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JonHigh

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Everything posted by JonHigh

  1. JonHigh
    Yes. It’s very annoying especially in my Bortle 6 skies.
  2. JonHigh
    Hi All, Been busy modifying my SkyMax 150. I must admit I was concerned about taking the meniscus lens off the OTA but with some advice it wasn't that difficult in the end. I liberated the vixen dovetail and was surprised just how small the mounting screws were and no load bearing brackets either! Got a pair of Skywatcher 6" Newt tube rings and two Losmandy plates; short one for the top to hold the guide scope and the long one for the bottom. Happily enough it was warm out last night so I could take my time trying to set everything up. However after mucking about for 2 hours I finally got there. This is my very first DSO image taken with a 6" Maksutov. I only managed to get 25 4 minute subs before the transparency made it impossible to continue. Shame really.
  3. JonHigh
    Hi all After finishing up on some nebulae acquisition, I couldn’t resist to slew across and take a video of the moon with the Hypercam 26C. Considering I set it up relatively quickly, as it was 3am plus the seeing was so bad I had to stop my nebula plan. I was quite pleased with the results.
  4. JonHigh
    Yup. I agree. There are plenty of focusers out there. Baader do a very nice one for Newtonian scopes but not sure if it will fit the 150? How much weight are you putting on it? If it’s just a corrector and camera, the skywatcher one should do the trick without spending more than the scope is worth. For a bit more than the Baader focuser you could upgrade the scope to an 8” depending on the mount you have.
  5. JonHigh
    Tell me about it!
  6. JonHigh
    Hi all, Well the seeing was awful last night but managed to get just 2.5hrs integration time before it had become too overcast to continue. My first attempt at photographing IC1318. Need to sort framing out next time. Shame there aren’t index markings on the rotator!
  7. JonHigh
    That’s really odd, why some mounts behave as it should while others don’t. Maybe it is all to do with success of the firmware update? I must of tried to load it 50 times before it finally did it. In EQ mode the mount tracking is very good although I have not hooked it up to PHD as yet. Will soon though. When I have a bit of time I will reinstall the firmware and I test it again. Thanks for the reassurance that it might just work!
  8. JonHigh
    Very Nice! 👍🏻 Thank you. That has spurred me on to get a filter for my triplet instead of using my old ETX 90!
  9. JonHigh
    Lovely shot considering! What was the equipment used?
  10. JonHigh
    Well. After looking at my guiding set up and working things out from another post, I decided to use that time to do some imaging as well with my Altair Wave102. I only managed to get 20 3 min usable subs last night before giving up to thickening patchy clouds! Will be returning when it’s clear! Thought I would share what I got though. Please don’t laugh!
  11. JonHigh
    Hi all. Just thought I would share this will you all. I bought an AZGTi with a Skymax 102 plus the EQ mod for my daughter who has got into astronomy (can’t think why 😉). After working out that after the firmware update, using it in Alt/Az again was very annoying as SkyWatcher hasn’t worked out how to flip the axis for the different modes! Besides, It wasn’t tracking very well in either mode. The mount was sent off to Dave at Dark Frame having done such an incredible job on my HEQ5. Although I have not guided as yet, I am extremely happy to report that Dave has done it again. Using my Evoguide with SharpCap to do the initial polar alignment we swapped telescopes and used the hand controller instead of the phone. Much easier, although admittedly SkySafari worked very well too. She found 2 alignment stars and happy days from then on. In EQ mode it held Vega in the middle of the eyepiece for over 20mins without any drift whatsoever! Please don’t ask why it was there for 20mins! 😂 The GoTo was bang on each time and just held position to wherever she pointed it at. Very happy Daughter and more than happy Dad!!! Thank you again Dave. Her interest has only got better and more involved with looking at the heavens above. Learning star names, positions and various other objects. Its good when things just work as they should!!!
  12. JonHigh
    It really is a fantastic little Mak. Brought back to life by releasing it from the shackles of the awful fork mount. Well it did well at the time and got me into the hobby. Mine is an early version, pre UHTC coated one. Yes, it’s that old!! 😂
  13. JonHigh
    It’s good to know. I think I will get the 10mm eyepiece and maybe one or both the fine tuning rings to give me more options. Although I don’t fancy fumbling about in the dark and coldness in a few months time. The enjoyment of Astronomy - That I absolutely get!
  14. JonHigh
    That’s great. Thank you for all your help. The Hyperions are priced at a reachable point for me just now. The Morpheus’s etc will have to wait unless I can pick up a good second hand one.
  15. JonHigh
    Took this with my old ETX 90 using the ASI585 camera. Still good after all these years although the OTA is now mounted on my HEQ5! Processed in Autostakkert, Registax and PhotoLab.
  16. JonHigh
    That’s an awesome image!!!
  17. JonHigh
    Do’h!!! Thank you.👌🏻Header changed accordingly. I think I have mixed the images up! Too many late nights. Well that’s my story. 😂
  18. JonHigh
    Thank you. All I seem to get is 2 to 2.5 hours then it starts getting bad again. Looking forward to when the nights draw in again The cold not so much! Next target is the Crescent Nebula.
  19. JonHigh
    Clear again last night but not for very long! Grabbed my Wave 102 for the 2 hours available… Just an update - 50, 3 min subs at Gain 120 Processed in Siril.
  20. JonHigh
    It is awesome. I have a Baader 1.25” solar continuum filter that fits in the T2>1.25” adapter with a nose piece extension as I like filters to be as close to the sensor as possible. Baader seem to be one of a very few with threads on both sides. Unfortunately I can’t afford / warrant a ‘proper’ HA solar scope so this is next best thing! Lots of fun though!!
  21. JonHigh
    After have used my Hypercam 26c on the night sky it was time to turn to the daytime and being sunny out I got out my trusty 585 camera out and my old ETX 90 to capture some solar images. I thought I would share. Been awhile since I have used Autostakkert and Registax!
  22. JonHigh
    Hi all, just wanted to share as I’m sure we are making good use of clear skies. Just 50, 3 minute subs captured until the clouds rolled in again!!!
  23. JonHigh
    Thank you very much. Really needs more integration time. Weather permitting so just have to make do
  24. JonHigh
    Finally a clear night and put my eyepieces away and brought out my camera for 2 hours worth of 3 minute subs before the weather changed its mind.
  25. JonHigh
    Hi. I’m also a very happy owner of a Az Gti that I recently purchased and updated the firmware to use in both Alt/Az and equatorial mode. Up is down and down is up??? Originally I thought it was because it took so many attempts to upload the firmware to the mount it got scrambled. However after a bit of head scratching I finally understood. Shimrod is absolutely correct. Due to it being right arm for EQ mode, if you use it in Alt/Az you have to turn the OTA upside down unless the firmware is changed back to the universal version. This is something Sky-Watcher needs to sort out by a simple patch in the app to flip the axis for Alt/Az mode. Happy days again and I can’t believe they have not done it yet looking at the original post back in 2018! It’s just lazy programming IMHO. Hopefully they will do it soon.
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