hazza001

Cheers guys, 

Lenscap, thoes both look promising, I'll have a look at them both when I get on my pc. I do like the idea of building something tho 🤔

mikeDnight, ah that's good there is something commercial avaliable that's not impossible to find (and if my DIY skills fail me) 

Harry 

Evening all, 

Some of you may be aware but I recently acquired a super polaris mount, originally I was going to get rid of it but I thought it would actually be a better idea to get it all kitted out and make use of it. 

As you can see the mount came with the R.A and Dec motors but no control unit. 

My only experience with this type of drive system is with one of my first scopes, which came with a tracking motor (I believe it was the skywatcher eq2 I might be wrong) however it came with a simple 6v control box which I'm assuming is something similar to what I need to get this thing running. 

I did a quick search and have been trying to find dd1 dd2 and dd3 controllers which are supposed to be compatable but they are either not available or really expencive. 

I did toy with the idea of making it go to compatable which would be a bonus. 

Anyway after all that waffel I'm basicly asking for advice, what I can use to drive this thing, be it goto, simple tracking or some home made controller device/ computer interface.

any and all advice welcome 

Look forward to hearing 

Harry 

Evening all,

So despite the fact my power tank died out on me so early that I missed the best part of the day (weather here got much better later in the day... grr!) and with the limited knowledge in taking/creating solar images this means a great deal to me  

I missed both the venus transits   and the last mercury transit, so to even witness this one and be able to share the experience with my family was really rewarding.

I know this image isn't great (eww neuton rings) but out of the 5min of clips I took I ended up cutting it down to about 3 seconds where there were no clouds in the video, I then ran it through autostackert, wavlets in registax, then a quick bout with photoshop and that was it.

Im still not entirely confident Im using the Daystar solar sout properly I havent been able to see much contrast in the surface I know you can adjust it with the dial but if im honest im not 100% sure what it does, I know its a blue shift red shift kind of deal but the all the manual says is about turning clockwise if you have a heavy camera mounted as the image can become blueshifted.

The ZWO Asi120 performed admirably (I just need to get a tilt adapter to banish thoes rings) and I have no quibbles with SharpCap, easy peasy.

I also still have soooo much to learn when it comes to the software side with stacking, wavlets, curves and levels and what to use when.  hopefuly I'll be a little more in the know when the next transit happens

Anyway this was my little effort 

please let me know what you think and what I can do to improve

Thanks

Harry

My Little effort trying to get captures between the clouds! hopefuly I can prosess something from the few frames I managed to capture  

Wow Amazing image cracking job!

way too many to count! I'd be here for days! 😂

Harry

Evening all

This Is my first lunar mosaic, after returning back to the hobby, I created from last nights moon.

I probably could have spent a little more time on it but its was good to have a decent practice (and i still have all the raw data so I can always have another go 😁)  

I also tried to take a single frame video but during the stacking process it chopped off a small sliver at the bottom 😆

let me know what you think and any ways I can improve my techniqie 

As an aside I used to have program many years ago that would dispaly a single frame of the video taken in a drag and drop format so you could very easily see where you have taken captures and minimise the amount taken if anyone knows what im talking about and knows the name of the program I would be very appreciative.

Thanks for your time

Harry

Some great advice thankyou  I've got the imaging tutorials up and will make my way through them.

I actually ordered a .5 focal reducer with the camera so I can get a full disk image, glad im getting some sort of idea on what I need  

They are great images, really looking forward to using the mono camera and pick out a bit more detail, just need to work on my focus.

Harry

Funny you say that I should be getting a delivery of that very camera tomorrow 😁

That image is stunning! 

Yes lots to learn especially on software side of it and just getting to know the scope in general. 

Harry

Evening all,

I've wanted a solar scope for the longest time so I recently took the plunge and bought the Daystar Solar Scout SS60, It arrived maybe a week or so ago and its been cloudy nearly every day since (always the way with new astro gear!!!) 

Well the clouds parted for a while yesterday so I fired it up and took a few "snaps"

I was using my Nikon D3300 with a 2X barlow. at first all I saw was a red ball.... not too interesting then I fiddled around with the settings and got this... (I have editied slightly by bumping up the contrast but that was it!)

I still have alot to learn but its getting there I managed to capture some detail texture(?) in the surface and some prominence detail

I then tried taking a video then stack and prosess in registax which didnt turn out so great

I got the Proms, but the disk is very washed out, I struggled here because the camera recorded in MOV. file which I had to convert to an avi. before registax would even look at it.

Not as good as the first one (I think it was more luck than anything else!!) plus I had my iso setting a bit high, the video had lots of noise and I didn't take a reference frame (might of helped?) Alot of faf for not much reward 😂

From the first few hours I've had with the scope I really enjoy using it, the only thing I struggled with was achiving focus as I only had the disk to focus on which was supprisingly tricky.

I'm hoping for a bit more practice before the 11th 😁

Let me know what you think and if you have any tips or tricks I'm all ears

Harry

OK so I was able to test the scope briefly before the C8 was saturate with dew (dew shield has been ordered 😊) 

1st thing I noted was just how simple it was to colimate, I've never used a SCT scope before, it was all ready pretty close so I just found a bright star defocused slightly and tightened/loosed the correct screw untill I got nice concentric rings. 

I was only using low powered eyepeices and didn't notice much mirror slop focus was nice and smooth. 

I did notice dew on the inside of scope on the corrector (is this normal for use without a shield?) but it also highlighted a bit more of the mould growth I hadn't noticed before. 

Anyway, I'm really happy with this scope and really looking forward to using it more. 

Harry

Thanks for the advice,

I'll see what its like after I have used the scope. Other than the spots of mould on the mirror and corrector plate it dosen't seem too bad

Harry 

Hmm maybe I'll hold off on cleaning until after I get a decent viewing session in and put the scope through its paces. Check for mirror slop collimation etc 

34 minutes ago, John said:

You will need a dew shield if you don't already have one.

Yes dew shield is definitely top of my list! Always struggled round here with dew! 

10 minutes ago, DaveL59 said:

what may help is exposure to UV

As it doesn't have a dust cap at the moment I will leave it somewhere where it will get some sun (not direct, don't want to burn anything) in the hopes I will at least halt the mould growth 

Very excited to try this scope out! 

Harry

Sorry to resurrect but thought I would add this here.

I just purchased a C8, no documentaion with it and no info on purchase date (bought from a guy selling on behalf of and elderly gentleman) Has both R.A and Dec motors.

believed to be the Celestron Super Polaris C8 according to Uncle Rod's Used SCT Buyer's Guide (Page20)

serial No .862129

Aprox 1985ish

Ah ok thats great, I was worried someone had forced some metric screws in there 😁. I saw a post on here collecting serial numbers and trying to date them (from serial number 1980 something??)

Yes ive been reading lots of tutorials about dissassembly and cleaning, especially with potential mould issues I don't want it to get any worse...

Ah good idea with the shower cap, It would do untill I find something a bit more substantial or get something 3d printed? 

Harry

Hello everyone, 

I'd say it's been about 6 years since I last posted on this forum, oops 😁. 

Anyway Ive been looking for a new scope something with abit more punch than the skywatcher 130m I have been using and came across this beaut on eBay, I won the auction and picked it up yesterday. The guy was selling it on behalf of an elderly gentleman man who couldn't use it anymore, (it's been sitting in an unheated garage for many years 😩) he had no idea on the make or model other than its a c8, I did a bit of research and found its a c8 super polaris. 

The mount has both RA and Dec axis motors but I have no way to power them, the action of the mount is buttery smooth. However I plan to mount this on my HEQ5 anyway... 

The scope its self seems to be in good condition some minor scratches on the tube but nothing too alarming, no finderscope or dust cover but I plan on adding my own finder anyway. The focus is super smoothe and can't see much if any image shift in use (not tested on a star yet due to preverbial clouds) 

My main concern is as its been in an unheated garage for some considerable time and there seems to be some minor mildew on the primary which I plan on cleaning... when I feel brave enough.. 

I don't think the secondary screws are original, should be Phillips head? Tested on a small light down the garden and it seems to be well collimated, but does have a small amount of mildew on it

I don't recognise the mounting bar, I would like to swap it to a vixen style bar so I can mount it on my HEQ5 maybe this?

Anyway that's where I am with it sorry its been so long since I last posted, I hope to be a tad more active on here. 

Harry