Which equipment should I buy next to complement my DIY camera setup?

[purps]

I posted this over at SGL, but thought I'd post it here too.

 

Hi everyone. I've been casually observing with my Sky-Watcher Startravel 80 with its tabletop EQ mount for a number of years, and have been itching to try astrophotography, so wanted to dip my toe in without spending too much money.

 

I picked up a used Logitech C270 with the intention of buying the appropriate nosepiece to use it in prime focus, but alas, it had the dreaded M8 thread, so I decided to design and print my own (replacing the front cover). Downside of this is I have no thread for attaching filters.

 

I am pleased with my first stab (this is the full moon from a few Saturdays ago), but the capturing process, stacking, and editing in Gimp is all completely new to me, and having now dipped my toe in, I thought I would ask those with more experience as how to take things up a notch with regards to equipment, technique, etc. Specifically.....

 

• I noticed the raws/stacked raws have this red tinge to them (although sometimes it's blue) - I assume this is due to a lack of an IR filter on the camera? Any recommendations?
• Regarding filters, there are so many on the market - what would be the best few to start with? I do observe planets when I can, but I have no tracking, and no idea if this 'scope and camera combination would even work with planets?
• I found that I had to use my 90deg mirror to push the camera far enough away to achieve a focus. I guess I could print a longer nose piece, but given that I need to attach filters somehow, would it make sense to buy a simple 1.25" extension piece and kill two birds with one stone?
• I have a 2x Barlow that came with the telescope, but I don't think it's brilliant. Would it be worth investing in a decent x2, x3, x5? It would be great to capture nice closeups of craters, but I guess I will need tracking at some point - could say the x3 be useful without tracking?
• I was surprised that the moon did not fit into the frame at prime focus, I was expecting it to be tiny for some reason (the image attached is four images stitched together in Gimp). I have seen x0.5 reducers advertised - do these effectively work in the opposite way to Barlow, and will it shrink the moon in the frame? If yes, any recommendations?

 

Apologies for the barrage of questions, but it's exciting stuff this, isn't it!! Any and all help gratefully received.

 

Cheers, Matt.

[AstronomyUkraine]

2 hours ago, purps said:

I posted this over at SGL, but thought I'd post it here too.

 

Hi everyone. I've been casually observing with my Sky-Watcher Startravel 80 with its tabletop EQ mount for a number of years, and have been itching to try astrophotography, so wanted to dip my toe in without spending too much money.

 

I picked up a used Logitech C270 with the intention of buying the appropriate nosepiece to use it in prime focus, but alas, it had the dreaded M8 thread, so I decided to design and print my own (replacing the front cover). Downside of this is I have no thread for attaching filters.

 

I am pleased with my first stab (this is the full moon from a few Saturdays ago), but the capturing process, stacking, and editing in Gimp is all completely new to me, and having now dipped my toe in, I thought I would ask those with more experience as how to take things up a notch with regards to equipment, technique, etc. Specifically.....

 

• I noticed the raws/stacked raws have this red tinge to them (although sometimes it's blue) - I assume this is due to a lack of an IR filter on the camera? Any recommendations?
• Regarding filters, there are so many on the market - what would be the best few to start with? I do observe planets when I can, but I have no tracking, and no idea if this 'scope and camera combination would even work with planets?
• I found that I had to use my 90deg mirror to push the camera far enough away to achieve a focus. I guess I could print a longer nose piece, but given that I need to attach filters somehow, would it make sense to buy a simple 1.25" extension piece and kill two birds with one stone?
• I have a 2x Barlow that came with the telescope, but I don't think it's brilliant. Would it be worth investing in a decent x2, x3, x5? It would be great to capture nice closeups of craters, but I guess I will need tracking at some point - could say the x3 be useful without tracking?
• I was surprised that the moon did not fit into the frame at prime focus, I was expecting it to be tiny for some reason (the image attached is four images stitched together in Gimp). I have seen x0.5 reducers advertised - do these effectively work in the opposite way to Barlow, and will it shrink the moon in the frame? If yes, any recommendations?

 

Apologies for the barrage of questions, but it's exciting stuff this, isn't it!! Any and all help gratefully received.

 

Cheers, Matt.

Hi Matt. If you are thinking about using a webcam to capture the moon, you will be better off taking video. You can align and stack the images in a free programme called AutoStakkert, it will also sort out the images in quality, so you can take a 1000 frames, and choose the top 50%, and discard the rest, making for a better final image. Don't shoot at the highest resolution either, it's not needed for moon images, if you shoot in HD you will end up with a 30gb+ video file.

 

As for filters, basically you get what you pay for. Don't buy the cheapest IR cut filter, go for a reputable company like Baader. They have a good moon filter the 1.25" neodymium Moon and Skyglowfilter, which I have myself. It will set you back £50-60.

 

I have a Televue 2x barlow which is fantastic, but I would advise you to look for a cheaper brand, I can't recommend any other brand as I don't have them.

 

Brian

Edited March 13, 2021 by AstronomyUkraine

[GazAstro]

All good advice from Brian, you didn't mention what software you're using to capture ? Maybe try Sharpcap ... Free and works really well.

[AstronomyUkraine]

30 minutes ago, GazAstro said:

All good advice from Brian, you didn't mention what software you're using to capture ? Maybe try Sharpcap ... Free and works really well.

I use Firecapture myself, even though I use Sharpcap for polar alignment. I like the layout of Firecapture over Sharpcap, and it's free too.

[TerryMcK]

I have a logictech C270 and was able to fit a 1.1/4” nosepiece to it quite easily. I seem to recall removing the existing lens and mounting then using brute force to screw the nosepiece into place. The camera was okish at bright objects like the moon but I soon dismissed it and got a real astronomy camera. I use Firecapture on the PI for video and when I rarely use a PC it is Sharpcap.

[purps]

Thank you for your replies, very much appreciated.

 

So does a "neodymium Moon and Skyglow" filter do the job of cutting out IR, or do I need a separate IR filter as well? I fully appreciate that you get what you pay for, but I can't spend half the cost of my telescope on a filter haha, at least not yet. I really need something that gives "bang for buck" for now. Can anybody recommend any good brands to look out for? SVBony? Celstron? Ostara? Neewer? Of course I will look out for second-hand options as well.

 

My current workflow goes like this...

1. Capture images with ancient Linux netbook, using oaCapture for 4 separate runs (1 for each quarter). oaCapture allows you to adjust exposure/brightness, but that's about all I have played with.
2. Stack using Autostakkert, producing an unsharpened image, and a 50% sharpened image.
3. For each quarter, overlay the images in Gimp and paint out the white line on the horizon with the unsharpened image.
4. Import all 4 quarters, muck around with colours, contrast, etc, and stitch together.
5. Final muck around once combined.

I started out taking videos as that seemed to be what most people did, but I found that I wasn't capturing any more frames per second with this method, so then I started recording individual TIFs. I get around 6 frames a second at a resolution of 1280x960. I did try a lower resolution of 960x720, but I wasn't getting many more frames a second, so went back to 1280x960 thinking that would be best. I will try some lower resolutions to see what happens, thanks.

 

Just had a look at Firecapture - looks great and it runs on Linux!! I think there is an awful lot there that I won't be using, and it might struggle on my poor old netbook, but perhaps I'll give it a go. Maybe the profiles will be useful? How will it offer any improvement over what I am currently using? I might have to look at getting my RPi involved, maybe the extra processing speed will improve my frame rate. It's just not as convenient as a laptop is it.

 

One thing I noticed on my laptop is that the camera has this auto brightness thing happening, which can't be doing me any favours. I am hoping I can turn that off on the command line somehow. Other than that, it sounds like filters are my best best for improving things.

 

Any comments on using a x0.5 reducer to get the moon into a single frame? Would that work for me, or am I overlooking something?

 

Cheers, Matt.

[AstronomyUkraine]

1 hour ago, purps said:

Thank you for your replies, very much appreciated.

 

So does a "neodymium Moon and Skyglow" filter do the job of cutting out IR, or do I need a separate IR filter as well? I fully appreciate that you get what you pay for, but I can't spend half the cost of my telescope on a filter haha, at least not yet. I really need something that gives "bang for buck" for now. Can anybody recommend any good brands to look out for? SVBony? Celstron? Ostara? Neewer? Of course I will look out for second-hand options as well.

 

My current workflow goes like this...

1. Capture images with ancient Linux netbook, using oaCapture for 4 separate runs (1 for each quarter). oaCapture allows you to adjust exposure/brightness, but that's about all I have played with.
2. Stack using Autostakkert, producing an unsharpened image, and a 50% sharpened image.
3. For each quarter, overlay the images in Gimp and paint out the white line on the horizon with the unsharpened image.
4. Import all 4 quarters, muck around with colours, contrast, etc, and stitch together.
5. Final muck around once combined.

I started out taking videos as that seemed to be what most people did, but I found that I wasn't capturing any more frames per second with this method, so then I started recording individual TIFs. I get around 6 frames a second at a resolution of 1280x960. I did try a lower resolution of 960x720, but I wasn't getting many more frames a second, so went back to 1280x960 thinking that would be best. I will try some lower resolutions to see what happens, thanks.

 

Just had a look at Firecapture - looks great and it runs on Linux!! I think there is an awful lot there that I won't be using, and it might struggle on my poor old netbook, but perhaps I'll give it a go. Maybe the profiles will be useful? How will it offer any improvement over what I am currently using? I might have to look at getting my RPi involved, maybe the extra processing speed will improve my frame rate. It's just not as convenient as a laptop is it.

 

One thing I noticed on my laptop is that the camera has this auto brightness thing happening, which can't be doing me any favours. I am hoping I can turn that off on the command line somehow. Other than that, it sounds like filters are my best best for improving things.

 

Any comments on using a x0.5 reducer to get the moon into a single frame? Would that work for me, or am I overlooking something?

 

Cheers, Matt.

You can buy UV/IR cut filters for as little as 30 euro from ZWO. You can buy a 0,5x Focal Reducer 1,25", but they are around 70 euro from TS Optics.

[MarkAR]

If you start using more than one filter it would be worth investing in a slot in filter system, you can 3D print extra filter holders.

Edited March 18, 2021 by MarkAR