nephilim

Finally moved into the new place. The back garden has wide, far reaching views of the North/ West Skies, with absolutely no light pollution. A good patio for setting up the gear & a little office for electricity & a cuppa. Spotted M31 last night with just the naked eye, havnt managed that for a while. I think I might be very happy here 🙂

Thanks for the reply Seelive, I had a feeling it'd only be for a few hours, Im going for the powerbank option as that'll last me the full session. I'm hopefully looking at long exposures (180"-300") rather than many short ones but that will more than likely also be a big drain. Plus changing the battery has the potential to affect the framing & focus so i'd rather not have that added worry 🙂

Thanks for the reply James. Ive decided to go with the dummy battery & LiFePO4 option rather than just relying on the DSLR's own battery. I'll be powering the DSLR via a dummy battery & a connection to the 4 port dew controller as i'll only be using 2 dew straps. I spoke to a staff member from FLO who assured me the powerbank i'll be using will easily see me through an evenings imaging. Although I will have use of the mains supply at home, I'll be doing a fair bit of imaging away from mains power as well. Im in the process of moving house ( I actually move in tomorrow so I should really be getting on with that but yet again SGL has drawn me in 😁) which pretty much sits on the borders of the North Peninnes AONB, Yorkshire Dales NP & Lake District NP & will now have very quick access to a large number of dark sky sites & i'll be wanting to try out as many as I can 🙂

Thanks for the reply. That makes total sense. I'll be going with the dummy battery option. I'll be running my whole setup from a Celestron LiFePO4 powerbank although the laptop will have its own, smaller powerbank. I Msg'd FLO a while back regarding the Powerbanks longevity & a staff member uses a very similar setup to the one I'll be using & gets a whole night out if it. The camera, mount etc will be running off the LiFePO4. As you say, our weather is very much more miss than hit & any wasted time will be similar to wasted money 😁

Hi, I'll shortly be buying a dew controller & i've seen this one which supports a DSLR power supply https://www.firstlightoptics.com/dew-prevention/lynx-astro-4-port-dew-controller-with-dslr-power-supply.html . My question is will it be worth the extra £20 over the same controllor without the DSLR option? I'll only be using 2 dew heater straps but further down the line I will be buying a dedicated camera as the power supply can be plugged into a spare port. My question is, how long does a standard DSLR battery last? I know theres no precise answer so i'm after an approximate really. Realistically a maximum AP session will last 4-5hrs (taking long exposures so obviously it will drain the battery faster). Would a standard battery last round about that length or should I just buy it anyway as £20 isnt an issue if it means piece of mind that the camera wont die nearing the end of a run. Actually make that £55 as i'll also need a dummy battery & cable 🙄 TIA Steve

I'm buying the Zenithstar 81 in a few weeks and the Optolong L-extreme narrowband filter. It'll be interesting to see how well the combination works as the L-Extreme has a very narrow band pass of 7nm.

Or in my case a few years ago, not removed therefore ruining over an hour of precious imaging time under extremely rare clear uk skies 😒

Laptop arrived today, considering its a refurbished model it's in like new condition. i5, 8GB Ram, NVMe SSD, 2x USB 3.0, 1x USB-C. All for £263 after promotion discount, very happy with that 😁

Laptop exclusively for running my up & coming AP setup. HP Probook 620 i5. I bought this refurbished & it hasn't a mark on it. I used their upgrade option so 8GB RAM, 250GB NVMe SSD, 2x USB 3.0 1x USB-C. Post processing will be done on my desktop pc so this is solely for the imaging process & Mount/ camera etc control. Bought from Stone Refurb, I wrote a review in the Supplier section as they've been great to do business with, even honouring a promotion that I didn't cotton on to until I'd bought it after I emailed them about it. No arguments & the 13% discount (£39) was put straight into my account so full cost was £263 which I'm very happy with 😁

It got down to minus 1 on the way back to the Lakes from the Yorkshire Dales this evening so those frosty nights are definitely on the way 🥶

After posing a question on here last week for recommended specs for a laptop that would be suitable for controlling my AP setup, a couple of members suggested I go for a refurbished one which I hadn't thought of. This saved me a couple of hundred ££ straight away so well done SGL. Ive only just got back to the forum after a long break & already i'm benefitting from the been a member 😃 After a bit of research I came across the above online store (Stone Refurb) & after reading consistently good feedback from past customers, a good range of reasonably priced laptops & the choice of upgrading certain parts (HDD to SSD, 4GB RAM to 8GB etc) After choosing the one I thought would suit my needs best https://www.notebookcheck.net/HP-ProBook-640-G2-Notebook-Review.171216.0.html I went to 'checkout' & bought it. THEN to my horror 🤣 I spotted too late a 'Halloween' discount promo that they were doing on all purchases, 13% off & as the laptop with upgrades was £302, this would have taken it down to around £264, a saving of £38, so not just pennies. I decided to email them (This was a Sunday evening so I wouldnt here back until the next day at the earliest, if at all or so I thought) explaining what had happened but added that I assumed the discount would be taken automatically 🤫. If I was to get a reply, I expected it to be along the lines of, it cant be altered after the transaction etc. At around 9:30am today saw an email from a nice person called Alex who informed me that that wasnt a problem & they had refunded it as soon as they received my email. So with my faith in human nature restored & feeling a little less cynical about online shopping for second hand goods, I highly recommend this place for refurbished IT equipment. The proof will obviously be in the end result when I receive the laptop, ive gone for 48hr delivery with DHL so it should be here by Wed at the very latest & i'll post the results in the Astro lounge once ive checked it over. Steve

Thanks for posting this, I've been looking for another Telrad & 'everywhere' was sold out but I totally forgot about 365. I sold mine a few years ago having lost my astro motivation but I've now found it again😁 After owning one I can never go back to an alternative as the Telrad imo is the best thing for the job even though it seems the most simple idea.

Thats an absolutely amazing image 🙂

That's a really good idea thanks.

So, I bought this refurbished laptop. Win 10 64bit. i5 8GB RAM, 250GB SSD, 2x USB 3.0 one of which is for charging & 1 x USB-C all for £263. That should be good enough for everything i'll need it for hopefully. https://www.cnet.com/products/hp-probook-640-g2-14-core-i5-6200u-8-gb-ram-256-gb-ssd/

This is the sort of thing I'm thinking of.

Yes, that's what I'm thinking, there are quite a few available that'll easily last me a good session.

Thanks for replying. I'm going for the LiFePO4 13.2 Ah as all opinions point to it been a good supply. I'm getting the Lynx Astro 4 port dew controller with DSLR power supply Aswell. I Msg'd FLO & they said once I've upgraded from DSLR to a dedicated cam the Lynx will also charge that plus the mount can connect to the Lynx aswell as the dew straps. It'll make cable management far easier. For the laptop I'll use a separate powerbank with a USB-C connection. This power setup should keep me running easily for at least 6hrs.

Nice one, our owner numbers are growing 😁

Second time around buying this. 2nd most important purchase after the mount 😁

You'll also need the mount https://www.firstlightoptics.com/planewave-mounts/planewave-l-350-direct-drive-mount.html In all seriousness, it all depends on whether its visual or imaging your wanting to do or both?

Welcome to the forum, if money is no object then theres no reason why you shouldnt just buy one of these https://www.firstlightoptics.com/planewave-instruments-telescopes/planewave-cdk-17-optical-tube-assembly.html

Thanks for the info. I'm going to go for the LiFePO4 rather than the lead battery. I sent FLO a DM & they said it would be fine powering my set up but like you've mentioned, the other one would be pushing it.

Definitely sounds like the right choice. Cheers mate.

Thanks for everyone's advice. I think i'll take the hit & buy the LiFePO4 as it sounds more reliable & much more convenient for a portable setup. I'd rather buy the best I can afford than buy twice. Steve