dwsubc

2023 Prominence Compilation

 Solar HA  Comments Off on 2023 Prominence Compilation
Oct 292023
 

Above is a compilation of the solar prominence animations I captured in 2023 from Inverness, Scotland. Full details of equipment and software used are in the end credits.

 Posted by at 1:08 pm

Frisky Prominence

 Solar HA  Comments Off on Frisky Prominence
Sep 272023
 

This was a short capture of a prominence that was very animated considering it only lasted 25 minutes.

Click on image for full size version.

Captured with my 90mm PST mod, 2.5x barlow and DMK21 camera.

More of my animations are here.

 Posted by at 12:03 pm

Dave’s Video Cleaner (DVC)

 Solar HA  Comments Off on Dave’s Video Cleaner (DVC)
Aug 062022
 

Here is a preview of my latest app DVC which is used to clean up astro videos.

I capture hundreds of videos using DSSR over several hours to create my solar animations. These are then batch processed by Registax or Avistack. However, any dark frames caused by clouds can cause glitches or even shutdowns for the stackers. DVC works by first analysing the brightness of every frame in every video. Any videos with frames that are too dark are moved into a folder called “2Bcleaned”.

DVC then processes the videos requiring cleaning and creates a copy video with the darker frames removed. These can then be included with the ‘clean’ videos and batch processed by stacking software with no problems.

 Posted by at 1:55 pm

8 Hour Solar Rotation

 Solar HA  Comments Off on 8 Hour Solar Rotation
Jun 272022
 

This animation shows 8 hours of solar activity caught with my Coronado PST on June 23rd, 2022. Software used was DFM, DSSR, Avistack, Gimp, Advanced Renamer and DVS. It repeats in reverse so you can see the Sun’s rotation.

I also managed to catch a jet passing the Sun which is below at half speed.

 Posted by at 5:58 pm

Latest AstroKam Captures

 CHDK AstroKam, Deep Sky  Comments Off on Latest AstroKam Captures
Mar 062022
 

Here are a selection of my latest captures taken with my £90 Canon SX530HS. Click on an image for full size original.

Flame and Horsehead Nebulae
M51
M45
 Posted by at 1:24 pm

Svbony SV105 Lunar Flyover

 Moon  Comments Off on Svbony SV105 Lunar Flyover
Feb 202022
 

I shot this with my SV105 camera on February 10, 2022. Clear Highland air gave very steady seeing so I caught a lot of detail.

 Posted by at 2:26 pm

Sunlit Birdbath

 Birds  Comments Off on Sunlit Birdbath
Apr 212021
 

The video above shows blackbirds enjoying a shower with the splashes lit up by sunlight. Shot using CHDK in Canon SX530HS. The video below shows how it looks after processing in Dave’s Motion Stacker software.

 Posted by at 12:49 pm
Jan 202021
 

My new SV105 camera just turned up from China for £36 including 7 day delivery. Remarkable, considering a lot of UK vendors won’t deliver to Scotland. Worked straight out of the box so hooked it up to my 140Mak and left DSSR running overnight capturing a series of lunar mosaics. The best seeing was just before dawn and you can watch a flyover animation of the resulting mosaic below.

And below is another animation made on the 23rd January 2021:

 Posted by at 2:51 pm
Jan 092021
 
Click for larger image

FOLLOW THIS TUTORIAL AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!!!

My astro mount is beside my garage with a PC just inside to control it. I can control the mount and cameras remotely from my home study using Google Remote Desktop – but not my Orion AccuFocus focusers.

I read a forum post (that I can’t now find) which explained how to control the focuser over USB. I adapted it slightly to avoid the need for stripping one end of the focuser cable by adding an RJ10 socket.

Component links: USB RelayRJ10 Socket

The wiring diagram I used is here. Note that the wires to the socket are soldered to the left and right pair of pins respectively.

To control it, I modded an app I found on the net to give me a selection of timed pulses in both directions. This gives fantastic control for fine focussing.

The whole thing cost less than £10 but means I can now control everything from the comfort of home – or even further afield.

 Posted by at 2:42 pm