post by ChrisV on Jul 29, 2017 4:41:15 GMT
I sent my gen1 ASI224MC to ZWO to get upgraded with the new v1.3 sensor board with anti-amp glow circuitry. There's beep all amp glow now - I really like this camera now !!! So here's the result of a 2 hr session last night, just after the moon set. These all done on f5.9 80mm refractor with focal reduction (~ x0.6), UV/IR filter. Gain 250, 15 sec subs. All images = total exposure of 1min (the two clusters), or 5min. 1 = 47 Tuc, Cat's Paw Neb, IC4628, Dumbbel Neb 2 = Helix Neb, Lagoon, M7, NGC346 3 = M24, NGC4945, NGC5128, Trifid Neb 4 = Omega Centauri, Sculptor Galx, Skull Neb, Swan Neb I like sharpcap for stacking but astrotoaster gives much nicer contrast/colour control. So I've been - stacking (and dark/flat correcting) in sharpcap, then save the stack as a FITS RAW16 file. - then astrotoaster automatically reads the stacked FITS files and adjusts the contrast/colour. This works really well on the PC stick controlled remotely by a laptop - as the asi224MC FITS files are small. I've crammed the pics together, but haven't done any post-processing.
|
|
|
Post by Dragon Man on Jul 29, 2017 7:52:03 GMT
WHOAH!! All look great Chris. Well done.
Did the upgrade cost much?
|
|
|
Post by ChrisV on Jul 29, 2017 10:09:09 GMT
It was US$49 (used to be $99) plus I had to pay for to post the camera there (they paid return post). Took about 2 weeks Its a major improvement. I'll try and find some old shots with similar objects exposure (and maybe some darks).
|
|
elpajare
Member
Posts: 438
home town/country: Girona-Spain
time zone gmt +/-: 1
|
Post by elpajare on Jul 29, 2017 10:39:20 GMT
What settings do you use in Sharpcap?
|
|
|
Post by ChrisV on Jul 29, 2017 12:21:15 GMT
Here's the camera settings file
[ZWO ASI224MC] Debayer Preview=On Pan=0 Tilt=0 Output Format=Fits files (*.fits) Binning=1 Capture Area=1304x976 Colour Space=RAW16 Temperature=16.2 Hardware Binning=On High Speed Mode=Off Turbo USB=100(Auto) Flip=None Frame Rate Limit=1 fps Gain=250 Exposure=15 Timestamp Frames=Off White Bal (B)=90 White Bal (R)=68 Brightness=1 Gamma=50 Auto Exp Max Gain=300 Auto Exp Max Exp=30 Auto Exp Max Brightness=100 Mono Bin=Off Apply Flat=C:\Users\CVstick\Desktop\SharpCap Captures\2017-07-28\flats\Capture 21_49_07.fits Subtract Dark=C:\Users\CVstick\Desktop\SharpCap Captures\darks\ZWO ASI224MC\RAW16@1304x976\15.0s\gain_250\dark_12_frames_17.3C_2017-07-28T12_03_38.fits Display Brightness=1 Display Contrast=1 Display Gamma=1 TimeStamp=2017-07-28T12:37:16.4802411Z TotalExposure(s)=300 StackedFrames=20
|
|
elpajare
Member
Posts: 438
home town/country: Girona-Spain
time zone gmt +/-: 1
|
Post by elpajare on Jul 29, 2017 14:18:52 GMT
Thanks, its a pity that RisingSky and Mallincam cameras does not have all this settings available in this software.
|
|
|
Post by ChrisV on Jul 29, 2017 14:57:13 GMT
The only bits that mean anything are:
[ZWO ASI224MC] Binning=1 Capture Area=1304x976 Colour Space=RAW16 Temperature=16.2 Gain=250 Exposure=15 White Bal (B)=90 White Bal (R)=68 Brightness=1 Gamma=50 Apply Flat=C:\Users\CVstick\Desktop\SharpCap Captures\2017-07-28\flats\Capture 21_49_07.fits Subtract Dark=C:\Users\CVstick\Desktop\SharpCap Captures\darks\ZWO ASI224MC\RAW16@1304x976\15.0s\gain_250\dark_12_frames_17.3C_2017-07-28T12_03_38.fits TotalExposure(s)=300 StackedFrames=20
And of the above the only ones I vary are gain & exposure Whie bal B & R are meaningless as I use FITS file which remove colour balance Brightness - I should have higher (~50 oops), and you set that depending on the gain Gamma I always just have midway.
|
|
elpajare
Member
Posts: 438
home town/country: Girona-Spain
time zone gmt +/-: 1
|
Post by elpajare on Jul 29, 2017 15:31:10 GMT
Thanks Chris
I will give a try this night with Sharpcap. I don't know these particularity of .FITS.
Anyway I still do not like how to control the expositions with a slider or typing them directly in the box. It is slow and inaccurate.
I also do not like that you do not have the option to zoom the image with the mouse wheel
.... and I have problems with the stack and the application of the darks.
It seems that for these cameras Rising Tech and Mallincam, Rising software is more adapted and is easier to use from my point of view.
|
|
|
Post by ChrisV on Jul 30, 2017 1:08:22 GMT
I don't change exposure time or gain. I tend to use the one setting all night - as I did with the above.
Must try the rt software. Everyone likes it
Edit -except the clusters
|
|
|
Post by Dragon Man on Jul 30, 2017 11:21:19 GMT
I don't change exposure time or gain. I tend to use the one setting all night - as I did with the above.Must try the rt software. Everyone likes it Edit -except the clusters Except most of the CN crowd It's not real popular in there
|
|
|
Post by ChrisV on Jul 30, 2017 14:21:49 GMT
Ya can't please everyone ...
|
|
robrj
Member
Posts: 248
home town/country: Escondido, CA
|
Post by robrj on Aug 1, 2017 21:43:11 GMT
Thanks Chris I will give a try this night with Sharpcap. I don't know these particularity of .FITS. Anyway I still do not like how to control the expositions with a slider or typing them directly in the box. It is slow and inaccurate. I also do not like that you do not have the option to zoom the image with the mouse wheel .... and I have problems with the stack and the application of the darks. It seems that for these cameras Rising Tech and Mallincam, Rising software is more adapted and is easier to use from my point of view. Log into the Sharpcap forum and put in a feature request. He's open to suggestions that will make the software easier to use. For the exposure slider bar, you can click it to double the current exposure (e.g. 1s to 2s, 2s to 4s, etc). If I remember correctly, I think you can also use the arrow keys as well once you've clicked it. forums.sharpcap.co.uk/Starlight Live is nice in that you can just highlight a section of the image with a bounding box and it will zoom into that section, then right click it to go back to the full view. It's handy for bahtinov masks. I always miss that feature when I'm using Sharpcap.
|
|
elpajare
Member
Posts: 438
home town/country: Girona-Spain
time zone gmt +/-: 1
|
Post by elpajare on Aug 2, 2017 9:19:15 GMT
Thanks for the answer Rob.
I have good results with Risingsky and I prefer not to change. It is very difficult for me to understand how a program works and also master it to get good results with it.
RisingTech cameras work great with RisingSky, what I like is to take pictures not to fight with the software.
|
|