saac

Just now, 900SL said:

You may choose to think that, but I don't consider that to be correct. I'm pretty certain that most astro-imagers don't feel threatened or undermined by the Seestar. Many seem to find it quite cute, like a little nodding dog doing tricks and cartwheels

It has been designed to provide a quick n dirty grab and go / point and shoot experience, and appeals to many who either lack the ability or ambition to bang their heads against the wall that is astrophotography, which ultimately produces far superior results

It also appeals hugely to those who do and have.  When my hellishly expensive main rig is working away in the background I'd love to have access to one of these. Like I said, it's all about using the right tool for the right job.  

Jim 

Just now, LDW1 said:

Make sure its the SS and not the D2 unless you want to use your engineering skills, lol !

Never miss an opportunity to use engineering in astronomy; it is after all a technical discipline.  Any bit of equipment can always be optimized and adapted else where is the fun  

Jim 

Just now, Geoff Lister said:

As a 3rd generation engineer, I agree 100%. I could not decide between the S50 and Dwarf II, so I bought both. No regrets on either purchase - I now have 2 sizes of hammer.

Geoff

Well you are now in the fortunate position to sell me one  

Jim 

Wow, who would have thought such rivalry of philosophy exists within astronomy.  Maybe it's the engineer in me but it's just a bit of kit, like any other tool it has a purpose. This one seems to do its job pretty well.  I'd certainly give one a go, I'd use it to explore while my other permanently mounted kit is tied up with other tasks like, whisper it, photography! I don't feel threatened by it, it doesn't prompt any existential crisis of thought of what I'm doing with my other rig and cameras. It is just another tool giving a different opportunity to explore the night sky - there's no compulsion to buy one and it won't come and steal your babies from their beds at night!  I hope to see more of these smart scopes being developed with the price dropping and capability improving.  And as for that Smart Eyepiece by Pegasus, I'd give that a go too without feeling threatened by a lump of metal.  Yep, definitely an engineers view   

Jim 

Lovely report and really enjoyed your video. When I first saw M42 with a 16 inch Dob I felt like I was falling into the nebula, amazing experience with these large Dobs.  

Jim

I got a clear sky at the moment but the wind is picking up (Storm Kathleen) so unfortunately the observatory roof is staying closed tonight  

Jim

I'm not 100% sure but I think that the mirrorless Canon cameras use a different lens mount (EOS EF-M) compared to the  DSLR EOS range.  If you go with a Samyang 14 mm lens (which is a very good lens) then yes you will need to have an appropriate adapter for the EF/EF-S system lens mount.  Best thing is to speak to the camera dealer and they will advise. 

Jim  

I use PLA, PTEG and ABS depending on application, haven't had a need to use tpu or nylon. Since starting in 2019 I've never had any problem with bed adhesion and the magnetic bed plate works perfectly making easy release of the components.  I don't use an enclosure, the printer is situated in my workshop so it does benefit from an extractor. When printing with ABS I stabilize the temperature around the build volume with kingspan insulation boards around the printer frame but these are not permanent.  My bed levelling is done old school, manually with feeler gauges as it should be. I keep my filament in a conditioned environment and not sitting on the reel exposed when not in use. From experience in helping others and from running the 3 printers in school most problems arise from inaccurate bed levelling and filament issues.  If an Ender 5 is setup properly and maintained well it will deliver without major upgrades. 

Jim

I  bought an Ender 5 back in 2019 and have largely resisted going down the upgrade path; it's been a thoroughly reliable and capable printer. It just works so I've little cause to upgrade anything. What I have replaced are largely consumable items such as the bowden cable and one of the fans. The only thing i'm really considering is to give it wifi control via a raspberry pi controller. It's been used to pint a range of items from Paul Gehrlach's Low Spec Spectrometer,  an adjustable rising bed for my laser cutter, various threaded adapters for astro use, and various models and items for use in class (DNA model, antibody and antigen model, aircraft projectile cradle).  One item though puts a smile on my face each time I use it - it's an dial gauge adapter that makes adjusting the end float on my mgb stub axle a much simpler task.  I use Fusion 360 for modelling and the standard Creality slicer which have both worked seamlessly for me. 

Jim 

Looking good, major milestone coming up when you put the roof on. I'm sure you have already thought about it but it may be worthwhile putting a gentle incline on the roof rails to stop any rain water tracking inside. I forgot to do on mine and had to retro fit  

Jim 

24 minutes ago, Ratlet said:

I'm having fun already 🙂.  Thus far I've made a variety of flashing lights, but I'm getting there.  For some reason electricity has always eluded me so it's kind of a challenge to myself this year to understand it.

Also got an eq platform on the build list and maybe an onstep setup.  The really nice thing about it is that I can potter with it whilst it rains!

Edit:  chat gpt is a godsend.  Especially when you can ask a question and then either ask it to rephrase it or (in my case) just say 'make the answer dumber'

I enjoy the physical side of using Arduino and building the kit but I do not have a head for coding. I used to find it ok but now I just don't seem to be able to find  enough motivation to learn the syntax and commands. ChatGPT, You Tube and Instructables are my Arduino project friends. I was quite chuffed with the digital setting circles we made for the school Dob, the coding was all the work of a very gifted pupil while I did the hardware side   My next project is to try out an all sky camera but I may use a Raspberry Pi for that - lots of examples available for me to learn from  

JIm 

On 28/03/2024 at 17:38, Ratlet said:

I'm wanting to build an electronic focuser and whilst there are plans available I figure it would be a good idea to actually try and understand electronics and programming (my job now involves both).  Won't be building a focuser with this, but will at least understand it a bit better.  I get stressed doing things without understanding why I'm doing it.

Figure this would be a good place to start.  Figure with the lack of clear skies I can spend an hour or so a night doing the projects.

You are going to have a mass of fun with that. Don't forget that you also get the likes of ChatGPT to write some scripts for you to help out with the learning process. Despite ending up buying a ZWO autofocuser I went down the road first of building one using the arduino - well worth it and great fun. 

Jim 

Wow, what a fantastic set of images. I love the detail you have caught in those loops.  The silhouetted disc image is extra special. 

Jim 

Wow.

Jim

Some related discussion here:

Jim

StellaLyra 12 inch using carbon fibre tubes comes in at 24kg. That is reported as the tube weight, I wonder if it includes the mirror and mirror cell as well though?

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/stellalyra-telescopes/stellalyra-12-f12-m-lrc-classical-cassegrain-carbon-truss-telescope-ota.html

Jim 

21 hours ago, tomato said:

I've just noticed I have gone through the 5000 posts milestone today, with a post highlighting my inability to Polar Align after 10 years in the hobby. 😏

I joined SGL in Feb 2014, seeking advice, as so many do, on how to spend money on astro kit. Little did I know how this forum would form such an integral part of my enjoyment of this hobby, thanks of course to the diverse, knowledgeable, and above all, thoroughly decent folks who are fellow members.

Here's to the next 5000 posts and 10 years hopefully, I wonder what will be a hot topic then?

Well done, keep it up  Here's my prediction for the hot topic of your 10,000 post  " For Sale - My trusty ZWO Auto Polar Aligner  - no longer needed"  

Jim   

That is some accolade "a planet before Pluto was a planet and downgraded before Pluto was downgraded"  

Jim 

28 minutes ago, Nigella Bryant said:

Another sunny day at the office and it's not an April fool, 😂 

 

 

There is something very civilised about astronomy during the day  

Jim

Permanent Observatories make you lazy - what's Polaris  

Jim 

I'm pretty sure that these are generally for setting the float of the bearing surfaces, set up a the factory.  I may well be wrong so stand by to be corrected. 

Jim 

9 hours ago, LondonNeil said:

I'm just venting I guess.   I'll get the hang of it....I do get most things...

I'm just finding the theory and the practical aspects are conspiring to defeat me with this hobby!

 

Oh and the seeing must be rubbish tonight..... or I'm doing something very wrong.  In desperation to get a look At something I shoved a stellalyra 30mm super view in the st120 (I had a Mak127 on the other side) just to get a view of the orion constellation.... no... no...no.... I could see about 3 stars.  I honestly wasn't sure what I was looking at.... still,  so least the ep came into focus (it's new and after a comment elsewhere I wasn't sure it would)

Trust me you are doing everything right. This is the rite of passage we face, each frustration that you encounter, piece of kit forgotten, each lamp post acquired is adding to your knowledge, skill, muscle memory call it what you will. It does get better and it is worth it, keep going.   

Jim 

On 25/03/2024 at 19:17, LaurenceT said:

I have raised this point earlier today on a Facebook Seestar group about his comments concerning early adoption.

There's always going to be a better model of anything coming along "later", we just have to wait for it.

I'm 77 in a few days, just how long would our Ed like me to wait for that vastly improved model?

As it happens I'm quite enjoying my Seestar, it took me about 5 minutes last night to set it up and show my grandchildren the wonders of the Orion nebula appearing on the TV screen thanks to iPad screen mirroring.

Imagine my surprise when I looked at the Seestar this morning and found it had stacked and processed an image for me.

It wasn't at all perfect, some of the stars looked a bit weird 😀 and there was some detail missing but with a very little basic work it brushed up quite well. I don't think my audience would have appreciated the "better" image produced by my ZS61!

My only "objection" is the fixed FOV but if I really want to capture something different I can use my other fairly basic kit.

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

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 

6 hours ago, Vroobel said:

I use both ASIAir and a small PC with NINA for 4 different setups. Now every setup has its cables 'permanently' tied with velcro, I only place and connect the computer and a dew heater controller. 3 of 4 my setups have several Vixen bars around to use with a ZWO ASIAir Vixen clamps (FLO). I use them to attach the devices and guiders. I use a lot of velcro for the cables' excess if any is too long and also here the extra Vixen bars are very useful. Always only two cables go down: a 12V power cable and an USB one connected to a mount. Another 12V power cable goes upwards from a PSU to the mount, but it's not related to the setup. I use a kind of extending rod if the setup is 'too short' and there is a risk of snagging.

BTW, two Xbox 12V 16A PSUs supply my Celestron CGX and SW EQ5 OnStep GoTo. All 12V joints are made using an aviation GX16 2-pin male/female connectors.

I hope it is helpful anyhow. 

 

 

 

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