Please beware of the following website and individual

[ChrisLX200]

Oh he is obviously smart, but bad advice is bad advice which ever way you look at it. What's the saying? He can talk-the-talk but cannot walk-the-walk when it comes to astrophotography

Chris

[LanFeusT]

Hmm... actually I'm sorry you're right he's not on the list of mods.

His name shows up in red which I thought was admin/mod. Apparently not, not sure what that means, he's the only one with his name in red.

Thanks for the link!

[ecuador]

Oh, I had come across that site when I was searching sources to help someone understand how ISO works on DSLRs and Clark's article seemed logical, and then I clicked on the next... He claims that post-2008 Canons do not need dark/light/bias frames as they have "on sensor dark current suppression" and the RAW converter will take care of the rest! He has nice examples and everything.
Well, I guess my 2011 Canon (600D) is a dud, since it still needs darks... Also, I can't find the preset "80ED with TRF-2008 reducer, camera rotated 138 degrees, some dust specs" on the RAW converter lens tab to avoid the flats...
Seriously, where did he find that "dark current suppression" thing, he seems to be the only source!

[alacant]

Hi Ivo, everyone

I'm not sure if this is the place nor whether this post will be moderated, but I would like to report another -FWOABW- StarTools basher on another forum who has wasted not only much my own time but I believe has also misled countless others with misinformation contained within posts and threads on the same.

TIA and hoping for a positive response so that others are spared the nonsense.

Cheers and clear skies,
Steve

[admin]

Hi Ivo, everyone

I'm not sure if this is the place nor whether this post will be moderated, but I would like to report another -FWOABW- StarTools basher on another forum who has wasted not only much my own time but I believe has also misled countless others with misinformation contained within posts and threads on the same.

TIA and hoping for a positive response so that others are spared the nonsense.

Cheers and clear skies,
Steve

Thanks Steve - I think I know the individual you are referring to on the SGL forums.

I don't think anyone cares about any negative remarks about StarTools (as misguided and ill-founded they may be) or PixInsight (also producing woefully incorrect coloring apparently), but it's the presenting of nonsense as "fact" (verbatim), upon which newbies "thank" this individual for his "insightful" contribution. That truly makes my blood boil.

The interesting thing with this individual though, is that he is learning. A few months ago, he did not know what an illuminant was. He is is now using the term correctly. A couple of weeks ago he was oblivious to what an SPD / power spectrum was or how it applied, he is also now relaying this (mostly) correctly.

It is just such a shame that the filling of the gaps in his knowledge are playing out publicly, with lots of collateral damage, both in the form of misinforming newbies and insulting the important work of people in the field (not counting StarTools or myself in that) in the process.

[alacant]

Thanks Ivo.

To prevent those of us here having their time wasted by said individual, I'd still like permission to reveal their identity.

Of course, StarTools is head and shoulders above the rest and will always be so. It's the beginners who are being misled by the meaningless and unfounded drivel who need the warning.

I should add that in general, I find that the amount of anecdotal misinformation on astrophotography quite alarming. It's certainly had me banging my head against a brick wall on any number of occasions. I revert to sanity by checking back here regularly!

Cheers

[admin]

To prevent those of us here having their time wasted by said individual, I'd still like permission to reveal their identity.

Beyond idenitfying the person as user "vlaiv" on the Stargazers Lounge forums (SGL), it is important to respect people's privacy (unless of course in the case of Clark who loves putting his real name everywhere himself).

It's the beginners who are being misled by the meaningless and unfounded drivel who need the warning.

Absolutely.

I should add that in general, I find that the amount of anecdotal misinformation on astrophotography quite alarming. It's certainly had me banging my head against a brick wall on any number of occasions. I revert to sanity by checking back here regularly!

Astrophotography is a complex subject and it is understandable that people would share techniques or information that "works for them". However, if you state things as fact or invoke "the math says so", yet you show 0 sources that support your claims, and cannot demonstrate the math yourself, then you are nothing more than a snake oil salesman. The line must be drawn at people who explicitly state things as "fact" that just aren't true.