Steve Ward

Longer leads and sit in the shade , simple really ...

Nicely caught sir ... I might well dust down the Tal and point it in the general direction if the squally showers desist any time soon . Might need a serious refresher course regarding processing though ... if I actually remember how the mount and camera works ... lol.

I soon worked out however , that the more comfortable option was long active USB leads and hand controller lead extensions that let me sit comfortably in the shade/indoors out of the full force of the target.

Easy enough to knock one up using foamboard , tape and some of the cheapo flocking stuff from Wilko's . My version is/was as James suggested with a very narrow viewing slot to cut out the self-reflections. Pics here from a similar thread from 2013.

I'm always popping in for a look-see Dave , but with nothing to post ... lol Look forward to putting another face to an SGL member over lunch ... Perhaps we should all wear sunflowers in our lapels for recognition purposes .... ?

Afternoon all , After a couple of years of blank discs I've been looking forward to pointing the trusty Tal sunwards again for tomorrows transit , but fairly predictably the weather is going to thwart that plan . So here's a reminder of what the lucky folk with blue skies will be witnessing whilst I'm toiling away under a grey blanket ... My footage of the transit of May 9th 2016. Looking forward to catching up with the solar crowd up at Stoneleigh next week.

Hi James , All well here thanks , not been posting much as there's nowt to be seen in "whitelight" ... Was looking forward to a session tomorrow with Mercury but the weather has scuppered that idea . The pier is still standing awaiting the "awakening" but that might be some way off , in the meantime it's getting gradually nibbled away by the wasps for their nesting needs so it's not being wasted entirely ... 🤣 Regards , Steve.

Hello Alexandra , I'm not sure I'll be able to contribute much to the chat as I've pretty much forgotten where my 'scopes are buried let alone how all the bits go together , but I shall be wandering around on the Saturday and would love to meet up and catch up again ...

Can't remember much going on in '16 ... but it appears I did venture out on the odd occasion ( http://s1241.photobucket.com/user/steveward53/library/2016 Sun?sort=3&page=1 ) Most memorable day was the Mercury Transit day of course , took more shots that day than the rest of the year put together ... All combined here into a rather jittery video , couldn't get the whole thing as the clouds eventually won the day , but got the majority of it ... Best viewed in HD and full screen.

Looks like a Unitron 160 ...

Could well be a gradual build-up of dew on the lens that's causing the issue then ... ? Check the first sub against the last , this will show the greatest difference if it's the case.

Have you just tried stacking the light frames on their own , as it's all worked for you before then surely there must be something amiss with what you've fed DSS this time round. I'd reset DSS to the default settings do a simple elimination exercise first adding each set of Dark/Flat/Bias in turn until you find the culprits.

In that case try this ... http://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/geoptik-equatorial-mount-grease-kit.html

No point in getting knicker-twisted over which grease to use , your "RA does 1 revolution per day" when in use , it's not a 500bhp V8 doing 170mph at 13,000 rpm ..... The manufacturer uses an appropriate lubricant , stick with similar ... or leave well alone , it's not going to "wear out" ...

When mine started playing up showing weird characters or none on occasion it was because I'd inadvertently jarred the handset (dropped it) and the cable connecting the main handset board to the display had come loose ... simply undid the screws , split the case and reseated the connector .

Dear Mod team , Would it be possible to have this excellent tutorial 'pinned' in the "Imaging - Lunar" forum , would make it much easier to find when required ... same with Roger's great starter thread on "Simple Solar Imaging" in the "Imaging - Solar" section ... It's a crying shame that great threads like these get buried amongst the rest. Regards , Steve.

Best bet would be to add an aftermarket focuser to the back end and fit a motor to this . No need to go as far as Moonlite et al , the Skywatcher SCT focuser is a fine beast for a modest outlay , handles a DSLR with ease , and the Skywatcher Autofocus motor can be fitted to it. You can also add USB control to the motor (various options available) eliminating the need to touch the focuser by hand and control it from the laptop. Coarse adjustment can still be achieved by using the original knob moving the mirror as before , independent of the rear focuser. Yes it adds a little to the back end but nothing to worry about , my HEQ5Pro has no issues with the set-up. The whole lot can be detached simply by unscrewing from the visual back if required. http://www.opticalvision.co.uk/astronomical_accessories-focusers/dual_speed_2_crayford_focuser_for_sct_telescopes.html http://www.opticalvision.co.uk/astronomical_accessories-focusers/skywatcher_auto-focuser.html

Been a somewhat 'thinner' year for me compared to 2014's quest , completely by choice I might add ... the fact that the "whitelight scene" has been much quieter in 2015 is purely coincidental ... ... Was tempted out by any big spots though , so here are a few of the more interesting days ... Perihelion/Aphelion . 15th April . 22nd June . 19th September . 28th September .

As I said before , they completely overpower the underlying image and ruin it ...

I prefer Guy Buhry's original , all those concentric circles will obliterate most of the captured features in a solar image ...

Hi Jules , I have a "spare" clamp here if you trouble finding one , got mine from BSS if there's one nearby.

I just spent an hour or so watching "Apollo 18" on YT ... quite enjoyable in a predictable kinda way ...

"Gravity" pure fiction ... ! ... next thing you'll be telling us is that "Interstellar" wasn't a documentary ...

And get a set of Imperial A-keys too there are plenty ot times you'll need them.