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saac

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Everything posted by saac

  1. That is actually a cracking image Laurence. I think your description and experience of how you used it to share images in real time is exactly what these telescopes are about. Quick no fuss setup and no wait images that can be shared then move on to the next target . Perfect for any group viewing or outreach. I haven't got one but I would get a kick out of using something like the Seestar while I have my main rig working its way through its imaging task. Jim
  2. I found the Ed Ting video confusing and not really that worthwhile. In his opening he states he would not advise people to buy smart telescopes because in his words they are not very good. He then goes on to say that they are here to stay and will only get better! Sorry but if nobody buys then the manufactures will see that there is no demand and close down that line. So he is contradicting himself there, there clearly is a demand. I think he is massively overlooking the selling point of this type of telescope - it is plug and play, point and shoot technology. It wears its heart on its sleeve. It is not pretending to anybody that it will produce outstanding quality images and it is not marketed at those who have dedicated imaging rigs and experience. To hold this product up against those criteria is a bit of false analysis. As for "don't buy the technology will change" - well that's pretty much a given ever since the oft quoted model T Ford! Jim
  3. I like the way you have the DSLR setup there with the use of cable tidy, very neat. I've gone for short USB cables with right angle connectors on my RedCat setup, also using the ASiAir but was considering using one of the 3D print cable tidy system. I take it the camera lens is focussed manually - is it just a matter of setting it to infinity and leaving? Jim
  4. Not sure what you mean by pure energy. I don't think separating the energy/matter equivalence makes sense either. Jim
  5. The way we experience time definitely makes it difficult to understand its true nature but time does appear to be an intrinsic (potentially emergent) property of our universe. Jim
  6. Yep I think I have managed to turn off auto update and forgot about it. I vaguely remember manually downloading my current version of the app V2.1 10.74. I need to start writing these things down lol. Jim
  7. There is a roll back firmware option. Not really needed to use it yet, touch wood. Jim
  8. Thank. I have the app running on my iPhone and iPad, but mainly use my laptop vi bluestacks. None are flagging up a new update available. I think it's possible to disable auto updates and I wonder if that is what I have done. I can download the latest version from the App Store then. Jim
  9. @Neutrinosoup, for landscape astrophotography, the Samyang 135 mm lens is one of the most often praised lens matched with a DSLR. You may also find some useful information from Paul Haworth's Youtube channel. Paul is member of the forum (FenlandPaul) and he produces some of the most amazingly creative astro landscape photographs. I'd start experimenting with a DSLR and a suitable tracking mount, the SkyWatcher Star Adventurer or AZ GTi are are nice portable setups and often pop up in the second hand market. Once you're ready for a scope then the RedCat 51 is an excellent choice and if you marry it to a ZWO AsiAir (computer controller) and ZWO auto focuser and camera, then you have again a really versatile and portable wide field setup. Jim https://www.youtube.com/@nightscapejournals
  10. A few of the updates like fuzzy search and new LDN catalogue will be good. Much of the rest looks like support for additional cameras. I've just turned my app on and there's no message to update the firmware. How do you do it? There is a rest firmware function back that only rolls it back to either factory or previous settings far as I can see. If I can find up how to update I'll give it a go. Edited - just checked the forum - some users reporting usb port failures after update! Jim
  11. I tend to transfer the files from the AsiAir by downloading to my laptop (in the house) using the ethernet connection. I use a PowerLine Network adapter to connect the observatory to the laptop in the house. Works fine so far, touch wood. Jim
  12. The way I reconcile this is - because we (our intellect) are part of existence (ourselves products of the "after the big bang") we are constrained only to know that existence or reality. The common answer is that anything prior to that is not a legitimate question as prior is a measure of time and time appears to be a property of existence (part of the fabric of our universe). That leads to the entirely unsatisfactory "time", and hence "prior", did not exist before the big bang. That's so difficult for us to conceive because we don't experience time like that so our thinking is constrained. But as you say "hats off to them" - it's one thing to read about it, another to come up with it from first principles. They are genuinely gifted people. Jim
  13. I wouldn't like to let go any (Esprit 120, Bresser 8 inch reflector, SW 80 ED Equinox). But at the moment I'm having so much fun with my William Optics Redcat (black and white version). This really is an amazingly versatile and capable telescope. Jim
  14. I always thought, that the physics of the universe at the period of inflation were not those we experience now. The fundamental forces were not yet discrete (still unified) - not 100% sure so I may be wrong here. The faster than speed of light restriction is a restriction on mass, stuff in the universe, and not space itself, leaving the universe free to inflate faster than light as it saw fit. Exactly how physicists can predict what conditions were like during such incomprehensible timescales is always a source of amazement to me ! Jim
  15. So it may be a conflict with other pieces of equipment, different mounts, cameras etc. I use a plus and one of the old pros. My plus is mounted on my main setup at the moment and is getting fairly regular use with no real problems arising. Both connected by ethernet cable, I very rarely use the wifi. I connected the pro at Christmas just to get it ready for use with the other telescope and the only thing I had to do was update the firmware - this worked fine after an initial problem doing the update. I haven't used it in anger yet seems to be doing what it is supposed to do. Fingers crossed it stays that way. Jim
  16. @Glenbo, great to hear you are back talking to it, fingers crossed everything is fine now. Yes please keep us posted, if it does start playing up I can provide an image of my flash card with its working OS. I'm wondering what is going on here with the AsiAir, within reason we should all be using the same software assuming we are all on the same firmware update. So if it is a software issue would we not all be experiencing the same glitches! I must admit, and touch wood, I haven't really had these serious problems you guys have been getting. I connect to my AsiAir by ethernet mainly all the time but I don't think that should be a factor because the thing operates stand alone does it not? Whatever it is , it is frustrating and spoiling the user experience of what is otherwise a great piece of kit. Jim
  17. My card is showing 53.3 MB taken up by the AsiAir program and 20GB free space - I have no images saved onto it yet. It's a 256 GB (Samsung) card so yes it looks like AsiAir cannot access the full card capacity.; 32 GB is listed as the Raspberry Pi capacity so that makes sense I guess. Jim
  18. No worries Glenbo, I love the AsiAir, it's just one of those bits of kit that when it works it makes life so much easier. It is annoying that ZWO have allowed these firmware updates to detract from the reputation of the AsiAir which it surely will. Anyway, mines has connected up using both my win pc running through Blue Stacks and on my iPad Mini using the App. The photos show the screen on the iPad. Note, I haven't got any equipment connected but everything seems to be talking and reporting the way it should. Not sure what could be going wrong then, would it be worthwhile doing a reinstall of both the app and teh firmware? Jim
  19. I'll fire up my AsiAir Pro this evening, I have it with the scope sitting in the study, and see what I get. I have a plus mounted on the other scope and that has been getting the main use at the moment. Is it not now possible to roll back on the firmware updates? Any way give me a hour or 2 and I will see how I get on with the pro. Jim
  20. Long shot but does it make any difference if you identify your mount as an EqMod mount? Jim
  21. It always has been a matter of selecting the right tool for the job at hand. Jim
  22. If you download Stellarium, free planetarium software, you can enter the date and time you saw it. This may help you identify it. https://stellarium.org/ Jim
  23. Thanks for that, I can see how that works. Useful bit of kit indeed. Just checked out your web site and liked your tutorial on selective colour saturation, i'll be giving that a try soon. Thanks again. JIm
  24. Harry, so what is mounted on the scope end? So do you have one of these mounted on the scope to which the camera, focuser, mount etc plugs into and then that wifi connects to the receiving units shown in your photo above? How many USB connection does it handle? Jim
  25. I think you have done exceptionally well that is a lovely image. Jim
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