alan potts

I never think I am hard on myself, I look at what some of you do and think, if only. Standards are very high from so many of you, including you. Thanks for the kind words Mick Alan

Along the bottom edge I have been getting a funny pattern, I thought this was icing as I have had it before though the camera was set at plus 4 C as it was 32C outside air temp, how can it be ice? It has not been stretched at all. Alan

I know this is fairly bright but i was surprised how well it turned out (for me) with only 80mins of subs, then a few were dropped by DSS. When ever I turn the scope to this area of the shy I always wish I was in Kenya or somewhere like that for the targets to be higher in the shy, even though I am better off than the UK Feel free to rip it to bits, if anyone wants the data to play with drop me a PM, Not that I think it's good but it is nice for people that don't have CMOS cameras to have a play, I can upload the RAW. Alan.

Many congratulations John you contribution is amazing and they are to the best of my knowledge all quality posts helping young and older members navigate a sometimes difficult hobby, well done Sir!! Alan

21mm filter draws are available and now I believe FLO stock them by ZWO, so all should be well, I was not so lucky I got a different make as ZWO didn't make them a few years back, mine was a fair bit more costly. Alan

I have mine on the front of the field flattener and in truth didn't think it mattered that much. When I use the reducer/flattener it has a filter draw after the reducer. This is then in a different place, can't say I see any difference apart from the extra FOV. Alan

That's a s good as any I have seen, it is a camera I would like to get soon, I have the 071 and it's about time to upgrade. Alan

Some lovely sketches there. I must ask about M14, this is one that I always feel resolves into stars at a decent magnification but you don't draw it as such. You had some decent clear nights too. What you didn't get is a clear night after rain, that is when we get best conditions and I feel you would have improved on what you had, on these nights you can see m33 fairly easily if it is high up. On the mirror dust, this tends to happen in the house too, the dust sticks. Alan

Stunning, best I have ever seen of this one, Olly always said the TEC 140 was one heck of a scope. Alan

Still a very nice image though isn't it, I dare say if you could lift the M/N above the atmosphere it may well improve on this. Alan

I have moved this as I feel you will get a better response in the scopes section, I left a link as well. Alan

Lovely capture, I rather like the patchwork presentation to, very well done. Alan

I have done it in the past with my 115mm APO and my M/N 190, but with the star 23 degrees above the horizon, much easier than in the Uk. Conditions are everything with this and of course Sirius. Alan

A stunning image but if I may say over saturated for my tastes, great detail that I feel could be better if toned down. Alan

I agree with Carole, superb for a Dob. Alan

That's rather lovely, like very much the way the star has come out, great capture. Alan

Superb, always a pleasure to view your work. Alan

That is about the best image I have seen of anything, truly stunning. Alan

Moved this for you in an effort to get you some feed-back, Alan

Always a pleasure to view your stunning images, something of a shame you have to stop due to lack of darkness. Although days are very short in winter I imagine the weather is less friendly. Been poor here for a while not much clear at all. Alan

Never tried them myself but the Starguiders from FLO have many fans and have been written about but a lot of people on site with their many names. Lots of bang for the buck in these as a beginner I don't see you will go wrong with this choice. Alan

I read you need a 36 inch scope to view this so there are some that have Dobs of this size but few and far between, I have tried it with my 18 inch but like everyone else no joy, Sirius is fairly easy from here on a good night but it is a good deal higher in the sky than the UK. Alan

My understanding of it is the masters are the collection of frames. For example I shoot about 25 Darks at a given temperature with the camera then the same number of Flats and Dark Flats. After that I just use the masters every time. I only redo them if I move the camera in the telescope. Going back to the days where i just used a Canon 40D and 7D you can't control temperature, some do shoot Darks after sessions though I never bothered, I never bother shooting Flats etc no matter what the temperature though a dare say the purist would say you should. I think the only reason no one answered is that it got buried in the pile, it happens, hope my limited expierence is of some use. Alan

I did manage a number of images with is though there was clearly a problem with the scope, centre was razor sharp but diagonally edges in one axis now so. We believed the focuser was sagging a little though I am not so sure myself. It was sold on this as a strong point and to me seemed odd it should be letting it down. It was a well made scope and looked quality. I wish now I had tried a sleeve in the focuser to see if it helped. It was returned and FLO did not have another to replace it with, I was very disappointed as it promised so much, FLO were first rate about it all and I received a full refund. In view of mine being at the very start of a run I imagine these things happen. Still want a scope in this F/L range but now with UK leaving the EU I guess I just soldier on with what I have. Alan

More excellent work from you !!! Alan