Gasman

Only just found out that our very own Robin Leadbeater is the new recipient of the Merlin medal from the BAA 😀. Well done Robin and very well deserved!!!. Steve

Maybe I'm a charlatan but wouldn't it make a refreshing change to watch a program with actual amateurs doing their thing?. Imagine a fly on the wall doing the rounds to each of our houses watching the setting ups, the cockups, the look of amazement when stuff works etc😁. I'd watch those definitely Steve

Hi folks Just watched an interesting episode on BBC1 where a chap and his son brought an old homemade reflector made by his late father to see if the guys could repair it and make it workable again. Amazing build from old parts found around Portsmouth area, mirror fomerly a porthole various other bits and bob's to make an equatorial mount. They got the mirror recoated and made a great job of the restoration. Took me back a few years having made my own reflector and mirror 😁. Should be on catchup! Steve

I will have to read up on the Lowspec. Even though I have an Alpy 600 the Lowspec seems an excellent project although maybe not quite for 3d novices. Still deciding on a printer so s way to go yet, hope the finger gets better!

Louise I think you should ease off on the technology stuff for a while, bad for your health 😉

Very near to clicking 'buy' on an Ender 3 pro or maybe a bit more for the CR-10s??, also think it might be fruitful to hang on for Black Friday 😋 Steve

Hugely interesting post 👍. As an (admittedly not very active at the moment) spectroscopist using an Alpy 600, the mention of the Lowspec has stirred a somewhat dormant interest in spectro for me and with the addition of 3d printing adds yet another level for a self confessed gadget dabbler like moi!. Would the Ender 3 pro suit a very novice 3d'er ? A birthday is imminent so the time might be right😁. Cheers Steve

I do wish you lot would stop discussing the things you make with these wonderful 3d printer thingamebobs . Er indoors will go mad if I embark on yet another hobby 😋 Steve

Have you considered ControlMyNikon Kev?. might be worth a try it seems the D300 is supported https://www.tetherscript.com/controlmynikon-download/ Steve

Nice one Mark ,they will prove very useful especially for beginner's. Good of you to provide them. Cheers Steve

Interesting thread and something I might add although slightly off topic I think still relevant. Some time ago I used to be on a fairly active astro forum I think based near Manchester (I won`t mention the name) and became quite friendly with all on there and was informed that they will be going to a star party soon held in the Peaks (I forget the location now) and it happened to be fairly near to where my wife and I were staying. If I went to the star party I was invited to call to pitch whatever it was to meet up with the organiser lets call him `D` for a brew and a chat. I did go to the star party some 10mins drive from where I was staying and found D who was chatting with a few others. I like to think I`m a friendly sociable type and quietly introduced myself and that was about as far as I got as it was like a scene from one of those old western films where the piano stops playing and the pool balls stop rolling, quite funny now I think back as I had obviously invaded their little clique and needless to say I felt as welcome as a fart in a spacesuit 😀. I made a quick excuse to leave and it goes without saying never went back both to the pitch or the forum . It did make me think that this friendly little part of cyberspace we inhabit does not always transfer to face to face at least for me on this one occasion. Steve

Weird of MS as I thought that's the whole point of anti piracy otherwise I could install my licenced copy onto 5,10 15+ PC's? Steve

Have to say I'm confused now Dave (not hard😊). How can you install a copy of Win 10 (which I assume is linked to a specific pc you already own) onto a different pc ( ie your new one? ). I always thought a specific copy of Windows 10 is linked to a particular pc so if say the drive goes caput you can I install that copy of Win 10 on the new drive (same motherboard)??. Steve

Can sometimes be the 'del' key also!

Bit misleading isn't it, I would have bought that on the understanding it had Win 10 Installed although can't see where it says they will give you the licence code though??. Steve

I wouldn't bank on that if I were you 😂 Been retired 3yrs now and still not managed that all nighter I promised myself. Steve

Thanks James I ended up trying `tar xf ccdciel-0.9.60-1754-linux_386.tar.xz` which unzipped it to the directory `ccdciel` and in the bin sub directory there was a ccdciel exe file and it runs fine. Only problem is it actually unzips version 0.9.59 which doesn`t have the Dslr option which is what I wanted so not sure whats happening there?? looks like an email to the Ccdiel site in order. thanks again Steve

Hi Peeps Been using Kubuntu for a while on an old laptop and thought I'd add a linux distro onto my newish Windows 10 laptop and decided on Manjaro. Installed fine but I'd like to install the latest Ccdciel on it but struggling to get to grips with the install features of Manjaro. Using Ubuntu distros it was a simple 'sudo apt-get install pkgname' and bobs yer dads brother,not so with Manjaro if anyone can suggest a similar way to install such as tar.xz files it would be great?. Thanks Steve

I have been looking at maybe buying this mount and for now have the Explore app on my iPad and I notice in the menu/settings that there is under the ‘RA direction’ tab a forward or reverse option could that be the answer?. It also gives this option for Dec too. Steve

Sorted thanks guys, just needed battery charging and set to 'Manual'. Steve

Hi peeps First ever try with my Nikon D5500 dslr.Took the lens off fitted a Nikon to 1.25 adaptor fitted it to my little ED80 so far so good. Turned camera on and tried to use the 'liveview' option and ruddy thing wouldn't let me telling me 'shutter disabled and to recharge battery' which I'm now doing. I am wondering if the dslr also wouldn't let me do anything as it detected no lens attached, if this is the case can it be overridden?. I'm sure many folk use DSLR's so this can't be much of a problem, will have to dig out the camera manual see if any info there! Cheers Steve

Not a Prism user but had similar issue with other software. Just a thought as it seems a driver conflict can you run two instances of the app one selecting the imaging ccd and the other selecting the guide ccd? Steve

You might want to give this try Alan https://dslrdashboard.info/ . Its a while since I used it on my Nikon but I`m sure it does the same for Canon and its a freebie! Steve

Yes, thought it was a good idea at the time 🤔 Steve