M81 and M82

Comment

Comment by Joshua Forschen on June 1, 2012 at 1:39pm

The BYE histogram - I found it, but I've never selected it. I always have the Capture Plan Center up in that area. I can click on the histogram icon to display a pop-up histogram for the current image. I'll try using that next time.

I can see that I'm missing out on a lot of things that would help me. I think I get so caught up in trying to get my scope ready that I end up having little time to image and I bypass the important stuff. If only I had a pier to mount this thing to...

Comment by Russ Ruggles on May 31, 2012 at 12:29pm

Post up a picture with your camera adapter on your camera. I can't imagine you're screwing it direct to the 6.3 RF but it's possible I suppose.
I don;t know about turning the histogram display onor off. It was always there and for every upgrade I downloaded it's been there. I started with the very first beta release so I'm not sure how you;re not seeing it. Maybe post up a screen capture with an imaging session in progress.

Comment by Russ Ruggles on May 31, 2012 at 12:25pm

Also, it's been my experience that the Astronimik CLS filters are great for Nebula but suck for galaxys. Look at the IDAS LP2 filters as well if your're looking at the EOS clips

Comment by Russ Ruggles on May 31, 2012 at 12:23pm

Or , in the very end of your camera adapter 1.25 I think, you could screw in your Celestron filter

Comment by Joshua Forschen on May 31, 2012 at 12:08pm

Ahh, EOS clip-in filters are much cheaper than a rear cell filter. I think using a rear cell filter in conjunction with a reducer would probably cause vignetting anyway. I'd only need the filter for imaging so a clip-on would probably be best.

Comment by Joshua Forschen on May 31, 2012 at 12:04pm

Rear cell filters are quite expensive! What's the alternative?

Comment by Joshua Forschen on May 31, 2012 at 11:45am

I must be blind because I've never noticed the histogram... lol

I'll give attention to flats on my next session. Same set up as darks, just a light uniform image. Go it.

The LP filter is a 1.25" and can only screw onto my eyepieces or the end of my diagonal. The T-mount adapter screws to the back of the reducer or can attach to the OTA directly. I do not know the size. It's just Celestron's Schmidt-Cass adapter. Guess I'm going to have to find a filter to somehow attach to the back of the OTA or reducer...

I checked out that BYE screenshot and I have never seen that histogram come up! When my images process, it's just big block letters counting down the delay until the next image, etc. But no histogram. I wonder if I need to turn it on in settings...

Comment by Russ Ruggles on May 31, 2012 at 11:30am

Josh,

Now things are starting to add up. You imaging site sounds good but trust us - you should shoot through the LP filter. Yes, use the Celestron to start with. You'll be surprised at how much you can do with even the cheaper filters.
Now, flats are as important as darks PERIOD. To take a flat just don't change anything between you're imaging session and the flat session. Don't rotate - take apart or remove anything from the optical train. Wait for daylight or find some even light source to image. Even a white laptop monitor is better than nothing. Make sure they are RAW images as well and change your settings so you're getting between 50% to 75% full histogram. That's good enough for now.
BYE can do all of this for you and YES, BYE has a histogram - right next to the picture it's showing. The main reason I bought BYE was so I never have to use the LCD again. I even use BYE to align my scope. Plus the frame and focus feature is great.
Using the 6.3 Reducer is smart. Do not use that and the barlow together. The barlow is good for planetary or visual. Not deep space imaging. Hopefully the LP filter will screw into the end of your camera adapter. Are you using the correct adapter for the camera sensor to back of the 6.3 FR? I'm trying to remember what it is....55mm I think. or is it 110mm? Crap can't remember but you can find this if you google it.
Now your camera settings: Set it to manual and then use BYE to make all the other settings (ISO and duration). White Daylight is fine. All other settings are not important and may be part of the problem. BYE is supposed to override all of that. When using BYE each and every image taken is shown on screen. The histogram is to the right of that screen. It's big and bold - usually Red, Blue and green. Can't miss it. Look at this screen shot form their website http://www.backyardeos.com/product_backyardeos.aspx

Comment by Joshua Forschen on May 31, 2012 at 10:52am

The area I live in is fairly dark. I can see quite a bit with my C6 where I live now. I was never able to see M51 through my scope until I moved here. Last night was clear, but there was quite a bit of fog nearby and may have intruded on my session. Otherwise, my location is awesome. Sometimes it gets so dark here, it's difficult to see constellations. Easy to see satellites all over the place and the Milky Way is easy to see. I wouldn't call it a dark site but I think it could be pretty darn close.

I don't shoot flats because to be honest, I don't know how to and thought GXT was a lazy way out of doing flats. Don't I need a uniform white background to shoot for flats? or is it just key to get some sort of uniform background?

I do have a Celestron UHC/LPR filter, Can I shoot through this? I normally have my camera connected to the reducer then to the C6 but I recently got a Barlow lens with a T mount that will let me shoot through my diagonal with the filter attached.

When I shoot in BYE, I have my T1i on manual mode, daylight white balance, faithful mode, average centered metering and auto ISO.

Is there a histogram in BYE I can see during preview shots? I wasn't aware of one if there was.

Comment by Russ Ruggles on May 31, 2012 at 5:45am

Ah yes, this will drive a person to drink.
It's been my experience that trial after trail after trial is needed to boil down the basic setup that works for your gear and location.
For me, my camera has the least amount of noise at ISO800. I bought BackyardESO for camera control so I could see what was going on with each frame on a laptop. There are other options but for the price and feature set - it can't be beat.
I use a Light Pollution filter. Living in a city of 60K has its draw backs and I do most of my imaging from my backyard. The LP filter allows me to image longer without getting all the skyglow you're getting. I'm imaging at 3 minutes @F2 and the histogram is still left of center.
You'll get it. Just focus on one problem at a time and soon it'll start being fun again.

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