[WANTED] 1.8 alpha test subjects!

[admin]

Hi all,

In the next few weeks I'm hoping to have a first alpha version ready of the next version of StarTools.
The centrepiece of the 1.8 release will be the brand new, world-first, spatially variant deconvolution algorithm. It's been a long slog getting the algorithm to work, optimising it, AND - in true StarTools fashion - make it easy to wield such a powerful tool.

Another big addition will be the Narrowband Accent tool, which adds further complexity to the engine (which is now tasked with processing 3 datasets in parallel - luminance, chrominance and accents).

In the next few weeks, I'd like to share a development snapshot with the community, but given the complexity of the code and upgrades (and the potential for bugs and quirks), I don't want to make it available to the general public just yet.

So, if you'd like a sneak preview of what's been brewing, please leave a post here and I will put you on the list for that release.

Clear skies!

[AndyBooth]

Im up and available to test!
I use deconvolution a lot, on deepsky, but also on planetary and lunar.
Would love to contribute something back.
I use a mid range laptop for processing.

[alacant]

Hi Ivo
Ready and willing here if you want the Linux version tested. Ubuntu 20.04.
Cheers,
Steve

[Astroscapist]

I volounteer to test it. I use deconvolution alot. I acually use it alot on non-linear data on my lnar shots. Tell Startools I have a linear and do my things on my moon with excellent results.

/Stefan

[Russ.Carpenter]

I would be glad to participate. I use an iMac, running the latest OS (Big Sur). I have over 80 narrowband and RGB images from Chilescope.

Russ

[happy-kat]

I would love too but just not able to give it the attention it merits.

[hixx]

...same here, Ivo. Im up for testing on iMac / Mojave. Curios what the spatial variants can do
jochen

[almcl]

Be very happy to give this a trial.

i7-4790 CPU @ 3.60 GHz desktop, 16Gb, GTX 1660 GPU

Win 10 Pro 64 bit

[admin]

Thank you all! And no stress if you don't have any feedback - I'm mainly interested to see if the interface works for you, as well as giving prolific users a sneak preview.

The main advantages of the new decon module will be most apparent for deep space photography. It heavily relies on sampling stars in different parts of the image to model the subtle (or sometimes not so subtle) difference in stellar profiles from corner to corner. So for planetary/lunar, you will likely not see too much of a difference from decon in 1.7, as there are - typically - no stars to sample.

The procedure will require a little explaining, but hopefully it is fairly intuitive. You simply click on good candidate stars on a special "sample quality" view of the dataset, and dial in the settings.

StarTools_604.jpg (127.88 KiB) Viewed 8712 times

I will - hopefully - contact you in the next few weeks with a link. Thank you!

[Cheman]

I rarely use the decon module, but will be happy to give it a whirl