3 replies to this topic

[FeralFarm]

Just beginning my 1st dedicated build, and I'm leaping into the fire. Barely knowledgeable enough to know what I don't know. Camera is ZWO 2600mc duo. I know to figure out 1 gain/offset setting and not to mess with it for a very long time until I know a whole lot more. I've read other threads, and get it's camera specific. I really took a risk paying up for this camera and want to make sure I'm getting good use from it. When I read about negative gains for full well etc, ears smoking. Now I'm stressing building a library with bad settings.
Scope is being shipped now, and I have an AM5 mount. Going to use laptop for now because I'm more interested in a set of dual band filters before an asiair. That being said, I guess I would want to figure a couple of settings. B4 here so no other filters needed.
Hope that's enough info for me to begin my begging for help. I will pay it forward 1 day.

[FeralFarm]

Forgot to add clipping and saturation...foam/mouth.

[kgb]

Congrats on new setup. If you are just starting out, I wouldn't sweat over the gain setting too much. ZWO recommends a gain setting of 100 for most applications. Also, I wouldn't think about building a library, at the outset, until you are confident that you are taking quality frames. Don't overthink this and stress yourself out. Enjoy the adventure and take small steps. You will learn more deeply and get more out of it.

[bobzeq25]

Gain 100 will work fine for you.

 

Ditto offset 20.

 

Changes to those numbers are relatively unimportant, you don't have to worry about it right now.

 

You don't want to clip too many pixels.  I use PixInsight to measure how many I have, there are alternatives.

 

If you can't figure it out, 30 seconds is reasonable subexposure (for now).

 

The important stuff.  The problem with messing up on these is not that your images will be bad, it's that your ability to LEARN imaging will suffer.  Takes a lot of learning to do this.

 

Autoguide.

 

Don't omit the camera calibration frames; bias, flats, darks.

 

An astro specific processing program beats the stuffing out of using a terrestrial photoediting program, this is nothing at all like terrestrial photography.  I recommend Astro Pixel Processor, there are alternatives.

 

Shoot enough subs.  One hour of total imaging time is minimal, 2 is better, 4 is good.

 

This book will be the best $50 you'll ever spend in DSO AP.

 

https://www.amazon.c...d/dp/0999470949

 

It's all too easy to worry about the wrong things here.  People on CN love to argue over stuff that doesn't matter much.

Edited by bobzeq25, 26 September 2023 - 11:42 PM.