Posts Made By: Damian Peach

Maurizio - your the last persons name i expected to see here!. How the hell have you been?. Its been a absolutely ages since i heard from you. Would be really good to catch up etc. You can reach me off list at

[email protected]

Best Wishes

Damian

Hi Maurizio,

Newbie. I like your sense of humour 8)

Actually, I guess things have really moved on considerably since your last images. Its amazing how far things have come in 3-4 years.

Firstly, i'm not sure its safe for you to put a webcam on that 10" F/8 of yours. I know how good that telescope is

You have two serious considerations in my view for a really decent webcam for filtered imaging work. Either an ATK-1HS II webcam, or a rather more expensive Lumenera LU075. I would get the Lumenera if i could justify the expense, but i cant (costs $900.)

The ATK-1HS is really quite significantly less noisey than the ToUcam Pro, especially the HS II, which has really smooth raw frames by comparsion and a much better QE. This is the camera ive used the last 18 months, and i have nothing but praise for it. UV imaging of Venus for example is really very easy with this camera, and the whole range of filters can be employed (even IR1000 and CH4 889nm with good results.)

However, the ToUcam Pro really does a superb job also, especially when the Planet is high in altitude (60 deg or more.)I obtained some superb results with the ToUcam from the Canary Islands a couple of years ago which proves it can really perform. Eric's recent Saturn images also show this.

Software. Ive tried just about everything i must admit. Registax has such a superb and user friendly interface that its hard to beat. Your concerns about frame sorting were very much shared by myself until about a 6 weeks ago. Cor and Myself worked allot to really test the quality estimators of the program, and developed a new estimator, which is currently available in the latest version. I made many custom frame sets, and tested the estimators of the program with these. The best two quality estimators were really very good (90% accurate.)

Ive also done tests on manual frame selection vs, auto quality grading, and when you have the settings right, there really is little in it. Ive tested several AVIs like this, picking the frames manually, then letting the software do it. The only difference was noise levels (hand picked much more noise due to to few frames.)

My advice would be, start with the ToUcam. I think it could really suprise you with some practice. Here's a link to a Jupiter set i got with the ToUcam a while back as an example:

http://www.damianpeach.com/images/best/march4th_2319.jpg

Its a great starting point, and you could find out how you like/get one with webcam imaging with very little outlay financially.

Best Wishes

Damian

Hi Wes,

Great shot of Archimedes. Lots of small craterlets, and well processed as usual.

Damian

Hi Maurizio,

Interesting queries. I think the primary reason is simply almost all the webcam work done was the the colour ToUcam (which in many images youll see doesnt portray the Planets appearance accurately) and all the webcam work was done during just one apparition where little cloud activity was present, before the mono webcams had come into force at the end of 2003. I did a fair amount of work on Mars from Dec - Jan 03/04 with the ATK, but the diam was small from 9"-6" diam. Despite this, much was recorded in both Red and Blue wavelengths. Mars is quite an easy object in Blue wavelengths with the ATK camera.

The mono webcams will show what they can do during the 2005 appartion i am sure (provided the dust stays firmly on the surface

Damian

Hi Maurizio,

I recall you sending this one to me originally. I still have it stored in my archive of images. Its still one of the best images of the valley with a 25cm size telescope. Your seeing must have been really steady that night.

Been very good here recently, though rather like a swamp with all the humidity...

Damian

Lovely image Jim.

Damian

Hi Carlos,

Thanks. I thought it was time i put a true picture of myself to my name . Jupiter is my main passion of course as you know, but its its declination is now unfavourable at this latitude (never above 35 degs now.)

I will be taking to overseas trips (this April for a month) and future years to image the planet from better locations. Lets hope the conditions away from here are more cooperative with the Planet much higher in the sky

Thanks as always for your excellent drawings you send, which is a rarity in todays imaging dominated world. I still enjoy observing visually myself but no longer make drawings.

Best Wishes

Damian

Hi all,

Just picked up on this thread (ok, so i'm a bit slow

I've tried both methods with the ATK for colour work (i employ a filter wheel with True Tech filters.) For Jupiter without question using the filters is best in an LRGB manner. Swapping cameras is hassle when you have such a short time window (but it does work if you wanted to take this route.) Saturn and Mars are much easier with regard to this, but for them i prefer to remain using the filters rather than the ToUcam.

Many examples of the filtered work with this camera on the major planets can be found at my webpages.

Best Wishes

Damian

Hi Alan,

Lovely shot. The sun can be quite spectacular in white light. Sorry to hear the seeing wasnt great - but i bet the nice warm nights made up for it Look forward to seeing the rest.

Best Wishes

Damian

Hi Paul,

Thats an impressive result for a 4" scope. If any notable activity was going on youd have caught it i think. Its interesting to see webcams used on small scopes as well as large

Best Wishes

Damian