recceranger

Hi all, I’m out this evening using my new filter on Rosetta Nebula (test shots). While using a focal mask I noticed it’s quite difficult to get a well defined diffraction pattern on my DSLR, which makes it a bit difficult to gain precise focus. Has anyone encountered this before?

It’s on like Donkey Kong😃🔭. Also, great to see that FLO has a sense of humour! 😃👍

Clear skies yesterday evening and the big rig was out. Just a wee bit of practice with a medium SCT. 100% collimated straight out of the box and perfectly concentric circles in star test. The view of owl nebula, pinwheel and whirlpool was something else. I’ll get the D7500 attached on next outing and post some photos. Going to use a 50mm guide scope so it’ll probably be a fail, but sure! 😃👍🥃🍺

You’re welcome Robin👍👍👍

This Mount is the business. End of review! 😃

Thanks for kind comments folks. One thing I have noticed doing this AP business is that you get so lost in the technical procedures that you forget the awe of what your actually looking at! So I think I’ll temper the imaging with some straight up visual through the eyepiece. On the diffraction spikes, they are added in post processing and although not everyone’s cup of tea, I’m a fan😃👍

Hi Clarkey, I used the ED80 for these mate👍. I got rid of the RC8 and settled on a C9’25 which I’ll be trying out soon. I’ve done another edit of M42!😃

Hi Roy, All taken using the same setup; AZEQ6, ED80 Pro, .85 reducer, D7500 with no filters. All the images are guided using an ASI Mini Guide Camera and Guide Scope (my first go at PHD2 😃👍). The settings as listed; M42: 30 x 120 sec subs at ISO 800 and 10 x Darks. All galaxies: 15 x 120 Sec subs at ISO 800 and 10 x Darks. All stacked using DSS and processed in Adobe Ps. I live in a town with heavy light pollution so the processing was a mare! 😅

Some my very first attempts using a decent enough set up. The street lighting is brutal, but the few hours give me good procedural practice, including using PHD2.

Hi Pete, This one mate; POWEROAK Portable Power Station AC50S 500Wh 300W Solar Generator Sine-Wave Wireless Charging Emergency LED Lighting w/ 2AC Outlet,PD 45W USB-C,DC12V Lithium Battery Backup for Outdoor RV Camping https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08KW35YTZ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_fabc_NM71XEQ4DT853S27FJAD?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

It’s a Power Oak Pete. Will run you Mount, laptop and ancillaries for around 4 to 5 full imaging sessions. That’s with each session lasting around 6 - 8 hours. Great piece of kit

Sure is Robin. Arms were aching! 😅

Have taken ownership of a new C9’25 from FLO. Managed to get it set up just the other night during a rare break in cloud cover. Conducted a star test for collimation and was delighted to find it was absolutely perfect straight out of the box. Not much viewing though as the clouds rolled in. My plan will be to use it with the ZWO ASI462 MC on a bit of lunar and also using the Nikon D7500 on tight DSO. Reports to follow! Set up is now fairly diverse. Wide field using the ED80, as mentioned above using C9’25 and some nightscape using the D7500 on the Star Adventure Pro 2i. Not forgetting of course the simple pleasure of visual observation (if we get a clear night!😅)

I forgot about Dark Star!

The weather is shocking and I’ve been ripping through my movie collection. The question is, what are SGL members top 10 sci-fi movies of all time. I’ve listed mine below and attached one iconic image from each movie: 10. The Matrix 9. Terminator 1984 8. Equilibrium 7. Blade Runner 2049 6. Close Encounters of the Third Kind. 5. Silent Running. 4. Alien. 3. Star Wars (a new hope). 2. Blade Runner. 1. 2001 A Space Odyssey.

Waiting for clear skies! 😃

First go at stacking using Sequator. So easy to use! 😃

Thanks Nik, I’ll have another go this evening👍

First crack at M42 stack of 3 frames! Clouds rolled in and shopped the session. Taken with a D7500 at ISO 800 (60 Sec exposures), ED80 and .85X reducer.

Single shot with D7500 and ED80. Can’t work out how to stack raw frames! So this will have to do! 😃☘️👍

Hi folks, So, how does one go about removing the green tint/hue from an image taken using the titled filter? Everything is green😅☘️💚

I’m not using the dedicated flattener that goes with it. I think if your camera back focus is more than 17.5 mm then the field flattener does work, and that rules out my Nikon D7500!😅. You can use with a dedicated Astrophotography camera such as a ZWO, but mine is a planetary camera so no need. The image of double cluster in OP was simply cropped in to remove distortion. This works fine as it’s exceptional at wide field coverage.