HCG or LCG

[Jonsastro]

 

HI all. I hope someone can advise?

I have an Hypercam 26c that I’m very happy with. However, I think I could be doing better with regards to its settings. Currently, I have been using it by and large at Gain 120, Offset 50 with 3 Min sub exposures in Ultra Low noise mode and in LCG mode. I have now got a SharpCap Pro licence and ran the Sensor Analysis routine and came up this info (see attached). It would seem running the Gain level at 300 would be most beneficial regarding DR going up and read noise levels decreasing. As there’s no automatic switch between the modes, do I use Gain 300 at LCG or should I switch over to HCG and run it at Gain 100 or keep it at 300 for the best results?

 

I did give it a go the other night but they came out very noisy as compared to the shots I’ve previously taken. Am I missing something?

Edited May 3 by Jonsastro

[AstronomyUkraine]

I have a Touptek 2600 with the IMX571 sensor. It also has manual HCG and LCG modes. I keep mine on HCG at gain 100 and an offset of 150. The LCG mode is mainly for targets with a high dynamic range like M42. Of course the driver on your camera might behave differently than the driver on my camera, but in my experience there is no need to use a gain of 300. It would probably be better to increase exposure times.

[Jonsastro]

Hi. Thanks for the info. Yup I think it’s pretty much the same camera etc…
So basically if keep it on HGC gain 100 for galaxies that should be better than gain 100 using LCG?

[AstronomyUkraine]

5 hours ago, Jonsastro said:

So basically if keep it on HGC gain 100 for galaxies that should be better than gain 100 using LCG?

I keep mine on HCG for both galaxies and nebula. I have not run into any problems so far. You might want to check this video from Cuiv. He explains the offset on the Touptek.