StarTools

I'm just beginning astrophotography and the equipment I have isn't ideal - a Sony DSC H2 digicam piggybacked on an ETX80.
The Sony can only output Jpeg images - what would be the best way of converting them so StarTools can read them, and what is the best format to use ?

Thanks

So no answers ?

Oh well, I'm going to buy a Startools licence anyway ( as soon as I have the money spare - times are difficult here in Spain, financially ) - it's a great piece of software and best of all it is intuitive.

I am heartily sick of programs which make things more complex than they need to be. Like GIMP ( I'm a Linux user ) - GIMP's interface is incomprehensible. I still can't figure out how to resize an image. It's very cool that it's been developed for free, but why is it so cryptic ?

El Sid wrote:So no answers ?

Oh well, I'm going to buy a Startools licence anyway ( as soon as I have the money spare - times are difficult here in Spain, financially ) - it's a great piece of software and best of all it is intuitive.

I am heartily sick of programs which make things more complex than they need to be. Like GIMP ( I'm a Linux user ) - GIMP's interface is incomprehensible. I still can't figure out how to resize an image. It's very cool that it's been developed for free, but why is it so cryptic ?

Hi,

Apologies for the tardy reply (we've been without Internet for some while after a tree fell on our phone line - using 3G on my phone now )
Your best bet is to use Deep Sky Stacker to stack the JPEG files. Deep Sky Stacker will stack them into either TIFF or FITS files, both of which StarTools should read.
Before you process in StarTools, do a gamma correction of approximately 0.44. This will darken the image and return it to an almost linear state (your digicam will have stretched the JPEGs already).

StarTools works best when the data is linear, so that's why

Also, contact us through the website if the license fee is too high for your financial situation. We know things are tough around the world for some people - we can give you a discount. Fortunately the night skies are free!

Clear skies!

Thanks Ivo - DSS and gamma correction it is then.

Your internet sounds about as reliable as ours, out here in the sticks

I really appreciate the offer of a licence at reduced cost but I think you deserve the full payment. It's such a treat to use a piece of software that actually has an intuitive interface. I'm sure there is something I can put on Ebay to raise the cash, I'll just have to be a little creative...

El Sid wrote:Thanks Ivo - DSS and gamma correction it is then.

Your internet sounds about as reliable as ours, out here in the sticks

I really appreciate the offer of a licence at reduced cost but I think you deserve the full payment. It's such a treat to use a piece of software that actually has an intuitive interface. I'm sure there is something I can put on Ebay to raise the cash, I'll just have to be a little creative...

Thank you for your kind words! Let me know - at the end of the day, it's more important to me to see more people enjoy our wonderful hobby.