bomberbaz

4 hours ago, mikey152 said:

I would like to build a simple azimuth drive for my home made Dobsonian mount. Can anyone suggest parts I need and where I can purchase them from?

problem you are going to have with a simple azimuth drive, which I have no doubt is buildable is that your object in view will still drift up or down in the field of view.

You would be better building an equatorial platform which is designed to keep the object in view by following the equatorial plain.

There is loads of info on the net, just google it, the one below is a guide from sky at night.

Build a Dobsonian equatorial platform - BBC Sky at Night Magazine

I have missed the last two years galaxy viewing due to personal reasons and would love to get into it again this coming season.

As @John says, the markarian chain is a cracking extended galaxy cluster but to be fair, you could spend all night viewing there on galaxies (and I have) and not cover everything. 

I get lost easily and viewing list often get shoved to one side. I hope to get the dob and apm superzoom to work on them, it should be a lot of fun.

7 minutes ago, Elp said:

If you don't need it you don't need it. I too was curious and didn't think it affected my images much (it was also a pain to setup but partly because I setup from scratch each time). But if I image F6.3 with my C6 (1000mm+ FL) it's essential.

Ah now there we are at an all different ball game. Also some scopes of that design are known for having a little mirror movement and as you say at that FL, a little can make a lot. 

3 hours ago, tooth_dr said:

The main mirror in a reflector can move a bit. Using an oag means you are also guiding through the same mirror, and therefore follow all the same movements. A guidescope doesn’t and you can end up with issues when even though your tracking is good, you still have poorly shaped stars.

Yes makes sense and can see how that would work.

2 hours ago, Elp said:

Also the guiding RMS may improve slightly but if you're not imaging at such a resolution the gain is pointless. OAG also is better if imaging at long focal lengths, but sometimes you struggle to find stars which is why they usually have rotators built into them.

 

Ok so would be imaging at F4 or F3.45 depending on if I use of CC or not. Not would be during spectroscopy. So maybe the OAG benefits are likely to not be quite so pronounced if indeed there are any!

Based upon the fact I already have the two guidescopes but no OAG, once my other gear arrives I think some starfield rich practice images with the two guidescopes as a shootout to check star shapes and compare RNS would be the most sensible approach.  I have learned over time not to open the wallet in haste to avoid impulse buys wasting ones funds. This last action has only taken me 60 years to achieve too, quite proud really 👍😂

2 hours ago, Louis D said:

I like the 2" option on the Bresser.  I wonder if the focuser has a dual speed upgrade path?

I think this will probably work Bresser Messier 1:8 Gear-set for Hex-Focuser | First Light Optics

steep price for what it is but a good add on. 

2 hours ago, Elp said:

The polo has an unnaturally small boot too so you'd have to measure up length, but I never put scopes in the boot, better on the back seats belted in.

Agreed, use the boot for your clothes, the base and bits of other gear, the ota assembly back seat strapped in.

2 hours ago, Louis D said:

The only issue I have with the GSO is with the linear bearing focuser.  Tension has to be adjusted just right or the focuser tube just drops all the way down.  The problem is that it has no preloading tensioner separate from the focus drag tensioner.

I must admit that the bresser rocker alt action looks far superior to the stellalyra one Bresser Messier 8" Dobsonian Telescope | First Light Optics  To be honest, both have strengths and weaknesses but ironing out the alt one on the stellalyra looks the most challenging when compared to adding the 1:8 focuser upgrade and a better finder to the bresser scope. 

Hello DAT, seems you have researched well and put logical thoughts into the process. The heritage is certainly the most compact of the 3 "dad" options, I do agree that the Bresser is better option (IMHO) if boot space is sufficient. You will need to look into this further methinks by gathering boot dimensions and comparing to the two mini dobs dimensions.

Why are you considering the StellaLyra though? I mean it is a quality bit of kit (comes with a 2/1.25 adaptor) but will, at nearly 6kg need a sturdy mount and tripod to support it. You may quickly have a runaway budget!

You haven't mentioned astrophotography, is that a "dad" consideration?

Anyway out of interest, which 8" dob are you considering, you didn't say?

Cheers

Steve

1 hour ago, Ouroboros said:

It’s on the UI page for each camera.   It’s next to the displayed name of the camera being used.

I just tried disconnecting and reconnecting my ZWO ASI2600 camera on that page and it came back as USB3, which it should. So I couldn’t reproduce what Mistuk is seeing, in this way anyway. 

Ah yes sorry, my mistake. And of course the 224mc is not a powered pro type camera so my question above is irrelevant, sorry.

I will try to recreate the same issue as the OP alludes to, see if it is a common thing but the fact you can't is ominous. 

11 hours ago, Astroscot2 said:

If it were I, I would go down the OAG route with a Newtonian.

 

Mark

What is the benefit of an oag over a standard guide scope other than a little less weight?

5 hours ago, WolfieGlos said:

The Soul nebula I have imaged previously, in fact it was the second one I imaged with a modded DSLR. A year later, my effort I feel is significantly better, with a better scope, mount, triband filter and better processing.

The Heart, on the other hand, has been a bit of a bogey target for me. In my previous 3 attempts, it was out of focus, partially cut off and finally ruined by poor tracking and high winds. All of those were with an un-modded camera when learning AP with a zoom lens, so this year I was determined to get it.

With my 102ED it needed a 2 panel mosaic, which led me onto including the Soul.....for a 6 panel mosaic. I've previously done a few 2x1 mosaic's, but a 3x2 was a bigger challenge. Using NINA's framing assistant, this was actually really easy to set up, save, and run over multiple nights. When I started this in September, we were predicted 3 clear nights running with No Moon so I thought this should be do-able. In reality, I gathered 6 hours on the Soul, and half of the Heart on 2 of those 3 nights. Since then, clouds have really scuppered my efforts, with the odd spell being put to use but some extended cloud free nights this last week I've finally got to a stage where I think I'm finished.

By far my biggest project to date, this has been a big learning experience and I've had a few trials and lessons with mosaic imaging. I'm not sure I'll do such a large one again but we'll see. Individual images below are cropped down from the larger mosiac after all processing.

Anyway, details and images as below:

Canon EOS 800Da + Starfield 102ED + HEQ5
ISO - 400
Frames - 
Panel 1 = 90 x 360s (leNhance Filter) = 09:00 hours
Panel 2 = 93 x 360s (leNhance Filter) = 09:18 hours (Fish-head Neb)
Panel 3 = 90 x 360s (leNhance Filter) = 09:00 hours
Panel 4 = 90 x 360s (leNhance Filter) = 09:00 hours (Heart Neb)
Panel 5 = 90 x 360s (leNhance Filter) = 09:00 hours (Soul Neb)
Panel 6 = 91 x 360s (leNhance Filter) = 09:06 hours
TOTAL TIME: 54:24:00
Calibrations - 50 bias, 35 flats per panel.
Individual panels stacked in SIRIL
Mosaic Combined in ASTAP
Mosaic edited in SIRIL, Starnet, TopazDeNoise AI and GIMP

 

Hope you like, comments and criticism welcome🙂

That is quite beautiful and a real testament to your endeavours.

When using siril, did you use a set script to stack so as to ensure continuity?

I have recently upgraded some of my imaging gear, the new mount (when it arrives) will be a HEM15 holding a 150 quattro (previously an AZ Gti & a 72ED) and I was thinking that as it is capable of taking a little more weight comfortably, should I bother.

I have a F4 svbony 60mm guide scope that I had forgot about, it would be a direct replacement of my F3.75 WO 32mm Uniguide if I wanted to take this route.

Aside of the increased aperture and slightly longer FL, what else would this potentially offer in return in imaging guiding terms?

cheers

steve

How are you disconnecting? If your just pulling it out and sticking it in another socket that isn't going to help.

Switch off the usb socket, disconnect and then reconnect to other socket then switch new socket back off.  

What kind of input makes it slew, it it screen click, object name, coordinates or something else?

18 minutes ago, John said:

Great report Steve 🙂

Since you kindly loaned me the APM and Svbony 3-8 zoom I have acquired my own 3-8 which I am really enjoying.

 

 

Yes it is a nice piece of glass John, some people have complained about the short eye relief but personally I find I get on with it very well (from limited use). I think that it will find more use in my 100ED than the dob but it's a great bit of kit for the cost. 

Well I might be overstating what actually occurred by calling it a shootout but I did go out with good intentions. Before I write further I will just throw out a couple of caveats:

1 I have had only very limited time behind an eyepiece this last 12 months due to personal reasons so I am very much out of practice.

2. I make no claims to be an expert in these matters although I have a few years experience.

Ok on arrival at my designated dark spot I arrived to a bog on the land where I park my car, that is the only place and I had no other option but to park there. 🙄 Ok so I parked there, then started to get into my fur lined boots whilst trying to not stand in 3 inches of mud, 1 of my thick socks fell into the goo which I managed to recover before it got soaked, the signs were ominous.

My recently bought setup head light broke, it is supposed to be bright red single led which is far to bright for observing but good enough to put your gear out whilst allowing your eyes to settle. Well it decided red was out and decided it only wanted to shine in white, 2 very bright white led's. Then whilst putting my dob base down in now white light the zip on my coat went (lockdown pounds still remain I am afraid) and by now I was feeling a little windless in my sails!

Then my DSC would not connect, after 20 minutes I found out that my new phone fills in the skysafari IP address with a default and more importantly, wrong one so it wouldn't connect to the scope dsc. Honestly had i not already set up I would have packed up.

Anyway, I got this far so here goes. Eyepieces tested were the 7.7-15.4 APM superzoom / Baader Mklll 8-24 / sVbony 7-21 / sVbony 3-8 and as per title all were only tested at 8mm (initially). The instrument was my Taurus 14" dob. No false colour from the optics here. I also viewed everything without my specs as the exit pupil allows me to ignore my astigmatism.

So to results, this is the boring bit 😂 I had prepared a list of objects to look at but being honest, I couldn't be bothered with my methodical list I had put together so simply did a few objects of differing types.

Saturn.  APM won here on the grounds that with direct vision Dione was most readily available, it just popped into view so easily where with the other three it was there but popping in and out, but not quite as easy. For contrast and sharpness on this all 4 performed well although the baader was ever so slightly softer but not significantly. It really was a close call and on another night you might call them the same. 

M15, Pegasus cluster. Nothing in them really as far as I could tell but I enjoyed the test. There is something about a globular at x200+ in a good aperture that moves you.  Even with direct vision individual stars were resoled with each eyepiece, with a slight averted they were popping out for fun.

Almach double next. Again all four showed excellent colour correction, earlier collimation on setup paid great dividends here as the stars were very tight and I couldn't really split out a winner as such.

M57. All four offered hints of colour, image of the nebula itself all presented a well defined shape with each eyepiece with nothing jumping out with higher definition.

I saw no internal reflections or signs of false colour. I didn't test edge of field correctness but nothing jumped out and shouted mehhh! 

I decided to have a go M81 / bodes, I had already earmarked this as a shootout just between the APm SZ and the sVbony 7-21. I could have added the baader but I had heard such good things of the sVbony I decided to keep it simple.  It was at this point that the quality and build of the APM SZ shone through. After settling on M81, the SZ smoothed from 14mm to 8mm with reassuring ease with little clicks to tell you where you were on the magnification scale. The 68 AFOV thoughout the range was a real plus whilst enjoying the travel and it simply felt so comfortable to use whilst dialing up and down the range.

The sVbony 7-21 had no clicks to tell you where you were, the zoom from 21mm/40 AFOV though to the 7mm/60 afov didn't feel anything like as smooth as you peered into the eyepiece. As you dialled up and down the range it almost felt like a film special effect in comparison and at this point I noticed a very big difference to me. The field stop on the 7-21 was almost fuzzy compared to the sharpness of the SZ. I checked several times and found the SZ to be clearly defined but the 7-21 was a poor second.

I continued viewing doing a little doubles marathon with the APM SZ staying put in the scope and the others relegated back to the EP case until 8.30 when cloud bubbled up. I packed up here cos my feet although dry were cold as a result of the environment in which I found myself. 

Now if I was given the option of owning only one eyepiece out of the four, I would probably say the sVbony 7-21 would cover most bases and would get my vote. If you want to know which one I find the best, it is without a doubt the APM SZ although it's two negative are the shorter range covered and the fact it really is a 2" eyepiece for most people. It won't reach focus at 1.25 but the eyepiece body is 2". Don't let that put you off if you want a fantastic zoom that simply oozes quality. It is the first time it has had real use by me since I bought it and I am very happy with what it is yielding.

3 hours ago, JeremyS said:

Testing out the new Tak 4 way turret on the FC 100DZ

Think that will need dew tapes for the same reason @Peter Drew states but it looks a solid setup

21 minutes ago, Asoor said:

Thanks a lot everyone, I'll update you when they send me pictures of the mirrors

If there is a little muck, don't worry as they are easily cleaned. It is scratches / oxidation you should be wary of. 👍

20 hours ago, Trippelforge said:

Someone shared a few charts with me showing the various differences in exposure times, and you are right. It's pretty mind blowing how quickly it rockets upward. 

 

Bit of a jump from 21.59 to 20. Place I occasionally image from is 20.7 and it is doing difficult to extrapolate timings from that. That said, there is always sharpcap tool to use. 

10 hours ago, Asoor said:

Also, this telescope doesn't come with any eyepieces so I'll have to buy some, i don't really have a lot of money so I'm looking to just get the bare essentials for as cheap as possible right now. What should I get? I think the telescope fits 2 inch and 1.25 inch eyepieceal

I would get a svbony 7-21 zoom, cheap, covers a lot of ground, great quality and perfect for planetary viewing 

8 hours ago, Asoor said:

I also found this one

https://www.kleinanzeigen.de/s-anzeige/teleskop-celestron-omni-xlt-150-dia-150mm-fl-750mm-gebraucht/2575443916-242-2048?utm_source=sharesheet&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=socialbuttons&utm_content=app_android

it's celestron so that might be something 

With the others here, that's a great setup at that price. It will be easy to use, transport and learn with plus work well for both the planets and in dark skies, also for nebula. 

I bought one months back, it has had no real light yet but a long with the others I will testify to the fantastic build, A1.

A review of the explore scientific version. Looks a decent piece of kit.

https://youtu.be/Dlz-w3DGF-8

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/dobsonians/skywatcher-skyliner-250px-flextube-dobsonian.html

Then to be fair this version is far easier to setup but is quite a bit heavier than the truss option, you should be aware of both what is required to set up and your own physical capabilities before you commit to either of the above but both are flexible options aimed at maximizing your viewing potential.

Another option is a truss type arrangement. These do take a short while to setup, is a little bit more expensive but would certainly be maximizing your light grasp.

I have a similar version in 14" and it isn't a big deal moving as such, but I accepted the setup of this at the outset, I knew exactly what I was letting myself in for. 

https://www.harrisontelescopes.co.uk/acatalog/explore-scientific-ultra-light-10-dobsonian.html#SID=1644

There was a 10 minute gap in the cloud earlier that I took quick advantage of to try out the recently acquired 76.5mm/F16 along with the new sVbony zoom.

Not a lot you can gain or say from such a short session, although what was a good start is the OTA is in conservatory which is currently unheated so was already pre-cooled.

What I can say is the OTA is surprisingly stable on the skytee 2. There were some slight concerns over a slight dent in the ota tube up near by the objective but @Peter Drew assured me that it should be fine in an F16 configuration and this appeared to be the case on a defocused star, so the dent will be simply filled and ota resprayed later.

The sVbony  zoom was silky smooth in use and eye placement was very comfortable with no aberrations or other eye ball to eye guard issues apparent in the short spell.

The views on Jupiter were ok but it was a pretty poor sky due to smoke and gunk in the sky. So it would be unreasonable to expect a real "visual" review of the gear used, but it was a very encouraging 10 minutes none the less.

2 hours ago, Ithan said:

 

My main interest is observing the DSO through the telescope and not just taking pictures, but since I have a camera it will be very nice if I can use it.

My honest reply is concentrate on visual until you gain experience, as @Elp says entry level gear to get you going in both visual and photography would mean you getting two lots of gear such as a seestars and a 200mm aperture dobsonian.

So you have observing options available, I do like this version from stellaLyra StellaLyra 8" f/6 Dobsonian | First Light Optics but there are at least 3 other 8" (200mm) dobsonian available with FLO. This one has very good mirrors, an half decent 30mm eyepiece along with a 9mm plossl, a mirror cooling fan and dual speed focuser. There is a lot to like.

A month on some dark island with this would be a fantastic way of getting the best out of this instrument. 

Oh and an FYI, I have seen confirmed colour in just three objects, the blue snowball nebula (NGC 7662), the orion nebula (M42) and the ring nebula (M57), all needed fairly high magnification and very, very dark skies.