StarTools

Hi, I am not sure if this has been asked before,
But i am interested to find out what stacking program is best suited for StarTools,
Is there a stacking program that StarTools is basically designed for?
Like Deep Sky Stacker, ASTAP ?
I see there are some like Astro Pixel Processor, but they tend to do a lot of editing which i think isn't best suited to StarTools.
So was just hoping i might be able to get some advice on what most or what stacking program is best suited for StarTools.
Any advice is appreciated.
Thanks.

Besides many StarTools users using popular paid solutions such as PixInsight, or AstroPixelProcessor, many also happily use free solutions such as DeepSkyStacker, Siril or ASTAP.

Really, with good data and acquisition techniques, the results these produce are virtually interchangeable. Where they start to differ is how they deal with marginal data or data that is subject to acquisition issues.

If you are looking for a good free solution that is that little more sophisticated than DeepSkyStacker, have a look at Siril and ASTAP.

In all cases, great care must be taken to make sure that no post-processing is performed on the resulting stacks. https://www.startools.org/links--tutorials for more info on specific stackers, recommended settings, as well as some suggested free solutions.

Hope that helps!

I’ve used Deep Sky Stacker with Startools for many many years from the humble DSLR days to the ZWO2600 series cameras today under both Bortle 8 heavy light polluted City suburban skies and Bortle 3 dark skies in my NexDome Obs and found it to be an excellent stacking program
I have DSS procedures for both OSC and Mono data sets over 1 night or multiple nights if your interested

Clear Skies
Martin

I'm what you might call intermediate in knowledge when it comes to Astronomy. I work with OSCs and really only began using calibration frames last year. That said, I have used Siril since I began our hobby. Siril has added a great deal of features and functionality since I began using it, and I highly recommend it. It can do much more than stack so if you haven't decided on your stacking program, I'd recommend downloading the latest version and giving it a whirl. It is a no cost solution, and as I said, it has grown more capable over the past 5 years.
Regards,
Troy

Siril, while a little manual has been excellent. I've used Pixinsight, DSS, APP and others and never really liked them. Siril is fast, but it requires a basic knowledge of the calibration sequence and how to create master frames and apply them to your lights. There are advanced features, and it doesn't hurt to play around with settings using a small set of files for practice.

The only issue has been the limited memory of my laptop, using 2x drizzle in Siril and importing to ST.

I love the results I get just using mediocre equipment.