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Monochrome vs OSC CCD cameras, which is right for you?

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So you have decided to move up from a DSLR or other regular photography camera to a CCD but not face the question of which variety to get. You have heard about CCDs that are just like a DSLR in that they shoot a color image, while you have heard others shoot in monochrome and require color filters to get a color image. What to do? Start by understanding that every camera records in monochrome, yes, even your DSLR and one shot color CCDs, and yes, even a film camera! Above you see a representation of a Bayer matrix used in… Continue reading

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Orion XT8 SkyQuest 8″ Dobsonian Telescope Review

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I have had an Orion XT8 SkyQuest 8″ Dob for a few years now and it has held up well. This telescope has offered up a nice view of a lot of objects but for some reason I have never written about it. Let’s change that. Here is a short Orion Skyquest XT8 review. I bought this telescope several years ago and paid less than the Orion Skyquest XT8 price on Amazon, but like most things, prices have gone up a little and they have changed the scope a little. My old Orion XT8 came with a couple of eyepieces and… Continue reading

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Astrophotography image storage and backup

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Astrophotography image captures can add up quickly. They also tend to not be very small. Once you add in darks, bias and flats, you can have quite a mess on your hands.  Organization The fist problem is figuring out how to store the files so that it makes sense and you can get the files you need in a hurry. I started off with just a folder where I threw everything in and thought my naming convention would keep my astrophotography image collection organized enough. I was very very wrong. What I recommend now is a different method, and I… Continue reading

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Social Media addition to Allans Stuff

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It is probably overdue but Allans Stuff is finally joining social media. To start off, we will work on getting our blog posts  linked/posted to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Google+, in that order. This may take a while to get fully implemented so if you are primarily a Google+ user it may  be a little while before you start seeing content. Of course we will be engaging with our fans on these platforms as well but that too may be a little slow to start with so please bear with us. We already have a presence on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/c/AllanHall with… Continue reading

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Astrophotography objects for beginners book released

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Today I am proud to release a new book aimed squarely at beginning astrophotographers who want to know what astrophotography objects they can image with their equipment. From the webpage: Are you interested in astrophotography objects in the northern hemisphere? Do you need good information on astrophotography objects that can help you as a starting point? Taking images of astrophotography objects that are millions of miles from Earth is about as complicated as it sounds and when you start out you will find it hard to target the right ones. Size, brightness and type are just a few of the more… Continue reading

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Astrophotography forum back up and running

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Relaunch of the AS Astrophotography Forum! When I first started writing books I thought setting up a forum for support of the books would be a good idea. Unfortunately I never really kept up with it and soon it fell by the wayside. It soon broke to the point that new users could not even register. Sad. Recently I have had some people ask me what happened to the forums and so I decided to put in some work and get them back up and running. After many upgrades, head pounding, and new additions, the new and improved astrophotography forum is… Continue reading