Auto Gain and ...

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Real14
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Joined: Sat May 26, 2018 6:46 pm

Auto Gain and ...

#1

Post by Real14 »

... how do I use it ?

Hi,

I am in Mexico and on January 20-21 2019 there will be a great Total lunar eclipse and as we all know the exposure times vary greatly.

I have been trying to fiddle out how auto Gain works as from beginning of the Eclipse to toal eclipse the exosure time will vary very much.

If I read Auto at the gain setting I assume there is a way to fix the exposure time and the gain adjusts in order to keep the same image light.

How do I activate that ?

Thanks for your help in advance.

regards Rainer
regards Rainer

Observatorio Real de 14
22° North 101° West
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admin
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Re: Auto Gain and ...

#2

Post by admin »

Hi,

the implementation of auto exposure and auto gain within SharpCap actually comes from the functionality provided by camera manufacturers. If the camera manufacturer makes those auto options available then SharpCap provides a way to turn them on. This means that the exact way that auto exposure and auto gain will work depend on which brand of camera you are using.

As a general guide, if you have an auto gain option and you enable it then the camera manufacturer software or tried to keep a reasonable image brightness without changing the exposure value which may work well for an eclipse if the gain range is wide enough. You would want to set up initially with the gain very close to minimum so that as the eclipse progresses the auto setting can ramp up the gain to higher and higher levels. I'd strongly suggest some extensive testing of your proposed setup by for instance pointing the camera out of window on a sunlit day and then moving it into a position where it looks into a darkened corner of the room and seeing if the auto gain option manages to cope with that sort of brightness change.

Cheers, Robin
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Real14
Posts: 35
Joined: Sat May 26, 2018 6:46 pm

Re: Auto Gain and ...

#3

Post by Real14 »

Hi Robin,

Thank you very much. I forgot to write down i have a ZWO ASI 1600MM Pro.

Will take off the camera off the telescope and use a Canon lens and play around in a room.

regards Rainer
regards Rainer

Observatorio Real de 14
22° North 101° West
User avatar
Real14
Posts: 35
Joined: Sat May 26, 2018 6:46 pm

Re: Auto Gain and ...

#4

Post by Real14 »

Hi,

I tested a bit and yes it works great.

Thanks Rainer
regards Rainer

Observatorio Real de 14
22° North 101° West
User avatar
admin
Site Admin
Posts: 13173
Joined: Sat Feb 11, 2017 3:52 pm
Location: Vale of the White Horse, UK
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Re: Auto Gain and ...

#5

Post by admin »

Hi,

good to hear that you got it all working okay

Cheers, Robin
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