SharpCap Forums

Thanks for the update.
Yes, all Quarks are a natural product and vary organically, I believe.
Today I tried 3 settings and found very little difference between them based on my knowledge. But, I now have a setting to start with..........
Note: I could not do a PA last night with my AIR do to clouds. So, put the mount back in my rear yard based on my memory of where it used to be. And, turned everthing and start SC..After SC slewed to where it thought the Sun was, I used the Solar finder and the mount knobs to move the scope where it told me the Sun should be? And it was on an edge. YEA. I tweaked it a bit more until I couldn't get it to move toward center anymore. Don't know why that was? And then used the sw arrows to center it and did the Quark setting trials. About 45 minutes it took.
Next, I gave a guess on center since time was running short. The heat. Then I tried the new Flat Cap and used what I understood their YT video said to do. I forgot to check for light leaks as they suggested.
Attached is the Flat I captured and used...

Next I started the mosaic at bottom edge and did an align.. Scanned thru the Goto edges buttons and found similar results as before. Close to target; but not perfect.
Then I did an 101 image mosaic of 6 panels. I had decreased the overlap to 175 and left the edge at 150. The 101 images save 25 didn't stitch either hAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
From today's answer from you; you suggest 2x of what I saw. But, I don't know how to tell pixels from those Goto screens???? EDIT: I just realized that the circle reticule has a pixel scale imbeded. Now, I can measure such things.................

Tomorrow, I will concentrate on trying to use the GO TO SUN command to find center and do a new FLAT> And increase the outer margin by 50 to 200 total??

Thanks, Chuck

Hi Chuck,

what a shame about the flat frame coming out badly - I guess with low light levels coming through the diffuser and quark then any light creeping in elsewhere can have a big impact

When you have a problem with movement like the one you described the things to check are

1) is the number of frames count still going up in the bottom left? If not, the problem could be a stuck camera (ie mount really moving, camera not updating)

2) can you hear the mount move when pressing the movement buttons (most mounts make buzzes and warbles when tracking, and those change when moving rather than tracking, so you know you are having some effect)

Of course, if you decide to image remotely (use 2 PCs - on next to the mount to run SharpCap and the other indoors using remote desktop software where you can see the screen and be cooler) then you can't apply the 'listening to the mount' trick...

cheers,

Robin

Morning,
Clouds today.
To clarify, do YOU think that attached "flat" was NOT very good? Based some YTers showing their flat procedure; they slew to an area with any sun elements, spots, flares, etc. and take the flats? Correct? But, if I use your "go to Sun" centering approach I could find a sun element in that view? What do you do in that case? Ignore or slew a bit?
Sorry, for the simple questions?
And, I use Remote Desktop when solar imaging due to the heat factors.

Don't think it's a stuck camera. I have an Astronomik L3 IR cut filter coming tomorrow based on Simon Tang's recommendation. So, you won't see post before Wednesday.

My mentor, Larry uses a red filter, which I didn't know. In my mind, I think the heat and seeing effects, the IR filter, the Quark setting and maybe poorish focuc are NOT giving me enough contrast on the panels and the images are soft......?

Chuck

Hi Chuck,

the flat looks odd in the bottom-right corner - the amount of brightening just out from the corner and then the dark spot right in the corner seem wrong to me for a quark flat (particularly the dark spot). Funnily enough it looks less bad now I have downloaded the image and viewed it in a different application - I think the dark patch in the bottom right corner stands out rather when viewed here in the forums because of the white border around the edge... Perhaps you should ignore me on that!

The trick to check flats is as follows...

Once the flat has been captured and activated in SharpCap, leave the flat panel in place. You should see a perfectly even grey image. Drop the exposure value by a factor of 2 and you should still see a perfectly even (darker) grey image. If both of those look good then the flat is doing a good job. If you see some small fluctuations (most likely in the lower exposure one) you might accept it as doing a 'decent' job. Any big deviations then try again with a new flat and see if it improves matters.


cheers

Robin

Waiting for the Astronomik L3 filter delivery. Noon, here I am guessing.
Clouds OK to day. I'm setup waiting for the Sun to clear the edge of my house; about another hour.
I will try another Quark setting for contrast improvement. Also, I will try another mosaic with different outside edge parameters. EDIT: But, I will try an center the scope with the Goto command, first. I DIDN'T DO THIS, FORGOT.
Take a flat with the Daystar methodology. And do the 2x reduced exposure test. Also, do the goto edges cycle. Etc. EDIT: DID THIS AND THE FLAT LOOKED ABOUT THE SAME AT BOTH EXPOSURES. AND SINCE IT DID; I USED IT AND DIDN'T GO BACK AND DO THE CENTERING......

EDIT: SET UP THE MOSAIC WITH 200 OVERLAP AND 200 SAFETY MARGINS. DID THE EDGE GOTOs AND THE WERE SIMILAR TO BEFORE TESTS. THE LARGER MARGINS FORCED 10 PANELS. WATCHED AS THEY WERE CAPTURED AND THE USUAL AMOUNT OF DRIFTING OCCURRED......... STILL CONFUSED HERE..
LET THE MOSAIC FINISH AND THOUGHT I WOULD BE MISSING SOME BOTTOM RIGHT CORNER. BUT NO..

EDIT 2: I ATTACHED THE RAW MOSAIC AND A THOUGHT OCCURRED TO ME, WHICH I HAD SEEN IN THE OLD ICE SW... WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE RAW MOSAIC THAT I JUST ADDED; YOU SEE THAT IT IS DRIFTING OR SOMETHING TO THE LEFT AS TIME AND ROWS GET ADDED. THAT IS THE STARTING POINT FOR EACH PANEL MOVES MORE RIGHT THAN DESIRED. I CAN'T FIGURE OUT WHY? ROBIN COULD YOU NOT "ZIGZAG" EACH ROW. AS IN ROW1 GOES 1, THEN 2 AND THEN ROW 2 STARTS ON THE RIGHT SIDE AND MOVES LEFT, ETC. UNTIL DONE.
1,2
5,4,3
6,7,8
10,9

FIRST FULL DISC MOSAIC EVER AND THE SUN WAS VERY ACTIVE. FOR REFERENCE "N" IS LEFT AND "S" IS RIGHT. AT LEAST THE GRAPHIC SAID SO.. AND SO DOES THE GONG SITE? HOW DOES THE SW KNOW THIS WITH NO PLATE SOLVE???

MR. SOL IMAGE ATTACHED

More later,
Chuck

Hi Chuck,

magic - a full mosaic - and looks very nice too, particularly striking in the colour version

I guess the 10 panel mosaic is going to be in the form 2-3-3-2, with the 3 wide rows in the middle being wider than the 2 wide rows top and bottom. That means that to judge drift you have to either compare rows 2&3 (both 3 wide) or 1&4 (both 2 wide). Looking at rows 2&3, it seems like the drift between them is actually pretty small, but there is a general offset to having more black space on the left than the right. That could be a result of drift in the time between you doing the alignment and pressing the 'Start' button to run the mosaic I think.

I am definitely going to investigate adding a drift measurement to the alignment - the simplest thing is to finish the normal alignment, then just wait for maybe 30 seconds and see how much the disk moves and in what direction - that would give a drift measurement that could then be used to correct. I have a couple of other features in progress right now, so that will happen later.

In theory I could change the pattern to a zigzag, but I don't think there's a big benefit to it - you eliminate the slightly longer GOTO movements to return to the left for the start of each row, but in reality they are only about 0.5 to 0.6 degrees anyway, so tend to not take long compared to the time waiting for the mount to settle and the time spent capturing. The row-by-row approach is chosen to ensure a consistent direction as much as possible during the mosaic, so that backlash effects are minimized.

cheers,

Robin

Robin,
I agree with your para 1 analyst and that's what I wondered also.

How can I compensate for that affect NOW? I cannot add or subtract a drift measurement, correct?

Good luck with your new stuff. Your software is amazing. The ability to creat a whole disc view with a Quark saves me/others hunreds of dollars.
Is there any limit to the amount of safety pixels?

Chuck

Did James Ritson contact you about him adding new Affinity Photo Macros for solar editing? He asked me for ideas and suggested he email you?

Hi Chuck,

currently there is no correction for drift during the mosaic, so the two options are

1) polar align as well as possible given the limitations
2) Run the mosaic quickly after the alignment completes to minimize the time that the drift can accumulate for

The safety margin is currently limited to 500 pixels - that's not a limit of the way the mosaic is run, it's just the biggest value you can set in the UI at the moment, picked as a 'I don't think anyone will every need to go higher than that' value when I wrote the mosaic tool.

I haven't heard anything regarding affinity photo macros - would be happy to though.

cheers,

Robin

Thank You, Robin.
Since SC retains last settings generally, one could set up the mosaic parameters ahead of time and close the tool. Then go back restart it and use current alignment and quickly click thru the setup and start the mosaic tool? Actually, if one uses the centering trick to find sun center and exit and then generate their "flat" master; they are almost ready anyway. Just complete the mosaic setup and exit without starting. Then go back a restart using the previous alignment and quickly click thru and START?

The mosaic uses an offset correction also which comes from where? Polar alignment, correct?

If one has a planetarium or a permanent mount, they use the home position each time as their PA. So, SC gets that info from the mount? And creates an "offset"? If one does a new PA; it must know to use the new values? Sorry, for the questions.. My confusion is I've watched to many YT videos. And, I thought I've heard that if one uses the hand contoller, or the mount knobs or the software arrows; the changed mount position data is changed in the mount's data bank and and sometimes it isn't. So, if I confirm the sun's location after I use the "Goto command" in the tools menu; which controls do I use to get the data into the mount's data. And, now have the true "offset"?
Sorry, for not knowing this basic optical common sense? If this is in the manual; let me know?

I will NOT be using my solar setup for the rest of the week; my house is being painted outside....

Monday, is new start day,,,

My surname Willford is a variation of Wilford, a small town on the River Trent. I have church records dating to the 1650's of my grandparent's births near the shire of Leicester. Small world........


Chuck

Hi Chuck,

the offset comes from the solar mosaic alignment procedure itself, so is recalculated every time you run the solar mosaic alignment in one of the 2 or 3 possible ways available. Even with a permanent setup, it's not worth trying to remember the offset from session to session, as there are too many things that can change it - it's best to treat it as an ephemeral value that you re-measure whenever you need it. For example, the offset can be changed by

* Changing sides of pier if your setup has 'cone error'
* Drift due to incorrect PA over time
* Removing and replacing the camera/quark/etc
* Shifts in the imaging train as the mount tracks the sun across the sky - with a quark you often have a long imaging train which can be virtually impossible to get 'rock solid'

Since the auto align is usually quick and runs automatically, you could do something like

* Auto align
* Goto sun to get a view of the center of the sun
* Capture flat
* Auto align again
* Run mosaic

to ensure that the mosaic runs with the offset and other data from the second auto align, which means that the time gap between the alignment data being measured and used is minimized.

I don't think I have every been to Nottingham, but was in Loughborough a few weeks ago, which is only about 10-15 miles south of Nottingham/Wilford. Nice part of the country

cheers,

Robin