Hello from the PNW USA.

Main Sequence Software Sequence Generator Pro (SGP) Beginner Introductions
2 replies•88 views
KlickitatAstro avatar
KlickitatAstro avatar
Hello everyone,

I'm new here.  Been dabbling with this hobby for a little while and recently re-caught the bug after a long cloudy winter.  In an attempt to learn the features of this platform I'm going to try to post a link to my first real effort below.  I've done M31, M42, and M45 in the past as half hearted/learning/heartbreaking/exercises in frustration/$$$/etc attempts at insanity but I think I've worked out most of the  main frustrations.  A little trouble with SGP and auto flats scheduling remain but I've gotten to the point where I can set up, polar align, and run a sequence fairly reliably although it seems like some small hiccup occurs every night.  Tonight it was autofocus.  Somehow backlash compensation got set to zero.  Trying for Crescent Nebula tonight.  I have clear skies, calm winds and cool temperatures.

Comments welcome/encouraged.  Planning on "promoting" the image soon but just wanted to use the share option and forum before promoting.

Thanks

Clear Skies

Mike

Ani Shastry avatar
Ani Shastry avatar
Hi Mike,

Welcome to AstroBin and very happy to hear you re-caught the astro-bug! There are several of us here in the PWN area.

After imaging from these skies for a while, and fighting the incessant clouds and bad seeing, I went remote late last year and haven’t looked back. While I do miss the mechanical tinkering, trading that for getting tons of acquisition time under quality skies has been worth it so far.

That is a beautiful shot of IC 1396! Love the colors!

Clear Skies,
Ani
Well Written Insightful Respectful Concise Engaging Supportive
KlickitatAstro avatar
KlickitatAstro avatar
Hi Ani,

I watched Nico's video about starfront remote observatory on YouTube.  It's very tempting.  You could rent a space for a long time for what it would cost to build an observatory and get lots of clear skies.  The tinkering is fun but nothing says you can't keep a rig at home.  I was thinking that if I was to rent a remote spot I would build a dual rig with both a wide field and a longer focal length for variety.

I'm in the Columbia River Gorge and the only thing I wish was different about this place is the cloudcover at night.  :-)

Thanks for the compliment.  Not really sure what I'm doing.  PI makes pre-processing easy.  Noise reduction and and general corrections like gradients etc have gotten a lot easier than I remember from a few years ago.  I bought the RC Astro scripts for PI and it kind of feels like cheating.  I'm hoping that the stretch isn't too offensive.  I just played with it until I liked it.

Clear Skies

Mike
Helpful Engaging Supportive
Related discussions
Greetings from Madrid (Spain)
Hello everyone! My name is Mariano and I am from Madrid, in the center of Spain. I have been practicing this beautiful hobby for only three months and watching your work in AstroBin and learning from you. I hope to continue enjoying and learning from...
Hobbyist astrophotographer introduction with similar beginner-to-intermediate experience level.
Aug 18, 2022
Hello.
Fairly new to astrophotography, only things I've done in the past are untracked milky way pictures after months of reading and having no idea about calibration frames at the time but was impressed with my first ever shot so I wanted more!! I've recen...
Author is experienced with astrophotography basics; this beginner post offers limited new value.
Nov 18, 2025