Thanks to everyone who responded to my question about focusing 35mm camera
lenses for ccd use. I'm going to try the different things that were
suggested the next time I'm out. Today, I'm going to make a small focusing
mask which should help a great deal. I will also try stopping down the lens
a notch or two. When I asked the question, I had already ordered an h-alpha
filter. Someone said that would knock out some of the star bloating.

I just posted an image of M45 on my website. It's pretty rough but shows the
star bloating clearly. I was hoping some people would look at the image and
give me more opinions. I also thought that maybe after seeing an image,
someone who already responded may have a different opinion.


LaMont Cranston
Cheltenham, Pennsylvania USA
39 53 N, 75 15 W

http://w1828.homestead.com/MYPAGE.html


_________________________________________________________________
Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: http://mobile.msn.com

Hi Ron,

I use the STV for guiding. After reading this message I too wanted to
evaluate my guiding information. I found the following in the STV Manual:

----------
Tech Note: When the STV is tracking, after each exposure it will send
the calculated centroid position of the guide star over the RS232 port.
If you run a simple terminal program on your remote computer you can
capture the data in ASCII format for analysis.
----------

Have you done this with the STV? Next time out I am going to try it to
learn in what format the data is presented.

Great tutorial!

Mark Jenkins
http://www.bigcigarastronomy.com

On Tuesday, January 1, 2002, at 07:21 PM, Ron Wodaski wrote:

> I have added a new tutorial today to the tutorial page:
>
> http://www.newastro.com/newastro/tutorials/default.asp
>
> Description:
>
> "Most camera control programs give you the ability to save autoguider
> corrections to disk in a log file. You can learn a little about the
> guiding
> process from examining the log file, but it is much more powerful to
> graph
> the results of a guiding session in a spreadsheet such as Excel.
> Unfortunately, unless your polar alignment is exceptionally accurate,
> there
> will be some drift during the data collection. This tutorial shows you
> how
> to use formulas in a spreadsheet to greatly reduce the problems from
> drift.
>
> "The tutorial also covers the process of turning off corrections during
> guiding so you can graph the tracking performance of your mount. This is
> useful for putting numbers to seeing-induced noise and periodic error
> (PE)."
>
> The first version of the tutorial covers CCDSoft log files. When time
> permits, I will add a second version with minor modifications
> describing how
> to accomplish this task in MaxIm DL. For now, depending on your math
> skills
> you may be able to mentally convert this tutorial yourself for use with
> MaxIm DL log files.
>
> Ron Wodaski
> The New CCD Astronomy
> http://www.newastro.com
>
>
>
>
> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
> ccd-newastro-unsubscribe@egroups.com
>
>
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to
> http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>
>
>

I have spent a good deal of time processing an RGB set of images of
Jupiter from last night, and have something that I consider a
finsihed product. I feel funny asking this, but how do I now save it
so it can be displayed on a web page? The screen stretch gives me a
nice image, but how do I "freeze" this so it will display in a .bmp
file, for instance?


Mike

Mike - what software package are you working in?  Once I know that I may be
able to offer some advice.

Clear skies,
Kevin Dixon
ksbtk@...


From: "rmdesantis" <desantis.rm@...>


> I have spent a good deal of time processing an RGB set of images of
> Jupiter from last night, and have something that I consider a
> finsihed product. I feel funny asking this, but how do I now save it
> so it can be displayed on a web page? The screen stretch gives me a
> nice image, but how do I "freeze" this so it will display in a .bmp
> file, for instance?

I was combining color in Maxim 3.

--- In ccd-newastro@y..., "ksbtk" <ksbtk@h...> wrote:
> Mike - what software package are you working in?  Once I know that
I may be
> able to offer some advice.
>
> Clear skies,
> Kevin Dixon
> ksbtk@h...
>
>
> From: "rmdesantis" <desantis.rm@p...>
>
>
> > I have spent a good deal of time processing an RGB set of images
of
> > Jupiter from last night, and have something that I consider a
> > finsihed product. I feel funny asking this, but how do I now save
it
> > so it can be displayed on a web page? The screen stretch gives me
a
> > nice image, but how do I "freeze" this so it will display in
a .bmp
> > file, for instance?

Try this sequence:

File|Save As

The Save As window contains a pull down option entitled File Filter.  Click
on the pull down button and it will list all the available options for
saving the file.  Let me know if you have any difficulty.

Clear skies,
Kevin

From: "rmdesantis" <desantis.rm@...>


> I was combining color in Maxim 3.

Thanks, Kevin - this is what I did. However, if I save it as, say, a
bitmap file, when I call up the file in another program (as one would
if viewing on the web), I get a white blur. The histogram that was
displayed is not saved with the file. What I'm looking to do is save
the final image as it appears on screen - it seems to be saving a
dataset instead.

Mike


--- In ccd-newastro@y..., "ksbtk" <ksbtk@h...> wrote:
> Try this sequence:
>
> File|Save As
>
> The Save As window contains a pull down option entitled File
Filter.  Click
> on the pull down button and it will list all the available options
for
> saving the file.  Let me know if you have any difficulty.
>
> Clear skies,
> Kevin
>
> From: "rmdesantis" <desantis.rm@p...>
>
>
> > I was combining color in Maxim 3.

Mike - I'll have to leave the answer to that one for a computer expert such
as Ron or Randy but why not save them as jpeg files.  I see many websites
that feature their images that way.

Clear skies,
Kevin

From: "rmdesantis" <desantis.rm@...>


> Thanks, Kevin - this is what I did. However, if I save it as, say, a
> bitmap file, when I call up the file in another program (as one would
> if viewing on the web), I get a white blur. The histogram that was
> displayed is not saved with the file. What I'm looking to do is save
> the final image as it appears on screen - it seems to be saving a
> dataset instead.

Hi Lamont!  A couple thin sticks equally spaced across the lens my help
focusing the lens or a fencing wire mesh.  I use the mesh on my CR150 and
my Megrez 80.  I got it at Home Depot.  The squares are about 3/8" square
and you get really fine long spikes on a star when at perfect focus.  It
works great for me!  I'm going to make one for my 10" SCT also!  buen
cielo, Dan NM  At 03:43 PM 1/2/02 +0000, you wrote:

>Thanks to everyone who responded to my question about focusing 35mm camera
>lenses for ccd use. I'm going to try the different things that were
>suggested the next time I'm out. Today, I'm going to make a small focusing
>mask which should help a great deal. I will also try stopping down the lens
>a notch or two. When I asked the question, I had already ordered an h-alpha
>filter. Someone said that would knock out some of the star bloating.
>
>I just posted an image of M45 on my website. It's pretty rough but shows the
>star bloating clearly. I was hoping some people would look at the image and
>give me more opinions. I also thought that maybe after seeing an image,
>someone who already responded may have a different opinion.
>
>
>LaMont Cranston
>Cheltenham, Pennsylvania USA
>39 53 N, 75 15 W
>
>http://w1828.homestead.com/MYPAGE.html
>
>
>_________________________________________________________________
>Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: http://mobile.msn.com
>
>
>
>To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
>ccd-newastro-unsubscribe@egroups.com
>
>
>
>Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

Good Morning:

Last night I was going to generate the data necessary to measure the
behavior of my mount, utilizing Ron's Tutorial #3.  I started up CCDSoft and
used to achieve focus with my ST-237 camera.  On the Setup screen, I had
clicked on the Imager control button and focus was achieved.  However, when
I went to the Autoguide screen and clicked on the Autoguide control button,
I got an error message.

I am presuming that because the ST-237 only has a single chip, I have to use
the camera in one mode (Imager or Autoguider) or the other but cannot switch
between them.  Is this correct?  If so, then I will have to begin the
session by using the Autoguider button rather than the Imager button.

I did read the CCDSoft manual to see if this problem was referenced but I
could not find anything about it.

Any help that can be offered is much appreciated.  I am going to post this
message on the ST-237 group also so if you are a member of that group,
please excuse the double-post.

Clear skies,
Kevin Dixon
ksbtk@...

Mike,

Do you have any programs like Paintshop Pro or similar? If so, you
can 'photograph' the image by doing a screen capture. Its a long
winded way of doing things, but basically you drag a box around the
part of the screen you want to be captured and it creates an image
which is what you selected in the box. In your case, you would drag a
box aroud the jupiter image displayed in Maxim. You could then save
it as a .bmp or .jpeg or whatever from Paintshop Pro or equivalent.

I have probably made it sound harder than it is - not very good at
explaining things, but if you have PSP I can tell you exactly how to
do it?

Hope that helps
Chris

Unfortunately, I only have CCDSOFT and Maxim.

Mike


--- In ccd-newastro@y..., "x_nutcracker_x" <c.w.fullwood@b...> wrote:
> Mike,
>
> Do you have any programs like Paintshop Pro or similar? If so, you
> can 'photograph' the image by doing a screen capture. Its a long
> winded way of doing things, but basically you drag a box around the
> part of the screen you want to be captured and it creates an image
> which is what you selected in the box. In your case, you would drag
a
> box aroud the jupiter image displayed in Maxim. You could then save
> it as a .bmp or .jpeg or whatever from Paintshop Pro or equivalent.
>
> I have probably made it sound harder than it is - not very good at
> explaining things, but if you have PSP I can tell you exactly how
to
> do it?
>
> Hope that helps
> Chris

What you are trying to do is "Track and Accumulate", not autoguide.  Maybe if
you search for terms like that, the help will prove to be more beneficial.  I
can't help you any more than that due to the fact that I don't use CCDSoft. 
Hope this helps a little.

Matt



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Note: this group does not allow attachments due to the recent virus
problems. To allow us to look at one of your images, either upload it into
the File section, or provide a URL to a copy on your web server.

You can do the same kind of processing on your video camera images as one
does on a CCD-camera image. The general procedure is to

* Perform data reduction (sometimes also called image calibration). This
cleans up individual frames by reducing noise or removing
reflections/shadows from the light path. I have a rather large chapter in my
book on data reduction (chapter 6), so it's more than I can go into here.
You may not be able to perform a full reduction similar to what is done with
CCD, but any reduction you can do will improve your final image. Reduction
for a CCD camera consists of dark, flat-field, and bias frames that record
system noise, and then the process of removing that noise.

* Once the images are cleaned up, you then align them. You will do best if
you use a tool that provides sub-pixel alignment. Most CCD camera control
programs provide this, as do utilities like Registar. Many image editing
programs, such as Photoshop, provide only pixel-level alignment and this
will result in bloating of stars and a less attractive image. You can get
around this to a degree by blowing up your images 4x, aligning, and then
reducing back down after combining.

* Combine the aligned images. Camera control programs provide variable ways
to combine, including among the more common summing, averaging, and various
forms of statistical combinations such as median combine. If you are going
to stack using conventional imaging programs, you may have to add images one
at a time, or blend them one at a time, whatever is available to you. This
may not provide as pleasing a result as the astro-specific combining
routines in programs like MaxIm DL, CCDSoft, Mira, Astroart, Registar, etc.

* Once you have combined the images, you can start your processing. This
might include sharpening, smoothing, deconvolution, and other techniques.

Ron Wodaski
The New CCD Astronomy
http://www.newastro.com

-----Original Message-----
From: c.w.fullwood@... [mailto:c.w.fullwood@...]
Sent: Wednesday, January 02, 2002 4:28 AM
To: ccd-newastro@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [ccd-newastro] stacking - pre or post processing?


Hi,

I am imaging with a modified Vesta webcamera in the middle of a big city. It
seems I am limited to roughly 2 minute exposures maximum before the light
pollution begins to eat into the image. I am trying to image M42 at the
moment as it is perfectly placed in my viewing location, and also an easy
target for a beginner. I am finding it difficult to eak out all the
nebulosity in M42, so for my next attempt I am going to try and take a
number of exposures and stack them. This technique is completely new to me
so I am uncertain on what to do when I have captured the images. I was
planning on taking 60, 60 second exposures giving me an hour overall. When I
have the images is it better to process them individually, making them the
best you can and then combine them after individual processing, touching it
up if necessary, or is it better to combine them all first, and then process
the entire image.

It may be possible that I will be able to borrow an LPR filter from my astro
society which would help with the background noise, although effect the
colour of the image. Would it be recommended to take a luminance frame, or
frames with the LPR filter, which could be taken for longer and thus better
SNR, or would this not be of much benefit?

I have included my best M42 at present. It was taken with a Vixen Planet80
scope at prime focus, driven on a Vixen GP/DX and Skysensor. It is 1 minute
long and was taken with a modified Philips Vesta webcam. There is no IR
filter, which may explain its very purple appearance.

Many thanks for your time and comments
Chris

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
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Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

You are getting a pretty good amount of nebulosity working with your webcam.
The color is not accurate, however, but you could address that in
processing. Focus looks to be good. Stars are slightly elongated, and if
that's typical of what your mount can provide, then when you combine it
would help to rotate your camera 90 degrees, and take half of your exposures
in each rotation position. Then use a Median Combine method which will
average out the elongation and give you rounder stars. You could also use a
program like Photoshop or Picture Windows Pro to erode or blur the stars in
such as way as to round them.

It looks like you are also getting some reflections inside the camera
(bright star at lower left) and that might require shorter exposures to
avoid.

M42 is very bright, and has an extremely large range of brightness values in
it. It's a challenge to capture the entire range, all the more so with a
webcam. Good luck!

Ron Wodaski
The New CCD Astronomy
http://www.newastro.com

-----Original Message-----
From: x_nutcracker_x [mailto:c.w.fullwood@...]
Sent: Wednesday, January 02, 2002 4:31 AM
To: ccd-newastro@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [ccd-newastro] sorry - M42 image is in the files area


Hi again,

The image was removed from the message when I sent it, which I guess
means the newsgroup does not allow attatchments - sorry, should keep
more up to date with the messages! :-)

It can be found following this link:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ccd-newastro/files/m42_001.jpg

Cheers
Chris



To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
ccd-newastro-unsubscribe@egroups.com



Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

How are you attaching the lens to the STV?

Ron Wodaski
The New CCD Astronomy
http://www.newastro.com

-----Original Message-----
From: LaMont Cranston [mailto:w1828@...]
Sent: Wednesday, January 02, 2002 7:44 AM
To: ccd-newastro@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [ccd-newastro] focusing 35mm camera lenses for ccd imaging



Thanks to everyone who responded to my question about focusing 35mm camera
lenses for ccd use. I'm going to try the different things that were
suggested the next time I'm out. Today, I'm going to make a small focusing
mask which should help a great deal. I will also try stopping down the lens
a notch or two. When I asked the question, I had already ordered an h-alpha
filter. Someone said that would knock out some of the star bloating.

I just posted an image of M45 on my website. It's pretty rough but shows the
star bloating clearly. I was hoping some people would look at the image and
give me more opinions. I also thought that maybe after seeing an image,
someone who already responded may have a different opinion.


LaMont Cranston
Cheltenham, Pennsylvania USA
39 53 N, 75 15 W

http://w1828.homestead.com/MYPAGE.html


_________________________________________________________________
Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: http://mobile.msn.com



To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
ccd-newastro-unsubscribe@egroups.com



Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

I see really strong star elongation in your M45 image, with comet-like tails
off to the right from most stars. This indicates that the lens is not
properly aligned with your STV. My question about how you are attaching the
lens to the STV is now a critical point! I think you will see dramatically
better results if you can get the lens and the camera square to each other.

Otherwise, if they already are square to each other, it would appear that
the lens itself is either damaged or out of collimation.

Ron Wodaski
The New CCD Astronomy
http://www.newastro.com

-----Original Message-----
From: LaMont Cranston [mailto:w1828@...]
Sent: Wednesday, January 02, 2002 7:44 AM
To: ccd-newastro@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [ccd-newastro] focusing 35mm camera lenses for ccd imaging



Thanks to everyone who responded to my question about focusing 35mm camera
lenses for ccd use. I'm going to try the different things that were
suggested the next time I'm out. Today, I'm going to make a small focusing
mask which should help a great deal. I will also try stopping down the lens
a notch or two. When I asked the question, I had already ordered an h-alpha
filter. Someone said that would knock out some of the star bloating.

I just posted an image of M45 on my website. It's pretty rough but shows the
star bloating clearly. I was hoping some people would look at the image and
give me more opinions. I also thought that maybe after seeing an image,
someone who already responded may have a different opinion.


LaMont Cranston
Cheltenham, Pennsylvania USA
39 53 N, 75 15 W

http://w1828.homestead.com/MYPAGE.html


_________________________________________________________________
Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: http://mobile.msn.com



To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
ccd-newastro-unsubscribe@egroups.com



Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

No, I have not. The STV has built-in graphing ability, so you can run one of
those modes (fast and slow) and observe your tracking on a graph directly.
This isn't the same as getting numbers you can evaluate, so I will be
curious to know how your experiment goes.

Ron Wodaski
The New CCD Astronomy
http://www.newastro.com

-----Original Message-----
From: Mark Jenkins [mailto:markj@...]
Sent: Wednesday, January 02, 2002 7:44 AM
To: ccd-newastro@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [ccd-newastro] ANNOUNCE: Tutorial #3 added today on
analyzing guider log file in Excel


Hi Ron,

I use the STV for guiding. After reading this message I too wanted to
evaluate my guiding information. I found the following in the STV Manual:

----------
Tech Note: When the STV is tracking, after each exposure it will send
the calculated centroid position of the guide star over the RS232 port.
If you run a simple terminal program on your remote computer you can
capture the data in ASCII format for analysis.
----------

Have you done this with the STV? Next time out I am going to try it to
learn in what format the data is presented.

Great tutorial!

Mark Jenkins
http://www.bigcigarastronomy.com

On Tuesday, January 1, 2002, at 07:21 PM, Ron Wodaski wrote:

> I have added a new tutorial today to the tutorial page:
>
> http://www.newastro.com/newastro/tutorials/default.asp
>
> Description:
>
> "Most camera control programs give you the ability to save autoguider
> corrections to disk in a log file. You can learn a little about the
> guiding
> process from examining the log file, but it is much more powerful to
> graph
> the results of a guiding session in a spreadsheet such as Excel.
> Unfortunately, unless your polar alignment is exceptionally accurate,
> there
> will be some drift during the data collection. This tutorial shows you
> how
> to use formulas in a spreadsheet to greatly reduce the problems from
> drift.
>
> "The tutorial also covers the process of turning off corrections during
> guiding so you can graph the tracking performance of your mount. This is
> useful for putting numbers to seeing-induced noise and periodic error
> (PE)."
>
> The first version of the tutorial covers CCDSoft log files. When time
> permits, I will add a second version with minor modifications
> describing how
> to accomplish this task in MaxIm DL. For now, depending on your math
> skills
> you may be able to mentally convert this tutorial yourself for use with
> MaxIm DL log files.
>
> Ron Wodaski
> The New CCD Astronomy
> http://www.newastro.com
>
>
>
>
> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
> ccd-newastro-unsubscribe@egroups.com
>
>
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to
> http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>
>
>




To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
ccd-newastro-unsubscribe@egroups.com



Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

I'm attaching the lens to the camera with the SBIG adapter meant for that
purpose. I don't think I have much of a way to change the alignment.


>From: "Ron Wodaski" <ronw@...>
>Reply-To: ccd-newastro@yahoogroups.com
>To: <ccd-newastro@yahoogroups.com>
>Subject: RE: [ccd-newastro] focusing 35mm camera lenses for ccd imaging
>Date: Wed, 2 Jan 2002 10:45:23 -0800
>
>I see really strong star elongation in your M45 image, with comet-like
>tails
>off to the right from most stars. This indicates that the lens is not
>properly aligned with your STV. My question about how you are attaching the
>lens to the STV is now a critical point! I think you will see dramatically
>better results if you can get the lens and the camera square to each other.
>
>Otherwise, if they already are square to each other, it would appear that
>the lens itself is either damaged or out of collimation.
>
>Ron Wodaski
>The New CCD Astronomy
>http://www.newastro.com
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: LaMont Cranston [mailto:w1828@...]
>Sent: Wednesday, January 02, 2002 7:44 AM
>To: ccd-newastro@yahoogroups.com
>Subject: [ccd-newastro] focusing 35mm camera lenses for ccd imaging
>
>
>
>Thanks to everyone who responded to my question about focusing 35mm camera
>lenses for ccd use. I'm going to try the different things that were
>suggested the next time I'm out. Today, I'm going to make a small focusing
>mask which should help a great deal. I will also try stopping down the lens
>a notch or two. When I asked the question, I had already ordered an h-alpha
>filter. Someone said that would knock out some of the star bloating.
>
>I just posted an image of M45 on my website. It's pretty rough but shows
>the
>star bloating clearly. I was hoping some people would look at the image and
>give me more opinions. I also thought that maybe after seeing an image,
>someone who already responded may have a different opinion.
>
>
>LaMont Cranston
>Cheltenham, Pennsylvania USA
>39 53 N, 75 15 W
>
>http://w1828.homestead.com/MYPAGE.html
>
>
>_________________________________________________________________
>Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: http://mobile.msn.com
>
>
>
>To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
>ccd-newastro-unsubscribe@egroups.com
>
>
>
>Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>
>




LaMont Cranston
Cheltenham, Pennsylvania USA
39 53 N, 75 15 W

http://w1828.homestead.com/MYPAGE.html


_________________________________________________________________
Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: http://mobile.msn.com

Ron, I know that Maxim 3.x has a feature to move a guide star to a specified
location on the small guide chip.  I've used that MOVE command quite frequently
in the Guide Tab. Is there a way to move the chip to a specified star on the
main chip of my ST-10E?  Or do I have to change the guide chip to the main chip?
The reason I am asking is because I am going to start a 4 - 6 image mosaic and I
want to be able to move to specific stars quickly and easily without having to
monkey with the keypad of my AP 400 -- the camera will be adjusted at a weird
angle.

I hope this makes sense.

Matt



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Do the following in MaxIm DL to save the image as a JPG:

1. Use the Process | Stretch menu item to open the Stretch dialog.

2. Set the following:

    Permanent Stretch type - Linear only
    Input range - screen stretch
    Output range = 8-bit (0-255)

3. Click OK

4. Save the result as a JPG file. File | Save As menu item, and be sure to
set the file format as JPEG.

If you attempt to save the image as a JPG file without first doing a
stretch, you will see a warning in the File Details section of the Save As
dialog.

Once you are comfortable with this procedure, you can use the Stretch button
in the Save As dialog to access the stretch dialog during the save process.
You will not see the result of the stretch operation, however, until after
the file has already been saved.

Once you stretch, be careful not to overwrite your original FITS file!

Ron Wodaski
The New CCD Astronomy
http://www.newastro.com

-----Original Message-----
From: rmdesantis [mailto:desantis.rm@...]
Sent: Wednesday, January 02, 2002 7:45 AM
To: ccd-newastro@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [ccd-newastro] Simple Question - how do I save images?


I have spent a good deal of time processing an RGB set of images of
Jupiter from last night, and have something that I consider a
finsihed product. I feel funny asking this, but how do I now save it
so it can be displayed on a web page? The screen stretch gives me a
nice image, but how do I "freeze" this so it will display in a .bmp
file, for instance?


Mike



To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
ccd-newastro-unsubscribe@egroups.com



Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

You must reduce individual images. If your dark frames are the same duration
and temperature as your light frames, you do not need to use a bias frame. A
bias frame is only used to scale a dark frame to a different (usually
shorter) exposure time.

You can improve the quality of results you get from reduction frames by
taking 4, 8 or more of each frame and averaging them to reduce noise.

Ron Wodaski
The New CCD Astronomy
http://www.newastro.com

-----Original Message-----
From: rmdesantis [mailto:desantis.rm@...]
Sent: Wednesday, January 02, 2002 8:22 AM
To: ccd-newastro@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [ccd-newastro] Bias frames and dead pixels


I am just starting out with CCD imaging, so you can see many of my
questions are pretty basic. Here's another one:

I have taken a set of bias, flat, and flat dark frams. In the bias
frame, there is a partial colum of dead pixels. These do not show up
in my light frames, just the bias frames.

When I reduce (I use ccdsoft to reduce a folder of images), I get
this partial column of dead pixels (the pixel values in the final
frames are 0). I've tried combining images then reducing them, as
well as reducing then combining - the results are the same.


What am I doing wrong?

Mike De Santis



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See my instructions in another message today for using the Stretch dialog to
avoid the white image problem.

Ron Wodaski
The New CCD Astronomy
http://www.newastro.com

-----Original Message-----
From: rmdesantis [mailto:desantis.rm@...]
Sent: Wednesday, January 02, 2002 8:30 AM
To: ccd-newastro@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [ccd-newastro] Re: Simple Question - how do I save images?


Thanks, Kevin - this is what I did. However, if I save it as, say, a
bitmap file, when I call up the file in another program (as one would
if viewing on the web), I get a white blur. The histogram that was
displayed is not saved with the file. What I'm looking to do is save
the final image as it appears on screen - it seems to be saving a
dataset instead.

Mike


--- In ccd-newastro@y..., "ksbtk" <ksbtk@h...> wrote:
> Try this sequence:
>
> File|Save As
>
> The Save As window contains a pull down option entitled File
Filter.  Click
> on the pull down button and it will list all the available options
for
> saving the file.  Let me know if you have any difficulty.
>
> Clear skies,
> Kevin
>
> From: "rmdesantis" <desantis.rm@p...>
>
>
> > I was combining color in Maxim 3.



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Good afternoon:

I have posted to the feedback files my latest attempt at processing, in the
form of the flame nebula.  The image can be found at:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ccd-newastro/files/Feedback/Flame%20Nebula/11-
17-01-flame-RGB.jpg

I am looking for feedback on the quality of the processing steps that I have
used.  I hope that I have not pushed the histogram too far.  The image seems
somewhat consistent with Ron's images of this object.

My goal is to optimize this image, followed by the Horsehead image and then
combine them together in a mosaic.

Comments, criticisms and suggestions are MOST welcome.

Clear skies,
Kevin Dixon
ksbtk@...

You are correct; if there is one chip, you can only use it in one mode. In
fact, it wouldn't surprise me if you didn't have to use it in Imager mode
only, but the software may be flexible enough to allow you to call that one
chip either imager or guider.

Ron Wodaski
The New CCD Astronomy
http://www.newastro.com

-----Original Message-----
From: ksbtk [mailto:ksbtk@...]
Sent: Wednesday, January 02, 2002 9:07 AM
To: ccd-newastro@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [ccd-newastro] CCDSoft and the ST-237


Good Morning:

Last night I was going to generate the data necessary to measure the
behavior of my mount, utilizing Ron's Tutorial #3.  I started up CCDSoft and
used to achieve focus with my ST-237 camera.  On the Setup screen, I had
clicked on the Imager control button and focus was achieved.  However, when
I went to the Autoguide screen and clicked on the Autoguide control button,
I got an error message.

I am presuming that because the ST-237 only has a single chip, I have to use
the camera in one mode (Imager or Autoguider) or the other but cannot switch
between them.  Is this correct?  If so, then I will have to begin the
session by using the Autoguider button rather than the Imager button.

I did read the CCDSoft manual to see if this problem was referenced but I
could not find anything about it.

Any help that can be offered is much appreciated.  I am going to post this
message on the ST-237 group also so if you are a member of that group,
please excuse the double-post.

Clear skies,
Kevin Dixon
ksbtk@...





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Unless something is misaligned in the connections, the lens should be
checked for a misaligned element or something else that would cause such
extreme coma from side to side. Something is out of whack. Make sure you
have not crossed threads, for example, when attaching the SBIG adapter to
the STV.

Ron Wodaski
The New CCD Astronomy
http://www.newastro.com

-----Original Message-----
From: LaMont Cranston [mailto:w1828@...]
Sent: Wednesday, January 02, 2002 10:59 AM
To: ccd-newastro@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [ccd-newastro] focusing 35mm camera lenses for ccd imaging


I'm attaching the lens to the camera with the SBIG adapter meant for that
purpose. I don't think I have much of a way to change the alignment.


>From: "Ron Wodaski" <ronw@...>
>Reply-To: ccd-newastro@yahoogroups.com
>To: <ccd-newastro@yahoogroups.com>
>Subject: RE: [ccd-newastro] focusing 35mm camera lenses for ccd imaging
>Date: Wed, 2 Jan 2002 10:45:23 -0800
>
>I see really strong star elongation in your M45 image, with comet-like
>tails
>off to the right from most stars. This indicates that the lens is not
>properly aligned with your STV. My question about how you are attaching the
>lens to the STV is now a critical point! I think you will see dramatically
>better results if you can get the lens and the camera square to each other.
>
>Otherwise, if they already are square to each other, it would appear that
>the lens itself is either damaged or out of collimation.
>
>Ron Wodaski
>The New CCD Astronomy
>http://www.newastro.com
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: LaMont Cranston [mailto:w1828@...]
>Sent: Wednesday, January 02, 2002 7:44 AM
>To: ccd-newastro@yahoogroups.com
>Subject: [ccd-newastro] focusing 35mm camera lenses for ccd imaging
>
>
>
>Thanks to everyone who responded to my question about focusing 35mm camera
>lenses for ccd use. I'm going to try the different things that were
>suggested the next time I'm out. Today, I'm going to make a small focusing
>mask which should help a great deal. I will also try stopping down the lens
>a notch or two. When I asked the question, I had already ordered an h-alpha
>filter. Someone said that would knock out some of the star bloating.
>
>I just posted an image of M45 on my website. It's pretty rough but shows
>the
>star bloating clearly. I was hoping some people would look at the image and
>give me more opinions. I also thought that maybe after seeing an image,
>someone who already responded may have a different opinion.
>
>
>LaMont Cranston
>Cheltenham, Pennsylvania USA
>39 53 N, 75 15 W
>
>http://w1828.homestead.com/MYPAGE.html
>
>
>_________________________________________________________________
>Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: http://mobile.msn.com
>
>
>
>To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
>ccd-newastro-unsubscribe@egroups.com
>
>
>
>Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>
>




LaMont Cranston
Cheltenham, Pennsylvania USA
39 53 N, 75 15 W

http://w1828.homestead.com/MYPAGE.html


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It does make sense, in that I understand what you are asking. Unfortunately,
I don't have a camera that I can test this with nor anything but clouds
above me. I would suggest posting a question in the MaxIm Yahoo group; Doug
will give you an answer pretty quickly:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MaxImDL

Ron Wodaski
The New CCD Astronomy
http://www.newastro.com

-----Original Message-----
From: Matt Russell [mailto:matthewr@...]
Sent: Wednesday, January 02, 2002 11:07 AM
To: ccd-newastro@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [ccd-newastro] Maxim & Center Star


Ron, I know that Maxim 3.x has a feature to move a guide star to a specified
location on the small guide chip.  I've used that MOVE command quite
frequently in the Guide Tab. Is there a way to move the chip to a specified
star on the main chip of my ST-10E?  Or do I have to change the guide chip
to the main chip?  The reason I am asking is because I am going to start a
4 - 6 image mosaic and I want to be able to move to specific stars quickly
and easily without having to monkey with the keypad of my AP 400 -- the
camera will be adjusted at a weird angle.

I hope this makes sense.

Matt



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



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* The background is pretty dark, so try lower black points.

Otherwise, looks very nice. Good S/N, in particular, but lowering the black
points may change that. <G>

Ron Wodaski
The New CCD Astronomy
http://www.newastro.com

-----Original Message-----
From: ksbtk [mailto:ksbtk@...]
Sent: Wednesday, January 02, 2002 11:29 AM
To: ccd-newastro@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [ccd-newastro] ST-237 image - Flame Nebula


Good afternoon:

I have posted to the feedback files my latest attempt at processing, in the
form of the flame nebula.  The image can be found at:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ccd-newastro/files/Feedback/Flame%20Nebula/11-
17-01-flame-RGB.jpg

I am looking for feedback on the quality of the processing steps that I have
used.  I hope that I have not pushed the histogram too far.  The image seems
somewhat consistent with Ron's images of this object.

My goal is to optimize this image, followed by the Horsehead image and then
combine them together in a mosaic.

Comments, criticisms and suggestions are MOST welcome.

Clear skies,
Kevin Dixon
ksbtk@...





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Thanks for looking at the image Ron.  Interestingly enough, I did not lower
the black point at all in the processing.  I only worked with the white
point and curves.  I did normalize the background of each channel prior to
the color combine, to a level to yield around 50 units.  May that have been
to harsh a normalization?  Otherwise, I am not sure how to get around the
dark background.

Clear skies,
Kevin

From: "Ron Wodaski" <ronw@...>


> * The background is pretty dark, so try lower black points.
>
> Otherwise, looks very nice. Good S/N, in particular, but lowering the
black
> points may change that. <G>

50 units is reasonable normalization. But if you had 50 units of background,
somewhere along the line it got turned into pure black. Perhaps you could
have used more curves?

Ron Wodaski
The New CCD Astronomy
http://www.newastro.com

-----Original Message-----
From: ksbtk [mailto:ksbtk@...]
Sent: Wednesday, January 02, 2002 11:55 AM
To: ccd-newastro@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [ccd-newastro] ST-237 image - Flame Nebula


Thanks for looking at the image Ron.  Interestingly enough, I did not lower
the black point at all in the processing.  I only worked with the white
point and curves.  I did normalize the background of each channel prior to
the color combine, to a level to yield around 50 units.  May that have been
to harsh a normalization?  Otherwise, I am not sure how to get around the
dark background.

Clear skies,
Kevin

From: "Ron Wodaski" <ronw@...>


> * The background is pretty dark, so try lower black points.
>
> Otherwise, looks very nice. Good S/N, in particular, but lowering the
black
> points may change that. <G>





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