Mars...... by a learner

mmmm... I have been out this night attempting to image Mars with a CGE 11" SCT, mostly lead to frustation.....anyway here is one of the results.... ("by no means a "Carl O Beirnes or Damien Peach" type image),




......... ideas and suggestions in getting focus and the correct webcam settings.. very welcome

and here is another one from the same session...........




... and a few more AVi's to go.............again I reckon the focus is somewhat off, or maybe collimation, any ideas?

Hi Steve.
I was doing the same myself.
Mars is a cracking size lately isn't it?
Fingers are still a bit numb.

Tell me,
what camera / barlow etc did you use to image with,
also what capture software etc...
Would help to know your set up before making any suggestions.

hi Frank,

Me hands are rather numb alright... looks like I wont be playing my bass guitar tonight!!!!!...

Using the Philips SPC900, with an Orion shorty Plus barlow. (2X) I also tried a few final sessions with the Baader Fringe Killer filter, to see if that made a difference.

Tried a few with Craterlet and another few with NeroVision.

Tis rather windy here too!!!

any suggestions welcome Frank.

Are you using an IR filter? It's essential for webcamming Mars.
What kind of frame rate and exposure settings are you using in what
image capture software.
Sorry for all the Q's but I'd be better able to give advice if I knew
your exact set up and M.O.

yep ... using a Baader IR filter, 10 frames per second, at about 1/33 or 1/25 sec exposure. I set gamma, brightness and gain at an amount that looked OK in the LapTop VDU.

I cant remember the settings, just that I tried to keep Gain as low as possible and adjusted the rest. Gain seemed to introduce too much noise into the equation..... visually.