Ratlet

12 hours ago, Elp said:

I would suggest stick with what you have, I use older and also use Takumar lenses so have to process out the red/green halo issues around stars. Doing a highlight selection, expanding and feathering then blurring and minimising and colour correcting usually sorts it out.

PS from a beginners point of view honestly I would say is quite difficult to use as it's not that logical and takes time to get used to. Once you have however it becomes second nature. The only other issue with older versions is whether the UI scales up to higher res monitors, mine doesn't so everything is tiny but I can literally use it via shortcut use only.

That's been massively helpful.  I'm at least moving in the right direction!  A quick 5 minute 'try clicking on things till it looks like it it's moving in the direction I want' attempt and the CA is at least reduced (to be fair a lot of the stars now look rubbish, but this was just to see if I can reduce the CA).  A Bit more experimenting with the layers/blends/etc and I think this is something that I can work with.  Now to learn and optimise (aka the fun bit).

27 minutes ago, Jules Tohpipi said:

OP doesn't mention what his missus will be using it for or her experience level. Very generally speaking, the biggest advances have been in Photoshop's context-aware tools and editing features whilst in Camera RAW- which not everybody necessarily has a need for. For non-astro work I'm still perfectly happy on CS6 and that's coming from someone who used to (but not anymore) use PS professionally. To clarify I've never done any kind of astrophotography - I'm purely visual. Certainly if her experience level is low then CS3 will more than suffice for now. That's because the PS learning curve is steep and it's not an intuitive piece of software to randomly experiment by pressing buttons.

On a side note, for anyone who is familiar with the PS interface already, and wants a free online alternative - without having to learn a new UX - then head over to www.photopea.com which has been going for a good few years now. The 'Open' and 'Create New Project' interface will be an unfamiliar mess, but once into the editing stage the interface is 100% pure Photoshop from yesteryear.

Also, if your CS3 happens to be a Mac version, you'll probably find it won't install on Catalina or more recent macOS. 
 

Cheers for that,

The other half doesn't actually want Photoshop at all.  I work a rotation away from home and it was our 10th anniversary so I converted the dining room into a sewing room for her.  Part of that was a projector on the ceiling so she can project the patterns onto fabric for cutting.

She wants Adobe acrobat or something so she can stitch patterns together into appropriately sized single documents for projecting.

Getting Photoshop is her way of getting me to agree to the full bundle lol.

I've stuck cs3 on the computer and it runs.  I'll have a play and see how I get on.

Im using vintage glass and a DSLR so getting chromatic aberations sorted is one of the main things I'm looking for at the moment.

I also grabbed a pixinsight free trial so I'll be giving it a spin too.

Hands up anyone else who wanted to replace a scope and ended up keeping both lol.

Great outcome

8 minutes ago, tomato said:

I’ll let others with experience of the current Adobe offering to comment on how far Photoshop has moved on with respect to Astro photography processing, but I would have thought CS3 will serve you well if you are just starting out.

I started AP processing with CS2 but went for the much more keenly  priced Affinity Photo when I felt it was time to upgrade.

I'm very much a "happy with 90% of the performance for 10% of the cost" kind of guy so if I can get most for free, that'll do.

Bit of a niche question here, but the missus is a student and we were talking about getting the Adobe student plan thing where you get the works on a discount.  I was all for it, but I just found my geriatric copy of Photoshop CS3 in a box.  Is there much new, useful features in the newest version versus the older CS3?

I'm currently debating on a next upgrade and am going through a similar thought process as yourself.

I've got all the external control stuff though so have a couple options namely risking it with an uncooled Player one Saturn or going for the new svbony 405CC, which is basically the 533 Vs 294 sensor.

Thanks for posting the comparison images.  They are very useful for comparison.

10 minutes ago, Jiggy 67 said:

I’m a visual observer who has just bought a DSLR to give AP a go so I’ll watch but no matter what visual observing will always be my first love……I do hope they explain in very basic English though 🤣

I'm the opposite lol.  I started of chasing astrophotography and realised there is nothing to do whilst the rig does its thing so bought a visual setup to keep me occupied.

Now I'm just greedy.  It's like a full meal of observation and sketching and then in the morning I get to look at the data the astrorig pulled (and then try and diagnose what the hell went wrong with it)

I use a usb powered dummy battery.  Either powered off the pc when using Nina or off a small power bank (10000mah power pack should provide 9*longer battery compared to stock)

7 hours ago, Orange Smartie said:

Likewise, no issues with dew for me except on the finder. I got round that by making a tube out of some stiff paper I found lying around. I just slide it on when I take the scope out and remove it at the end of the evening.

I think somone once told me that Newtonians are there own dew shield.  Last session I was out everything was so wet I ended up just using the wet on the outside of my Newtonian to stick the finder charts to the tube like wallpaper and then peeled them off when I was done.  Good job I used works laser jet to print them.

This thread also gave me the push to sort the dew problems I have had so far (quickfinder and guidescope on my imaging rig).   Craft foam and superglue.

Fantastic to see you back posting for the GEM28 @SteveNickolls.  I've had mine out a couple times now since getting the basic setup going.  I've got enough now I think to write up a quick guide for users of NINA with it (It's pretty straightforward).

I've recently updated to the Version 8 of the iCommander software.  On the previous version I found that sometimes the mount would not communicate with the iCommander software however I've had no issues with the new version.

With any luck they will release an app to allow ipolar use with the phone.  It would seem sensible since the sky hunter comes with one.  Having a look online the app looks very bare bones unfortunately.

When you do collimate, do not loosen more than one screw at a time!  Loosen one to get some give then tighten the others to adjust the collimation.  If you loosen 2 at a time the secondary can rotate which means you've just given yourself an extra step to do.

I'd get a cheap sketchbook with thick stock paper.  It'll be good for making observation notes and the thick card will help it not get dewed up.  You should also get a cheap compass (for drawing circles) and a cheap sketch kit so you can do some sketching.  That's £20.  Sketching DSO's is super fun and I find I can see more detail.  You might want to get a cheap head torch and put something in to dim it right down too (cheap gel filters, plastic sweet wrappers, etc).  So dim so it illuminates the sketchpad but not bright enough to illuminate the ground.  We'll call that another £10.  Your sketches will probably look awful, mine do, but it's a nice kick the next morning to match it up to Stellarium (or Cart Du Ciel).  I'll add that I've done a grand total of 3 sketches, but I'm enjoying it imensely.

Next get some black 2mm craft foam and some sticky back velcro to make a dew shield for the quickfinder.  Might just be my location, but mine dews up badly some nights.  I don't use my finder anymore because I prefer the quickfinder and 32mm plossl in the scope so the quickfinder dewing up is fairly inconvenient.  You could get a dew heater but honestly as bad as my quickfinder got my telephoto lens I had out was completely untouched with a lens hood.

If you get another sky atlas (or print your own from Carte Du Ciel) you can use some of the leftover craft foam to make a circle the same size as the view through your 30mm plossl to overlay on the star chart to make things easier for navigating.  The first post in the link below has a file "Locating Objects in the Night Sky.pdf"  which shows what I mean:

https://stargazerslounge.com/applications/core/interface/file/attachment.php?id=105353

In fact if you ignore everything else I post, check out the guide.  It is super useful.

Now, we've blown about £30 and we've got £70 left.  The next thing you should do is wait for your scope to arrive and get out and observe with what you've got.  I bought a barlow and a zoom eyepiece with my scope and I've hardly touched them.  With hindsight I would rather have waited and gotten a shorter focal length EP and some thicker socks.  Excercise patience and pretty soon you'll know exactly what you need.

EDIT:  Forgot to add, one thing I find incredibly handy is a small folding table to setup by the scope!  I use Habitat Single Folding Tray Table from Argos.  It's £16, a good height and is a reasonable size.

1 hour ago, MalcolmM said:

Hi @Ratlet Off topic (apologies to the OP) but how do you sketch at the eyepiece?

I've tried and find it very difficult to get enough light to see what I'm sketching without killing my night vision!

Any tips greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Malcolm

I bought a cheap head torch from asda that goes from white to red.  I had some old gels from this:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/294226084160?var=0&mkevt=1&mkcid=1&mkrid=710-53481-19255-0&campid=5338268676&toolid=10044&customid=CjwKCAjwvNaYBhA3EiwACgndgtUNpnE2vhg9Ur83IjI28zuKEEMxc9qwrWzXhwYe2Lt4D4DPAHwwAxoCBOsQAvD_BwE

So I rifled through for some dark green and amber filters ( I used the dark green as I didn't have any neutral density).  I cut out layered the amber and dark  green on white led to get it super dim.  I then layered green over the red leds.  The once white light is now amber/green either dim or very dim the reds are almost imperceptible.  So long as I don't use the brightest white light setting the head torch doesn't illuminate much more than about 6" away.  It is so dim now that on anything other than the bright setting (I shut my eyes for it when clicking through) I can't even tell it's on unless I hold something right in front of my face.

I'm also going to say I didn't mean it to be that dim.  I wanted it for going from the house to the garden.  Very happy with how it turned out though.

So basically I made a head torch borderline useless by layering small bits of gel filter over it till I got the right brightness (or lack of).

As someone else who is just starting out.  I don't think you'll be disapointed going for the smaller aperture.  I went even smaller with a 130PDS and am very happy with my 5" (unlike my wife).

I went for the 8mm BST and barlow and it provides great views of the planets, although honestly on the faff level I probably would just prefer a different eyepiece I think.  I just find the barlow a bit more awkward than just changing an eyepiece.

Someone else might comment on the quality of the included 25mm eyepiece, but I got a 32mm plossl from SVBONY and love it to bits and spend a lot of time at 32mm.  It gets a lot of work as it basically turns the scope into its own finder and pairs very well with the Rigel Quickfinder I got as the outer reticule is basically the same size as the FOV on the eyepiece.

If you do get the 150p heritage you might need something to put it on to raise the height up.  If you are looking at a mounted option just get alt az.  I tried my 130pds on my equatorial for visual and the eyepiece seems to end up at weird heights and orientations.  130PDS on alt Az mount and the eyepiece is always in a comfortable arc for viewing.

Oh, one thing I think you absolutely must get it a cheap sketch pad and sketching set.  Lidl have one on offer now, like £7.  It's great.  You spend more time at the eyepiece trying to pull detail out, I guess actively observing rather than passively observing.  I accidently spotted M32 and was able to confirm it from a sketch.  Really satisfying for open clusters or super faint fuzzys.  My sketches are awful but I get a lot of pleasure from doing it.

So basically I'd say get whatever flavour of 150 you want and a sketchbook.  If you can stretch to it get the shorter focal length BST if you are into planets more than DSO, 32mm plossl if DSO more than planets.

15 minutes ago, Rob said:

Took a punt and bought my first Aliexpress item. Really like it too. Nice long handle for my Bresser 127L.

aluminium fully anodised. 
 

 

There's some good gear on AliExpress.  Often get some stuff that is hard to find elsewhere (I'm currently waiting on some M54 Extenders for my 130PDS) and some stuff that is just cheaper all round.  My biggest complaint is the prices are like a rollercoaster on some of the shops.  SVBONY, I'm looking at you.

Thank you for the help.

I think for now I will put it on the shelf and give the takumar a try for the next run.  I've marred a couple bits on the Tair 3 already and I don't fancy dismantling it as from what I've read it is not an easy task and I tend to be a bit rough when it comes to mechanics.

Alas the astigmatism remains.

I managed to get the ring to move and after a few tap and tests the astigmatism remains.  It does appear to have rotated somewhat though, probably due to the front element rotating.

What I have noticed is that there does appear to be an difference in the level of astigmatism.  When defocused with red halo you get a very marked oblong, however defocused with a blue halo is very nearly circular.  The colour fringes is also greatly reduced.  When focused you get the worst of both worlds and get both atigmatisms.

I think testing on stars, slightly out of focus with blue halo could be a winner.

On the plus side, I tested my takumar 200mm and it is much better.  Even fully open.

Attached crop of F5.6 from the tair 3 slightly defocused with blue halo

I love the short focal length telescopes.  They look like you're getting a long one in installments.

Could you rotate the scope so the focuser and camer hang down to offset the weight of the guidescope being on the rings up top.  

Alternatively just get 2 vixens and screw them to the losmandy plate to they extend our and then attaché the guide scope to that.

Personally I would go for sticking it on the top.  Things sticking out to the side in my experience quickly become things that got snapped off.

My Tair 3 has astigmatism.  Testing with an artificial star has also been interesting.  Airy rings at F8 and F22, but nothing at faster ratios.  Going to attempt to fix that this evening (hopefully just the retaining ring is too tight).

Or I'm about to put an epic scratch on it.

14 minutes ago, AstroNebulee said:

Very nice for your first dso attempt and a good process too👍. 

I wouldn't worry about using dark frames with the 600D just do bias instead and use the time saved to take more light frames. 

As astromuni said if you want to post your stacked file, I reckon there's more to pull out of the data. 

Lee

I think you can get away with using a constant bias with the older canon DSLR.  2048 I think.

In siril, instead of putting an address to the bias file, just type in

=2048

1 hour ago, Pixies said:

- are we not going to see the sketches?

You can see on M32 I got very excited after watching refreshing views and used my blending stump.

North is marked incorrectly on M27 as well.  Good job it's in pencil

There were rumours of cloud last night, but looking at the satellite imaging it looked to be tracking right over the glens and missing us completely.

M32 - I was actually wanting to try the 8mm BST on M31 but as my eyes got dialed in I could swear there was some fuzzyness around the stars.  Decided to attempt a sketch of it as I wasn't sure.  Checked in the morning and the sketch matched up for M32.  Pretty chuffed with that.  First observation of M32.

M103 - practice at star hopping again.  I really need to do the charts more zoomed in or try and figure out a decent magnitude range.  Wasn't sure what I was supposed to see and since I didn't want to blow my dark adaptation so I just sketched the tight little triangle of stars and some of the surrounding area.  Turns out it was M103!  Nice wee cluster.  First observation of m103

M33 - I tried to observe it but I'm not sure I did.  I probably should have sketched the area...  Nothing distinct.  Just a faint brightening in an area.  Possibly.

Sketching is awesome.  They don't have to be fancy, but I know with absolute certainty that I'm nailing some of these objects because of my sketches.

4 minutes ago, alacant said:

Ah, OK. Yes, indeed. I should have mentioned.

Sorry. You need one of these. No idea in English.  Is this a lens spanner?

Yes, I think lens wrench is more common.  I think there is probably a technical difference, but I have no idea.

I will say that I have no regrets buying the lens.  For the cost it is brilliant and gives me something to practice with and learn and even with the astigmatism and my shoddy focus it is making decent results.  Approximately 40 minutes of M33 last night at F5.

I am almost disappointed.  I thought it would be difficult and involve some serious work.  The ring with all the writing can be easily unscrewed by hand.  The retaining ring is below and having attempted to move it with a screwdriver, it is stuck harder than the amount of pressure I am happy to apply without the correct tools.

I have ordered a lens spanner which should be here tomorrow.

2 minutes ago, alacant said:

Hi

You were unlucky as your Tair has astigmatism. As related previously, this is probably just a case of the front element being distorted by too tight a retaining ring. Loosen, then in a vertical posición, shake to re-seat the glass. Next, re-tighten until the glass just stops rattling when agitated. With this adjustment, and  your 72 to 58 step down ring, it should all but disappear at focus. If still intrusive, try 72 to 55; still affording a respectable f5.5.

Otherwise and as Tairs are quite common, they rarely reach their reserve price at (on-line) auction, so another alternative would be to just get another:)

Cheers and HTH

For £40 I am learning a lot about optics so it is not a complete bust.  Fortunately we have lots of clouds so plenty of time to play with it.  I shall update when I have attempted to fix.