Vallantho

50 minutes ago, michael8554 said:

Yep, you just stepped down your 360mm lens to f/115.

The "camera obscura" concept is very old.

A rich Victorian might have a special darkroom in his mansion for his camera.

The novelty was the production of an (inverted) image with no lens.

Why ?  lead to the discovery of the wave/particle duality of light.

Michael

I’m no expert but I’m guessing that sort of focal ratio might be a bit impractical for astrophotography 😂😂

It was a 2mm hole, 360mm focal length. So if my maths is right somewhere near f115

So in my infinite wisdom I made a cap with a hole in it to put on the front of my scope. My thinking behind this was I’d be able to use the little dot of light sort of like an artificial star so I could get my focus tube nice and concentric. But all I succeeded in doing was making a very expensive pinhole camera 😂😂

Found a few more for you

So here’s the router. It’s a bit Janky and not very accurate, but it works. I can use it to help build a better one, which has been in the planning stage for a while. Will probably go with proper linear rails and ball screws. 
 

The design is based on this project from thingyverse 

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3813481

2 hours ago, gajjer said:

Oooooh I'd like to see that one. Quite fancy one of those. Not done a RPi case - I'm an ESP8266/32-CAM kind of chap myself. Home monitoring mainly. I too have an Ender 3 and my only criticism would be the way the ribbon cable comes out of the print head. I made an aluminium support for it. It looked like it was just a matter of time before fatigue got the better of it. As you say, Fusion 360 is a very lovely free icing on a very lovely cake. I have surprised myself at the things I have done. Also, it's not always the price factor. Now I am retired, I like to keep myself mentally active and it certainly does that.

Sure thing I’ll take some photos tomorrow when it’s light. I got a bit of a collection of microcontrollers, esps, arduinos, pi picos, that sort of thing. Not much of a programmer but I’ve used them in a few synthesiser modules and LED projects. Bit of a fan of the old WS2812 LED strips. 
 

What I’ve found with all these hobbies I get myself into is how well they blend together and the knowledge and skills you pick up along the way complement each other.

A 3D printer is probably the single most useful thing I ever bought. Need a new Bahtinov mask? Just print one. Need a thing to mount my raspberry pi? Just print one. And having access to fusion 360 free for personal use is just the icing on an already delicious cake. I’ve tried other software but I’ve not found anything as intuitive as fusion 360. 

The biggest project I used my printer for was building a cnc router. Also an incredibly useful device. But I don’t use it anywhere near as much as my little Ender 3.

Lately I’ve been toying with the idea of building a Voron. Looks like such a fun project to work on. Bit of a financial commitment though especially when there are commercially available printers that are just as capable for less than the cost of building your own. But damn it would be a fun project, with all the hassles and problems to overcome that a project like that entails.

My surname is the word for valleys on mars. Does that count?

Thinking of doing something like this myself. What material did you use? I’m wondering how well PLA will hold up over the year ranging from wet and soggy to dry and hot?

Currently working my through a bottle of Glen Moray. Smokey and smooth. Single malt, £20 in Morrisons at the moment. Can't  complain about those prices!

I got two kinds of whisky. The kind you drink and the kind you look at. I also inherited a large collection from my dad. Some I’ve drunk, some I’m saving. One in particular will be opened on a special day. A bottle of  Lagavulin 1984 distillers edition. 

New filter, new possibilities 

I see the it’s listed on FLO now. £619

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/zwo-cameras/zwo-asi-585mc-pro-usb-30-cooled-colour-camera.html

That’s interesting. I think my next camera will probably be a Touptek for budgetary reasons. Been looking on aliexpress but having a local supplier will remove the hassle of customs fees. Good find 👍👍

Touptek do a cooled IMX585. I’ve seen it listed on aliexpress for £449. Not sure what customs or import fees there would be, but to me that’s still a very attractive price. I know people might worry about the customer support aspect but if you were happy to buy something else second hand then you’re pretty much taking on the same level of risk. 

Only daydreams about clear skies 😂😂

Although recently I did dream a dragon was shot out of the sky and landed on my garage. I tried phoning the council to come and dispose of it by they said they only did household waste. Make of that what you will? 

16 minutes ago, JOC said:

I suspect many like me are drawn by a question (often - I feel I want to buy a scope, but which one?) and then we stay once we discover that 'community' aspect.  In fact there is a lot of discussion about meeting up for star parties which are difficult to organise, but I bet just as many would gather for a SGL summer BBQ just to meet up with all those online names.

Do a meet up in a planetarium. Guaranteed clear skies 😂😂

I came for the community. The last few years I’ve come to realise how important that is for my mental wellbeing. 

I’d been wanting to get into Astrophotography for a long while. It got to a point where I had the money available and I was looking around to see what I would buy to get me into the hobby. But around that time my dad died unexpectedly. Unfortunately he was the main carer for my mum who had recently been diagnosed with Fronto Temporal Dementia. I basically had to give up my whole life, move back home, change jobs and forget about any plans I might have had.

It was the best thing that ever happened to me.  I didn’t realise until I removed myself from my old life how much I hated it and how miserable it made me. Most of my time not spent at work was spent on my own. I thought I liked it that way. But I was wrong about that.

Anyway dad used to take mum to a dementia group in the local community centre so I started doing the same. Keep up the routine. I hated it. Hated being around people. But six years later I can’t be without it, and other groups we are a part of. There’s a singing group and a water aid coffee morning. I did these things for mums sake. But in the end it’s me who’s benefited most by integrating myself into a close community of people.

Well one day I was taking some rubbish to the dump and while rooting around I found a discarded telescope.  A Celestron astromaster 130eq. They let me take it. I cleaned it all up and set it up in the garden. One quick look at the moon and I knew this was never gonna be enough for me. I didn’t really have the disposable money to go diving into Astrophotography the way I originally intended, and thank goodness. I would have made all the wrong decisions.  But slowly over time buying second hand when money would allow I’ve gotten to where I wanted to be.

The whole time I learned most of what I’ve needed to know from reading SGL. And through reading and learning a lot I found that this was a community of people I wanted to be a part of. Mum’s condition has progressed to the point where she can no longer communicate.  If it wasn’t for community I would be very isolated and that’s not a good way to live. So with all the things I’m now part of that’s what I’m there for. Community.

Mostly whiskey or bourbon mixed with cherry pepsi max. But only after 10pm 

On  one side I’ve got wonderful neighbours. They’re older, love peace and quiet. The woman is a retired nurse. I have my mother with advanced dementia here and she’s always on hand to offer help, advice and support whenever we need it.  The husband helps me with my garden, takes an interest in my various hobbies and we regularly chat about whatever projects we’re working on.

The other side…not so much. Constantly barking dogs. A hot tub that plays ridiculously loud music and four teenage daughters with no concept of reasonable volume. The dad is bully who likes to think he’s the big man around town and can tell everyone in the street what to do. The only big thing about him is his waistline. He actually tried to tell me not to go in my garden at night because it makes his dogs bark and woke him up. When he was building an extension he dumped all the dirt from the foundations on my driveway without permission. 

I could go on.  But just thinking about him makes me angry. So there’s British neighbours and then there’s British neighbours.  Be aware of the difference.

8 minutes ago, paulastro said:

With respect to all those who have contributed to this thread, does it all really matter?

Personally, I don't care what anyone calls me.  I'm not going to change what I do astronomy-wise whatever anyone calls  me, or folks who have similiar interests.

 

 

 

 

It doesn’t matter at all.  Just be comfortable in yourself and do what you love.

1 hour ago, John said:

I suspect consensus is going to be elusive on this one ....... 🙂

Well if we had consensus what would we talk about 😂😂

I like the word stargazer. Has a dream like quality to it.  And that’s mostly what I’m doing, just looking up and dreaming about what’s going on out there. The science is cool, but the sheer aesthetic beauty is breathtaking.

3 hours ago, Stuart1971 said:

You are certainly not on your own here, i was exactly the same, to the point where I went year in and year out, for around 5 years, with about 4 sessions under my belt, BUT the turning point for me, as has been said already was building a permanent home for my rig, so I just have to nip out and open the roof, takes 45 seconds, and that it…

TBH without my little mini obsy, I would have given the hobby up.

Even now if I have to re do my PA or change something that can only be done at night outside in the cold, it take me a while to bother to do it, but ATM all is good and set up ready to go at a moments notice.

I have a second scope, an 8” SCT, and it sits in the garage store cupboard year after year, because the thought of swapping all my kit over and then re rigging all the neat wiring, just cause me so much anxiety, I don’t use it, even when galaxy season comes round, I carry on with my frac rig. It’s just easier….☹️

When it comes to photography I’m a big fan of the one camera one lens approach. I got an 8x10 which I exclusively use a 300mm lens with, a 4x5 which I only use with a 210mm lens and medium format I stick to 50mm. I only go out with one camera at a time. Not having choices can be liberating and another way to remove stress.

26 minutes ago, Adreneline said:

Fingers crossed it is a perfectly clear day for you to enjoy the spectacle - well deserved I would say.

Oh no, preparing for an eclipse would probably induce a heart attack with worry. I feel for the scientists of old who’d sail half way round the world on scurvy inducing voyages only to be met with clouds and dysentery. 

30 minutes ago, powerlord said:

Yeh I used to get that all the time. Building the obsy got rid of it mostly, but if I have to swap otas or summit it's the same. Like tonight. Forecast is nice , and it would take less than 10 mins to swap kit on both mounts, power em on and come back into the warmth. But I find it sort of stressful. It's not laziness. I just don't like doing it. Especially in the dark. Stupid really as I know I'll regret it.

I feel that.