bottletopburly

Tested camera last night for 3 hrs imaging ambient temperature reported by the Eaf internally was 12C and ccd sensor temperature was 3c .

Thanks ivo and Maria for your time and effort you put in greatly appreciated 👍🥳

A fine image John , well taken 👍

Stunning image olly great work 👍

I’d mirror others comments, to start off do the simple tweaks that cost minimal outlay , Flocking ota , blacken inside of draw tube, blacken edge of secondary, check centre spot on primary, mine was out 6mm , apeture mask to primary to stop reflections, upgraded springs to primary, shower cap to end of ota , 6mm bar across ota rings on to stiffen tube , then if the bug bites cnc spider off Aliexpress (£60), Steeltrack focuser , 

Does anyone know what the torque rating is on a zwo EAF  5v version ? 

New widefield setup thanks to @AstroGS 🤩 

In Eqmod you can clear all sync points , manually reset scope to park position and your all good to go , are you imaging or visual observing ? I’m assuming your using Eqmod .

On a stock 200p the 1.25 “ adapter unscrews from the base part , you can then screw into your T adapter and that’s all you need to achieve focus 

24 minutes ago, tomato said:

It helps the cooling efficiency if you use thermally conductive cement to attach the cooler but it doesn’t come off easily and could invalidate your camera warranty if it had to be returned. That said, your 3M sticky pad might be optimised for the cooler application.

 

The 3M tape does seem to be very good and seems rock solid .

1 hour ago, Elp said:

That's a nice all in one unit, I had to get the parts separately.

Some people also got good results with a Black Shark phone cooler.

I'm finding the time to actually use kit is getting longer and longer between sessions.

Yes I was looking at the the camera coolers when I spotted the peltier cooler , it must be 4 months since I’ve been out .

1 hour ago, Elp said:

Decent result. I tried similar with my 224 months ago but didn't feel like progressing with it much, mainly due to I image with uncooled cameras already for DSO and have been doing so for years, the need for cooling isn't really required as it's quite cold outside most of the time anyway. The other issue is if the sensor doesn't have direct conducting contact with the camera body cooling effect can also be minimal but you've seen a decent result.

How did you mount the peltier, did you just stick it on the back under the heatsink?

The cooler came with a very thin 3M sticky pad and it seems solid , bit like he pad that holds a rear mirror on a car windscreen , the 585 does give a clean image  uncooled so if it cools the camera a bit then that will help and for minimal outlay , hopefully I can test in the next few weeks rather than in a warm living room .

1 hour ago, Stuart1971 said:

Link..?

sorry 
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B0C78WVRDP?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

I picked up a small peltier cooler off of Amazon just to see if it made a difference to the 585mc uncooled camera £17 so not a big loss if it doesn’t, initial testing in the house gave a reading of approximately 10degrees below ambient temp , initially the sensor was reading 28 degrees after ten minutes using 120sec exposures temperature was reading 18 degrees , hopefully in a few months the clouds may part to test 🤦‍♂️ cooler runs off 5v 2A usb power and very quite .

1 hour ago, bosun21 said:

I now have the focuser fitted and centered, along with collimation. What did you use to block the light leaks? I was thinking of some sort of spray foam (black). Any recommendations?

I used the firm black foam that the focuser came in , see image 

I fitted a Steeltrack to my 200pds and holes didn’t match , make a  paper card  template I wish I had , and measure what the focuser center is before dismantling  , I just used the elongated holes , I got light leakage on the base which I plugged using black foam , excellent focuser though .

You could try asking  https://www.astroprinter.co.uk/home formerly Jack the printer .

Cheers ivo , marks channel is going great, kudos to him 👍

 Here’s my take on reflectors buying a reflector will require collimation at some point so if your thinking of buying a reflector and collimating scares you buy a refractor, if you do buy a reflector at the point of having to collimate don’t worry dive in and make a pigs ear of it you’ll get your head around it eventually and there is plenty of peeps on forums to help , YouTube videos etc ,yes it can be frustrating but believe me once you get your head around how a reflector works it does become easier , for me two things that I have upgraded  to make my life easier but Not necessary was cnc spider off of Aliexpress for my 200pds no need to fret and centralise spider and Steeltrack focuser (but only because I’m imaging) and I picked up an Ocal electronic collimator which I personally found very effective for checking the focuser was aligned to the OTA  which having the Steeltrack you can align the drawtube easier than the stock focuser on a 200pds but a Cheshire collimator and a colli cap are the very basics you need until collimating OCD takes over 🤣 

DAVE 

Stunning olly just stunning 🤩, well done 👏 

24 minutes ago, Paul M said:

Thanks Ivo, It's installed already. I'm looking forward to trying out the new TAGs feature. I think it'll help me manage my automated sessions much better  I usually leave my gear out all night, unatended, when the sky is clear so APT looks after it for me.

I see the start-up splash screen still has the "Clear Skies" good luck message, but what the v4.4 should have included is a "Clear Skies" button! Could really do with that feature in the UK right now!

The new session craft features look brilliant, being able to image to altitude then move to a second target  for me me is great as I can now image until target gets close to my house the move too a second target 👍

Excellent ivo  ,now updated and Mark is doing a super job with his Apt video user guides too https://www.youtube.com/@SCAmateurAstro now if only the clouds could disappear 😭

You could try using Astrohopper just place /fasten phone to scope , not used it myself personally but seems to do what it says on the tin

https://artyom-beilis.github.io/astrohopper.html
 

 Processed in Startools Matrix set to SHO 40SII+60Ha,70Ha+30OIII,100OIII

Give ENS optical  a call I did read a while ago somewhere , I can’t recall where that they were looking into servicing , wether they now do I don’t know but I’m sure a quick phone call you’ll find out one way or the other .

Dave