13 replies to this topic

[reifheck]

Hi guys,

 

I'm a little confused about how you take darks, flats, and bias frames when using HyperStar for EAA .

 

Do you remove the HyperStar and put back the primary and then take them?

 

Thanks guys ,

 

Reif

Edited by reifheck, 05 February 2023 - 02:50 PM.

[pyrasanth]

If you use a stout dew shield like the Celestron or astro zap aluminium you can take your flats by just pointing the telescope horizontal and putting a panel on the top. Do this on a dark night as the instrument being fast demands dark conditions to do this. You can then remove the camera to capture your bias & dark frames if you cant truly keep the whole telescope in darkness. The dark & bias frames will last you a few months however when the camera is replaced you will need new flats hence the need to do the flats immediately after your current capture session.

 

This is not too onerous to do especially once you have your first set of dark and bias frames you only need to worry about flats perhaps renewing your darks & bias every 3-6 months.

[jjbetts]

+1 Dew shield. If you have any lights on your camera (my zwo 183 has small led) I recommend covering with black electrical tape because the camera may pick up the ambient light.

I use flat darks instead of regular bias frames. Basically use the same settings you use for flats but without light. My process is point the scope straight up, set flat panel LED screen on top of dew shield with a few sheets of white card stock to dim the brightness, and take flats. Then leaving the panel on top I turn of the light/power and take my dark flat.

Cloudy nights can be good for taking darks. Camera doesn’t need to be attached to scope.

[steveincolo]

+2 dew shield. 

[dave85374]

Darks, bias, flat-darks can be taken with the camera not attached to the scope, just cap the camera with the cap that came with the camera.  Flats definitely have to be taken with the camera attached to the scope with a dew shield.  The red light on the camera should be taped over, I used electrical tape. 

[reifheck]

Thanks for the info guys. I'll give those ideas a try tonight!

 

Thanks again,

 

Reif

[MarMax]

I'm a bit late to the show again. I use a larger (24" x 24") LED light panel and just point the scope at the panel. No dew shield involved. The light panel works for all my scopes. I'm also starting to use a projected light source for flats. Both work well with the Hyperstar.

 

 

[steveincolo]

I'm a bit late to the show again. I use a larger (24" x 24") LED light panel and just point the scope at the panel. No dew shield involved. The light panel works for all my scopes. I'm also starting to use a projected light source for flats. Both work well with the Hyperstar.

 

Do you tear down and set up your scopes for sessions, keeping the optical train intact, or do you use a dolly?  I've now got a semi-permanent setup on the deck with Telegizmos 365 covers, so sky flats are the best way for me.  The dewshield is a better way to drape t-shirts than directly on the Hyperstar.  

[MarMax]

Do you tear down and set up your scopes for sessions, keeping the optical train intact, or do you use a dolly?  I've now got a semi-permanent setup on the deck with Telegizmos 365 covers, so sky flats are the best way for me.  The dewshield is a better way to drape t-shirts than directly on the Hyperstar.  

I have a wheelie bar for each rig so no tear down. The CPC 1100 is always ready to go and the only change is between Hyperstar or f/10-6-4 use. The G11G gets more swapping but the tripod and mount are always on the wheelie bar.

 

The typical setup is to roll the rig about 40 feet out in front of the garage, level it, run the cable(s) and then start up. It takes about 15 minutes to have a rig ready to start up. Once it's dark it takes another 15-20 minutes to get aligned.

[dave85374]

I made a Microsoft Word document explaining how I make calibration frames using a ASIAIR Pro or Plus and a HyperStar and have given it out to 5 people, using the personal message feature, and two of them said I should put it out here somewhere or even start a new topic to help people make masters with a HyperStar.

 

 

Attached Files

•  Making calibreation files.docx   15.18KB   14 downloads

[reifheck]

Do you tear down and set up your scopes for sessions, keeping the optical train intact, or do you use a dolly?  I've now got a semi-permanent setup on the deck with Telegizmos 365 covers, so sky flats are the best way for me.  The dewshield is a better way to drape t-shirts than directly on the Hyperstar.  

Yes. I use a the Far Point Astro wheelie bar with 5" locking wheels so I don't have to keep tearing it down and putting it back together.

 

I also have the 10" pneumatic tires and attachment for going out into the field.

 

I bought the Celestron Dew Shield and will be using it tonight so I can take flats

 

I have a flat led sketching panel for flats which seems to work quite well NINA flats routine.

 

Thanks for the input!

 

Reif

Edited by reifheck, 10 February 2023 - 03:59 PM.

[reifheck]

I made a Microsoft Word document explaining how I make calibration frames using a ASIAIR Pro or Plus and a HyperStar and have given it out to 5 people, using the personal message feature, and two of them said I should put it out here somewhere or even start a new topic to help people make masters with a HyperStar.

Thanks Dave.

 

I printed it out the day you sent it to me and am using it. You should definitely publish it here since it is quite useful.

 

Thanks again Dave ,

 

Reif

[reifheck]

I'm a bit late to the show again. I use a larger (24" x 24") LED light panel and just point the scope at the panel. No dew shield involved. The light panel works for all my scopes. I'm also starting to use a projected light source for flats. Both work well with the Hyperstar.

 

I'm using a very light LED sketch pad for flats that works quite well. It's light enough that I can set it on top of the Dew Shield.

 

Thanks ,

 

Reif

[BuddyK]

great info!