Gasman

Just trying your software now Paul and wondering why when clicking on my profile at top right it takes you to a billing page?. Do you plan on charging for this software in the future?.

Steve

Raw Therapee,Darktable,Digikam,Ansul to name but 4 and all free and very useful for any type of imaging (I don't think any work with .fits files though, are they still used with astro?)

Steve

I've often heard the term 'old friends' referring to the constellationsand that's how I tend to look at them, if I can't see them this year no big I can always see them next (health etc willing 😆). I popped out the other night and noticed Lyra high in the sky, gave her a quick nod and thought see you later 😄!.

Steve

Been there Stu and got the T shirt on that and switched to microscopy which obviously is not weather dependent BUT funnily enough I'm presently reviving my trusty old NEQ6 mount and Esprit refractor which has been sitting patiently in my dome for over 4 yes. I very nearly sold all my gear but glad I hung onto it now. A nice surprise was to find the mount spring back to life when I powered it up. I'm sussing out Nina at the moment so haven't done any observing yet but the astro interest is starting to return, maybe the weather frustration will return who knows 👍.

Steve

Bit of a long shot maybe but I recently restarted my Neq6 mount after having Ascom problems where I had to use the GS server from the Green Swamp site to connect to my laptop. Post here if interested!.

HTH

Steve

I've had a break from astro for some 4yrs now and my old Neq6 mount and Esprit refractor have been under cover in my Observatory all this time. I'm wanting to start observing again and wondered if/how the mount would start up again. I bought a new power supply and Lynx eqmod cable (thanks Flo) downloaded all (so I thought) the latest Ascom stuff and with everything crossed plugged the eqmod cable in to laptop the file downloaded no probs  com port 3 great!. Plugged power cable into mount turned it on, red led lit up phew!. Plugged eqmod plug into mount and nothing....damn bet the mounts circuitry is kaput!!. Long story short turned out I didn't have the Neq6 driver. The Ascom stuff is not as easy as the last time I used it and couldn't find the driver on the Ascom site and so I came across Rob Morgan and his Green Swamp site, downloaded the GS server and voila my trusty little mount sprung into life Yessss!!. So it seems all's well at the moment. Looks like Ascom has changed quite a bit since I last used it ! Anyways happy restart to astro 👍.

Steve

What an excellent and helpful post Frenchy, just shows what can be achieved with a bit of thought ( and a bit more expertise obviously).

Many dslr's on eBay sold as 'not working'  for a song and well worth having a try with. Not sure what the black goat made of it 😄

Thanks for the info 👍

Steve

I use DesignSpark Mechanical for all my 3d stuff, the free version won't allow importing stl's but you can still create and save them!

Steve

15 hours ago, malc-c said:

I've gone the other way and now my scope is gathering dust in the observatory which is now being shadowed by a large tree. 

 

 

Know exactly what you mean Malc! It was the never ending cloudy nights that stopped me observing. I don't think for one minute it's better now but maybe with age I might be a bit more patient with the clouds 😄.

Steve

Thanks David, yes the Nevada one that Flo sells looks very similar to the Maplins one I had and never had a problem with it!.

Steve

5 minutes ago, skybadger said:

I have a bank of solar panels charging a utility battery with mains charger backup.

 

Good idea and I think if I lived in Spain that would be a no brainer but in my neck of the woods (North Yorks) sunshine is as rare as hens teeth🤷. I managed fine with the Maplins unit until it packed in. I notice Flo do something similar might check that out.

Cheers

Steve

Hi guys

Funny what triggers these things😄!. Just had a few conifers taken down in my garden which has opened up my southern sky views and strangely rekindled my interest in astro and so now I'm in the process of restoring my long dormant (well about 5yrs) observatory. I last used a Maplins regulated voltage unit for my 12v having got 240v already to the obs but this sadly died some time back and wondering what's available presently. It would be providing 12v to my Atik 314 ccd, Atik filter wheel, Lodestar guider and Neq6 mount (assuming they all still work?) and possibly 2 dew heaters. A few bench supply units look interesting on Amazon but not sure how they would cope with possible condensation in my Pulsar dome, what do you guys use please?.

Thanks

Steve

Ok so these 'guys' have the technology to travel many light years to get to earth and when they arrive they crash land on some obscure part of the planet???. Sorry peeps I don't buy it 🤷!.

I think you choose the Atik 2 option in Ascom!

Steve

Ah that's interesting Nigel, I thought the SchmitCass mirrors were mass produced spherical with a front lens to enable focus?

Steve

2 hours ago, Astrobits said:

Not a new idea at all. Just Google "Mylar mirror for astronomy" lots of hits and plenty of ideas there.

Nigel 

Thanks for that, I didn't claim it was a new idea just I'd never heard of it used optically before!

2 hours ago, vlaiv said:

I'm not very confident that FDM printed plastic will be air tight as well.

Maybe look into putting some sealing paint / resin over it?

Good idea that vlaiv didn't think of the pla leaking 👍

Hi guys

In order to make a telescope mirror the usual way is to take two pieces of glass and grind one on top of another using finer grades of powder where one becomes concave and the other convex. The surface of the concave piece is gradually ground, polished and shaped ideally to a parabola then aluminized. I have actually made two mirrors like this a long time ago a 6" and a 8.75", the 8.75" served me well and still looks ok to this day.

I`m a retired industrial gas engineer and know all about flanges,gaskets, diaphragms etc and about 30+ years ago I had this idea of creating a telescope mirror using nothing more than a sheet of mirror like material (foil?) and creating a negative pressure behind it to form a concave surface and maybe it could be used optically?. I had no idea what shape it would make, at best a spherical/parabolic or at worse hyperbolic or nothing useable at all and so recently I printed off a prototype flange/diaphragm setup just to see if it was feasible. The flanges are at the limit of my little 3d printer and so I went for a 6" mirror. I can`t claim to be first with the concept as I gather a solar furnace was created some year back but I`ve never seen it used optically!.

The printed parts, note hole has not been made in the bottom for the suction tube.

Metal foil cut out

Back suction tube fitted

first try, gently sucked on the tube and then closed the tap  mmmm! Lots of stress lines from the foil and I put it away thinking no chance and nearly abandoned the project but got it out again and thought the middle 50% looks promising so if I could block out the outside 25mm maybe it was useable so made a 100mm stop to go over the front.

100mm stop being printed

fitted the 100mm stop in place and suction made.

looks much better. Thats where we are at present, using a torch side to side moving in and out of the mirror to get a rough centre of curvature it looks about 4ft giving a focal length of about 2ft.

Now I need to make a test rig with foucault setup to try and see what shape it creates.

I have two problems with it at present-

1 - not holding its shape as I made the gasket out of some crappy foam rubber I had and so could be leaking from there.

2 - or indeed the foil itself could be slightly porous

both could contribute to it not keeping its shape so further checks needed.

Would be great if it works as I remember all too well sat on a floor for hours on end rubbing two discs together, yes I know the experts will say I should have done it stood up but I preferred it that way ;-).

An interesting and very enjoyable brain exercise anyway!

cheers

Steve

Yes I used that all the time , impossible to use the Alpy without it. Never bought the calibration module as I found out it just used an Argon/ Neon bulb like those found in a particular starter cap in fluorescent tubes and rigged a jig up for it and it worked a treat.

Steve

Cheers for the quick reply Steve, yes I did wonder that thanks!

Steve

Hi peeps

Forgive me if slightly off topic🤞. I've been out of the astro game for a few years and considering a return. I last was mad keen on spectro, I still have all my gear and have my little Alpy 600 sat quietly on a shelf. As another hobby of mine is 3d printing and wondering if I have anything to gain by printing/using a Lowspec over my Alpy please?. I'll have to dust off my spectro books as I'm a little rusty with it👍.

Thanks

Steve

3 hours ago, bottletopburly said:

Used RVO for doing a belt mod a few years ago can’t recommend I’m afraid , shoddy springs to mind , won’t mention the sick they left in the gears .

I don't think sick in the gears would help with slewing 😂.

Steve

Been watching Kari Brown's excellent YouTube's today in doing the belt upgrades and I'm feeling a bit more confident about tacking it myself although Kari had a few hiccups it was very interesting and helpful to watch him, don't ya just love YouTube 😄.

Steve

Thanks for the quick reply malc. I did just wonder if anyone found the RVO option worth it given the motors and circuitry are still the age of the mount. I assume they are tested as part of the service but I don't expect them to be changed in the price !

Steve

Hi guys

Toying with getting back into astro after a 4+year hiatus. My trusty old Neq6 mount has been covered up in my obs patiently waiting and I unlocked its clutches yesterday to see if it moves ok which it does with a slight stiffness. I didn't power it up as the power source was used for other things and I think it would benefit greatly from a strip down. I came across Rother valley optics new web site ( I actually bought the mount from them many moons ago) and see they offer a full strip down / belt change for these mounts. It's not cheap at £375 and admittedly a nice chunk towards a new mount. Watched a few YouTube's on stripping these down and looks fiddly , not sure I can still do 'fiddly' now 😉. I'd be interested to hear from others who have done this strip down and also if any have used the RVO option please?.

Cheers

Steve