Ratlet

I've got tomorrow off.  Hoping it stays clear and I can get out with the 102.

Also hope it stays clear for the rest of you.  Strong aurora tonight.  Still to bright up here tho

I'm a big fan of the svbony 3-8mm but if you wear glasses I'm not surprised you don't get on with it.  Very tight on the eye relief.  I'll still rather use my starguiders for DSO as it's just more comfortable.  I also find it brighter.  Only 60° fov.

The Morpheus are winners though, although they are quite heavy compared to other 1.25" eyepieces, but they are very comfortable with glasses.

F5 is so easy I can do it.

You can always get more data with an F5 you can collimate than one you can't.

I don't image with my 130pds often (because it's really quite good for visual and I love visual) but when I have a £13 laser collimator works every time.  Every time.

But the flip side of imaging is thus:

"He had acquired good data.  That's when his problems started"

43 minutes ago, TiffsAndAstro said:

Er, why would my pc performance make a difference on reading a guide?

Also what is jtol ?

I think he means it'll take about 30 minutes to process your images the first time and once you get the hang of it, and with a decent computer you can do it manually pretty quickly.

I tried figuring out how to run scripts, but in all honesty doing the manual siril guide linked is easy and gets updated.  It also tells you why you are doing the steps as well as alternatives.  You get really fine control so you can mix and match different processing, stack sizes etc. and get the best out of your data.

I find a greedy session helps if I've not been imaging in a while.  Don't worry too much about getting a target, but rather try to get a little data on a few targets.  Less of a blow if the session gets cancelled early or you have technical issues.  Sometimes it can be interesting to see what you can pull with only a half hour or an hour of data.

11 hours ago, YogSothoth said:

I’ve only managed four sessions this year and observed the sun three times. Oddly, I seem to have clearest skies during a full moon. 

I've long maintained that the clearest skies are +/- 3 days of. Full moon.

Depending on the size of your 3D printer and enclosure can be pretty simple to make.  I built mine out of a couple of IKEA lack tables 

I went for a prusa mini+.  Small print area, but I rarely need to print larger items than it can handle (so far at least).

It's a bit long in the tooth now (an older design, although prusa still support it, they've just released input shaping which makes it much quicker) but I've heard good things about bambu.

It is a good hobby.  I like designing parts.  Especially useful in astronomy as quite simple parts seem to have lots of zeros attached when you buy them in this hobby.

1 hour ago, saac said:

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 

If you ever have the time could you make a post showing the digital setting circles?  Sounds really cool.

19 minutes ago, saac said:

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 

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 bought a cheap yi webcam (had it already to be fair) and with a wrap of craft foam it fits perfectly in the 2" focuser.  This let me do my secondary position as you can get software to overlay circles on the live image.

Positioning the secondary is something that needs doing/check infrequently so it works for me as it's cheap.

After that it's the laser.  I got a cheap one of Amazon.  Just need to check the collimation or the laser every so often and all is good.  Takes seconds to check the collimation at night.

I'd question whether you will get much bang for your buck going from 10" to 12".  Why not look at quality of life improvements for the 10"?  Like an eq platform so it tracks targets or picking up a cheap starsense scope so you can scavenge the starsense off it for easy push to.

Jeepers.  I can see some people on CN having a sense of humour prolapse over this 🤣.

I thought it was cracking.  A slow build up to an increasing level of catastrophe.

I suspect I need to improve my humidity control in the shed.  I put a telgizmo cover over it to keep dust off but I'll start more rigorously putting dehumidifier packets in to keep the humidity under control.

Oh dear.  1 year up the shed and the 10" is being eaten!  Didn't want to be spending my Monday cleaning my mirror but I think this needs to be dealt with.

Looks good now it's be cleaned, but I think some of the coating might have been damaged slightly.  Looks absolutely fine but the water beads on it rather than runs off, so either they've damaged the coating or deposited something on it.

How is it falling off?  I found with my quickfinder it stuck to the dob fine, but it wouldn't stick to the plastic.  If you aren't using the findershoe, or have a spare one on the dob I can print you up an adapter for it.

https://www.printables.com/model/55851-telrad-dovetail-mount

Or I could do something like this:

https://www.printables.com/model/116497-telrad-reflex-sight-mount-for-telescopes

And you could use straps to hold it on.  Or I could give it a larger surface area where it meets the mount so it will stick better.

If you buy a model that is not conductive to having barrow wheel/handle fitted myself and @bosun21 used a sack barrow with a fold out toe for moving our dobs (he put me on the idea).  Only mod needed is some slightly longer rubber feet so you can get the toe under the dob.

I find it very easy to setup when moving from the shed and a bungee cord stops the tube from moving around.

It might just be you're in focus is why you get the red halos.  I found best results by getting it in focus and then backing off slightly.v if you use a bahtinov mask with some vintage prime focus you'll get awful red stars.

With the takumars you get red halos on one side of focus and very light blue on the other side.  The red is very noticeable, but the blue much less.  You basically want to err on the blue side as it ends up looking like very slightly bloated stars.

I've noticed that going by Nina if I focus for the 'best' focus my stars look awful, but if I back it off slightly they look better so long as I head towards blue halos.

Welcome back.  My wife is similarly afflicted with boardgames.  She'll be delighted to know that the Venn diagram of astronomy and boardgames has some overlap lol.

You'll get some good feedback on dob choices here for sure.  

1 hour ago, Elp said:

I found ipolar straightforward, cant remember exactly the routine, does it need two or three Ra rotations first then you're presented with the red/green circle alignment routine?

The need for ioptron handsets to be plugged in is slightly annoying if using computer controllers, on my CF tripods I simply hang it off the centre hook, the coiled cable ensures it doesn't move down. With the default literock I suppose you can place it on the accessory tray? I've seen some 3D prints people have made of a holder which affixes to one of the legs and you simply plonk it in when not in use.

Aye. Every time I've used the mount previously it didn't ask for alignment just gave me the cross.  It was asking for the RA to be rotated but I kept thinking it couldn't possibly be that so gave up.  I was pretty tired by that point lol.  It was 100% operator error.  I know what I'm doing now so won't be a problem in the slightest.

I did have one of the 3D printed brackets but it wasn't great.  Wouldn't be hard to fix the design flaw.

I think hanging it off one of the screws on the 2" adapter would be perfect, just the little bit of rope wants to go flat so I need to open it which is very slightly frustrating with gloves.  Very slightly though.

To an extent I think I've been looking at greater automation (integrating wth sky safari) with my mounts to make it easier, but honestly using the hand controller was much better I think.  I'm still going to try and get sky safari to work, but ultimately doing some proper planning and making an observing list is what I need to do.  If you know the NGC/messier/etc number it's a doddle getting it to navigate with the paddle.

5 minutes ago, Stephenstargazer said:

On the AZ75 that must be just like pushing a small dob around, very natural and potentially even smoother. Even easier eyepiece position so I can feel a Newtonian coming on.......... 😈. Just need one more good reason.

Hope you're not coming down with Aperture Fever.  There is only one cure...

I had my Gem28 out last night for some visual.  A marked departure from my usual is the mount has been imaging only so far.  My other mounts are nowhere near enough to handle the TecnoSky 102ED so I'm a bit limited in choice!

Initially I got caught out because the ipolar wanted me to confirm positions which it has never needed before.  I got out quite late and had a busy day so the instructions on the screen didn't make much sense, but the with benefit of hindsight they are perfectly sensible.  In the end I just used some numbers I found on a cloudy night thread which I think corresponds to the middle of the sensor with no calibration.  Can't remember them off the top of my head, but they worked well.  Next time I'll do the proper alignment routine.

I decided to try and pair it with SkySafari on my android phone but could not for the life of me get it to work.  I managed to get the setup done but could not get Skysafari to assume direct control.  Again the middle of the night is not the time to try and resolve IT issues.  Honestly I think with some better prep work on my part I can sack off the mobile completely.  I found the tactile feedback of the hand controller miles better than working with a mobile.  Especially with gloves on.

In the end I did a 1 star alignment on Vega and was off to the races.  I managed 3 or 4 targets and it did a good job finding the targets.  I needed to sync on a bright star when moving to the other side of the sky but that is to be expected on a one star alignment (my experience of the azgti was even with 3 star alignment and perfect setup it would still get lost).  The tracking was good and more than adequate for observing.  A massive step up on the AZGTI.

One thing I hadn't considered was unlike the AZGTI the GEM28 is not fitted with coffee grinder motors and was whisper quiet slewing around.

Whilst superficially a mixed bag I'm actually really happy with the result.  The GEM28 is an excellent mount for visual, handles to 102ED perfectly.  I thought the ipolar and using a laptop would be a pain, but it doesn't take long and honestly it gives the tube time to cool down.  The goto is night and day compared to the previous cheap mounts I've used.  I'd even go as far to say I liked it.  The only real issues were attributable to operator error or poor planning on my part and could have been solved with some prep work (prepare an observing list with NGC numbers, etc.) and RTFM before using the mount.

I was previously considering an EQ5 with a tracking motor for the 102ED due to poor goto/controlling experience with the AZGTI and a celestron 127SLT I had a couple years back.  That plan is now on hold (and my bank balance breathing a sight of relief).

EDIT:  My only minor critiscism is that I had a habit of accidently hitting the back button whilst centering things.  I'm going to have a look at 3d printing some thing to make it clear which buttons are for direction and which are for menus.  Maybe a barrier or an extension for the existing buttons.   Also need to 3D print a holder or maybe just a ring to keep the loop on string on the handcontroller open.  A holder would be nice, but it hangs off the eyepiece holder perfectly well.

Ended up the wife had had her family visiting from accross Europe so I didn't get out till about 2245.  Tough choice tonight, I could either take the Dob out for some guaranteed visual goodness or try mounting the Technosky 102 on the GEM 28 and figuring out that for visual.  In the end I decided to try the refractor.

Initially things did not go well.  The mount wanted me to callibrate the ipolar which I've never had to do.  In the end I couldn't figure it out and just used some default options from a cloudy night thread.  I then tried to pair it over wifi to skysafari and that was an even bigger disaster.  Just no joy at all.  I decided to throw caution to the wind and try a 1 star alignment on the handset.  Vega was up and not far off north so decided it would do.  To my surprise it wasn't a million miles away with the 32mm plossl after the slew.  Dropped in the 12mm BST, Aligned and threw it to M92. 

To my great surprise, it was right in the middle of the FOV!  A delightful sight.  I love the difference you get in targets between small and big scopes.  The 102 is obviously not going to present the same view as a 10", but it was really something watching the glob fade into view with more detail coming in all the time.  I've never really noticed before but there is a sweet spot for averted vision.  If you don't get it right the target looks a bit brighter but if you nail it it fairly pops!

I tried for M61 but I couldn't make anything out.  I remembered that with the AZGTI you were better off finding a bright star nearby to sync to first so I pointed it at Arcturus, and sync'd on that.  Before I went for a new target I dropped in the 8mm BST and decided I would try a star test.  I think with my Newts I've never seen a diffraction pattern quite like it.  perfect circles on both sides of focus.  Tried for M3  and got a fleeting glimpse of it before it got clouded out, literally seconds.  I plumped for Cor Caroli next.  I can't say why, but it's one of my favourite doubles.

Didn't get as much done as I would have liked, and hopefully I'll get some more cloud free nights before I'm back to work, but it was still a good night.  The GEM28 is a great mount.  It was nice having something capable of supporting the 102 at higher powers (it's now significant'y heavier with the handle and 2" diagonal).  After having persistant issues with the coffee grinder powered azgti it was a revelation.  Incredibly quiet even slewing at max speed and more accurate on the pointing to boot.  Quite happy with the evening all in all and felling much better (but very cold) for having gotten out!

It's that low down for me that I'm starting to doubt the existence of Sirius A, never mind B!

''

Nothing wrong with wanting an upgrade, but I tend to agree with John.

For the price of a focuser you could pick up a use 130pds and stick that in the tube rings.

I'd buy new just to avoid hassle, but I believe you can contact Celestron if you run out of activations.  Hope so.  I used 3 goes trying to get a phone that worked, a 4th on my daughter's iPhone and the 5th on my pixel after they released a patch because despite it being compatible it did not work!

Might email them tomorrow actually and check.  I'll report back.

I got the az80 cause it was on offer at flo, but it is absolutely worth it I think.

If you need a mounting solution for another scope and don't have a 3D printer, let me know and I can do one for cost + postage + hobnobs.  Someone is selling my design for £28 on ebay (rip off, but nought I can do) but I rattle them out for about £8 (inc postage).  If you do have a 3D printer, go for this one:

https://www.printables.com/model/559841-starsense-explorer-finder-shoe-mount-holder

But back to your question, it's brilliant.  Provided your phone is compatible (iPhones just are, android is a bit hit and miss, but pixel phones now work).

The app is a bit weak though.  You cant save observing lists so you just need to search for each target in the software.  I think iPhones can integrate it with sky safari but I've no idea how good/bad that is.