bomberbaz

Much better than the last one, more natural looking. Would happily have that grace my wall.

that is about what I saw visually at a really dark site, probably a little less detail as the swirls were really only hints rather than definite. Good capture for 30 seconds.

More than likely laurence but it is an ultra light alloy is the plate. (My son works in aerospace industry) The issue with balance was ever so slight, I mean it still worked fine but long term imbalance should not be left. If ypu look at the two pictures with differing dovetails you will note it has moved by less than 2cm. Regarding the Air+ position, I have seen some rigs that look like a spiders nest gone haywire and that would drive me nuts, haha. I wanted it mounting where it was central to all the peripherals so I could keep it tidy.

Changed dovetail on main scope. The bracket, which is 3D printed came with a supplied plastic one (see pictures above). However it was slightly unbalanced and the green one allows me to address this and also looks sohhh much nicer.

Dya know what, sometimes the most obvious answers are the ones you don't think of. I honestly never thought of just taking a few basic pictures and comparing, dohhh!

Thanks Steve @Second Time Around. I have just checked Amazon and it's made by Alevmoom and supplied by Locyop, both chinese. It seems ok and only time will tell. Cost was £28.99 which seems reasonable. I only use the Ironing chair once the eyepiece drops a few inches below my natural eye height to a level where it is no longer comfortable. I have grown quite accustomed to standing viewing with the dob and can do so in a relaxed and easy fashion when it is at or around standing viewing. I actually carry a small step (white, plastic and folding) for the odd bit of zenith viewing but it is rarely used. Cheers, Steve

New cables arrived already, very pleased with end result

Cheers Lee, I like tidy. Re snagging; I always watch it onto my desired target and so far I have not had any problems. Remember once on target it ain't going to move (or shouldn't) in dec. Also there is a lot more free cable than there looks to be and it can go 180 degrees either direction although I can't for the life of me think why it would ever need to go that far.

Bought so.e new cables ( shorter) to tidy things up. Quite pleased with the end result, cures my ocd for now.

I am seriously thinking about one. I have a hotech laser, concenter and cheshire. Think if I push the button the concenter and cheshire will go.

Great piece of kit that. I currently use a concenter and would love to see how much more accurate this is.

Yes nice effort there but on my big pc screen it just looks slightly grainy. I think it is just a bit over stretched but if you have the data you have a comparison to redo it. Also agreed with Lee about the IR/UV cut filter. I made a recent post about that and the difference with and without the filter was very noticeable. I have the astronomik L2.

Thanks for the replies folks. I have switched the cables around so both cameras will be using USB3. I will store info direct to the AIR+ memory and transfer data to a USB stick after my sessions end. (I had noticed the lag in data uploading but never twigged it was the USB speed) Finally I have ordered some shorter cables to tidy it all up. Steve

Hello all. I use for my imaging an evoguide Sky-Watcher EvoGuide 50ED Guidescope | First Light Optics and it's accompanying FF Sky-Watcher Field Flattener for EvoGuide 50ED | First Light Optics I bought the pairing as it just seemed the logical thing to do but the downside is I cannot fit a filter wheel to it due to lack of back focus room. (Roughly 10mm) Now on the upside to this is using a OSC I only really need a UV/IR cut and a dual narrowband filter and maybe a neodymium type filter. I can of course have the IR/UV cut permanently mounted using this adaptor which is how it currently is Astro Essentials M42 to 1.25" Filter Holder / Adapter | First Light Optics But my questions are, and bearing in mind it is quite wide field using a ZWO 183mc pro is how essential is the FF to results (will there be significant field curvature) & is there a chance I get vignetting if I stack filters using the adaptor instead? cheers for any helpful info Steve

I should have mentioned there are only 2 usb3 ports on the ASI AIR+ and these are occupied by the imaging camera and the mount. Really think it would be better with a third.

Yeah good point well made. See if there is such a thing as a 6 inch version ideally.

Hello all. I have on my imaging rig the guide scope currently using a USB3 cable but into a USB2 A port. The USB3 cable is long and even when tied up makes the whole thing a little untidy. I have a USB2 short cable with a right angle B fitting which would be far tidier, however the camera has the USB3 B type socket fitted. (This USB2 cable came with the camera btw) I know it should work but will using a USB 2 B plug in the camera USB3 socket affect the results at all. TIA Steve

Collapsible stool for observing, intended use for sw steel tripod, skytee 2 and my fracs or giant bins.

Here is the collapsible stool, certainly very portable. and it seems strong enough We shall see next time i get out with my fracs as that is what I got it for on the Skytee 2 mount.

Not going to help you my answer because I never tire of any DSO or planet. I can revisit something from one year to the next and still look and be amazed by what I am observing. Currently I am in a "look for difficult objects" & "revisit well viewed dso at a really dark sky" phase. Last time out got my most distant galaxy, furthest ever object (a quasar) and my best ever view of M51. M51 view was stunning, beyond anything I have ever viewed before in beauty. However the other week I did my first double star session in years and enjoyed it immensely. I guess I am something of a night sky butterfly 😅

Very interesting thread. I will have to dig out all my items that may benefit from a light coating to see if it is worthwhile. After that is my fishing tackle and box get their pre summer season tidy and clean. Pfft, too many hobbies!

FWIW I will throw in my opinion of filters although tbf they aline very close to many others already stated. Buy good filters, cheapos are generally not anything like as good as top names. UHC and Olll should be your first two because the HB is as already stated of limited use. There are differing views on exit pupil size for filters but in light polluted skies you have a larger exit pupil and dark skies smaller. (Caveat; subject to object fitting in view for some dso). Uhc 1 to 4mm exit pupil 0lll 3 to 5mm exit pupil Hb 4 to 6mm but I find 5mm optimum. The above are a guide only. For example when viewing bright planetary nebula, eg; ring you can go far higher with the Olll. Some of my best views of the ring have been at below 2mm exit pupil with the Olll.

Nice effort but a bit of a purple-ish tint to it

That was amazing, I was half expecting to hear, "prepare to be assimilated, resistance is futile". Stuff like this is good for astronomy, gives interest to the greater masses.

Towards the bottom, after you click the show more button there is a picture with a play icon arrowhead ">" in it, press that icon.