10.1.19 Trees in Registax6

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With a heavy overcast holding up H-a progress I decided to play with the Neximage5, iCap and Registax. Just to get some practice  with the software. The telescope used was my home made, 180mm f/12 R35 iStar refractor.

The first image is a still from the original video grabbed from the Registax  page and then cropped to the progress window borders.

The second image is from 40% of a 1000 frames taken of the tops of a copse of mixed trees 450 yards away. Registax brought out the feathery detail.

Finally I brightened and improved the contrast of the stacked image in PhotoFiltre. I still have no idea why I'm seeing lines like an old CRT TV.

It was lucky I could come back into the warmth for lunch. Because it is horribly cold today despite being quite a modest 35F. Not really much different from recent days. Not even any wind to blame.

I was supposed to make a sleeve for the PST filter barrel but my feet are still like blocks of ice. I tend to wear steel toe-capped, work safety shoes in the observatory in case I drop something heavy. They do not provide remotely as much warmth as my walking boots. Which are far bulkier for climbing ladders and can't be slipped on an off so easily when I have to go back indoors.

Friday: Some sunshine is promised for later. Thin high cloud teased me in the afternoon. The sun looked more like a watery Jupiter at times. I found the 80mm extension too much to reach focus with the 45 terrestrial elbow or binoviewer. So I swapped it for a 60mm just in time for the sun sink below the local trees. No surface detail visible.

The second Meade 4000 20mm EP turned up in the post looking cosmetically tired but optically clear. I should have bought new given the tiny difference in price after paying £14.30 priority postage from the UK! Bought on the 29th on FleaBay and then taking all this time to get here. Small packets are usually only about 3-4 days delivery on average. Never again from that particular dealer! 

The Chinese lander and rover are taking pictures of each other on the far side of the Moon. I wonder how long it will take the conspiracy retards educationally backward cynics to question which Bollywood film Lot they are really using for this? 

Saturday: Heavy showers. Added some electrical tape to tighten up the PST filter barrel inside the 2"-T2 adapter. I found that the long nose of the Swiss AOK etalon adapter allowed me to add the required 10mm to bring the rear of the etalon adjustment band to 200mm. Ordered a Startech USB mini-hub for the laptop. USB-C to 4 x USB2.0. I had run out of USB sockets.

Click on any image for an enlargement.

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