Nrmh02

8 hours ago, Dazzyt66 said:

I have a HEQ5 and I can power mine all night (literally, while I leave the rig imaging) from a Halfords Jump Start power pack that I’ve had for several years - there’s an RAC version on Amazon atm for about £40 which I was going to get too, to power all the extra stuff I have attached nowadays…even with both of them it works out cheaper than an ‘Astro’ power bank (that is basically the same thing)… HTH

Thanks for replying. Much appreciated 

Nicola 

I’ve just received my eq6 r pro and needing to get some kinda power supply to it. 
 

has anyone tried this and can give me an indication if it’s long lasting or not

or if anyone can recommend something better ?

thanks 

https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/skywatcher-17-amp-power-tank.html

3 hours ago, Zermelo said:

This thread will keep you busy for a while:

 

Thanks pal. 

41 minutes ago, ScouseSpaceCadet said:

I've owned for around three years, the Oklop Bag for Small Telescopes .

Initially bought to house a Skywatcher 130PS, tripod, mount and accessories, it's now my Big Bag of Astro Stuff©. Recommended

Thanks pal 

32 minutes ago, Zermelo said:

I find this bag very useful for bits and pieces:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/AmazonBasics-shoulder-camera-accessories-interior/dp/B00CF5OHZ2/ref=sr_1_3?crid=2I5XDO0ZKAK2X&keywords=amazon+basics+large+shoulder+bag&qid=1659802687&sprefix=amazon+basics+large+shoulder+bag%2Caps%2C99&sr=8-3

Thanks pal. 

Hey everyone 

just wondering what folks are using to keep all their accessories in?

eyepieces, filters, cameras, cables etc 

thanns

nic 🤗

On 14/04/2022 at 21:00, Clarkey said:

Just to add to the good advice you have already been given I'll add my tuppence worth.

I agree that an EQ mount is definitely the way to go for imaging. If you like visual as well then the AZ-EQ5 is a good option. I have an AZ-EQ6 which I use for AP but on the occasions I do visual I convert it to AZ mode. Particularly useful for newts. EQ set up is easy enough - don't let it worry you. Worst part is the dirty knees - which is why I got a ipolar.

On the control options, I use a Mele Quieter 2 mini PC with added storage. I have two of them on different rigs and they have been excellent. They also seem to have a reasonable wifi range.

Thanks pal. Ill go have a read of it the now. 

On 14/04/2022 at 21:00, Clarkey said:

Just to add to the good advice you have already been given I'll add my tuppence worth.

I agree that an EQ mount is definitely the way to go for imaging. If you like visual as well then the AZ-EQ5 is a good option. I have an AZ-EQ6 which I use for AP but on the occasions I do visual I convert it to AZ mode. Particularly useful for newts. EQ set up is easy enough - don't let it worry you. Worst part is the dirty knees - which is why I got a ipolar.

On the control options, I use a Mele Quieter 2 mini PC with added storage. I have two of them on different rigs and they have been excellent. They also seem to have a reasonable wifi range.

Thank you, I’ll definitely look into it pal.  

3 hours ago, AstroMuni said:

You have 2 options - 1) is to run cables from your laptop out to the mount and thats how I used to work in the past. The 2nd option is what I use now....I use an RPi to control everything. The RPi connects to my Wifi via a Wifi extender in my case as my router signal is not good enough to reach the RPi. I can manage the RPi via ipad or phone or laptop. All the images get downloaded onto RPi and then I download them onto laptop when I do the processing. I delete the images from RPi at that stage.

There are pros and cons of using RPi - your software choices are less wider as compared to whats available on Windows at the moment (choices on Linux are improving every day though). But if you are a Mac user then RPi is THE way to go as they are both based on Linux. If you are Windows person you could get a mini PC to do what the RPi does.

strangely enough, as a Mac user I struggled previously to get any software to work effectively and ended up buying a cheap Windows - that didn't work as planned due to being unable to keep up with the demands on it. Ended up purchasing Paralelles. 

Either way I don't mind - I have an office hub out the back and run cables from there to the scope at the moment

Thanks again 

Nic

9 minutes ago, AstroMuni said:

I was using a basic mount for several years before I decided to opt for a Go-To when I decided to get into AP.

Here are the features I find useful:

- Ability to control mount sitting inside the house (out of the the cold). I still have to go out at beginning to set it up, focus etc. and late in the night to pack it up again.

- Plate solving and recentering image after every couple of images helps keep the image centred (guide scope not necessary). This corrects for any drift that may have occured after several images. I started without a guidescope and was getting ekos to realign after every 10 or so images (around 5mins) and that works with my HEQ5 pro when you are capturing just 30-60s images.

- Dithering can be automated

- Meridian flip is automatic

- You can schedule the nights tasks and let the computer manage the process.

Hope this helps you decide.

Thank you so much for your reply. 

I'm definitely aiming at the goto mount for sure. Do you have your setup connected to wifi if controlling from inside the house? if so, does it require another add on? 

Thanks again, your reply has most definitely been helpful

Nicola 

11 hours ago, Cosmic Geoff said:

If you've bought an ASI533MC Pro, then I recommend a GoTo mount, e.g a EQ5 Synscan. They have better motors plus the GoTo will save you time and you can plate-solve & re-sync (on some fields at least) to confirm your target area. Your next step will be to decide whether to image unguided, or upgrade to guiding with a guidescope and guide camera or an off-axis guider.  Who said imaging was cheap or easy?

You may also want a focal reducer for faster imaging. I got a f6.3 reducer for my C8 but I don't know if the same one works on a C6.  They cost about £150.

Thanks pal, I already own a f6.3r and it works really well. 

I think purchasing bit by bit will be more feasible rather than forking out loads of money in the one go. 

56 minutes ago, Stu1smartcookie said:

Physically not a problem , the difference comes  when polar aligning , which by the way is not hard at all . The mount will follow the earths rotation and make viewing more enjoyable as you only have to concentrate on moving on one axis . Also if you do want to get into astrophotography then an EQ mount is desirable although not necessary. 

Thanks pal, now just debating with myself if I get the basic model or go for the goto model lol 

2 hours ago, Cosmic Geoff said:

Any mount would be better than a 6SE on a wedge. I assume this is for imaging. I have seen posts from users who found that using a wedge did not meet their expectations. An EQ5 Synscan would be far more suitable. Not the easiest mount to use compared with an alt-azimuth Nexstar, but it works.

yeah its for imaging.  I've bought myself asi533mc pro and whilst I'm by no means fantastic at it, I'm hoping that in due course ill get better lol

1 hour ago, AstroMuni said:

Dont scare him But I agree that moving EQ around the sky is not as intuitive as an AZ.

I guess it will make me work harder having to start from scratch again learning how to use it 

surely can't be that difficult? lol 

3 hours ago, Stu1smartcookie said:

Assuming you want an EQ mount then an EQ5 , upwards , will suffice . The C6 is faily light ,  i use the EQ5 for my 8" CC and it still tracks superbly... maybe for future proofing go to ( no pun intended) an HEQ5 . 

 

was it easy to transfer onto the EQ mount?

I'm currently using Celestron 6se and had ordered a wedge for it last 6 weeks ago.

Ive just called the company and they've said that due to covid and Celestron closing down their factory (covid) production of product has a massive backlog. Some customers ordered their wedge back in November and still waiting. 

So my next option is to see about purchasing a new mount. one that will easily hold the nextstar 6SE

Thanks 

Nic

23 minutes ago, bottletopburly said:

I went for a zwo533mc  osc  mainly due to uk weather combined with a LExtreme filter really happy with the results .

rosette Nebula with 9hrs of Data .

Wow. Cracking photo pal. It’s definitely a beauty!

I’ve actually heard great feedback about the 533mc osc 

Again,

Thanks to everyone that’s commented. It’s great to hear different perspectives and opinions.  
Definitely food for thought 

2 hours ago, alacant said:

Hi

If you've somewhere permanent to leave the monochrome attached and loadsa clear nights, then maybe. If you've ever seen anyone setting up a mono camera and connecting it and a fw to a computer, you'll know what I mean. Unless you already have the rest of fw, filters, spacers and cables, I don't think you'll get a decent sized sensor within your 1500 budget though.

The gap between what a modern Sony colour sensor can do compared to monochrome I think is negligible. Go with the colour.

Just our €0,02

Cheers

I live in Scotland lol. I don’t really need to say no more RE weather lol. 
I whilst I have an idea of budget I’m fully aware that they’re extras required to complete the set up. I had in mind 1.5k for camera then possible 500£ for extras purchased. 
it would be a start! I’m quite sure everyone made a start somewhere on the line and build up their kit from there 😊

5 hours ago, Adam J said:

When I talk about single night imaging its more a gauge as to how much effort the imager in question is willing to put into their imaging. With RGB I cycle my filters as you suggest, but I tend to run 1 hour then auto-focus on filter change as I find that most efficient in terms of productivity per hour.

For narrow band imaging with mono I will invariably only take one channel per night though and always multiple nights paying attention to the moon when selecting my filter for a given night. In narrow band I tend to find my absolute minimum integration is around 6 hour per channel and so not something I would do in a single night. The place I feel OSC shines is for mobile imaging at a remote / dark sky location when you may not get to return to that location for additional data, or want to keep your setup as light weight  / simple as possible reducing the chance of something going wrong. When you dont want to keep your filters spotless or take flats per channel, when you dont want the pain of combining channels in processing, or when your budget just dose not allow for filter wheels, filters and auto-focusers. Or even when you want a larger sensor for your budget. 

I should also be clear that I dont own a modern OCS but have considered it for the above use case, I also never do single night imaging as it would not support my imaging goals. Mono is faster for sure even in single night, but my gut feeling is that if you are the type of imager (and its perfectly valid) that wants to image a different target every night then move on to the next exciting object, then you are better off with an OSC, a duel band filter and a UV/IR cut or a combination of the two in as lower f-ratio scope as you can afford as you are also unlikely to want the extra work associated with mono. 

Adam 

 

 

To be fair, I’m keen to work on images and take my take….. isn’t that part of fun also? I personally think so myself. 
That way after spending the hours, getting something that’s “perfect” in my eyes reaps the benefits and job satisfaction 

1 hour ago, Adam J said:

The general progression is to start out with OSC, however if you are currently using a DSLR you may feel that you have already progressed beyond this. Both do have advantages but my own conclusion is that the most impressive images are almost invariably produced using mono cameras. This is the case for DSO imaging certainly. 

Your issue is that Solar and DSO imaging = Mono (for best results) 

Planetary imaging and Lunar imaging are usually best with OSC.

Despite what some have said you do not have to refocus with each filter change you can create offsets using a program like nina, but if you have an auto focuser refocusing is not an issue anyway. In the extream you just dont refocus at all, after all you cant refocus with a OSC per channel can you and its subject to the same issues with CA as mono. 

I would personally say that if you are wanting to progress in the hobby, with a main focus on DSO imaging and you are willing to image over multiple nights to increase your total integration time on a single target you should go with a mono camera.

If you want to get an image in a single night, you are budget limited, or just want less stress in exchange for lower performance then OSC is likely the best way to go.

If I had a budget of £1500 including filters I would actually not go for a ZWO for OSC I would go with one of these:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4001359313736.html?spm=a2g0o.store_pc_home.hotSpots_6001922564357.0

Discussion on the camera here (get the AR coated window option):

In the case of a mono for 1500 including filters I would wait a little for a ASI533MM Pro to be released (should be only weeks away) and will likely come under your budget with a set of Optoling / Baader LRGB filters and a Ha filter. 

Adam

Thanks for your input. It’s very much appreciated 

so currently using mod 600D. 
 

I’ve looked at AliExpress but there’s a lot of fake items etc going though that website so I’d be rather hesitant to spend 1K with little to non cover etc. 

I might take another look though. Thanks 

Thanks everyone for your input.  Much appreciated 😊 

ill ponder the next few days about it before committing myself. 

59 minutes ago, ollypenrice said:

It isn't 4x the work for mono over OSC.  It might add 10% to the processing time but not more. Some people take flats per filter, for instance, but I don't, I use the lum flat for everything on nearly every occasion and very, very rarely have a problem with this. I stack the three colour files, which maybe takes four minutes longer than making a single stack, I open the three stacks, and, in AstroArt, need two clicks to turn that into RGB. A minute? In terms of exposure time, LRGB gets equivalent signal in less time because luminance collects R,G abnd B at the same time.

I've just started working with an OSC camera again. It's a CMOS and is much better than the OSC CCDs I've used in the past. There's a certain charm to the simplicity but it's wiped out by the moonlight unless you add a filter and, well, then you've added a filter! It gives great results on reflection nebulae but, unfiltered, doesn't go deep on emission - even in the RASA 8 at F2.

Our decision to go for OSC was driven by the RASA, which cannot accommodate a filterwheel.

For me the real choice would be between OSC with optional dual band filter and mono. OSC on its own is quite restrictive.

Olly

I was just using 4x as a metaphor lol. 

I’ve been wanting to buy a ZWO for sometime now. 
im more drawn to mono and I understand it’s 4 times the work etc to get the best of colours. 
my question is , if you have a ZWO are you  using mono or colour or do you have both tried both and what’s your preferences and why? 
I’m prepared to spend up to £1500(ish) and ideally would like something that I can do planetary, solar and dso. 
so a one stop shop for all.  
 

thanks 

nic 

On 22/02/2022 at 17:55, Andrew_B said:

It's worth checking out eBay. I picked up a full spectrum-modded 24MP Fuji mirrorless camera for £150 and it's great.

Thanks pal, i managed to purchase one from Juan.