Altair - First Image with the ASI1600

At long last I have finally broke down and purchased a ZWO ASI1600MM Pro along with the 8 position electronic filter wheel and a complete set of 1.25 inch filters (LRGBHaOS). This will take me quite a while before I get a quality image as there is a lot more to do and learn but I was excited get these first pictures.  They are 30 second exposures at Bin 1x1.  Figure 1 is at 78% gain, Figure 2 is the same image with a slight curve adjustment, Figure 3 is 140% gain, and Figure 4 is with a slight curve adjustment.

Fig 1

Fig 2

Fig 3

Fig 4

Last night was the perfect night for getting started as it was not good enough for real imaging but clear enough to see some stars for a little while anyway.  I first connected a new 7-slot USB hub and connected the camera with the Luminosity filter to the telescope and focused on Altair.   I was ecstatic that everything worked. 

It took a while to get it focused but that is the one difficulty I have been having with APT.  In fact I have been focusing with BYEOS and then using APT to image.  I purchased a Bahtinov Mask but I must be doing something wrong as I ended up getting better focus using the normal Focusing assistant with the Bahtinov mask.

Although it is cloudy I will try to connect up the EFW tonight and see if that works.
I have a long way to go before imaging - 1) find out what Bin actually is or what affect it has, 2) what is the optimal gain setting, 3) how APT changes/advances the filter wheel.

And then after that, processing...