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Posts Made By: Stephen Fugardi

December 10, 2006 11:23 PM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Solar System

Massive Sunspot 12/10/06

Posted By Stephen Fugardi
I took this shot today at f10 with my C11 using a baader filter and toucam. Best 100frames stacked out of 2000. Average seeing, slightly in the trees. The sunspot's massive size seems bigger than Venus! I tried using my 2.5x powermate but got a strange reflection in the upper right hand corner using the toucam. If anyone has any web sites on solar activity, could you please post them. Thanks

Regards,
Steve

December 14, 2006 11:17 AM Forum: Home Observatories

Re: Questions from a beginner

Posted By Stephen Fugardi
Jim,
1) Try setting up your scope in the place you potentially plan to build your observatory. If the views aren't up to your standards, then don't bother. You are lucky to have a nice dark site nearby
2) From my own dome experience, I would go with a roll off shed for better seeing. I think my problem is my concrete pad (which I will re-insulate & add a false floor to isolate). A wood floor would have been better
3) Heaters are evil and will ruin the seeing. For electricity, I use several extension cords rolled up in a hose coiler.
4) Security-wise I use multiple door locks, chains with masterlocks, and inside hooks. All my valuables are kept in the garage (computers, eypieces, etc) until the time I go out.

Another consideration is the view of the sky. By fixing your telescope, you may be limited to certain views. In my case, catching Venus/Mercury not in trees is rare. Even last weekend, the sun was in the trees at midday. The main reason I built my observatory was my back. Lugging out my C11 each time was an adventure. I went with a dome since I found one used at a good price.

Hope this helps. Good luck!

Regards,
Steve

December 29, 2006 02:29 PM Forum: Home Observatories

Home Depot Flat Light

Posted By Stephen Fugardi
Ideally you have clean optics and never need to use flats. However if you are unlucky, and have 20 years of internal dust motes like me, compensating with flats is important. I haven't had much luck with the t-shirt or white garbage bag and flashlight methods. My best flats were taken with the sky which doesn't help at night. I stumbled across round florescent lights at Home Depot and bought a 14" DIA to cover my C11 opening (approx 12.5"). I cut an old extension cord and connected it for power. The light weighs next to nothing but is very slippery and should be placed on top of the dew shield with the scope pointing up. For $40, my flat taking issues are solved and it doubles as a "clean up" light and the end of the night. Attached is a picture of the box. In the next post I will compare the flat field results

Regards,
Steve

January 3, 2007 09:51 PM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Solar System

Saturn f25 1/3/07

Posted By Stephen Fugardi
Considering I haven't even seen a clear night in weeks, the full moon and below average seeing lured me back for another try at Saturn. After some attempts at collimation and drift alignment, I accidentally left the dew shield off tool long and the corrector lens slightly froze with dew. With cirrus clouds heading in, I took a few avis and this was the best one taken at 2:30am this morning using my toucam and C11 compustar. Best 100/2200 frames stacked in R4 @10fps, 45% Br, 30%Gam, 40%Gain, 1/25sec, 100%Sat. Hopefully we will get a few decent nights this season. Happy New Year!

Regards,
Steve

January 18, 2007 10:04 PM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Solar System

Saturn f25, 1/17/07

Posted By Stephen Fugardi
With average seeing at 10degF I managed to get 3hrs of observing before freezing to the bone by midnight. While I tried raw mode with my toucam, I seemed to have great difficulty focusing it. After a few avis I went back to non-raw mode. This time I upped the gamma to 35% to help bring out more details and used a 4 multi-point alignment in Registax. The best 200 frames were stacked. For the first time since insulating my concrete, I was able to visually use the 2.5x barlow + 8.8mm eyepiece to see several moons just off the ring and the dark separation. Sometimes I find myself observing too much with the webcam and not enough with the eye. Hopefully, the seeing can improve with more comfortable temperatures...

Regards,
Steve

February 22, 2007 06:45 AM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Solar System

Saturn 2/21

Posted By Stephen Fugardi
Having waited 6 weeks for a decent sky, I ventured out in the balmy 22degF with below average seeing / transp. "Best" 400 frames stacked from C11 and 2.5X with Toucam at 1/25s, 50%Br, 35%Gam, 33%Gain, 100%Sat. Clouds moved in within an hour. Sometimes it just feels good to get out there again - even in bad seeing...

Regards,
Steve

February 25, 2007 02:22 AM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Solar System

Venus f10 2/24

Posted By Stephen Fugardi
Under bad seeing conditions, I captured Venus tonight between the trees with my C11 and Toucam. Best 200 frames stacked with 1/1500sec at f10. At a -4 magnitude, I was able to see it before the sunset. The disk was a tiny 12" with a 90% phase.

Regards,
Steve

March 21, 2007 10:14 PM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Solar System

Saturn f25 3/21 Bad Seeing

Posted By Stephen Fugardi
Unfortuneately, I was hoping the moonless 4/5 transparency last night in 19degF would overcome the 1/5 seeing - no such luck! I tried "finding" my collimation using a red filter on the Toucam & the http://www.astrogeeks.com/Bliss/MetaGuide/ freeware which was my first time using on a real star. Considering my terrible conditions, including 15-20mph gusts knocking the image around, I managed my "best" avi around midnight. C11 +2.5x barlow, toucam with IR, 1/25s, 29% Gam, 48%Gain, best 200frames stacked in Registax. At this point, I'll settle for basic average seeing before Saturn fades away...

Regards,
Steve

March 24, 2007 05:15 PM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Solar System

Toucam Webcam Collimator

Posted By Stephen Fugardi
For $9 in parts, I made this collimator for my Toucam this morning. Last time out, I noticed that my web cam optical path is not exactly square to the CCD as I rotated the camera. Here is my attempt to straighten it out. I am not sure if anyone else has observed this or if it will work. With poor skies ahead, I may try to characterize this modification with my artificial star. Before eventually jumping up to a mono camera I was hoping to make basic improvements to the toucam imaging first. If it works, I'll post the results.

Regards,
Steve

April 23, 2007 05:09 PM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Solar System

Jupiter f10 4/22/07

Posted By Stephen Fugardi
Taken with my C11 and toucam between the tree branches in below average seeing with a visually significant halo around Jupiter. I never intended to image the gas giant but this was my first time observing in weeks and in with a blink of the eye it was 3:30AM! Although I tried using the barlow, my focus was very soft so I decided to image at prime. You know you are in trouble when you see tree branches in the eyepiece! Attached are the best 500frames stacked with Registax. At this point, I need to put the DMK mono camera on my wish list...

Regards,
Steve

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