bomberbaz

Ok so t's not brlliant but in fairness it is only my second effort so ok. Still issues with focus. The homemade bahtinov mask didn't work very well at all sadly. Anyway, I know for sure I am not doing it right yet but I am having a lot of fun playing around. At some point I will ask for some advice and maybe my results will improve, haha. Also added my solar effort from this mornin. Focus again a problem. Steve

Full hour long documentary on the Hubble telescope tonight including the bit about when it needed specs fitting, should be good. BBC2 9-10pm

hmm, I did focus with the laptop under shade but with a dirty screen (now clean) and reflections of myself on the screen I was struggling. I had the mount right next to me. Maybe more practice and a darker t shirt (along with a now cleansed screen) will yield a better result next time.

Davey, I assume you image the sun also. What method do you use to achieve focus. I am guessing a bahtinov mask wont work or will it?

says page not found when i clicked on the download roelb

using a continuum filter thouh dave, should be green actually, haha

Thanks Peter, finally got there after much trial and error. The more blueish one is a stack of 150 FITS and the other a stack of 1500 AVI files. Shame I can't get it to come to focus with the reducer but getting my head around things slowly. Just a quick FYI, I did a short AVI with the ASI studio programme recorded in and saved in colour, results of that though when stacked similar to these, not focused correctly, 🤣 Anyway thanks for the help, at least i am slowly gettin somewhere.

Thanks Peter, just looking into the PIPP pogramme options, I can see monochrome conversion (convert colour to monochrome) but nothing I can see to do the opposite. !

Ok I bet I am making a really silly error here but hopefully someone can advise me what. I made some images of the sun this morning, think the focus is a little shakey but my end results are all B&W although on screen they were a nice continuum filtered blue strangly. Think I forgot to set white balance in the histogram by the looks of the settings. However this does not explain why the B&W processed images. BTW the FITS images and the AVI movie are all B&W. Any ideas guys? Settin below from file: Debayer Preview=On Pan=0 Tilt=0 Output Format=FITS files (*.fits) Binning=1 Capture Area=1304x976 Colour Space=RAW8 Temperature=35 Hardware Binning=Off High Speed Mode=Off Turbo USB=100 Flip=None Frame Rate Limit=Maximum Gain=189 Exposure=0.000126 Timestamp Frames=Off White Bal (B)=99 White Bal (R)=41 Brightness=1 Auto Exp Max Gain=300 Auto Exp Max Exp M S=30000 Auto Exp Target Brightness=100 Mono Bin=Off Banding Threshold=35 Banding Suppression=0 Apply Flat=None Subtract Dark=None #Black Point Display Black Point=0 #MidTone Point Display MidTone Point=0.5 #White Point Display White Point=1 sun 2 .bmp sun 1.bmp

Hi Noah, just a quick heads up. I had already purchased a USB3 repeater cable online and turns uot it does actually work quite well. At first the camera kept freezing so I tried a different port and left it running for a considerable period of time without it once freezing or any other issue. Ok I wasn't actually recording, it was simply set on live view. I will see how I get on. Oh this was operating from my main base PC, possibly able to offer a little more power and reliability than the older laptop. Installed with a lot of the newest hardware including the ryzen processor. Re: remote control, the mount is operated via iphone app, so thats covered too. I do realise I would be sticking my head out of the door to watch for cable tangles etc, but once on target i can sit back down and hopefully use the more powerfull and functional PC.

Hello everyone, I trust all are keeping well during these trying times. Ok so first time out tonight with my new camera, the ZWO ASI 224MC. Had great fun playing around and took some pictures with it. However results were as expected from my attempts, pretty poor. First thing I am making the bahtinov mask tomorrow, that's going to help of course. Been sat on my desk for 5 days, lazy sod that I am. I have watched a couple of hours worth of tutorials but just wndering if anyone has any other information/links and or tutorials to help me get my head around things. Using sharpcap pro with a 80mm, F7.5 frac. I know the frac speed isn't helping, but for now that is what I have to go with. TIA Steve.

There is a society available in preston, here on facebook Preston and District Astronomical Society

Just had a look at this on FLO, tis a truly, very nice looking OTA. Think If I do buy a upgraded frac then as I said before, its going to be something worthwhile having.

Mind made up John thanks, I am definitely doing nothing. If I did buy anything it needs to be worthwhile and with all that is currently going on it isn't justifiable. thanks everyone, I shall carry on as I am.

You would not put which OTA on the AZ GTi, the Evostar 102 ?

Thanks Stu, I was looking at OTA's in various focal lengths but always the issue of weight kicks in as you get bigger and longer. If I do decide to get another OTA, I would probably look to keep it useable on my existing mount. Therein lies another problem, it's rated up to 5kg but I wouldn't like to slap a long ota at that weight on it, it would be really unstable. If I do keep the existing mount, get a longer focal length OTA and keep the weight down I am looking along the lines of a Skywatcher Black Diamond Line Refractor 102/1000mm OTA LINK Fairly certain its the Evostar 102mm, weight though quoted at 3.5KG. Sweet spot! Anyway, not going to do anything for now, think I will spend more time at the eyepiece with the existing OTA and now I have received my zoom, try tweaking the magnification a little and get more out of this with patience.

Thanks Laudropb, although I would have thought a part of the problem with the startravel 102 would be chromatic issues, think I got that right. Although I am not sure how or indeed if that affects the overall view of the sun. Part of the reason I am asking tbh.

I recently was asking after wedge advice and have since bought a Lunt, great piece of kit. Really like it, used it several times already and practice is now starting to bring out granulation with difficulty. Struggling to get great results mainly due to the OTA I am using. An F7.5 80mm frac. Can't really take it much over x150. On the previous thread there was mention of a 4" OTA being the best real starting point due to I believe aperture allowing to squeeze this up to x200. I am looking for is any comments or personal experience and what they are using for white light viewing.

I intend having a session tomorrow. Wind is supposed to drop so will get what bit of work needs doing first thing then afternoon of solar.

Have you considered these from William Optics, slightly (1mm) oversized: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/william-optics-eyepieces/william-optics-swan-eyepiece.html I have used this in the Celestron SE8 smit/cass OTA. Great views in a slower scope. Crystal with no aberrations at F10. Also I have used a Nirvana 32mm/82 eyepiece before in an F4.8 dob. My opinion is the swan is a better eyepiece to use, much friendlier on the eye which allows you to get a more relaxed view. However if your in a faster (+F6) ota, the nirvana will serve you better. cheers steve

I hear what you say about a sharp and contrasty view but for me the lack of ER would straight away make me turn off. I was viewing the sun the other day using a 6mm generic plossl and it really wasn't fun, this was on a gti goto mount too. I wouldn't like to use the same setup non driven. (NB: since bought a decent zoom for solar) I am one of those who likes to sit at the eyepiece and not unduly struggle to get a comfortable position at it and just let the photons fall upon my retina without having a constant battle to centre the object in question. Maybe this makes me a lazy gazer 😄 I have taken my dob up to near 250 using the Nikon with their 102 fov and 16mm ER and still find that a pleasing experience.

Actually just checked my latest script and its 1.5, they did advise me this has changed a little. So according to that I should be getting issues right down to 1.5mm. However like I said I seem to find it ok below 3mm. I think though given the above chart and my latest script some additional testing is required. Perhaps my need has changed without me realising, we will see. Cheers Louis 👍

I do have astigmatism but find that once the exit pupil is less than 3mm it no longer causes a serious issue, therefore I do without my glasses. I have found this out after a long time of ignoring many eyepieces due to low eye relief, now I know better. You should try higher powered EP without your glasses, you may be surprised. Anyway, I have ordered the OVL as it offers all I require of it at the right price. Thanks to all for their input, much obliged as always. Steve

Looking for an eyepiece for my lunt white light viewing. I am using a 80mm aperture FL600 OTA so realistically I do not want to go above x160. Had a nosey at some options including: celestron 8-24, Skywatcher 7-21 or 8-24, OVL hyperflex 7.2-21.5, Baader Hyperion 8-24 Lunt 7.2-21.5. So obviously the OVL is a copy of the lunt and the SW / celestron 8-24's are along the same lines as the baader zoom. My aim is to get close into the sun to bring out the granulation, a 4mm ep gives me x150, which is why the above options are being considered for use with a barlow which I already own. Costs vary a very lot for the above. The SW 7-21 comes in around 40 quid but the baader is topping £180. I don't mind spending but not without good reason. So although the Lunt zoom is well thought of, is the extra near 100 quid over the OVL worth it. Advice, personal experience and opinions please people. TIA, Steve

personally I have never used ortho eyepieces, so not really able to comment on this. However I have had Delos and XW glass, I owned both these and the Nikon 17mm in my sig for a time. The Nikon 17mm replaced the 14 & 17mm Delos at the time I bought it. I bought the 12.5mm Nikon later and so the remaining delos and XW went shortly after but I digress. I found the Nikon to be as good as the delos and XW across like for like fov. I still love using them and imo the 17mm gives a much richer view than the nagler 26 on certain dso's. I would relish the opportunity to compare the nikon with ethos. Sadly with the current situation that is not going to happen anytime soon.