i'm a super ultra beginner in astro-imaging..just got the meade DSI to have a try cause it's only 99 bucks!
anyway, i tried to image jupiter last night when it was around 30 or so degrees..the image wasnt exactly very good..sort of look like a reddish blob..i've gotta much much better results wif afocal wif a HP digicam..
anyone out there who uses a DSI can gimme some pointers?
cheers!
meade DSI
Is it focusing issue? Or your adjustments on your software (gain, contrast, birghtness, shutter speed, gamma)? All these settings need to be adjusted properly. I'm not too sure what exactly these will do when imaging Jupiter, but trial and error adjustments should help.
Have fun and patience. You are lucky to have clear skiees. My side is all cloudy.. day and night.
Have fun and patience. You are lucky to have clear skiees. My side is all cloudy.. day and night.
Wee Nghee the Pooh
i've seen quite a few successful webcam imagers on singastro..hmm..anyone out there care to share a few tips?
sort of fiddled with the settings last night for around 2 hours with the DSI and the meade envisage software..but the best image i got was worst that
the worst i got from afocal with a HP digicam..ha..
btw, i'm using a nexstar 6SE. gonna try again tonite if weather permits..would appreciate any help from out there! cheers!
sort of fiddled with the settings last night for around 2 hours with the DSI and the meade envisage software..but the best image i got was worst that
the worst i got from afocal with a HP digicam..ha..
btw, i'm using a nexstar 6SE. gonna try again tonite if weather permits..would appreciate any help from out there! cheers!
Hmm... I would NOT normally recommend the Meade DSI for a first imager. I went down that route before - it had basically to do with the Meade software which has a steep learning curve. If you intend to stick with the DSI, I'd recommend using K3CCD Tools.
As a first learning camera, I'll strongly recommend a ToUCam Pro for planets or Starshoot for DSOs.
Cheers!
As a first learning camera, I'll strongly recommend a ToUCam Pro for planets or Starshoot for DSOs.
Cheers!
[80% Steve, 20% Alfred] ------- Probability of Clear Skies = (Age of newest equipment in days) / [(Number of observers) * (Total Aperture of all telescopes present in mm)]
Hi tungkian,
it is hard to comprehend what is wrong and what can be improved without seeing the image. I would assume "reddish blob" to mean either out-of-focus or overexposure due to excessive gamma treatments. It might help to underexpose a little and after stacking, it will come out right. Like Tachyon has mentioned, most people use the popular Toucams for planetary imaging though using the DSI is not completely impossible, but the process it more straight forward and you can find lots of tutorials based on the Toucam on the internet.
it is hard to comprehend what is wrong and what can be improved without seeing the image. I would assume "reddish blob" to mean either out-of-focus or overexposure due to excessive gamma treatments. It might help to underexpose a little and after stacking, it will come out right. Like Tachyon has mentioned, most people use the popular Toucams for planetary imaging though using the DSI is not completely impossible, but the process it more straight forward and you can find lots of tutorials based on the Toucam on the internet.
"The universe is composed mainly of hydrogen and ignorance." Hi tungkian,
thanks for the uploading. here comes the 'diagnosis':
1st picture: your gain is a little high. please lower it. since it is a single sub frame, you can afford to lower it and then consequently stack later. You could use Registax for this. Now, I have not played with Meade's Envisage, but try to find and familarise with relevant settings to make the bands on jupiter more evident and slightly contrasty (which means the bands stand out from the jovian surface). It is too early to tell if the image is out of focus. It could be, or it might be a combination of less-than-average seeing effects, overexposure, or unnecessarily longer exposure that gives rise to blurring to the tracking errors. what telescope and mount are you using?
2nd picture: i must say nevertheless, this is definitely a more pleasing image than the first. not just because it is bigger but you can clearly see more features on the disk. stacking and further processing more sub-frames would definitely yield a good result, but since it is done afocal, it would demand more effort to take sub-frames for stacking. During the course of exposure, the mount must have vibrated perhaps due to human touch, wind, or footsteps, etc etc. You might like to spend a little more time to get the best focus point too for your specific system combination.
General pointers:
Try to take Jupiter when it is high up in the sky, which means for nowadays, it is best to take it not long after the sun has set, since Jupiter will set earlier for each passing night.
Try not to use too high a gain, unless absolutely necessary. Same goes for gamma.
Make sure your mount is stable. Is it on good solid ground? All screws tightened? No play in the mount?
For Afocal, make sure the camera is firmly mounted via the bracket, onto the scope. Unless you are using your hand, which gives rise to possible vibrations and hence a blurry image.
Use as short an exposure as you possibly can, for the given location, for the given seeing. Short exposures will tend to freeze seeing effects and give rise to a sharper initial sub-frame, and hence a sharper stacked image.
Hope this helps!
thanks for the uploading. here comes the 'diagnosis':
1st picture: your gain is a little high. please lower it. since it is a single sub frame, you can afford to lower it and then consequently stack later. You could use Registax for this. Now, I have not played with Meade's Envisage, but try to find and familarise with relevant settings to make the bands on jupiter more evident and slightly contrasty (which means the bands stand out from the jovian surface). It is too early to tell if the image is out of focus. It could be, or it might be a combination of less-than-average seeing effects, overexposure, or unnecessarily longer exposure that gives rise to blurring to the tracking errors. what telescope and mount are you using?
2nd picture: i must say nevertheless, this is definitely a more pleasing image than the first. not just because it is bigger but you can clearly see more features on the disk. stacking and further processing more sub-frames would definitely yield a good result, but since it is done afocal, it would demand more effort to take sub-frames for stacking. During the course of exposure, the mount must have vibrated perhaps due to human touch, wind, or footsteps, etc etc. You might like to spend a little more time to get the best focus point too for your specific system combination.
General pointers:
Try to take Jupiter when it is high up in the sky, which means for nowadays, it is best to take it not long after the sun has set, since Jupiter will set earlier for each passing night.
Try not to use too high a gain, unless absolutely necessary. Same goes for gamma.
Make sure your mount is stable. Is it on good solid ground? All screws tightened? No play in the mount?
For Afocal, make sure the camera is firmly mounted via the bracket, onto the scope. Unless you are using your hand, which gives rise to possible vibrations and hence a blurry image.
Use as short an exposure as you possibly can, for the given location, for the given seeing. Short exposures will tend to freeze seeing effects and give rise to a sharper initial sub-frame, and hence a sharper stacked image.
Hope this helps!