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Steve789

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  1. Thank you so much for your reply it's come just in time. I'm actually in the Pyrenees now. I've spent the last couple of nights at a place called Lac de Bious Artigues in the Laruns area. Crystal clear skies so far but the forecast is for it to turn soon. You've given me lots of great info just when I was wondering where to go next, thank you.
  2. Lol, that reminds me - pack sunglasses.
  3. I've got 2 weeks off work, a campervan ready to go and the Plymouth to Roscoff ferry booked for Weds evening. The intention is to drive to somewhere in the Pyrenees for a week of nightscape/landscape astrophotography (call it what you will I'm talking about photos of picturesque mountains with the Milky Way in the background). I've never been to the Pyrenees and have very little knowledge of the area so any advice or location suggestions would be much appreciated. Currently my only thoughts are to visit the area near Pic du Midi de Bigorre purely because I know there's an observatory there and so hopefully dark skies. My main concern is obviously about the weather but the forecast for the end of this week is looking good. Any longer term forecasts quite frankly I don't trust. Anyone with any tips or advice I'd love to hear from you.
  4. Steve789

    Astrophotography Year 1

    My first year of astrophotography. From a few unguided shots with a faulty canon 300D and a second hand scope to my first few attempts with a CCD and narrowband filters.
  5. Left the Bahtinov mask on again

  6. It seems that selling a scope does NOT bring clear skies.

  7. Well, after applying the epoxy and allowing it to cure I reassembled the camera before doing any debayering. My worries about the corroded ribbon connectors were partly correct as the rear LCD and buttons appear to be dead (this was the worst affected ribbon connector). However the USB works and I was able to take some shots with APT and the images came out fine. However after debayering the sensor with the melamine tool I now get Err99 showing through the viewfinder. The mirror flips up and the shutter does something and then the camera is unresponsive. When I open the battery door the shutter makes a second action and on closing the battery door the mirror flips back down. My first thoughts were that I've killed the sensor but now I'm wondering if any of the corroded ribbon connectors are causing issues. Seems unlikely as I was able to get the camera working before I attacked the sensor but I think I'll pull the camera apart one more time to check. Its worth noting that the micro-lens layer and the cfa came away much easier on the 1000D than on the 300D. If I try this again on another 1000D I'll try the polishing technique described by JTW Astronomy here: http://www.jtwastronomy.com/tutorials/debayer.html
  8. Hi frugal, I didn't bother attaching it to the scope but I did try the camera before I started. I borrowed a lens to see if I could solve the error 01 with a quick clean of the lens contacts, no joy there. I took a few shots with no lens at all, pointed at the TV. Couldn't see any evidence of dead pixels etc and it saved the image to the SD card ok. I haven't checked the USB so I hope that works. I actually quite enjoy pulling these cameras apart and having a play with them. I just hope I don't get addicted to it like Gina!
  9. Phew, I've finally read through this thread from start to finish. I managed to get hold of a 1000D for £40 on eBay. It was sold as faulty and comes up with error 01 no matter how much you clean the lens contacts but seeing as I don't even own any lenses that's not really a problem for me. Without a lens attached it works fine. After dismantling I can see the insides are suffering from water ingress/damp as there is small amounts of corrosion on some of the ribbon connections. I'm crossing my fingers that this won't cause a problem when I reassemble the camera. I cleaned the contacts as well as I could as I went. Anyway the sensor is now out and I've just finished protecting the gold wires with PX804C epoxy from Maplin. I've experimented with a 300D sensor I killed a while ago and after trying polishing and various different materials for scraping I've decided scraping with a formica/melamine tool (we call it fomica at work but I'm not sure what the correct name for it is) is the method I'm going to use. I've got to leave the epoxy for 24hrs now so will be testing the sensor on Sunday to see if I've killed it (yet). Wish me luck!
  10. Sky's clearing but rain is forecast. Do I risk it?

  11. In the end I went for the tallest and cheapest monopod I could find on ebay which was one of these http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fancier-WT1005-Light-Weight-Quallity-Monopod-Stand-with-3-Way-Pan-Tilt-Head-UK-/351262012996?pt=UK_Tripods_Monopods&hash=item51c8d8f644 I've only used it once since getting it due to the permacloud that has set in here in "sunny" Cornwall! It seems to work fine and I'm really pleased I went for a monopod for its mobility and zero setup. I like the fact that I can just extend it to its maximum length and simply tilt the pole to alter the height. It was perfect for looking at the moon but for observing Jupiter and its moons you could do with something a bit more stable. The head on it feels really cheap and plastic and will probably break eventually but it will do for now. I don't intend to spend long observing individual objects with my bins (I've got the scope if I want a really good look at something) so the monopod setup is perfect for having a quick look at something while my scope is tied up imaging. FenlandPaul I have already found a new appreciation for binoculars. I was very pleasantly surprised on the 2 nights I've used them so far. I also think its better being blinded in both eyes when observing a full moon than only one!
  12. I think the other evening has put me off using a tripod. It seemed too awkward as my feet always wanted to be where the tripod was. I think for now I'm going to buy the tallest monopod I can find for the money and maybe upgrade the head to a trigger/joystick head if needed. Geoff, thanks for the link but I don't think a 160cm tripod is tall enough for me. Its fine if looking horizontally but as soon as you tilt the binoculars up I end up having to crouch. Of course you can just use a chair but I'm trying to find a standing solution so I can quickly look at anything that takes my interest while imaging.
  13. I was given a pair of Celestron Skymaster 20x80 Binos for Christmas and have been wondering what is the best way of mounting them on a budget. To be honest when I unwrapped them I found it a bit hard to put on that happy appreciative face you're supposed to when receiving gifts. I don't mean to sound ungrateful but I'm not sure how often I'll use them as I already have a pair of 8x40s I use for scanning the sky while imaging with my scope. Anyway last night I borrowed my father's camera tripod and had a quick look at the moon through my new 20x80s and was pretty blown away by how good they were. However the tripod was extremely clumsy and awkward to use and I found myself crouching and twisting into positions that were so uncomfortable it made the experiencing unenjoyable. So what do other people use for mounting binoculars this size? I've seen the parallelogram mounts but I don't want to spend that sort of money and don't have the space to store it especially if I don't use it that often. Would a monopod with a decent ball head be stable enough for these binoculars? Also does anyone ever use shooting sticks (a kind of monopod seat that can be folded up and used as a walking stick) while observing? They seem like the perfect solution for adjustable seating.
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