From: george hall <george2003@sbcglobal.net>

Date: March 22, 2012 1:59:49 PM MDT

To: Astro_IIDC@yahoogroups.com

Subject: Re: [Astro_IIDC] Help needed with some newbie questions

Vince,

I am also a newbie here. Like you, I just purchased a Mono Flea3. I also would appreciate answers to the questions that you have asked. 

George

On Mar 22, 2012, at 2:51 PM, vbertus wrote:

Hi folks, Astro IIDC newbie here. I read through most of the manual and it explains the software very well, but I have some even more basic operational questions so go easy on me. :-)

I am using the software for lunar and planetary imaging with a Mono PGR Flea3.

1. Camera Settings: Exposure time, gamma, and gain. Previously, with cheap webcams, I have only worked with exposure time and gain (called brightness in IIDC?) The gamma setting is new to me, so what should be my basic thought process in these adjustments prior to capture? I was thinking adjusting exposure time and gamma first, then adjust the gain to the minimum amount necessary to get an image of acceptable brightness on the screen. Would this be correct? Also, what effects do different amounts of gamma have on the final image wrt detail, noise, etc?

File size: Man, the 16 bit files are huge, about 1 gb per min @ 60fps. I was wondering about using a 500 gb external firewire drive for the capture of the files. Would this preclude me from be able to get 60 fps in 16 bit mode? I'm running a late 2008 MBP, 2.8 ghz Intel Core 2 Duo, OSX Lion, so not exactly a cutting edge machine.

2. Guiding: I'm clear on calibration etc. However the manual seems to imply that I can actually guide on a centroid or limb while simultaneously using the same camera to capture the image? Would this be correct? If so, would this lower the useable frame rate for the image capture?

3. Registration and stacking: I have only ever used Registax, but it of course requires you to convert to an .avi file which I would rather not do. How do you find the frame sharpness filters, registration and stacking algorithms in Astro IIDC as compared to Registax? For final sharpening, is there anything on the Mac platform that is similar and at least as effective as the wavelets function in Registax? The sharpening algorithms in Pixinsight perhaps?

4. Further Post Processing: I have migrated completely to Pixinsight for processing my deep sky astro images and now only use Photoshop for some final tweaks. Do any of you use Pixinsight for processing your planetary and lunar stacks, and how do you find the results?

I apologize in advance for my newbie questions, but this will really help get me started.

Thanks, Vince