Complete Novice needs help!!!!

[CarlGreen]

Hi Everyone, I really need some help......
I have celestron 9.25 evolution with an Alt Az go to mount, a QHY 5III 462 C camera (and various eyepieces and barlows)
I subscribe to the lifetime Sharpcap license.

I have tried (and failed) to set up my system so that I can partake of EAA as I believe that is the best way for me to be able to actually see any DSO or planets and capture them for processing (In Affinity) - (I have concentrated on Planets so far as could not contemplate attempting a DSO!)

I have tried many times with various settings, all to no avail. I cant get any image on the computer screen. I can see the object when I put an eyepiece in and get it in focus, but when i put the camera on, it is just a screen of "White Noise" It connects, but shows no image.

I have tried refocusing, scanning around in case the object has gone out of shot, but without success.

Is there a list of basic settimgs (Gain, Exposure, and anything else I would need) so that I can at least get somethinmg to look at!

Any help would be much appreciated.

And as a side note, I have had this equipment for quite a few months now (coming up to 2 years) and have spent HOURS on you tube and tried almost all of the tutorials going! I am not a thick individuakl, I just cant seem to get over this hgurdle!

Thanks in advance folks.

Carl

[oopfan]

Hi Carl,

I recommend two things:
1. Use SharpCap's special start-up sequence to reset to the default settings. Sorry, I can't help you with that but someone will jump in shortly to help.
2. Take the telescope out during the day and point it at some distant terrestrial object, the farther away the better. Set the exposure to a fraction of a second or else the daylight will overwhelm the sensor. So, to begin with don't worry about focus, start by getting the exposure right to show a shade of gray, then move onto focusing.

More than likely whatever you are pointing at will be severely out of focus. Play with the focus knob to bring it into focus. Try to use your telescope only for astrophotography, no visual with an eyepiece. You will lose your AP focus, unless your focuser gives you a way to easily return it. I have a refractor having a scale on the focuser graduated in millimeters.

Good luck,
Brian

[Menno555]

Hi Carl

To add what Brian said, some settings in SharpCap can cause a "white out".
First thing to check is the Display Histogram Stretch in the column on the right. As it is shown in the screenshot below, it's stretched to get the field visible. But when it's stretched like that and you have a Gain that is very high, you can get a "white out".
To reset it, click the button I circled in green there.

Other possibility is a way to high Gain setting and a long(er) exposure time. For planets you typically need a short exposure time and low gain.
Every combination of telescope and camera reacts differently, so I can't say what settings you need. I suggest to experiment with settings. For example for Mars you could try an exposure time of 500ms and your gain in the lower range. My gain has a max of 600, so I would set that at around 200.
If you get an over exposed Mars but not that much visible noise, then lower the exposure time to for example 300ms.
Again, just experiment with these settings and see what happens

Menno

Clipboard02.jpg (457.28 KiB) Viewed 1130 times

[admin]

Just to add to the above, since you have already had some success with the planets then the best way to start would be as follows

* Find and focus on the moon using the camera - it's big and bright and will show up in the camera even if badly out of focus. As you bring it towards focus you will probably need to reduce the exposure and/or gain to prevent it being overexposed.

* Once you have a decent view of the moon, move the telescope to point somewhere else without changing focus, and set the exposure to 4 seconds and the gain to about 1/2 way up. You should see stars with these settings (if they are faint, use the display stretch as suggested by Menno)

* Now try moving to one of the big, bright, deep sky objects - M42, M31 or M45 are good bets. The challenge here will be getting the target in view - your field of view with a small sensor camera like the 462 on a long focal length telescope is *tiny*...

You may be better off thinking about a shorter focal length telescope as a better match for your current camera.... Over 2m of focal length with a small camera really is trying to do it the hard way!

cheers,

Robin

[CarlGreen]

I am sooooooop excited Following your guys advice, I managed to get my first image of Jupiter!!!!!
Its not much, but its a start and its mine

Now starts the long hard road of learning and improving.
Thanks folks, you cant believe how excited (and grateful) I am over a poxy picture

[Menno555]

Not much? It beats my first planet capture by miles, so really good job!

Menno