rigel123
member
Reged: 06/29/09
Posts: 37
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All pics posted were with the ETX-LS. The first Jupiter picture is with the DSI III Monochrome Pro shot with RGB and Infrared Blocking filter. A 3X Barlow was used with the DSI, seeing was average. Processed with Registax and enhanced with Photoshop Essentials. 1 each of R,G,B and I. The other Jupiter and Saturn pics were done with the LPI and enhanced with Photoshop. The Ring Nebula was also done with the DSI III Pro, through the same filters, 15 second exposures, 1 each stacked with Registax and enhanced with PS. The Dumbbell, Hercules Globular and Whirlpool were with the DSI, no filters, 20 images stacked by Envisage software, processed with PS. Dumbbell and Hercules cluster were 15 second exposures, the Whirlpool was 30 seconds using a focal reducer.
I probably processed the same images 3 or 4 times experimenting with different enhancements, but that's the fun of it watching the image evolve and amazed at the detail that can come out when you work with them.
I agree that anyone that wants to do more serious photography needs a larger scope and one that can be set up equatorial, but then you lose the portability. I'm happy to play with this one and try and get the best shots possible with a scope that is so easy to set up.
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ETX-LS 6"
8" Meade Dob
DSI III Pro Monochome
LPI
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rigel123
member
Reged: 06/29/09
Posts: 37
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Forgot, the lunar shots were all with the LPI, using Envisage software to stack 20 - 50 images. Some with a 2X Barlow others simply with the LPI. Full Moon, Quarter Moon, etc are composites made up with as many as 20 different shots and processed with Photoshop which makes that quite easy as long as the exposures are the same for each section.
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ETX-LS 6"
8" Meade Dob
DSI III Pro Monochome
LPI
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RonBurgundy
sage
Reged: 06/16/09
Posts: 252
Loc: Philadelphia
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Those are some great pics. I'm happy that you enjoy the scope 
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Kipp Ginsburg
8" LX200-ACF
Orion 120mm F/5.0 Piggybacked Refractor
Meade UWA Set [4.7mm-30mm]
DSI-II
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rigel123
member
Reged: 06/29/09
Posts: 37
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I have to admit that tonight, after owning my LS for 4 months now, for the first time I employed the "Tonight's Best" Tour. I hadn't done so before since I chose this scope for it's size and automated alignment, not the voice that tells you what you are looking at. I had taken some shots of Jupiter and mapped the full moon to do a composite and since it was only 8:00PM, I thought, what the heck, I'll take the tour and see what it was like. I was amazed at how little I knew what was actually visible, and I thought having used scopes all my life (albeit the point and try to find it kind)that I knew quite a bit about the night sky. When the LS showed me my fifth globular cluster of the night I decided it knew a lot more than I did! I spent an hour and a half just letting it take me to many familiar sights, and another half dozen or more I was totally unaware of.
Now I'm excited to hook up my camera's, let the LS do the tour, and I'll catalog everything that I can capture! 
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ETX-LS 6"
8" Meade Dob
DSI III Pro Monochome
LPI
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Joe Lalumia
Post Laureate
Reged: 01/24/07
Posts: 3594
Loc: Rockwall, Texas, USA
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Yes that's the neat thing about goto scopes. They will show you many objects that you either did not know about or could never find--- very quickly.
I remember one clear night from my drive-way (with trees on either side-- I was able to find 32 different objects in just a few hours. No way to star hop with my bad eyes, and light pollution.
Clear Skies! 
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LX90 8" LNT, SV Nighthawk & TelePOD, SV 80/9D & M4 mount, ETX 90, Orion XT10i, 20x80 binoculars, SV-BV3s-- www.texasastro.org
"Great minds discuss ideas;Average minds discuss events;Small minds discuss people." Unknown
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rigel123
member
Reged: 06/29/09
Posts: 37
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Quote:
You took all these images with your ETX-LS and not with your 8" DOB? Can you give us some idea how you did this? How many images you stacked, how much post-processing, etc.
Yes, all images on my website, www.rigel123.com were taken through the ETX-LS with either the Meade LPI, DSI III Pro Monochrome or the Orion Starshoot Solar System camera. Processing was done with Registax for aligning and stacking photos and color rendition on LRGB and finished on Photoshop essentials. Just added some new ones of the Orion Nebula shot with the DSI III through LRGB and a focal reducer. Orion was just above the horizon when I took these. Color image is 20 shots of 30 seconds each through each filter.
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ETX-LS 6"
8" Meade Dob
DSI III Pro Monochome
LPI
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nytecam
Postmaster
Reged: 08/20/05
Posts: 5741
Loc: London UK
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Congratulation Warren - these are excellent images and a credit to you and the product - very well done
I think you must be proud to the first to show [rather than say] what the scope can do and, as they say, a pic is worth a thousand words 
ps: Can I ask a favour - taken [and URLed] any pics via the alignment cam 
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Nytecam 51N 0.1W
Meade 30cm LX200+ETX-70+e-finder+C8+Ha+CaK PSTs SBIG SGS+homebuilt spectrographs
Starlight SXVF_M9+Lodestar CCDs/Canon 300D DSLR/Fuji E550
My observatory build-ETX-70 imaging-my videos
Edited by nytecam (11/09/09 03:26 AM)
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rigel123
member
Reged: 06/29/09
Posts: 37
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I have not tried the alignment camera yet for any night photos. In order to get a decent picture you need to change the settings, exposure time, etc and view it on a monitor. I have done this indoors hooked up to my TV and you can adjust it to get a fairly good picture just like a regular camera (I imaged my living room!). I don't have the monitor to view it outside unless I get the new accessory monitor that actually attaches right to the mount of the scope. I have thought about adding it but haven't had the interest in constellation photos, although it might be interesting to see what it could do with one like Orion or Andromeda. If I do, I'll be sure to post them.
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ETX-LS 6"
8" Meade Dob
DSI III Pro Monochome
LPI
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John Zimmerman
member
Reged: 10/05/09
Posts: 13
Loc: California
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Can anyone tell me how much this scope weighs - with and without the tripod attached?
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John Zimmerman
Celestron NexStar 11GPS
Celestron Nexstar 8SE
Orion Astroview 120ST
Celestron NexStar 4
Meade ETX 90PE
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rigel123
member
Reged: 06/29/09
Posts: 37
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Quote:
Can anyone tell me how much this scope weighs - with and without the tripod attached?
About 30 - 35 pounds without, the tripod probably weighs another 5 - 6 pounds.
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ETX-LS 6"
8" Meade Dob
DSI III Pro Monochome
LPI
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rigel123
member
Reged: 06/29/09
Posts: 37
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Quote:
Congratulation Warren - these are excellent images and a credit to you and the product - very well done
I think you must be proud to the first to show [rather than say] what the scope can do and, as they say, a pic is worth a thousand words
ps: Can I ask a favour - taken [and URLed] any pics via the alignment cam
There are very few pictures from the built in CCD so I'm posting one, not of the night sky but it will give an idea of the type of camera. Once I have a monitor I can take outside to get the right exposure I'll post that too. I think it might be useful for extended exposures for constellations, but not much more than that. The window in the picture is about 20 feet from the scope and the pine tree is about 200 yards away. You can adjust the exposure time and the contrast. Image size is 640 X 480
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ETX-LS 6"
8" Meade Dob
DSI III Pro Monochome
LPI
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necoma
journeyman
Reged: 06/13/09
Posts: 5
Loc: Zwolle / The Netherlands
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Is it possible to focus the built in camera ?
Do you need therefor a monitor ?
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rigel123
member
Reged: 06/29/09
Posts: 37
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Quote:
Is it possible to focus the built in camera ?
Do you need therefor a monitor ?
There is no focus function, it is like the lens on a disposable camera, always set for infinity so everything is in focus. I assume the trees outside seem somewhat blurry because the window glass will cause some distortion. You can adjust brightness, contrast and exposure time and you can take Dark Frames to reduce noise in longer exposures. I have the accessory monitor on order so that I can take some exposures of stars and once I get those I'll post them. You do need an external monitor so that you can preview the picture you are taking, otherwise you are just using trial and error. Meade is just now releasing a small 3" monitor that will attach to the scope that I hope will give a good enough image to preview prior to taking a picture and saving it to the Mini SD chip.
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ETX-LS 6"
8" Meade Dob
DSI III Pro Monochome
LPI
Edited by rigel123 (11/16/09 08:16 AM)
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rigel123
member
Reged: 06/29/09
Posts: 37
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A number of people have asked for examples of pictures with the ETX-LS Finder Camera. I was out tonight and seeing was awful, dewing was horrible and I was getting ice on different accessories so I thought I'd take some "Blind" shots with the Finder CCD. I picked the Pleides as a simple one and tried different exposures. I did not do a Dark Subtract so there is quite a bit of noise, but at least this will give you some idea of the camera's capabilites. Not too sharp, but if you want to get some pics of some constellations it would suffice.
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ETX-LS 6"
8" Meade Dob
DSI III Pro Monochome
LPI
Edited by rigel123 (11/20/09 10:42 PM)
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