result
is not very nice ... movies of the ISS in colors will certainly be a challenge
! Tomorrow trial if possible with IRCut filter (ISS brighter BTW).
ISS-TRACKING with Emmanuel Rietsch tracking system 2013
| 2017 | 2016 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | INFOS & SETUPS |
Pass Ok- COLOR CAMERA Equatorial mode (as North pass and high) - Fev 18, 2013 ...
Mag -2.7 (Calsky -3.5)
19:09:58 10° WNW 19:13:14 49° N 19:15:50 15° ENE
Weather conditions were perfect although the Sun was only -9° !
ISS aiming :
ISS northern pass !
As soon as I saw the ISS, I centered it (red spot, mount + AD move).
Start with XBOX-360 USB paddle.
ISS Tracking :
DMK31. Exp 0.005s Gain 900, 30fps N&B
/ No INV DEC or AD checked. Foc: 180mm.
tracking was just fine until disappearance behind my roof, except when I hit
"stop tracking" on the paddle when putting it in the drawer of the table.
ISS acquisition :
color DBKAU618AS on second desktop PC (not easy it seems on the same PC, only
2 cores)
A few min before pass could focus on Polaris. That seems to be just what to
do ! Centering of the star in the acquisition field and focusing (not easy,
takes a couple of min because bad seeing)
The unmoded Orange C8 was equipped with a 1.6x
barlow (resulting FL = 3.6m).
30fps, Color mode, BY8 (640x480), Gain Max (1023), 0.0011s exposure,
recording videos : 480s for all AVIs (1 GB each) duration. Note : AVI recording
can be stopped after last ISS
containging AVI is finished.
ISS in rather good focus. Use of RegiStax5&6 and VirtualDub as usual...
The picture below shows the original movie color (white balance is Ok on Jupiter
but here light is insufficient for it to work properly ...).
Click on one of
them for a color corrected - don't expect much colors - movie in .WMV or .MOV
result
is not very nice ... movies of the ISS in colors will certainly be a challenge
!
Tomorrow trial if possible with IRCut filter (ISS brighter BTW).
Later today with Jupiter and the same settings
I solved the red color problem :
White balance should not be set to AUTO
with rather
dark
fields
or very
short exposures.
With no IRCUT,
Correct
values are : Hue
180, Saturation 255, WhiteBalance manual : Blue 59 RED 16 and best
for nice saturated colors
is to use
YUY2 !
Result is at left compared to right (after a pass in VD otherwise Registax gives
wrong blueish colors) !!
LAGS.jpg)
LAGS.jpg)
Correct ISS pass in COLOR / Mount in Equatorial mode (as North pass and high) - Fev 19, 2013 ...
19 Feb -3.1 19:55:52 10° WNW 19:59:11 60° NNE
19:59:52 47° ENE Visible
Weather conditions were perfect, Sun at -16°, ISS very
bright, timing of pass perfect because complete darkness then lot of time
to arrange centering and
focus on Polaris
!
ISS aiming :
ISS northern pass !
VS is parametered, ISS centered after rotation of mount and AD move to be just
a bit ahead on the trajectory, start of VS when crossing
red spot, tightening of mount ... very easy !
As soon as I saw the ISS, I centered it (AD move). Start with XBOX-360 USB
paddle.
ISS Tracking :
DMK31. Exp 0.005s Gain 900, 30fps N&B
/ No INV DEC or AD checked. Foc: 180mm.
tracking was just fine until disappearance behind my roof.
ISS acquisition :
Video skies using color DBKAU618AS on second desktop PC (impossible it seems
on the same portable PC, only 2 cores)
A few min before pass could focus on Polaris. That seems to be just what to
do ! Centering of the star in the acquisition field and focusing
The unmoded Orange C8 was equipped with a 1.6x
barlow (resulting FL = 3.6m).
30fps, Color mode, YUY2 (640x480), Gain Max (1023), 0.001s exposure, recording
videos : 480s for all AVIs (1 GB each) duration. No IRCut filter used !
With no IRCUT, Verified white
balance camera values : Hue 180, Saturation 255, WhiteBalance manual
: Blue 59
RED 16 and best
for nice saturated colors is to use YUY2 !
Note
: AVI recording can be stopped after last ISS containging AVI is finished.
ISS in rather good focus but only after dificult blind retouching ... A
motorized focus would be needed ! Also in some time an Edge C8 ...
Use of RegiStax5&6
and VirtualDub as usual...
Result show bad seeing above roofs
and chimneys ...
Below the image is from 73 original frames.
Resulting video (best part of complete transit) :
73frmmov.png)
73frmWMV.png)
Correct ISS pass in COLOR / Mount in Equatorial mode (as North pass and high) - Fev 20, 2013 ...
New : Adaptation of a JMI focuser in line !
20 Feb -2.8 19:04:58 10° WNW 19:08:15 51° N 19:11:09 13° E Visible
Weather conditions were very good just after passing clouds,
Sun at -8° then sky rather clear,
ISS bright, timing of pass early in the evening then no chance to finalize
centering and focus on Polaris !
ISS aiming :
ISS northern pass !
REMINDER : Mount is at least roughly polar aligned
and leveled.
AZ mount set to
186.9° (from figure in Caslky +- 180, plus if smaller
than
180
and - if larger) from
North
turning
clockwise seen from top
Height
of mount
set
to
~38.6° (from 90-51.4)
VS is parametered, ISS centered after rotation of mount and AD move to
be just a bit ahead on the trajectory, start of VS when crossing
red spot, tightening
of mount ... rather easy !
As soon as I saw the ISS, I centered it (AD move). Start with XBOX-360
USB paddle.
ISS Tracking :
DMK31. Exp 0.005s Gain 900, 30fps N&B / No INV DEC or AD
checked. Foc: 180mm.
tracking was just fine until disappearance behind my roof.
ISS acquisition :
Video skies using color DBKAU618AS on second desktop PC (impossible it
seems on the same portable PC, only 2 cores)
A few min before pass could focus on a plane contrail. Not bad
! Centering only in right left but that is already something ! I just had
to verify up/down...
The unmoded Orange C8 was equipped with a 1.6x barlow (resulting FL = 3.6m).
30fps, Color mode, YUY2 (640x480), Gain Max (1023), 0.001s exposure, recording
videos : 960 sec for the session AVIs (1 GB each) duration. No IRCut filter
used !
No IRCUT, Verified white
balance camera values : Hue 180, Saturation 255, WhiteBalance manual
: Blue 59 RED 16 and best for nice saturated colors is to use YUY2 !
Note : AVI recording can be stopped after last ISS containging AVI is finished.
ISS started out of focus but now I have the motorized focusing and it was
easy to focus !
Use of RegiStax5&6 and VirtualDub as usual...
Result show bad seeing above roofs and chimneys ...
Below the image is from original frames.
Resulting videos (complete transit ... nearby chimneys do their work !) are 10MB each :
Animation
using batch mode in RegiStax6 by 100 frames... 
New ISS pass in COLOR / Mount in Equatorial mode (as North pass and 52°) - April 15, 2013 ...
Start of pass 
at
culmination 
Working with the EQ-G in kind of Altaz mode !
Correct
ISS pass in BW/ Mount
in AltAz mode
(as South and low ) - April 23, 2013
Weather conditions were very good ,
Sun at -7° then sky rather clear, ISS rather bright, timing of pass
Ok to finalize centering and focus on Jupiter !
ISS aiming :
ISS southern pass !
To catch the ISS in the yet bright sky I did : VS on "forced", mount
lock just not completely tighten to be able to move quickly towards the appearing
ISS already high. Catch done... Tighten everything.
ISS Tracking :
DMK31. Exp 0.005s Gain 0 !!, 30fps N&B / INV AD (South pass) checked.
Foc: 180mm.
tracking was just fine until disappearance behind my roof.
ISS acquisition :
PLX capture on second desktop PC (impossible it seems on the same portable
PC, only 2 cores)
Before pass focus on Jupiter.
The unmoded Orange C8 was equipped with a 1.6x barlow (resulting FL = 3.6m).
30fps, BW mode, 12 bits, (640x480), Gain 805 (78%), 0.001s exposure, recording
videos : 460 sec in SER. No IRCut filter used !
ISS after a while I was not
sure if out of focus or just vibrating (but it was !) but did not touch the
motorized focus !
Use of RegiStax5&6 and VirtualDub as usual...
Below images is from original 50 frames.
For the record I was able to follow
a very very low pass ...
Here is the very bad (because impossible to see when focusing was good) but existing result in xvid
Correct
ISS pass in BW/ Mount
in Equ mode - June 10 & 11 (AM), 2013
/ISS-Pass.jpg)
Weather conditions were hazy, bad seeing,
Sun at -16°, ISS rather bright, timing of
pass Ok to finalize centering and focus on a star and check collimation
!
ISS aiming :
ISS northern pass !
To catch the ISS in the yet bright sky I did : VS on "forced", mount
lock just not completely tighten to be able to move quickly towards the appearing
ISS already high. Catch done... Tighten everything.
ISS Tracking :
DMK31. Exp 0.005s Gain 800, 30fps N&B. Foc: 180mm.
tracking was just fine until disappearance behind my roof.
ISS acquisition :
PLX capture on second desktop PC (impossible it seems on the same portable
PC, only 2 cores)
Before pass focus on star from the Big Dipper.
The unmoded Orange C8 was not equipped with a 1.6x barlow
(resulting FL = 2m) forgotten on the eyepiece !
30fps, BW mode, 12 bits, (640x480), Gain 668, 0.001s exposure, recording
videos : 600 sec in SER. No IRCut filter used !
Motorized focusing especially
after meridian pass!
Use of RegiStax5&6
Below images is from original 50 frames. ISS
is small (below drizzling used) ...
/ISS-1.jpg)
/ISS-2.jpg)
ISS/ISSPass.jpg)
Weather conditions were very hazy ,
ISS rather bright, timing of pass Ok to finalize centering and focus on
a star and check collimation !
ISS aiming :
ISS southern pass ! No culmination then set at az 30, h 37° as above.
To catch the ISS in the haze : VS on "forced", mount
lock just not completely tighten to be able to move quickly towards the appearing
ISS already high. Catch done... Forgot tightening everything with no harm !
ISS Tracking :
AD inverted checked
DMK31. Exp 0.005s Gain 914, 30fps N&B. Foc: 180mm.
tracking was difficult but Ok.
ISS acquisition :
PLX capture on second desktop PC (impossible it seems on the same portable PC,
only 2 cores)
Before pass focus on star West and collimate.
The unmoded Orange C8 was equipped with a 1.6x barlow
(resulting FL = 3.2m) .
30fps, BW mode, 8 bits, (640x480), Gain 668, 0.001s exposure, recording videos
: 600 sec in SER. No IRCut filter used !
Motorized focusing !
Use of RegiStax5&6 :
Below images is from 50 frames. ISS
is correct ...
ISS/ISS2-R5(50frm).png)
Very
difficult
ISS pass in BW / Mount
in Equ mode - June 13, 2013
Weather conditions cloudy with small
clearance, bad seeing, Sun at -13°, ISS rather bright, timing of pass
Ok to finalize centering and focus on a star (Polaris) and check collimation
!
ISS aiming :
ISS northern pass !
To catch the ISS in the yet bright sky I did : VS on "forced", mount
lock just not strongly tighten to be able to move quickly towards
the appearing ISS already high. Catch done... No more hard tightening as scope
will not slip.
ISS Tracking :
DMK31. Exp 0.005s Gain 950, 30fps N&B. Foc: 180mm.
Tracking was lost a few times for many seconds and manually re-aimed with
the red spot and VS still in forced mode until disappearance behind my roof.
ISS acquisition :
PLX capture on powerful desktop PC
Before pass focus on star Polaris motors stopped after centering with VS.
The unmoded Orange C8 was equipped with a 1.6x barlow (resulting FL = 3.2m) .
30fps, BW mode, 8 bits, (640x480), Gain 809, 0.001s exposure, recording
videos : 600 sec in SER aborted after disappearance. No IRCut filter used !
Motorized focusing !
Use of RegiStax5&6 : Below images
is from 50 frames. ISS
is shown for the record !
Early ... 
Middle
... 
Good ISS
passes in BW / Mount
in Equ mode - June 14, 2013
Weather conditions sparse clouds,
correct seeing, Sun at -8°, ISS rather bright, timing
of pass just enough to finalize centering and focus on a southern high
star !
ISS aiming :
ISS northern pass !
To catch the ISS in the yet bright sky I did : VS on "forced", mount
lock just not strongly tighten to be able to move quickly towards the appearing
ISS already high. Catch done... hard tightening.
ISS Tracking :
DMK31. Exp 0.005s Gain 400, 30fps N&B. Foc: 180mm.
Tracking was Ok until disappearance
behind my roof.
ISS acquisition :
PLX capture on powerful desktop PC
Before pass focus on a bright star.
The unmoded Orange C8 was equipped with a 1.6x barlow (resulting FL = 3.2m) .
30fps, BW mode, 8 bits, (640x480), Gain 809, 0.001s*** exposure, recording
videos : 600 sec in SER aborted after disappearance. No IRCut filter used !
Motorized focusing permanent
!
Use of RegiStax5&6 : Below images
is from 120 frames at left and 150 frames at right
*** after a short movie at 5ms for focusing
Weather conditions sparse clouds,
correct seeing, Sun at -16°, ISS bright, timing of pass just
enough to finalize centering and focus on Saturn then on western
star !
ISS aiming :
ISS southern pass !
To catch the ISS in the yet bright sky I did : VS on "forced", mount
lock just not strongly tighten to be able to move quickly towards the appearing
ISS already high. Catch done... hard tightening.
ISS Tracking :
DMK31. Exp 0.005s Gain 600, 30fps N&B. Foc: 180mm.
Tracking was Ok until disappearance behind my roof.
ISS acquisition :
PLX capture on powerful desktop PC
Before pass focus on a star.
The unmoded Orange C8 was equipped with a 1.6x barlow (resulting FL = 3.2m) .
30fps, BW mode, 8 bits, (640x480), Gain 600, 0.001s exposure, recording
videos
: 600 sec in SER aborted after disappearance. No IRCut filter used !
Motorized focusing permanent !
Use of RegiStax5&6 : Below images
is from 70 frames
RegiStax6 : 
+
PSP ***
accelerated
full pass (180 frm
/ picture, 6 fps) : 
original
movie (54MB) .MOV
*** In PSP : 200% / Gauss 2 / 50% AccDav 2x / 200% / Gauss 1 / 50% AccDav / Noise sub conserving structures.
Exceptionnal
ISS passes (just overhead) in BW / Mount
in Equ mode - June 15, 2013
Weather conditions clear, correct
seeing, Sun at -12°, ISS very bright, timing of pass to
finalize centering and focus on Venus then then on a western star !
ISS aiming :
ISS southern pass !
To catch the ISS I did : VS on "forced", mount
lock just not strongly tighten to be able to move quickly towards the appearing
ISS already high. Catch done... hard tightening.
ISS Tracking :
DMK31. Exp 0.005s Gain 700, 30fps N&B. Foc: 180mm.
Tracking was Ok until disappearance behind my roof.
ISS acquisition :
PLX capture on powerful desktop PC
Before pass focus on a star.
The unmoded Orange C8 was equipped with a 1.6x barlow (resulting FL = 3.2m) .
30fps, BW mode, 8 bits, (640x480), Gain 600, 0.001s exposure, recording videos
: 600 sec in SER aborted after disappearance. No IRCut filter used !
Motorized focusing permanent
!
Use of RegiStax5&6 : Below image
is from 167 frames
RegiStax6 : + PSP ***
accelerated full pass (60 frm / picture, 10 fps) :
See also small flare on an
upper left
window (I have no other explanations ...) 
Best part of movie (5 MB) Xvid in real time
3D animations :
Comparison of resulting quality when using different number of frames to construct the registered picture (60 fps capture)
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| 150 % ZOOM |  |
 |
 |
|
37 frm |
67 frm |
117 frm |
167 frm
|
237 fmr |
*** In PSP : 200% / Gauss 2 / 50% AccDav 2x / 200% / Gauss 1 / 50% AccDav / Noise sub conserving structures. 2 nd image, harder process.
Trial to manually cleaned the ISS from surrounding noise and seeing effect and on the right a colorization done according to what I have seen when looking at the eyepiece ...
Overhead low magnitude ISS passes in BW / Mount in Equ mode - August 14, 2013
Weather conditions clear,
correct seeing, Sun at -12°, timing of pass good to finalize
centering and focus on Venus then a western star !
ISS aiming :
ISS northern pass !
To catch the ISS in the yet bright sky I did : mount
lock just not strongly tighten to be able to move quickly towards the appearing
ISS. Use of joystick. Catch done... hard tightening.
ISS Tracking :
DMK31. Exp 0.005s Gain 564, 30fps N&B. Foc: 180mm.
Tracking was Ok until disappearance behind my roof.
ISS acquisition :
DMK21AF04.AS, ALA618 modified Firewire capture on powerful desktop PC
Before pass focus on a bright star.
The unmoded Orange C8 was equipped with a 1.6x barlow (resulting FL = 3.2m) .
60fps, BW mode, 8 bits, (640x480), Gain 650, 0.001s*** exposure, recording
videos with VS in SER (started at horizon time) aborted after disappearance.
IRCut
filter
used
!
Motorized focusing !
Use of RegiStax5&6 : Below images
is from 120 frames
see
XVID or
just the animation here : 
Overhead mostly very bad seeing* ISS passes in BW / Mount in Equ mode - August 15, 2013
Weather conditions clear, correct seeing,
Sun at -18°, timing of pass good to finalize centering and focus on
Venus then a western star !
ISS aiming :
ISS northern pass ! VS, Inv AD no
To catch the ISS in the yet bright sky I did : mount lock just not strongly
tighten to be able to move quickly towards the appearing ISS.
Catch done... hard tightening.
ISS Tracking :
DMK31. Exp 0.005s Gain 564, 30fps N&B. Foc: 180mm.
Tracking was Ok until disappearance behind my roof.
ISS acquisition :
DMK21AF04.AS, ALA618 modified Firewire capture on powerful desktop PC
Use of #21 Orange filter !
IRCut
filter
used.
Before pass focus on a high western bright star.
The unmoded Orange C8 was equipped with a 1.6x barlow (resulting FL = 3.2m) .
60fps, BW mode, 8 bits, (640x480), Gain 1000, 0.001s*** exposure, recording
videos with VS in SER (started at horizon time) aborted after disappearance.
Motorized focusing but * very
difficult !
Use of RegiStax5&6 : Below images
is from 130 frames
.jpg)
see XVID or
just the animation here : 
