Dithering + Platesolving while LiveStacking

[StarFlea]

Hi Robin!

I'm running live stacking with plate solving every 10 frames in a sequence loop, so:

Code: Select all

BEFORE SEQUENCE FINISH DO
        LIVE STACKING SAVE AllFormats
    END DO
    LIVE STACKING RESET
    LOOP 100 TIMES
        LIVE STACKING PAUSE
        RETRY ERRORS UP TO 10 TIMES
            MOUNT SOLVESYNCONLY
        END RETRY ERRORS
        GOTO SAVED COORDINATES
        DELAY 10
        LIVE STACKING RESUME
        LIVE STACK FOR 10 MORE FRAMES THEN PAUSE
    END LOOP
    MOUNT TRACKING None
END SEQUENCE

Despite using darks and flats, I'm having trouble with the walking pattern noise:

M16_1a.jpg (497.64 KiB) Viewed 438 times

The best way to avoid walking pattern noise is to dither.
And now I'm wondering if it's not possible to dither during the livestacking and between platesolving in a loop after every captured frame.

I read from an older thread that dithering is basically possible without using guiding and guiding software (viewtopic.php?t=4890), but wouldn't it also be very useful for live stacking and plate solving!?

Maybe it's already possible and I don't see the possibility?
(There are dither settings in the live stacking window, but does it actually work the way I want it to? Or is it perhaps possible to establish corresponding sequence steps?)

THX
StarFlea

[admin]

Hi,

by trying to do this using the sequencer while live stacking you end up fighting against the way live stacking is supposed to work - all of the automation for dithering and (if necessary) periodic recentering is built into live stacking and will happen automatically if you set those live stacking options up before running your sequence. (Note : recentering - SC 4.1 only, not 4.0)

Here's the correct setup:

* In SharpCap settings, guiding page, set 'Dither only guiding' - this means that SharpCap will be able to dither using mount movements without needing a real guiding application

* In Live stacking guiding settings, set 'Monitor guiding applicaiton', 'automatically dither' and 'reduce exposure while dithering' . Also set a dither frequency - maybe every 5 frames

* On the right side of live stacking guiding settings (SC 4.1) enable the recenter option and set a threshold that is considerably higher than the dither distance (may require a little trial and error with different dither amounts in the main settings)

Once that is all set up, any live stack you run should include periodic dithering *and* a recenter when the drift becomes too large without the need for any handling in the sequencer.

cheers,

Robin

[StarFlea]

Hi,

that's an interesting thing!

This is exactly what I've been looking for the whole time without knowing that it was already in front of my eyes!

Thanks! I have to try that right away!

StarFlea