bomberbaz

This is similar to my ironing sear, owned it for 8 years now 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Leifheit-Multi-Seat-Niveau-White/dp/B0000DH7KA/ref=dp_prsubs_1?pd_rd_i=B0000DH7KA&psc=1

2 hours ago, cajen2 said:

There seems to be hundreds of these on the market of different quality. My second one has been fine:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B09JNWB72X?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

It even has stars on the cover! 😄

 

I think i will get one of these for use with the giant bins or refractors. I tend to not need a broad range for either or change it too often as long as my viewing is planned well. 

My ironing stool is still my preferred seat of choice for the dob with a broad range of adjustment,  lightish and stable on level ground. 

42 minutes ago, AstroNebulee said:

Looking really nice! When you fit an osc going from a dslr they seem incredibly long hanging out the back. I'm sure you got the spacing right just may need a tweak with some shims. It's taking me a while to get my back spacing sorted, need more tests when the weather allows. 

Look forward to your first light 👍

I got lucky with my setup in that the scope, FF and thats it for length. Screwed the female M42 thread of the camera to the M42 on male FF and bingo. The FF is dedicated so you would expect results to be pretty decent just off the back of that.

However feel as though I need a long exposure image to double check for vignetting and curvature though thus far the maximum data collected has been around an hour on any one target and with the 50mm aperture using no longer than 2 minutes.

I think I need at least 3 times that data at longer exposure to get a solid image.

M31 being both big and bright seems the obvious choice. 

52 minutes ago, stuarts said:

I plan to mount it on a heavy duty Gitzo Carbon Fibre tripod and Manfrotto 503HDV Fluid Head I have, along with a long mounting plate to help balance it.

It should be enough to keep it stable.

Also I do have a SkyTee 2 mount which I guess could work.

Manfrotto should work but the skytee should easily handle it also.

Don't know what your doing about a finderscope but I fixed a vixen clamp to the carry handle and now it has a 365Astronomy RDF mounted to it. Cracking finder that one. 

You should also add, what is the best way of mounting such large instruments. I use a parallelogram for mine but they are only 80mm, not 100 so the weight difference will be quite large.

I would suggest using a parallelogram as they offer (IMHO) the best and most versatile way of mounting and then using them. For the weight of either you would be looking at the Orion monster version for OTS or maybe self building one.

I would expect both will accept 1.25 EP's but be aware of the thickness of "fat" eyepiece as they may not be able to move inward enough to match your interpupillary eye distance.

Maximum magnification is part ruled by CA avoidance and stability in my experience. I go up to x59 (60 max recommended) and the mount stability is slightly testing at this. You may get up to say x70-75 but a lot would depend upon your mount stabilty.

They are both F5.5 but the altair seems to have a better spec and the eyepiece are APM which are the same as I use with my giant TS optics ones. The APM perform superbly in them btw, I have 3 pairs of them. 

Regarding the Helios, although I personally was advised they would not be the first choice of big bins from someone, I have never actually used them. But the advice given was from a well respected member of this forum. 

Finally and this is just an FYI, I chose to have five sets of eyepieces. My 32mm plossl and 24mm APM UFF have an almost identical FOV, but the exit pupil is 5.6 (HB area) and 4.2 for the UFF which are my more general used pair. The pair I use most is the 18mm (supplied) but only just. The 32 plossl are used least, followed 10 and 8mm pair, I could in honesty make do with just the 10's but the other pair were a cheap 2nd hand buy so I thought WTH. 

Finally managed to find one at a good price, will work well with the ED100 also the DOB for super high power work. 

I have a query regarding the need for dew heater. My Evoguide has a built in dew shield of around 40cm. I have a dew shield, previously used on a 50mm spotting scope but I have now decided to use as a dew shield fopr the evoguide.

It is made of 4mm foam and adds a further 4 inchs to the dew shield. It also makes a very useful light shroud too. My version is similar to these: Astrozap Flexible Dew Shield | First Light Optics

Now my sessions are normally up to around 3 hours.

Does anybody else do without a dew tape and instead just use a shield?

42 minutes ago, RayWUK said:

Thanks Steve, i'm hoping that i've got the image capture side more or less sorted now but being as this is a new game for me i expert there to be a few hurdles down the line. So i need to focus more on the image processing side and work out what turns an average image into a great image (or not so average). I guess i need to look at some 'pro' images to see what i need to aim at and work out how to get there. When you say slightly overdone do you mean over stretched?

Either stretched just a tad too far or maybe over saturated. Still a good effort but I guess it's a common issue trying to tweek out too much from our images. I still do it now but I switch between whatever action I am doing and the previous to see which best suits my eye.

You tube is a great place for tutorials, it's where I keep going and picking up odd tips. I just need more data now. 

13 minutes ago, RayWUK said:

Thanks Lee, yes quite pleased with the first image from this camera. I don't strip down my rig so it sits in the dining room by the patio doors so when i get the chance of a clear night its just a case of picking up the whole rig , through the patio door and onto the patio. I have some marks where to put the legs of the tripod so PA is just a final tweak which is a breeze with the ASIAIR and the WO wedge. Because of the light evenings now its about 10:30 before i venture out which only gives me about an hour of imaging before i call it a night, hence the three nights to get 2.5 hours of imaging. And the ASIAIR takes all the heart ache out of targeting an object. The nice thing with a portable rig like the AZ-GTI, its 'pick up and go'.

What you do above is identical to what I do, in every word, haha, same setup, same procedures, astro twins 😄

On 02/04/2022 at 12:08, Simon128D said:

Thanks all for the kind replies. Nice to know what I wrote came across well. 
Yes, the scope is wonderful. The more I work with it the more I fall in love with the design and it becomes more clear how much thought and practical thinking went into the design. The wood is so nicely crafted and finished. Opening the storage bag to get that aroma of wood is a pleasure worth having. 
I only went for the standard optics, the professional mirror may have a better PV but I cannot imagine any human eye being able to perceive the difference between the 93% light transmission over the 95% of the professional. 
The views I have been getting and how super pin sharp stars are - when the mirror is fully cooled down - to the incredible details I am seeing in nebula and galaxies, there is nothing to be disappointed by. It is optically excellent. 

@Captain Scarlet The B&B owner was an elderly lady and it's the typical situation there. Person who has lived their whole life under some of the darkest skies in Europe and never bothered to look up. She didn't know a single constellation. 
I did try to show her a few things, M42 being the first but sadly due to her eye sight condition I don't think she was seeing things very well. 
I did teach her a few of the easy constellations, Ursa Major, Cassiopeia and Orion. 

@niallk I will be going back there for sure. There is also a few other Bortle 2 locations in Donegal I want to try. I am also planning to go down to Mayo or Galway for a weekend session in May - before the summer takes away our dark nights. 
I am also booked in for Skelligs star party, not sure if you'll be going to that but if so then you'll see me there and I will have this scope with me. 

 

Although I agree with you on this one I still went for the professional anyway as it wasn't just about the coatings, I believe the mirror for the pro version is made of a more resilient and reliable material. 

Optics | (taurustelescopes.com)

Also when it comes down to the faintest of fuzzies, when you are literally searching for the odd photons hitting ones retina, that extra bit of reflectivity can make the difference between a tick or a cross.

And for me the buy was a once in my lifetime purchase, that is why I decided on all the bells and whistles anyway but I totally agree with everything else you said.

It is a beautiful piece to work with, a doddle to put up and down, the DSC is so accurate it makes separating tight galaxies so much easier in cluttered regions of the sky and I love it. 

19 minutes ago, RayWUK said:

First light with my new ASI533MC Pro and the AZ-GTI, M81/M82 (Bodes Galaxy). 320x30sec subs taken over three nights, guiding mostly around 1-1.5 arcsec. Quite a small target for my focal length (247mm) so cropped in to about 1/3. Just a quick process with APP and StarTools to get something out, im sure it'll clean up a bit with some more work.

 

Just thought I would add our setups are very similar. Same size main OTA and similar other parts too so that's something for me to aim for.

And so given that's a first effort, it really is very nice indeed. 👍

16 minutes ago, RayWUK said:

First light with my new ASI533MC Pro and the AZ-GTI, M81/M82 (Bodes Galaxy). 320x30sec subs taken over three nights, guiding mostly around 1-1.5 arcsec. Quite a small target for my focal length (247mm) so cropped in to about 1/3. Just a quick process with APP and StarTools to get something out, im sure it'll clean up a bit with some more work.

 

I think that's a pretty decent effort that, slightly overdone maybe but who am I to talk given I haven't managed anything like that good as yet.

Colours in the stars are lively, well done. 

1 hour ago, Rodd said:

Here is an unbinned version as an experiment. It’s a full reprocess. I decided to crop it so the initial size is greater, but it will still get bigger at full resolution.

I actually prefer this although both are great. In this version the stars are just that bit sharper so the actual galaxy has got slightly better definition albeit at the expense of a little overall detail. 

2 hours ago, Nik271 said:

You got a few classic doubles there!

100mm aperture is a bit on the low side for globulars, espcially M53 which is far away and quite dim. I prefer the view of M3 which is nearby and is more impressive, It is easy to find, halfway between Arcturus and Cor Caroli (which is also a very nice double).

yeah I tried to find M3 and struggled. When I checked stellarium earlier I figured I was a couple of degree wide. One for next time. 

Brief because the location was pretty mediocre for anything other than doubles. 

The caravan park where our tourer resides permanently has a row of four lights which run down the centre and very little else in the way of LP around.

I thought it worth a try from the back of the van (this was kind of enforced), which is shaded from the light to have a go at some doubles and maybe a few clusters.

The original venue planned was shelved due to the local bobbies blocking the road due to an undisclosed incident, hence hiding behind the van.

Weapon of choice my ED100 who was long overdue a workout. I was toying with taking the 80mm Scopetech but decided against over complicating it as it was first time at a new venue.

Started easy with Castor, always a nice one to start out with. Simple to find too but here is where the wheels fell off a little as I hadn't really done any pre-session planning, most unlike me!

Anyway, with the use of apps (sky safari6) I found and observed further doubles, Algeiba in Leo being one which is easy but pleasing on the eye. However I spotted that M53 GC was close by so I thought let's have a bash at that.

I eventually got it but was very underwhelmed by what I saw. Little more than a smudge in the eyepiece.  Seems the little amount of perceived LP was having a greater effect than I anticipated because to be fair, I wasn't really struggling finding stars to plot my target finding.

Things can be misleading as we all know, however still a decent place for doubles because I saved my two best for last and at that point decided to wrap up. Mainly due to lack of a prepared list of potential objects I have to say.

So just to check how good the seeing actually was I dropped onto Polaris.  x180 showed a lovely steady main star with it's companion sitting nicely to the side, clear and distinct with a strong separation.  Polaris is a pointer I use along with a few others to check what the state of the skies are, this was a good sky.

Finally Izar in Bootes (36 Boo) is a gorgeous Orange/Blue double. reminds me a lot of Almach although a little more testing. Although it was evident at x125, I needed to pop the 5mm BST (x180) in to really show a good separation. The blue in the smaller of the pair is so striking, it's a piercing colour almost into the violet spectrum to my eyes. 

Anyway, as I mentioned the session lasted about 1.5 hours, I was lovely and warm, it was a good steady night and I just wish I had prepared better for what could have been a much better session but at least I got my photon fix.

cheers

steve

14 minutes ago, ONIKKINEN said:

Binoculars are hard to beat in terms of convenience, if that qualifies as a scope.

Lots of things to see with 7x50 binos if skies are dark enough!

True but lots more if you have a scope plus what you can see in bins.

An eternal argument this that will still be going in a 100 years. 😄

Only thing you would need with your current glass is a 4 or 5mm and you would be all set to go. 👍

6 hours ago, Froglord said:

That's the problem - I do!

slightly over saturated yes, but it does help show just how much star formation is occuring in the galaxy and you can also the halo a little better.

My guess is the halo will show up much better in IR but that's a different ball game altogether.

58 minutes ago, DougM43 said:

That’s a cracking M57, bet you were well chuffed with that.

Yeah I was quite proud of it as I remember but sadly I didn't6 keep the original files, just the final jpeg. 

I had one of those PC clearouts and it was a case of "will I need it again?" type moments 🙄

These were my two first efforts. Can't remember what scope I used but seem to think it was an 80mm spotting scope and a ZWO 224MC, both unguided on the AZ GTi converted to EQ mode.

Neither have any calibration subs added as I didn't know what they were at that point. 

M31 

M57

Thanks for looking

Steve

wow you put a lot of work into this one and a very interesting object too.  Given there is a halo surrounding this object which stretches out 100,000's of LY's it would be very interesting to see it with HA added.

Suffice to say I won't add to my list as I simply wouldn't do it justice but that is lovely work especially as Alan says, your conditions of data capture. 

Steve

Ooh interesting question this one, let's think. 

Dob, probably the Nikon 17mm as it covers so many bases (exit pupil and fov) and as it has a supplied EIC it doubles up to a 14mm. Cheating maybe yes but it is bought and supplied as one eyepiece.

In my refractors it is a zoom, I think the 7-21 gets most use and love it for doubles and clusters.

My large bins I have a pair of 18mm APM for them which again are the size that fits most Dso (magnification & fov). (Its two again but the same size count as one for the purpose of this answer)

150p flextube. 

Rationale.

7.5kg so not too heavy.

Money left over for a 7-21 zoom eyepiece and a small but sturdy table to plant it on or as mentioned by Louis D, a small photographic tripod. (I used to have a similar ota mounted the same).

Setup time 5 minutes. 

Late to the partty again but let's add my twopenneth worth. 

I started out with the az gti and used for intended purpose for a good while, now recently I have turned it into a mini imaging rig.

Main scope the 50mm evoguide, the zwo asiair + and a 30mm miniguide along with a couple zwo cameras. I use the tripod and pillar the azgti came with and sw wedge.

The whole shebang minus battery is under 5kg and despite the problems others have had, my finding, guiding and whatever else all run fine.

Results to date have been encouraging although I am on a steep learning curve. 

It is permanently set up and lives in a corner of the living room and swmbo seems reasonably unphased with it's occupation of said corner.

I wouldn't change any of it, I always wanted to do imaging lite. The thought of clunking around with heavier eq mounts (which swmbo would be more inclined to fall out with) so having to put that away then setup again isn't at all attractive. 

Cheers steve

As it says, good update regardi g the JW telescope plus a host of other interesting space based science. Very much worth the read. 

https://www.inverse.com/science/james-webb-space-telescope-first-images