Problems with Dark Frame Calibration

johnp

I am having issues when I use dark frames to calibrate my images when using DSS. I am using an ASI294 pro with the native drivers in sharpcap to create my darks. The darks are the same gain and temp as my lights. When I incorporate the darks into my stack they completely null out my image. Nothing but a black screen. When i stretch the image in StarTools I get severe color gradients. This does not happen when I use my ASI224 camera with the same settings in DSS. I have had my asi294 camera for about 6 months.

Please Help!!

Support@ZWO

Hi there

It could be the offset problem.

In sharpcap, for deepsky, following parameter must be the same for all frames.

color balance: R=50, B=50

Gain= same for all frames.

offset(brightness)= same for all frames(value>50)

exposure= dark and light should be same

color space=RAW16

Format= *.fit

I highly recommend to use some professional deepsky capture softwares. Such as SGP, Maxim DL, The SkyX, ATP, etc.

That will help you get better result, they design for DSO imaging.

johnp

Thanks Sam. My exposure,gain and temperature settings were all the same for my darks as my lights, but my B & R offset values were definitely not matching. I usually mess with the offset values in order to get all the colors in the histogram to align. I've had decent results with this method for a beginner without using darks. I'll try the settings you recommend and see what happens.

Support@ZWO

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