michael8554

Where did he go .......... ? Michael

Hi brenski Any lens will infinity-focus before the infinity mark, without modification, if you have the spacing less (or more, I can never remember) than the Flange Distance. Which is 45.46mm for a M42 x 1 threaded Pentax lens. Michael

I may be wrong, but I believe the D7000 requires a serial connection for remote Bulb exposure, it won't do Bulb via the USB. What is your image showing us ? I don't see "PC on display" Michael

I'd say because of conflicting requirements. If the primary mirror edge retainers are wrongly fitted they can cause pinched optics. Too loose and the mirror can move. Secondary mirror spiders robust enough to firmly hold the secondary will have large diffraction spikes. Too skinny and the secondary can move. Only tiny amounts of flex will show. I'm sure there are other conflicts. Michael

The PHD2 Instructions will take you through all the steps for getting started. Here's their short version: https://openphdguiding.org/phd2-best-practices/ Michael

Lots of spec, but no image or link to a problem Flat ! Michael

You have an EQ mount that happens to be on a pier instead of a tripod, so adjustment of polar alignment is the same. You can use software such as SharpCap, pointing towards the NCP. Or Drift Alignment, PHD2 or a reticle eyepiece, pointing south for the Az adjustment. Then west or east, for the Alt adjustment. Time will tell whether your adjustment method retains a good PA. Michael

Hi Martyn Upgrading, but something similar ? What feature are you wanting to upgrade ? What does your current camera not do, that you'd like the new one to do ? Michael

Hi Bish Some Moon Atlases show the moon as you see it through the eyepiece. Inverted, laterally reversed, etc, depending on your telescope. If that would help you identify. Michael

I found this on the interweb, so may or may not be true : So your battery is only at about 50% to start with. What wattage are the "small dewbands" ? Michael

"Tell me it's not just me?" If you insist. Neil, it's not just you 😆 Michael

What is the inside diameter of the threaded lock-ring ? SCT is 2" with 24 threads per inch. Michael

I hoped it would cure the 600D Banding on hot summer nights, but it didn't, so I sold it on SGL.

Yes I did. Michael

Should you ever give up (old astronomers never die they only loose their...........) it would make a good stand for a brass sundial or armillary. Michael

Two features that confused the hell out of a myself when I was a beginner. Some TAL-1's had non-standard focuser and eyepiece dimensions, so standard 1.25" eyepieces would be too loose in the focuser. The setting circles were for the southern hemisphere, so setting on a known star and moving to the target co-ords just wouldn't work..... Michael

Hi Steve 1) I don't have a Skywatcher mount but generalising: You say the Goto is flawless. But I believe the mount won't start tracking until you ENTER, to confirm the object is centralised in the eyepiece. 2) "It’s a fresh new pair of 8 batteries (although it has a blinking red light)." Not a good sign. If you're using rechargeable cells, 8 x 1.2V is only 9.6V, not 12V. 8 nominally 1.5V alkaline cells do add up to over 12V when fresh. But confirm all is okay with a car battery or mains power supply if you can. Otherwise the mount may be faulty. Michael

"daylight snaps" is quite a narrow view". Just my poor attempt at distinguishing between night-time astro use, and daytime use. Part of the problem with descriptions of the mods is that people say "an IR filter remains on which doesn't make sense." The retained filter cuts IR. And "they removed the front IR filter" The removed filter coincidently filters IR, but it's not designed to filter IR, it's a bandpass filter for the visual spectrum. That tries to match the R, G, and B sensor's spectral response to the human eye's spectral response. And is removed because that response happens to attenuate the Ha wavelength. Resulting in the red caste to daytime shots. Michael

Hi Matt 0.5secs at ISO12800 shouldn't show drift, so I would look at collimation. And then try longer exposures until you do see drift. Michael

Excellent first go ! I've stretched it with a 300ArcSinh filter, and increased the saturation: But that's to my taste, everyone else's taste may differ:

You're not the only one. 1) An "IR mod" only allows IR to be captured. For amateur use that's a specialised "daylight snaps" type of mod which gives an interesting and unusual look to the images. The visual band that includes Ha is completely filtered out, and adding a filter won't bring it back. 2) An "Ha mod" retains the IR cut filter, and dispenses with the bandpass filter that restricts the Ha response. 3) A "Full Spectrum" mod removes all filters, so captures UV, visual, and IR. For refractors requires at least an IR cut filter to prevent stars bloated by IR. Best for where Pollution, Moon, Ha, O111 etc Filters are always added. So Spad: "I have an IR modded DSLR with a 720nm filter." Which type do you think that is ? Michael

"clearly some of it is simply not correct." Which info did you feel is wrong ? Michael

Hi Claire 1. "set the PHD2 refresh to 0.5 second" As knobby said, use SharpCap in video mode, auto exposure. 2. "moving the camera / OAG body in and out of the tube" The OAG "stalk" has two adjustments. One allows the guidecam to move closer or further away from the prism, to get focus once the main camera is in focus. The other lowers or raises the prism and camera without altering their spacing, which would alter focus. You can roughly setup by measuring with a ruler on the outside of the OAG and cameras. Measure from the middle of the OAG body to where the main camera sensor is. All measurements from the prism, not from the back of the OTA ! Place the guidecam sensor this same distance from the prism. Now focus the main camera on a distant landmark. Then drop the OAG "stalk" all the way down, so that the prism is well into the light path. Focus the guidecam by loosening the correct screw and by moving the guidecam closer or further away from the prism. Take main camera Flats, adjusting the stalk height, not the focus adjustment, so that the prism is as low as possible, but not causing a shadow on the Flats. Fine tune the OTA focus, then the guidecam focus, at night on the moon and then on stars. Then in future only adjust the main camera focus with the OTA focuser, the guidecam will always be in focus too. Michael

The ASI585MC colour camera that was added to the spec would do for Planetary work. Though a smaller sensor would probably still be big enough for most planets, but not the moon. And would be cheaper. The tiny 2.9um pixels means it's Oversampling if it it was used for DSO work. Michael

https://www.meade.com/downloadEntityFile/assets/product_files/instructions/01_DS-114ATmanualfinal.pdf