M42 Astro Pixel Processor 5 session stack

Discussion of using SharpCap for Deep Sky Imaging
ippiu
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Re: M42 Astro Pixel Processor 5 session stack

#11

Post by ippiu »

umasscrew39 wrote: Wed Feb 12, 2020 10:17 am Dave,

This is fantastic!! I've never tried APP but hearing good things about it. In SC, do you collect individual darks and flats and then make masters of each in APP?

Bruce
Hi Dave. I'm doing exactly you that is: trying APP for 3 weekes and i love it. I also am trying Siril and it's good too. But regarding background removal and light pollution APP is superior. So i have to decide if going straght to APP (also Mabula is so kind and responsive)...

Then, Dave, i'm asking to you exactly the above question posted by umasscrew39: why don't you give APP directly darks and flats taken with SC? I'm doing this and i think it's a good procedure: APP like darks and flats from SC. I also tried to take single darks and single flats and let APP do master dark and flat: i compare both the final results and i didn't see any big difference. So for me it's more convenient and spare time to take darks and flats with SC and process directly them as master dark and master flats with APP.

Thanks Dave for your fantastic posts from which i'm learning a lot

Ps. Could you please give me your M27 Astrobin link? Because i'm learning the calibrate star color and it's a bit difficult to completly understand the final utility (even if i watched some tutorials)
IOptron Cem40 + Apo 115 f7 + Asi533 Pro + Asiair Pro + Optolong L-eNhance + L-Pro 2"
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turfpit
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Re: M42 Astro Pixel Processor 5 session stack

#12

Post by turfpit »

ippiu
why don't you give APP directly darks and flats taken with SC
I always process all frames captured using a single application. To me it seems logical (and risk free) to avoid a 'mix and match' approach. I have seen on forums:
  • Problems removing noise with darks. Turned out after a lengthy thread the imager was using a master dark generated with different software to the one processing lights.
  • Master flat not working. Turned out that the master was generated using different software which had flipped the frames - blobs all in the wrong places.
Then there is this line from a FITS Header:

BAYERPAT.JPG
BAYERPAT.JPG (10.45 KiB) Viewed 1452 times

I was never comfortable with that after I found out that 2 processing applications could view the same data as RGGB or GBRG. I suppose I am 'risk averse' - that is what 30 years of supporting operating systems does to you.

With APP I am generating Bad Pixel Maps and watching the processing logs it seems to make sense to process all frames at one go.

I have used SiriL. The manual is very good and I learnt a lot from the package. I agree with you that the background removal and light pollution handling is better in APP. I think the post processing tools in APP, being designed for processing an astronomical image, have produced better results for me that a stacking program plus some stretching and mangling in software such as GIMP/Photoshop. I particularly like the drop down list of pre-determined stretching parameters in APP.

Imaging is not an easy hobby and the results only come from persistence and hard work.

This is my Astrobin account https://www.astrobin.com/users/turfpit/. I have used a variety of software and I think there is some improvement over the early images.

Thanks for the kind words.

Dave
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turfpit
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Re: M42 Astro Pixel Processor 5 session stack

#13

Post by turfpit »

This is what the Bad Pixel Map looks like for the 183C. I always generate a BPM now in APP.

bad-pixel-map-183C-sensor.JPG
bad-pixel-map-183C-sensor.JPG (63.44 KiB) Viewed 1448 times


Dave
ippiu
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Joined: Fri Jul 06, 2018 7:02 pm

Re: M42 Astro Pixel Processor 5 session stack

#14

Post by ippiu »

Thanks Dave for your experience and instructions...
I'm experimenting a lot with APP and Siril, also following your "experience"...and your post..
IOptron Cem40 + Apo 115 f7 + Asi533 Pro + Asiair Pro + Optolong L-eNhance + L-Pro 2"
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