All Activity

here it is in all its glory. OSC result_7674s.fit

If I decide to switch over from my ASIAir Plus for Astro imaging (to use non ZWO gear) I'd still keep an ASIAir for PA (I have an ASIAir Pro in my unused gear collection).🙃 I was one of the first UK users of the Polemaster and dabbled with the Python PhotoPolarAlignment (PPA) program first introduced by an SGL member @themos which was later adopted & adapted into SharpCap. Back then on another now defunct forum I did mention to Robin (SharpCap author) that t would be nice to have a PA tool like PPA in SharpCap but with the capture repeating automatically. I believe he was already considering it but I'd then got the Polemaster before his PA routine was made available.

I read some time ago that a 12-13 cm long focus achromatic refractor is equivalent to an 8" SCT on the Moon & planets; clearly in the deep sky and on double stars it is superior (1" versus 0.6"). In general, a reflector of diameter d and obstruction α is equivalent to a long focus achromatic refractor whose doublet diameter is D = d - α

@900SL Wow I didn't know this so thank you for telling me. I was blown away with the IOpton IPolar, just easy to use and super accurate. Now I know there also the features and functions of my new Air also, I'm really excited to try them out during my next night!

Asiair can use either your main camera or guide camera for PA. It's pretty accurate, and doesn't require the camera and scope to be exactly aligned with the NCP. The all sky alignment feature on asiair was a game changer for me, when my location didn't have a clear view of polaris

I've been using NINA for some time now and I have never had a green screen. Sounds like it might be a display issue rather than NINA if everything else seems to be working OK. In the Options tab for imaging there is a reset button - you could try this. There is also the option to save and restore the settings.

Nothing.

Hmmm, and here are us looking at moving to Somerset…in the next 6 months…😮

@Adreneline LOL. I actually feel a bit dumb here because I have no idea about triple checking with ASI Air? I actually only bought my Air about a week ago so have no experience using it yet! LOL. I did do some indoor shots using my new Air connected to my DSLR, just to learn it functions etc but then was stopped dead in my tracks when I realised I need a FTDI EQMOD cable to get my HEQ5 Pro mount and Air to talk to each other! LOL

Sure will upload it here soon as I can.

Hi all, last night everything was going perfectly, I'd setup before sunset, then did the usual PA ( with my new IOptron IPolar, which I've already posted about. Incredible ) 3 star alignment, got PHD2 running with sub 1 arc sec. tracking. Slewed to M101, plugged into my DSLR my shutter release cable. Dials in my number of subs/duration for each sub etc, presses start...and nothing happened!!?? To save you the tedious bits of everything I tried in vain to resolve the issue, I eventually found a way to get the SRC to start commanding my camera. Only issue, I had to sit there all night manually pressing the SRC after every single sub!! ALL NIGHT!! A total of 2 hours 19 minutes/60 sec subs, so 139 nine times in total I had to wait for each exposure to end, then press button manually again, for two hours and forty minutes ( adding in the time it took me to hear camera stop, grab the SRC again and press button ) It was gruelling! My goodness I was furious! LOL. Despite that nightmare, I still loved getting outside for first time in months! I just pray all the tedious brain numbing effort was worth it when I process my data in couple days! LOL As a side note, I think if you're not prepared to accept that this hobby can be a nightmare some nights, that you will have nights that are simply cruel to you, then you're in the wrong hobby! That is something I've learned during my circa 16 months doing astro! Happy hunting and clear skies!

Exactly my experience with a PoleMaster. I found the QHY camera is also recognised by SharpCap so you can use that as confirmation if you feel so inclined - but I would advise against it - and don't be tempted to triple check with an ASIair either! 🤣

For a definitive answer you need a consulting engineer who specialises in groundworks and foundation😁. In reality the size depends on the size/weight of the pier. If you make it 60cm deep, that is plenty for most purposes. As for diameter, that is a bit different. If you want a 'perfect no instability' pier, you don't want to be stamping your feet on it. Hence the idea of a narrow column. However, you are going to be standing on the ground near the pier. If you put down a bit of decking, floating over the pier, you isolate the pier from vibrations. My observatory has a one piece foundation and concrete pillar. Later the shed base was poured - leaving a gap to the pillar. When building my setup, there was much less information readily available. The lump below ground was almost 1 metre cube. With hindsight, more than required. I figured that once you start to dig, it is little effort to dig more. Concrete is not that expensive. A base that is too big juust gives you more excersize digging and costs a bit more sand & cement. Having already hired/borrowed the mixer. If the base is not good enough, you have to dig it out and start again. If the ground moves seasonally, or more slowly, it is not a big issue. Just visit your polar alignment occasionally. If ground moves slowly, your base was not deep enough. I'm sure others will be along with their experiences.

Good find, thanks for highlighting that 👌 another once in a lifetime event. A couple of before and after pictures on my target list now.

@Flame Nebula I think this Q should be reversed, but in my experience I've seen more DSO's in my 8" Newt. Reflector than my 5 inch Refractor ( well, 120mm Refractor, so not quite 127mm, but the difference is negligible ) You also have to bear in mind than the two different optical systems have strengths and weaknesses on both sides, it all depends what you're looking at, for example SSO or DSO. Hope this sort of helps you understand my friend. Regards, Wes.

Try this one then ... !

Correct. I have a 5in frac BTW 👍

I dont have an observatory but I do have a small pillar box type enclosure for the permanent pier. I have a power distribution box and a bracket for an asiair permanently mounted on the pier. I then have the power supply mounted in an enclosure about 2 meters from the pier and linked to the power distribution box. I then simply fit the asiair and plug cables into the power box and asiair. The cables are all the typical 2 meter type and to date all has worked well with no clashes between ota and stuff mounted on the pier. I frequenty swap telescopes so not having kit mounted on the ota works for me. If you choose to mount your kit on the pier, fit your ota to the mount and swing it around to make sure that when you mount your stuff, you have no clashes and the cable length is all good. All the best.

After last night's photographic collimation, I stuck in the Cheshire again at lunch time to see if it agreed with the camera. The Cheshire is saying the scope is way out of collimation... I think the issue is the focusser is not square and it is joined to the primary mirror, so the Cheshire will always give a wrong answer. However, I think the Cheshire is useful for collimating the secondary at least.

Three at 120º around base and four in the focuser itself, 1 in each corner labelled -rather hopefully- fixing screw in the reference you cite. If you're serious about it and you don't like the idea of metal to metal, you may wish to fit paper gaskets instead of the latter. HTH

Idiots 🤬

Very nice! I caught it looking similar to your 20.40 sketch.

I used to take moon shots on my driven equatorial mount but last night I used a manual alt-az mount. I took 10 batches of 15 exposures at one second intervals. This took about 8 minutes in total as I had to manually realign the telescope between batches. I tried to process all 150 images in Pipp and Autostakkert but the field rotation gave me a rather odd result with duplicated craters. See top and bottom of lower, second image. So I processed just 20 consecutive images and stacked the best 10. I tweaked the result in Affinity Photo to give me the upper image which I am pretty happy with. But, is there a way of using all 150 images with some sort of "derotation" process? Thanks, Jim 203mm Classic Cassegrain - Nikon Z6 - 1/500s - ISO800

Someone being daft near Yeovil, not far from me. Reiterates that care is needed when using these devices anywhere with planes nearby though this person was obviously particularly stupid/malicious. Somerset man jailed after shining laser at passenger plane https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-68838349

Snatched a few through the gloom ...