From: Mark Gaffney <markgaffney@me.com>

Date: January 29, 2010 3:29:41 PM MST

To: Astro_IIDC@yahoogroups.com

Subject: Re: [Astro_IIDC] first M42...


Hi Milton, 

The exposure time for that movie was 15 seconds. I think there`s only one frame . I took a number of movies & that was the best (roundest stars). I didn`t get around to putting my dew strap on the scope, so some were affected by "fogging of the lens". I did run & get my hair dryer out though fairly quickly & used it. The blotch on the CCD is my famous mark on the Flea 2`s glass I`ve been talking to you about! I had both Horizontal &Vertical avg. pixel areas..Sharpen the Frames.. & Bin Frames 2 x 2..selected for stacking. I couldn`t work out what the line was either..?Here`s another stacking attempt with Remove the Hot & Cold pixel applied..

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Here`s the CAP text...

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& the Movie stack file for the new one above..

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I did try later with the Scorpion but probably because I was using the long cable & the Mac Mini inside I was getting "No Astro IIDC cameras are available" (I had something installing on the iBook). I had the Unibrain repeater connected & the 12 volt source for this which I thought inside previously was giving me a positive result as far as basic connection..(despite your warnings about needing a 6 pin to 4 pin FW cable). I will get one of these-I guess I only need a shortish one if using the lap-top (what I`ve done with that is another story) 

One star alignment was all I needed to slew to M42 as you said & I set the colour on the Flea 2 beforehand on some trees down the front.. 



Mark.


On 30/01/2010, at 4:42 AM, Milton Aupperle wrote:

Not bad for a first attempt Mark;

What exposure time were you using?

It looks like the CCD is a bit dirty as there is a big dark donut
centered around one stars. Flat frames would solve that issue.

There are a lot of hot pixels too, so I assume you had the
Brightness / Gains run up very high? They likely could be removed if
you turn on the "Remove Hot and Cold Pixel .." options in the
Preferences (see page 73 of the Astro IIDC Manual).

One thing I don't understand is why there is a vertical line of darker
pixels running through the nebula of M42? It almost looks like you
have a stuck row of pixels.

PS to everyone:

PGR has obsoleted the Flea, DragonFly Express, DragonFly and Scorpion
cameras (all of the FW 400 interface) and will no longer sell them.

They are coming out with the Flea 3, Grasshopper Express and
Grasshopper 2 models this year.

http://www.ptgrey.com/products/upcoming/index.asp

TTYL..

Milton Aupperle

On 29-Jan-10, at 6:05 AM, Mark Gaffney wrote:

> This is unguided & just a basic first attempt at this using extended
> exposure mode on my colour Flea 2 camera...
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