Bobby1970

There was an AZGTi on ABS for £160 the other day.

It may also be worth having a look through some of the awesome images people have captured without an EQ mount:- 

Perhaps your budget could be spent on a camera and you could go the way these guys have???

Would something like a Skywatcher 130PDS be an option?? Theres a huge thread on here somewhere from people who have done some awesome imaging (IMHO) with this scope. Just ordered one myself actually. 

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=3271885559497745&id=137626602923672

It would seem as though something is in the works in terms of a replacement for the LS35. 

Well captured. 

awesome images, feels like i'm coming in to land 🙂

I wonder if theres not enough focus travel to bring the camera to focus?

a google search throws up issues with DSLRs, not sure if these would apply to your Skyris tho, sorry

I've looked on the Slooh.com site a couple of times. It would seem that annual subscription starts around $100, which o was tempted with. I'm unsure of what exactly that would get me tho. It sounds as though I could grab some images with even this level of subscription, or am I wrong?

1 minute ago, Cometeer said:

I used to own that linked wedge. Adjustments in altitude were near impossible. It’s difficult to lift the weight of the SA + scope + counterweight just by turning the little red knob. You need to tilt the altitude of the wedge up by hand and then freely turn the red knob. It is a solid wedge though.  I swapped to the WO wedge and I’m much happier. I have no experience with the SW wedge. 

Thanks for the info. The issue you mention was something I thought may have been an issue. The WO one looks amazing. But too rich for me lol. Will see how I get on with a other star adventurer one. Can't say I have ever noticed too much wrong with the one on my SA do fingers crossed another one will be fine for using with the AZGTI. 🙂

I have decided just to get a standard SA one now. They can be tweaked and improved if needed. I got another counterweight and rod too. All for the same price as the wedge I was looking at. I'm sure it will be fine. Thanks all

1 hour ago, Jonk said:

I just found this on my travels...

http://astrograph.net/epages/www_astrograph_net.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/www_astrograph_net/Products/AGTOATCMINI

 

Looks the same as the one on my original post. 

Would be good to know of anyone has used one. Judging by the lack of responses I would say not. Looks a well made not of kit tho. More robust than the standard SA wedge. 

This would be great. I made my own iPolar adaptor for my Star Adventurer and would be happy for anyone to have a go at printing and using it. 

17 minutes ago, Jonk said:

I don’t like the SA wedge at all, so I use a Manfrotto junior geared head.

https://www.manfrotto.com/uk-en/410-junior-geared-tripod-head-easy-to-use-ergonomic-knobs-410/

Alignment is very easy and it’s more stable.

The other bonus is remove the SA and attach a camera / scope directly

Simples.

 

That looks like a very nice. It of kit. But. If i were going to spend that sort of money I would go for one of these :-

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/william-optics-mounts/william-optics-wedge-and-extension-bar-for-skywatcher-star-adventurer-and-ioptron-skyguider-pro.html

Thanks anyway. 

I want to get hold of another wedge, for use with my AZGti in EQ mode. 

First thought was to just get another Star adventurer one. 

But I noticed this:-

https://www.365astronomy.com/365Astronomy-365651-Mini-Wedge.html

Has anyone any experience of this? 

It's a bit more pricey than the original but not in the same league as the WO alternative price wise. 

11 minutes ago, PeterCPC said:

That's quite impressive for 15 min in total.

Peter

Thanks Peter. I realise it's noisy, and I'm not even sure I should be posting this sort of capture in the "imaging" section tbh, not sure of it's more EEVA. 

I have to say tho, the combo of the AzGti, Sharpcap and the 72mm scope with the 178 camera is quick to set up and I love the effort v reward of the live stack feature. I may have a crack at using the mount in eq mode, reduce the gain and lengthen the exposure time. Just to see how the image quality compares. But a few nights back I managed to "see" and capture 6 galaxies, 4 of which I hadn't seen before at all with my own equipment. 

Great posts in here. Ive been working from home since the lockdown started, designing electrical harnesses for Ventilators which are no longer required. Lol. Thankfully. 

I have found myself using my AzGti in AltAz mode both for solar with my 72mm Altair refractor and wedge and also for EEVA and associated image captures. (I can't really call them proper astrophotography images lol.)

Along with the use of platesolving I have seen things that I simply wouldn't have found without a lot of effort and star hopping and twisting and turning of my body. I'm now considering offloading my 10" Dob tbh. My eyes are also getting worse and they have been bad since I was 2 yrs old, I'm now almost 50 and I'm finding that sometimes when viewing through an eyepiece I am removing my specs, but then need to put them back on to look at star map or app on my phone  The other night using my "EEVA" set up, I managed to "see" and capture images of 6 galaxies. 4 of them I had never seen before. Even my little 90mm Mak has surprised me at how good it was tbh. 

I love how many different aspects there are to this hobby. There literally is something for everyone. 

Livestacked in Sharpcap, processed in Startools  15 second exposures at 400 gain for 15min total on the AZGTI in AltAz mode. 

Couple from last night. 

15 sec exposures live stacked in Sharpcap. Bit of processing in Startools.  Such as my ability is with it. Lol

Altair 72mm semi apo, ZWO 178MC, AZGti

M81

M101

Didn't realise it had been around for a few days in WL. Must have missed it when checking SOHO

7 minutes ago, bomberbaz said:

Sold mate, nevermind, I shall have to wait and put up with the scope as it is until something comes along. TBH it's reasonable at lower mags but when you start to crank it a little is when it gets more challenging.

Oh, that's a shame it has sold. I'm not sure how good the scope will ever be for high mags anyway with such a small aperture. I generally used it for full disks, viewing and imaging. 

Good luck whatever you decide 👍

Just noticed on the SOHO website that there would appear to be a new small active region. 

Anyone seen it?

10 hours ago, bomberbaz said:

Hello everyone, I trust you are all keeping well and socially distancing. 

Ok so here is my question. I have a now discontinued LS35 fitted with a B400 blocking filter. I am enjoying using the 35 but the FOV is incredibly tight which detracts from some of the fun of viewing. 

SO would changing the filter to a B600 make a significant difference to the fov. I have been trying to get details online to help me figure this out but not having much luck.

Cost around £350  for a B600. Up to around £650 for a B1200. ( both are direct from USA wth VAT added, may be slightly more)

However at that cost of the B1200 I start thinking maybe  another option might be new OTA altogether.

Your help is much appreciated.

Steve

There is a LS35 deluxe on ABS, or certainly was yesterday. £400. It will have the B600. Having owned one myself and done a little imaging with it, I suspect you would find the 600 acceptable. Sell yours and buy the one on ABS. Probably the cheapest option. 

I use an old Lenovo ThinkPad laptop. I paid £60 for a few years ago. I did upgrade the drive to SSD as I got one for free. I also upgraded the RAM but it's only 8gb i think. Processor wise I'm sure it's not even an i3. Think it might be a core 2 duo. It only has usb2. 

I have been using it with my 72mm refractor and also had a go with my 90mm Mak. Both with my ZWO 178mc all mounted on my AZGTI

I have been generally live stacking 15s exposures. 

I have found it great fun and hugely satisfying. Ok the images are not as good as "proper" astrophotography. But as my eyes are getting worse as I get older. I find the combination of observation via the laptop screen and capturing image extremely good. 

Don't forget you can use a cheap focal reducer on your camera to essentially speed up your system. 

I did these a few nights ago:-

All with my 72mm scope. 

I did this with my 90mm Mak with a focal reducer:-

I am very happy with all of these. 

Hope this maybe helps in some small way. 🙂

Couple more from last night. 

Leo Triplet

NGC2903

Used the AZgti mount in Alt/Az mode.

Thanks for looking 🙂

In my opinion, that's awesome for only 35 mins.