SteveNickolls

I've been keeping records of my observing/imaging for the past eleven and seven seasons respectively. I try to get out observing/imaging whenever I can and so apart from being ill or unable to get outside due to another social commitment the numbers reflect the opportunities here in the suburbs of Nottingham. We can have weeks of poor skies but relish the chance to use binoculars to capture half an hour of observing if conditions allow. In one of last year's Sky at Night Magazine, I think the March issue there was an article quoting figures on the number of sessions with various set up's, the outcome being that having an observatory or performing remote imaging were the better options for increasing opportunities. Of course if you are at work or have to get up early the next day your opportunities are going to be a trade off, there are also other demands on time that can mean you miss an otherwise decent night.

I have no observatory but have over the years taken more to binocular observation of the sky and have worked my imaging set up to be lightweight, portable and quick to set up/take down and controllable from indoors. Unless on holiday I don't travel far to observe or image. When conditions aren't ideal for DSO imaging I will try imaging the Moon and this year intend to branch out to try solar imaging in the daytime all to get the most out of the opportunities that present themselves. One aspect of the hobby that can be enjoyed virtually all year round and not recorded below is the detection of meteors using the back scatter provided from objects caught in the radar radiation from GRAVES near Dijon, France. With a home built antenna and software defined radio device such as the FunCube hours of interest can be had.

Very interested to hear the views and experiences of others.

Cheers,

Steve

                                                                                                                 Comparison Monthly Observations (Seasons 2012-2013 to 2022-2023)

All signed. Good luck.

I have access to YouTube and enjoy watching existing live events by Wido, Starman and others. Hope you get more response from SGL members.

Cheers,

Steve

Thanks for the heads up. 👍The Shetlands site is one I often visit to check for auroral activity.

Cheers,

Steve

Hi, thanks for posting. This is a question you have to decide on after balancing things in your own mind and jump one way. Plenty of folks seem to have no trouble leaving kit out, albeit protected in every weather, though after Cuivs recent calamity there were plenty of viewers who admitted to having had similar issues. 

The obvious advantages of having kit ready or almost ready and deployed outside for you are there to explore. I am of an age where I want my gear to last me out so I  have gone the route of devising an invisible, dispersed observatory (joke)- I built an imaging pad at the bottom of the garden with markers for the tripod to quickly polar align each session, purchased a light imaging set up (GEM28, Samyang 135m lens, ASI533, guide scope and camera, Pegasus power box micro and StarTech USB over Ethetnet device) that I can carry all set up to the pad, wires connected ready. I just connect up to a Cat6 Ethernet cable laid in conduit outdoors and roll out a rcd protected mains power reel. Apart from a nightly quick polar align using SharpCap Pro I can then return indoors to control the whole session. Packing any takes a few minutes only. I store my gear indoors and leave no trace of the invisible, dispersed observatory outside. SWMBO is happy too with that. 👍

Good luck deciding which road you want to travel on, there's no right or wrong just cost.

Cheers,

Steve

The Golden Rule-"When it's clear-image".

Cheers,

Steve 

1 minute ago, Pompey Monkey said:

Maybe, by supporting the core of the area, could it expand as the perimeter residents realise the benefits? 

... I'm way too idealistic \o/

That is a nice thought but when as an example you have two large new housing estates with more than 1500 homes being built around you the present legislation and controls do little to help retain or lessen sky glow. You may have heard the one about no hope and Bob Hope? Unfortunately the road ahead is more light pollution for more people as conurbations spill out to the once more rural areas.

Thanks for this, I will sign too. However legislation and guidance must be for all locations not just for the countryside.

Cheers,

Steve

5 hours ago, Macavity said:

Wish I had TIME to read the writings of O'Meara, Walter Scott... Anyone?!? lol. 😁

In the final paragraph on page 149 of, "Deep-Sky Companions Hidden Treasures" he goes on to say that it was the narrator in, "My Aunt Margaret's Mirror" who was commentating on his Aunt's superstitious tendencies. She avoids looking into a mirror when alone in her chamber for an evening. I would not blame or make fun of her.  The black space in a mirror in a dimly lit room is a perfect analogy to making out the emission nebula clouding Orion's head encompassing Cr69, "And amidst such shadowy and doubtful light...imagination frames her enchanted and enchanting visions, and sometimes passes them upon the senses for reality."

Cheers,

Steve

45 minutes ago, JonHigh said:

I had previously image flipped both axis in the SharpCap settings and wondered if that flips the bayer pattern as well? 

You will likely find it has, it's very likely down to the different ways different software read the Bayer array sequence. I had that issue when I'd used SCPro on the Moon and inverted the image forgetting to return it back the next time I did DSO work. I was surprised many others hadn't fallen foul of that little problem. Best to rotate as a final image after processing. Good luck.

Cheers,

Steve

Hi as others have mentioned USB over Ethernet could solve your requirement. I use these to control my mount, main camera, guide camera and Pegasus Pocket Power Box Micro unit at the bottom of the garden.

https://www.startech.com/en-gb/cards-adapters/usb2004extv

More details on my GEM28 thread-

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Steve

11 hours ago, gorann said:

Is it only me seeing a dog sticking his/her thin tongue into an ear of a puppy?

Licking a juicy thigh bone maybe?

Cheers,
Steve

Thanks Elp for this information glad you were able to get some data when the seeing was more settled. Well done imaging the comet too. 👍 I have found the mount isn't the easiest to balance but more in the z axis. I wonder if that's why the iguider is located on the opposite side to where the iPort  (GPS) is found to help with balance? I only have the GPS unit and have Velcroed it onto the housing above the iPolar to help balance things better.

Sometime I will use my RedCat and 500mm FL StarTravel on the GEM28 and see what guiding performance I get. 

Cheers,
Steve

On 25/01/2023 at 08:51, Doc817 said:

Thanks Steve for providing the guiding details.  Great insight.

Hi, I'm pleased it is of help. I'm still very much learning about guiding and given the short focal length I use don't anticipate issues and certainly the mount is providing round stars which is the real purpose for guiding not to get lower and lower RMS values. The standard guiding values 'out of the box' with PHD2 seem as good as any others. I realise that there will be a need to adjust the looping duration depending on an individual night's seeing conditions.

I'd be pleased to hear the guiding results from other GEM28 owners as that will help in turn more people deciding on this mount.

Cheers,

Steve

Thanks for posting Ian, especially moving into blending of data. Would you try a different balance of using more Ha another time too add more detail? Well done.

Cheers,

Steve

Thanks for your post. 

There's a lot to take on board when you are new to a hobby that can go many ways.  While £4k is a lot of money it can be eaten away very quickly in this hobby, so caution. I'm sure members here will be able to give you steers where to go that you can think over.

I would raise the question of considering security for your equipment outside especially if it is positioned and viewable from a road or other property.

Cheers,

Steve

Thanks for the heads up on this. Hope to be able to listen.

Cheers,

Steve

Hi, thanks for posting and a warm welcome to SGL.

Cheers,

Steve

Thanks for posting Ian. Will enjoy seeing the blended data.

Cheers,

Steve

Thanks for the +1 Ian over the images. The top image of Auriga had the stars dimmed using StarTools and adjusted to 50% using the LAYER module to reduce the distraction of the many stars in the region. This is the original image before separating the stars for treatment.

I only have a 12nm Ha filter right now but my intention is to purchase a 12nm OIII filter later this year then add OIII data to these images as weather allows.

Thanks once again for your comments.

Cheers,

Steve

January 2023 Update-Guiding, GPS and Images.

January has been a very good month for DSO imaging this year in the UK and I was able to obtain a fair amount of consistent data on how the GEM28 mount performed when guiding. My DSO imaging equipment has a modest focal length comprising a Samyang 135 lens (used at f/2) + Astronomik 12nm Ha filter + ASI533MM-Pro but I have been happy with the images produced.

I ran two instances of Guiding Assistant, one reproduced below.

I also received an iOptron GPS unit for Christmas and was able to connect the device  and use it during the imaging sessions. The unit worked fine straight out of the box and makes set up time a little less, no longer do I need to set the hand controller time each session.

One outcome of having several consecutive clear nights was developing a set up procedure that was robust. I was able to set up in the afternoon, leaving the equipment powered on with only polar alignment being required each evening outdoors.

Images stacked in DSS and processed using StarTools, all taken at f/2 in Bortle 6 location-

Nebulae and Open clusters in Auriga (Flaming Star Nebula (IC 405 Caldwell 31, Sharpless 229), Tadpole Nebula IC 410) Spider Nebula (IC 417)and Fly Nebulae (NGC 1901) and open clusters NGC 1907  and M38. Total of x388 ninety second light frames (9.7 hours)+ master dark + master flat frame. 

A friend produced this ghostly starless image for me using Star Net ++-

California Nebula in Perseus, x165 ninety second light frames (4.1 hours) +master dark frame + master flat frame-

Cheers,
Steve

Thanks for posting this lovely image Ian. I particularly like the colour combination you have employed in the final image. Can I enquire at the Bortle level in which the data as collected?

Cheers,

Steve

Hi, thanks for your posts. I can't speak for the SW HEQ5 but I have a thread on the iOptron GEM28 you might like to wade through, it's a 'warts and all' report-

I've had my GEM28 since October2021 and have got on fine with it. I'd imagine it's a lot quieter in operation than the SW model and easier to move around. The set up I use overcomes the fact my imaging pad is set up at the bottom of the garden each night so I employ USB over Ethernet as documented above. I can thoroughly reccommend the Star Tech hubs, simply plug and play. I have recently added a Pegasus PowerBox Micro unit which is proving a cracking buy in distributing power to the mount, main camera, StarTech remote hub and dew heaters. I had no issues with either iCommander 7 or 8 and was able to use the mount with the hand controller, by USB cable and wirelessly but have moved on to USB over Ethernet as I mention. It was a labour of love originally sorting out the iOptron software (basically poorly described in the manual).

I'm shortly going to add some data from PHD2 into the thread which I've been able to gather ovr the last week of clear skies. Basically I think I have a decent example of the GEM28. The two issues that spring to mind about the GEM28 were the scuffed tripod legs and the iPolar. I have since moved over to using SharpCap Pro's polar alignment so could have saved a few hundred pounds. My view of iOptron and software has steadily improved over time but their lack of an Android App to control the iPolar is verging on criminal but from what I've gleaned they can't create an App so it's waiting on an 'add on'. I decided to jump ship to the SharpCap Pro polar alignment tool.

I hope this and the other comments to your query will help you on making a decision. I did note the price of the GEM28 had recently gone down at FLO.

Cheers,
Steve

https://binocularsky.com/binoc_object_file.php?object_id=Cr70&aperture=50

Almost he he.