RobertI

I think this video and the comparison with the Hubble image shows what an amazing leap forward this. Can’t wait to see what they come up with over the next few months.

Thanks Martin, I had a quick look at the log but can't conclude much I'm afraid - log attached if you do get a chance to have a look. 👍 jocular.log

Thanks Mike I shall give this a go.

Thanks Steve - I assuming this is the platesolving feature - I've tried this and always get "unknown DSO". I've set the focal length, pixel size and orientation (and tried all combinations of orientation) but no joy yet unfortunately.

Inspiring. Well done Indeed.

Thanks Martin. Just checked and I did have the bad pixel set to on - I tried changing the parameter to lower values and rerunning, but didn't seem to make any difference. Also tried restarting Jocular, but no joy.

Thanks Martin, it was satisfying to get a self-aligning, wide-field setup from bits of equipment I had lying around in the garage!! I did notice a very slight increase in noise when using Median but it did seem to remove hot pixel 'trails' (I assume that's what they were) - see below. It's not an issue as the results were great, but you might have some insight.... Mean: Median:

Oh right, thanks for pointing out, incorrect assumption on my part. Would be interested to hear if anyone else has had same problem with SLL.

Thanks! Yes the exposures are showing as 0ms because the captures were being done in Starlight Live, so Jocular did not know the exposure length. The reason for using Starlight Live was that Jocular did not recognise the Lodestar for capturing, so had to work around.

If you're interested I did a session with my 66mm APO, Skyprodigy mount (basically a Celestron SLT, a similar class of mount to the Skywatcher GTi I would say) and lodestar camera - might give you an idea of what's possible? You could probably do better than me with a better camera and mount!!

First 'proper' EAA session in a long time. My goal was to try a new 'quick setup' wide field combination using: My Skyprodigy mount (big question - would it be able to auto align, put the object on the chip, and accurately track for 10-20 seconds?) Zenithstar 66mm @ F4.8 plus IR filter Lodestar mono for capture (it's been producing strange artefacts, so might play up) Jocular for live processing (new to me), Starlight Live for capture. So there were lots of opportunity for failure, but I'm pleased to say it all worked flawlessly, so I now have a wide(ish) field EAA setup that can self-align and be ready for imaging in a few minutes. The Lodestar is not perfect for short focal length with its massive pixles, and the bright summer skies were not ideal, but I was pretty pleased with the results. Jocular was fantastic to use, the median stack doing a great job of removing hot pixels and other artefacts. Captures were either 10 or 20 seconds, except the glob which was around 5 secs I think.

I’m not really up with the latest EAA cameras, so wouldn’t like to advise what might work, but it does sound like it is worth investigating a different EAA camera which would better complement the 72ED. But having re-read your your post, I am thinking there are two alternative solutions to your problem: Low cost option - build a semi-permanent pier and leave the mount and scope set up under a weather proof cover or box. A ‘Todmorden Pier’ is virtually zero cost and I have seriously been thinking about one of these. Higher cost option - invest in a good quality AZ mount like a Skywatcher AZ-EQ5 or an i-Optron AZ Pro to reduce setup time. The former also allows the the possibility of Starsense to reduce setup time even more. With both above options you can then look to upgrade the scope and camera over time to remove the problem of starbloating, lack of stars and field of view. I think Skywatcher 130PDS or 150PDS would make a great EAA scope.

It would work best for nebulae, large galaxies and wide field in my opinion. Also very good for emission nebulae with Ha filter. If that’s your area of interest then it might work for you. If you are more interested in globulars, planetary nebulae and smaller galaxies, then not so good. Personally I think you would eventually run out of things to look at with the wide field set up, so probably not ideal as a main EAA scope, there are so many more interesting small DSOs to look at in my opinion, especially in galaxy season. I would say definitely yes for larger nebulae and galaxies as described above. The visual dob would be more satisfying for smaller DSOs I would think (based on my experience with my 8” SCT).

I would have thought if you are really pushed for time, then the 72mm plus AZ GTI would get the most use, and because of the short focal length (especially if reducer used) then less strain in the tracking. Also have the option of starsense for auto-alignment and possibly even an ASIAir for full automation? Funnily enough I have the same issues and am experimenting with a similar setup. Previously I have used an RC6 on an CG5 (same as EQ5) - great for galaxies and smaller DSOs, but setup takes time. I am now experimenting with my 66mm APO with a reducer on my SkyProdigy mount for auto alignment - in theory super quick setup, but don’t know yet whether the tracking is up to it and whether my Lodestar camera with its big pixels will work at this short focal length. Results are promising so far and the fun factor is high. I can’t really comment from practical experience on the Dob option though, I’ll leave others to do that.

With the arrival of a new laptop I finally managed to install Jocular! Simply Googled "how to install Jocular" and I was taken to the downloads website, followed the clear and comprehensive instructions and worked first time. The guide is also excellent. I've been having fun playing with the test images and also uploaded my own FITS from a session in 2019 - see screenshot below. I'm loving the controls, really well setup for EAA and fun to use. Being able to see each sub as it stacks and then step through each sub after is really useful, gives a much better understanding of what's going on. But it's also great if you just want to get the best view straight away with minimal fuss - it does it all for you. Will try to get plate solving working soon. Unfortunately it would not connect to my Lodestar - I even tried installing USBlib as described in previous thread, but no joy. But it works fine with Starlight Live capturing into the watch folder. Really looking forward to giving this a go for real when the nights get darker. Well done and thankyou to @Martin Meredith!

Is there a separate AZ75 owner’s thread or are folk posting on the AZ100 thread?

Hmmm, CAMRAS, a bit too close to CAMERAS! 😂 Where EAA scores for me is for the galaxy season, where my scopes (and even large dobs) cannot see anything other than faint smudges. But for clusters, globs, doubles, planetary, lunar and even brighter emission nebulae, I’m really happy with visual.

Ade Ashford has done a review of the eVscope 2 in the July 2022 issues of Astronomy Now. It’s definitely worth a read, but spoiler alert, he thinks you can get similar image quality from the eVscope 1 and the huge price hike is not worth it, but he is still very complimentary. I am a member of the eVscope Facebook group (I don’t have one) and I have to say the owners are doing some very interesting things, most of them seem to be using their scopes as an imaging tool rather than real time EAA, and taking several hours of short exposures and then post processing to produce very nice results. Given the pain factor in getting an imaging rig working consistently, I can see the appeal. I used to do EAA with a SX Lodestar and 6” RC, and I know that setup could go very deep, typically mag 20 galaxies, so not sure the eVscope to go that far, but for the brighter stuff it is really good. I’m pretty sure this is just the start of this kind of setup and it wouldn’t surprise me if Skywatcher or ZWO come up with something better and cheaper before too long.

Thanks for the link @Space Hopper. I did a bit of research on the Universal Alan Gee, and it does look promising, but during my wanderings I discovered that I might reach focus with with BVs and 0.63 reducer if I put the reducer AFTER the diagonal, ie: between the diagonal and the BV. After finding the relevant adaptors, I tried it out and it worked! This gives a magnification of around 70x and a field of view of 0.9 degrees. Not exactly wide field but not too bad for binoviewing in an SCT. However there were two problems evident when I tried it out: 1) vignetting and 2) distortion toward the edge of field of view which I think is astigmatism (diamond shaped stars). The first problem is due to the very long light path of the binoviewers I believe, and I’m not sure of the cause of the second. I need to try this combo out under a proper dark sky so might have to wait a few weeks. It will be interesting to compare this view with an unvignetted, undistorted mono view and see which I prefer.

Superb, great find. I love that wide field view with the tiny Emerald lost in the mass of stars. Very interesting background info too. 👍

Thanks all for the good ideas and encouragement. Does anyone use any anti-damp measures like desiccant or de-humidifier (or heated pet blanket!)?

Well that sounds like a ringing endorsement! Gods to know it works. Fortunately none of my EAA equipment is terribly expensive, so not the risk that some might have .

Thanks for the information everyone - some useful links and great ideas. Having digested this information and thought some more, I am moving towards the idea of starting with just a pier, possibly even a ‘Todmorden’ style pier, as a starting point, with the mount and possibly the scope permanently attached under a Telegizmos cover. I could then add a run off shed at some point in the future if feel the need. Although I never fancied the idea of a Telegizmos cover due to moisture, etc, I discovered that Damien Peach has used this arrangement for years for his C14 and has never had an observatory! So if it’s good enough for him…….

Amazing images John!

No problem! 🙂 My old run off shed many years ago had wheels and castors and I just wheeled it over the grass, so I wouldn’t think I need anything more complicated than that.