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Penumbrella

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Everything posted by Penumbrella

  1. I very much take an 'everything I could need in the one box' approach to this, so here's my accessories case. I used shadow foam cut into a cheap case from amazon, then got a sticker from etsy to give it some sauce. The cosy arrangement also has the benefit of reducing the urge to browse for any additions!
  2. I have the Az-gtiX, and am using it with my 130pds on an innorel carbon fibre photo tripod. I've only managed two sessions with it thanks to the endless clouds but I've been very impressed (I tried the az-gti with the same scope before, having heard good things, but I wasn't that happy with it). I've found it copes with the 130pds just fine, which it should really, being well inside the capacity. Nice and stable with very acceptable levels of wobble at the eyepiece. I even tried it out for some short-exposure AP on M13 - left it happily tracking for 30min (took 100, 20sec, exposures), which worked far better than I'd hoped. In short, I'm very happy with it.
  3. I recently moved from an eq to an alt-az - and on the 2nd night out took this pic of M13. Made the change from an eq3-2 to an az-gtiX to make the trip outside faster and add go-to . Cannot imagine going back to eq for a while now! Pic is 100, 20 sec, exposures with darks, biases, flats (thanks youtube tutorials!) all stacked in DSS and fiddled in Siril. Taken with my Lumix GX80 on the 130pds.
  4. Hi, I'm looking for a head to use with my 15x70 binoculars and a photographers tripod. Can anyone recommend a good option - the ones I've seen don't look like they'd get the job done at high altitudes. Do people just use standard ball-head mounts or something else? Alternatively, I've got an alt-az mount I could use instead - would I be better off getting an L bracket thingy, and if so can anyone point me in the right direction there! Cheers, P
  5. I see this scope recommended so often - I'm doing a lot of window shopping myself, and, with portability foremost, think I've settled on saving up for a 80mm refractor with a mount like the az-gti (or in that weight class anyway - maybe the sa gti, the az-gtiX, or the skyhunter). But all of these recommendations for a 100mm refractor makes me wonder if I'd regret getting an 80. Am I right in thinking a 102 refractor would be too much for that kind of mount. And, to avoid derailing this discussion too much, what mount do folks recommend for a 4" refractor?
  6. My first attempt proper, having watched a nebula photos video on YouTube I decided to try stacking shots using my Lumix Gx80 and my 130pds on my eq3-2 mount. Having seen some amazing shots lately I decided to try and get the horsehead - mainly to see something that isn't visible through the eyepiece. Plus orions belt meant I could actually find it - I've only got the ra motor on the mount, no go-to, so it's got to be easy to find! 120 x 40 sec lights + 30 darks, 30 flats, and 30 bias frames. Stacked in DSS and then played with in Siril. I've no idea what I'm doing - just looking at the frames I could see it clearly wasn't great polar alignment (I don't have a polar scope, so it's a bit rough!), and I'd never stretched a histogram before so there's loads to learn, but just staggered that I took this picture myself.
  7. I bought a cheap multi pack of cookie cutters from papa bezos for that very job. Worked just fine. Sure others are available but this set spanned the sizes I thought I might need. PINGEUI 12 Pieces Round Cookie... https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09W9F67L4?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
  8. Just to park this, I tried @Mandy D's suggestion of a 1/2 inch UNC. But no dice. So I emailed omegon and astroshop.eu to ask. No response from omegon themselves (yet), but the helpful chap at astroshup did reply: C'est la Vie
  9. Super, thanks very much. I'll track down one of them and give it a go. Cheers.
  10. Hi, I have this mount and want to know what the thread is to attach a counterweight bar. I can see a thread there through the tension knob, and a M12 threaded bolt almost works but not quite - seems like it's the right diameter but the wrong pitch. Presumably its some imperial bolt size I'm after? Cheers, P Edit: Pic of mount attached
  11. I had first light with my new 15x70 celestron SkyMaster binos, a lovely experience. I walked a bit away from the house and sat on a bench overlooking the nearby valley. Wonderfully clear night, so I had a whale of a time just sweeping around picking out various stars and features - lots of 'what's that' moments and flicking back to skysafari for info. Jupiter, Saturn, and later on, Mars were all clear (if a little jiggly, especially towards the end of my time). I enjoyed seeing m13 and M31, both of which benefitted from a little time, but the highlight was definitely m45 the pleiades. Spent quite some time gazing at them - with the odd nip from the hip flask. Think I might invest in a monopod, see if that helps, but otherwise I'm totally sold on binos. A wonderful night with absolutely none of the usual faff.
  12. Thanks to the judges - I'm right chuffed to have a prize! I really enjoyed looking at all the entries and found it all so much fun - a really great challenge. P
  13. Another vote for the nexyz here. I had some generic one before and the nexyz is just a step up in all aspects (though it's a bulky, awkward thing to jam in a bag). Works a charm with 1.25" and 2" eyepieces and easy to use.
  14. Hi all, I'm looking for a new mount for my 130pds. I've been using a ra motorised eq3-2 but I've never enjoyed it - the scope I love but the mount is just a bit of a pain. I don't plan on imaging beyond the odd phone snap, so I want something more convenient to get me out under the stars faster and more often. Recently I bought an az-gti, which was promising - I'd not had goto before and thoroughly enjoyed it, but it needed to be returned as it was faulty. I know lots of people get on well with that mount (and with my scope too, to boot) but I've also read lots of other people's frustrated reports with it and all-in the experience has put me off somewhat. So can anyone recommend an other alt-az mount that would suit a 130pds for predominantly visual use? Or is the az-gti the only game in town. I'm not wedded to getting a goto - so much of my working day is spent deep in software calibration menus and looking at screens, so it's not what I wanted from stargazing. But having tried it, the ease of actually finding targets was pretty intoxicating. Plus it'd open the door to EAA which looks like fun (though also marks total surrender to the screens!). So, I'm thinking about spinning the wheel again with the az-gti, waiting for stock of one of the new mounts in the same weight class from skywatcher or ioptron, or maybe forgoe the goto and just get a az5 or similar. There doesn't seem to be much else out there budget wise between those mounts and the next step up to a ~£1k mount. Any advice gratefully received! Cheers, P
  15. I had first light with the mount last night, so can report (well, report again, I know others also use this combo) that the mount is just grand with the 130pds, wearing a telrad and a range of eyepieces (including a 2inch 30mm which probably took the whole show to close to the 5kg limit). Vibrations settled quickly and it felt fine - though my only really frame of reference here is my eq3-2 mount. I'm using an INNOREL NT364C tripod and the adm upgraded saddle both of which probably helped. I'd done the homework in the day of updating firmware and connecting to skysafari etc. So I found the alignment process pretty straightforward and the goto accurate enough for everything to be in the eyepiece (even though I rushed through this in my excitement). I saw sooo much more in that session than I have before. Superb. However, not all was well as the mount made some unwelcome noises throughout. Constantly, starting a couple of seconds after the goto settled - during tracking, there was a constant, loud (like, worrying about the neighbours loud), 'tock-ing'. It sounded like the mount was struggling and when viewing jupiter there were noticeable wobbles in time with the 'tocks'. I'd tried a friend's az-gti last week so I was not expecting any of this. The mount made the same noises when left to track without the scope attached too - I had wondered if it was a load issue, but alas no. It did seem to be related to the clutches - in that slackening them off would modulate (but not stop) it. I made a recording in case wiser heads have other opinions (?), but having read through previous posts I think I see other reports of the same problem and my options are to open it up for some tweaks or to return it for a replacement - I think I'll be doing the latter. A disappointing end to an otherwise excellent start. Recording_3.mp3
  16. Exciting day as I've just received an early birthday present from myself (I always get such thoughtful presents from me!). I'll be using it for visual in alt-az for now (I don't have a wedge or immediate plans for long exposure photography - might try EEA down the road though) and tried my 130pds on a friend's az-gti before pulling the trigger. Currently trawling through the mine of knowledge on this thread and waiting for the, inevitable, clouds to clear for first light.
  17. M13 - Great Hercules cluster Bortle 4 skies Skywatcher 130pds Altair Astro ultraflat 15mm Pixel 5a in 'astrophotography mode' Edited on phone
  18. M31 - Andromeda galaxy Bortle 4 skies Skywatcher 130pds Altair Astro ultraflat 30mm Pixel 5a in 'astrophotography mode' Edited on phone
  19. M15 Skywatcher 130pds Altair Astro ultraflat 15mm Pixel 5a in 'astrophotography mode' Edited on phone
  20. Jupiter's moons. Skywatcher 130pds Celestron xcel lx 5mm Pixel 5a, single shot edited on phone
  21. novice question here, but has MIRI split a double that NIRcam couldn't here? and if so, is that the tightest split in astronomical history 🤣
  22. M13 has become easily my favourite target - mainly because it's currently one of the very few things i can reliably find! I got a new (2nd hand) eyepiece and, incredibly, it arrived to a clear night, so here is M13 through the Altair-Astro Ultraflat 30mm. It's a wider view than I've had before - and my first 2" eyepiece, but it's a markedly better view than the 13mm Ultima duo, which I had thought was the proverbial knees. That said, M13 was much higher up in the sky, so that's probably helped out here too. Either way, another wonderful night under the sky and it remains totally bonkers to me what these phones can do. No futzing, just as it came out of the phone. @PeterStudz you'll be pleased to see NG6207 is just about spottable here now i know where to look - it certainly wasn't by eye! Pixel 4a, celestron NexYZ mount, skywatcher 130pds, Altair Ultraflat 30mm
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