SharpCap Forums

Thank you Robin, it might be a while before I can test things, when that time comes, please tell me how to capture the log you're referring to (I don't want to mess up an opportunity to get you all the information you might need).

Thank you
Joe

Hi Joe,

two separate places to look

1) The main log - Help Menu, choose 'Show Log', then press the 'Copy to Clipboard' button (you can then paste the log into Notepad, word, etc). https://docs.sharpcap.co.uk/3.2/#Show%2 ... e%20graphs

2) The live stacking log - the right hand most tab in live stacking. This one you have to click in the box then press CTRL+A followed by CTRL+C to select all the text then copy it. https://docs.sharpcap.co.uk/3.2/#Log%20Tab

In both cases it's important to let the problem happen before grabbing the log.

thanks,

Robin

Robin,
FINALLY! Last night was fantastic! The laptop worked flawlessly! I'm not sure if it was because of version 4.0 or increasing the laptop power, but whatever it was, it was fine! (when will version 4.0 be available, I realize that this beta version is temporary. Does it require re-downloading the beta version periodically until the never version is approved?

Here's an unprocessed image of the whirlpool from last night. I believe it was about 130 subs (30s / gain 318). My flat, using dark-flat subtraction worked perfectly on my vignetting problem with my ZWO294 (thanks to a previous suggestion you made). Don't know if you can see it in this image, but there's a slight, wispy glow just to the right of the galaxy...any idea what that might be?

Hurrah! What an excellent image!

Glad to hear that SharpCap 4 worked well for you - the current state of play is that the changes to the program itself are pretty much complete. Right now I'm working on fixing any bugs that get reported and updating the user manual. Hopefully there will be a full (non-beta) version within the next few weeks, otherwise I will extend the expiry date on the next beta release or the one after that.

I can definitely see the glow that you are referring to just the right of the galaxy – for this sort of thing it's worth looking at the frames that go into making the image to see if you can spot that in one of them to try to work out where it comes from. For instance that could come from an unusually dark area in the flat or it could be present in the light frames (perhaps due to reflections within the telescope or a little dew on the sensor window).

Cheers, Robin

Robin,
I"m not quite sure what you're suggesting. I just went through all the raw frames. Other then a few streaks (planes?) in three of the frames, I didn't notice any differences. Were you suggesting I look somewhere else?

Much thanks,
Joe

Joe,

It looks like a reflection from a light or a window in back of you. Was this image taken with your smartphone of your laptop's screen?

Brian

Hi Joe,

basically my idea was to look in detail at some of the light frames that you've captured (unprocessed ones) to see if you can see a hint of that bright area in the light frames. If you do see a hint of it in the light frames then that's the direction to proceed the investigation – look for some reason that extra light might be falling on that part of the sensor. If you can't see any hint of that bright patch in the light frames then look at the flat frame to see if that has a darker than usual patch in that area (which would translate to that area being brightened by the flat correction).

Basically that bright patch has to come either from the lights, the flats or the darks. The first step is to work out which one of those three it is and then to try to understand the cause.

Cheers, Robin

Thank you Robin, I shall investigate. I know this is a totally novice question, but where can I find the light frames? I only see the raw frames in my capture folder.

And Brian, the image was from my laptop.

Hi,

yes the raw frames are the light frames - they are the images that came off the camera without any dark/flat correction applied to them.

cheers,

Robin

Thank you Robin,

Went through the light frames and couldn't see anything suspicious, although on a handful of the frames I did see "streaks" (attached), which I assume are planes (these were 30 second exposures). Some were bright like this attachment, some faint...maybe six or seven frames had these streaks. I also checked my flat (with the dark subtraction) couldn't see anything that stood out.

Perhaps it's just an anomaly, unfortunately I haven't had a clear night since to find out. I think we've exhausted all possibilities for now.

Thank you for your help, I'll continue to update as I accumulate more images in the clear nights ahead.

Joe