johnturley

Last night (28-29 August) was my first attempt at photographing Jupiter with my recently acquired ZWO ASI 462 Planetary Camera, previously I have used my Canon 6D digital SLR.

Because of the way things are set up in my observatory shed it was easier to attach the camera, with the USB cable leading to my also recently acquired Dell laptop, to my Esprit 150 rather than my 14 in Newtonian. I have also installed Sharpcap on the laptop, and found this a bit more user friendly than the ZWO ASI software,

Last night was the first clear night at my location for about 10 days, and viewing conditions were quite good, in addition there was a shadow transit of Io in progress which visually showed up very nicely as a sharp black dot through the Esprit. 

However on connecting the camera to the telescope, and the former to the laptop, all I could see on the  laptop screen was a bright featureless disc, plus a couple of the Jovian satellites, but after reducing the 'Gain' setting  to the minimum I could just make out the two main cloud belts, although the view was not a patch on what was visible through an eyepiece, and there was no sign of Io's shadow. Much less detail was visible than would probably have been the case if I had attached my Canon 6D in eyepiece projection mode.

Nevertheless I decided to try a series on one minute exposures, with the frame rate set to the maximum of 30 frames per second, and after processing the best one in Registax, attach the resultant image  which is a big improvement on what was visible on the laptop screen at the time, and does show Io's shadow. 

Would welcome any advice on what I might need to do to the settings in Sharpcap to get better results, would I have done better using the ZWO ASI software. I appreciate the image scale is small, and that I probably need to add a 2.5x or 5x Powermate to increase the image size.

John  

31 minutes ago, John said:

They don't. The Tak compression system is not good - I really don't like mine even with  barrels with no undercut. Fortunately my actual eyepieces go into an excellent Baader adapter which uses lateral pressure rods and handles all profiles of eyepiece barrel without any drama.

 

 

No problem whatsoever using Tele Vue eyepieces (with their undercuts) with the Baader Click Lock accessories and adaptors.

John   

58 minutes ago, John said:

One feature of Saturn that I'm finding tougher to spot with the planet lying low in the sky is the "C" or Crepe Ring. When the planet has been higher in the sky I've been able spot it regularly with my scopes from 100mm to 300mm in aperture when the seeing is decent but it seems much more elusive over the past couple of years. I've seen glimpses and hints of it, usually where it crosses the planetary disk and shows against the disk, but not those lovely clear and contrasty Crepe views in the gap between the ansae of the rings and the planetary limb that I've had in the past.

 

 

I've spotted the Crepe Ring when Saturn has been high in the sky, but I've never spotted the Encke Division.

John 

43 minutes ago, Chris said:

Hi John, 

One planetary imaging rule of thumb says to aim for an f/ratio around 5x your pixel size. The ASI462 has 2.9um pixels, therefore 2.9 x 5= f/14-15, and this would be achieved with a 2x Powermate or Barlow and your Esprit 150.

Obeying the above rule of thumb leaves you at around 2100mm focal length.  

This is obviously a general rule of thumb and maybe the Esprit 150 can punch above it's weight. I'm not sure about using a 4 x Powermate at f/28 with 6" of aperture though? Maybe the hardcore planetary imagers can advice? I dabble with a bit of everything which makes me an expert on precisely nothing  

Yes, the ASI462mc has a very small sensor which wont vignette with it's supplied 1.25" nosepiece. You would only really want a 2" Barlow when imaging large objects like the Sun or Moon with a DLSR/Mirrorless camera with an APS-C or Full frame size sensor.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks Chris

Will give it a go with my Meade 1.25 in 2x Barlow, and see what the results are like. 

John 

It stands our really clear and sharp through my Esprit 150 under good viewing conditions.

John 

2 hours ago, Chris said:

Chris 

I noticed in your video that you have a ZWO ASI 462 Planetary Camera.

I have recently acquired an ASI 462 which I intend to use mainly for planetary photographs through my Esprit 150, I think that to get a decent image size with Saturn and Mars in particular, I will need something like a 4 or 5x Powermate, I already have a 2x Barlow but think that this will not give enough amplification. A 4x Powermate would give an effective focal length on the Esprit 150 of 4,200 mm, similar to that of a C14. 

I am also assuming that due to the small sensor size of the ASI 462, that there would be no advantage in having a 2 in Powermate over the 1.25 in, in fact the former would just add a lot of unnecessary weight to the system which is undesirable. Is this correct. 

John 

Sometimes the coatings can be quite delicate, I managed to damage the coating on an early (pre Starfire) Astro Physics Refractor than I used to own, probably through not being as careful as I should have been when it came to cleaning, although I think that the coating was a lot more delicate than that on a Vixen Refractor that I used to own at the same time. 

Nowadays I think the coatings on most lenses are a lot tougher than they used to be. 

John 

I was observing Saturn and Jupiter from 23.30 to 01.30 last night, but at the same time was on the look out for Perseids and didn't notice a single one, very unusual for the night of 12 -13 August.

John 

2 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

Enjoy you trip to Crete. I’ve just this morning cancelled my hol in Menorca late Sep/early Oct due to travel uncertainties 😞

Thanks

We went to Mallorca in July, after JET2 cancelled our planned trip to Tenerife, and really enjoyed it, although didn't see much of the night sky, we had been planning to visit the solar observatory on Tenerife had that trip gone ahead. It was however a nightmare filling the Spanish SpTH forms, and the UK Passenger Locator Forms, plus arranging Covid tests before and after return.

We had originally been booked to go on a cruise to the Greek Islands in September before it was cancelled by P & O, so booked the trip to Crete with JET2 instead.

John

We are going to Crete for 10 days in the 2nd week of September (assuming the trip goes ahead, and doesn't get cancelled by JET2), I don't suppose there are any organised trips to view the night sky from suitable dark sky locations (possibly with telescopes), same as you get on Tenerife.

John 

On 28/12/2017 at 00:02, Andyb90 said:

Yes I find it odd as my asi1600 is about 400g, EFW is also about 400g, OAG around 700g and say 1kg for flattener. So total of 2.5kg and round up to 3kg to be on the safe side. Not particularly heavy.

I have a Lakeside motor focuser unit connected and can see the drawtube sticking when the focuser moves out.

FLO have sent me a video showing how to adjust the tension on the pads that support the drawtube. I've done that and hope to test auto focusing again next clear night.

Andy.

 

Hi Andy

I sent FLO an email regarding the video you mentioned about how to adjust the tension on the pads that support the drawtube of the Esprit focuser, but they said that they didn't know anything about it.

Do you have a copy of this video, possibly you could send me a pm regarding this.

John 

On 23/06/2021 at 11:36, petevasey said:

Hi, John,

You seem to like the Esprit 150  very much!  How's it going after 18 months?  If you have a look at my thread here, you will see (towards the end) that I'm considering an Esprit 150 to replace my RC10.  I already have a Meade 127 which is I believe much the same as an ES 127,  and yes, it's pretty good.  But I would hope the 150 would replace both the RC10 and the Meade.  One particular question.  You mention that the bare tube weight is 12Kg rather than 14.5 - can you still confirm that?   It would be very useful to be able to use the 150 on my EQ6 'Star Party' mount.  If I do go for the 150, I would certainly choose the Es Reid route, and probably make the round trip to collect it even though I live in Northumberland - worth it imho to keep the considerable investment safe!

Cheers,

Peter

Hi Peter

Yes, I've been quite pleased with the Esprit 150 over the last 20 months, the only downside I've found with it is the focusing mount, which I found slipped when the scope was in a near vertical position. I've since managed to adjust it a bit by tightening some Allen headed bolts on the drawtube, but the problem is if you tighten them too much then the fine focus knob does not work, and too slack it only works in the downward direction. Its also fiddly to adjust, and there are no instructions regarding this in the manual. At one time you could specify a factory fitted Feathertouch focuser, but this no longer appears to be the case, I did think of purchasing one to retro fit, but was worried that this could affect the collimation, which according to Es Reid is very good, the star images are certainly good, I had a nice view of Castor one night last winter with nice diffraction rings and no blue bloating. If you want to use an electronic focuser I think you will need  better focusing mount.

I compared the views of Mars through the Esprit 150, and my 14in Newtonian quite a bit last autumn, and most nights the Esprit gave the sharper view, I can only recall one night, when the view through the 14in was better, and that was with using a ZWO ADC on the 14in. Back in 1988 I was able to compare the view through the 14in with one of the early (pre Starfire) Astro Physics 6in f8 Refractors, and most nights then the 14 in gave the better view, plus the AP Refractor gave an annoying purple halo around Mars. On Saturn the Cassini Division was also sharper in the Esprit, although not unexpectedly I could see more moons through the larger reflector. On Jupiter again the cloud belts were generally sharper through the Esprit, although the GRS and satellite shadows showed up better through the 14in.  Both Jupiter an Saturn were of course very low down last year, and I may get better results through the 14in when they move higher up. 

I have recently purchased a ZWO ASI 462 Planetary Camera, plus a new laptop (with an Intel i7 processor), and hope to get some good results on Jupiter and Saturn later this year, I will use this mainly with the Esprit, as being piggyback mounted on the 14in, the focuser stays in a much more convenient position compared to the Newtonian, so with the ZWO camera attached, I can keep the laptop on a shelf in my observatory shed.  

Regarding the weight I think it was definitely around 12 - 12.5 kg, without the tube rings, star finder, and finder bracket.

John 

18 hours ago, petevasey said:

Just like to add:

Well done everyone who managed to get images.  Almost our last chance - there is another partial eclipse on October 25th 2022. Then that's our lot in the UK until 2090.  And even that one is only the far South West with the line of totality out at sea and the Sun (from the land 6.3 degrees altitude at totality) setting before the end of the eclipse. So get your grandchildren involved NOW!

Cheers,

Peter

Is that correct, I can't believe that there isn't another Partial Solar Eclipse visible from the UK after October next year, until 2090.

In fact surely the total eclipse that's visible from Spain and Egypt in 2026, must be visible as a partial eclipse from Britain.

John 

John 

I currently have Adobe Lightroom (not the full Photoshop package), which I purchased at a bargain price.

I have however considered getting PixInsight, but am put off by the complexity, and the high price compared to Lightroom, I gather it costs around 230 Euros to purchase and download PixInsight, although I gather that you can get a free trial version.

I addition I probably wouldn't use it enough to justify the high cost, and furthermore I am more into lunar and planetary imaging (I have recently purchased a ZWO ASI 462 Planetary camera) than deep sky objects,  I gather the advantages of PixInsight would be more apparent with the latter. 

I also find it annoying that you can no longer purchase most software on CD/DVD and instead have to download it, which sometimes can be tricky trying to get the right program to download and install (often multiple websites appear), plus you are usually limited to installing it on just one PC.  

John 

11 minutes ago, badhex said:

Haha it's funny you say this - I actually wrote a draft reply earlier wondering almost exactly the same thing, but not being into AP I wasn't sure if such large sensors exist. Also, might be useful to the DIY astronomer for converted cameras/webcams that may not fit inside a 1.25" barlow?

When using a full frame SLR, using a 1.25" drawtube results in quite a lot of vignetting, even with a 42 mm T thread adaptor I still get some vignetting with my Canon EOS 6D , but this can be reduced by using a 48 mm to Canon adaptor rather than the 42 mm T thread.

John 

A 2" Barlow might be useful for enlarging the image scale in photography, when depending on the size of the sensor, a 1.25" Barlow might result in vignetting.

John 

On 22/05/2021 at 22:00, nfotis said:

IWhen you open SharpCap or another program. You select from the drop down menu which camera you will connect to (you should see an "ASI462" selection available), and you should be looking at the video output of the camera in real time. You check focus (you WILL have to change focus after you exchange eyepiece with camera), exposure speed (in milliseconds) and sensitivity (Gain). After you are satisfied with focus, exposure (check the histogram), you press the "Start Capture" button, which will start capturing video. The camera can feed a USB3 connection at up to 136fps or so (using an SSD is quite preferable compared to a mechanical disk - these things produce lots of GB quickly!)

 

Enjoy your new camera,

N.F.

 

Hi Nfotis

Had a go with Venus the other night, I attached the ZWO camera to my Esprit 150, which is easier than attaching it to my 14in Newtonian, because being piggybacked on the large fork mount the drawtube position does not vary too much, and I can then position the laptop on a shelf in my observatory shed. 

I set the frame rate at 30 fps, and made an approximate 2 minute exposure. I found that unlike when I used my Canon 6D SLR, I did not need to convert the MVI file in PIPP, and could go straight into Registax to stack the frames.

With Venus having only a 10 arc sec disc at present, not much detail can be seen, and the image scale is not very large. Hoping for better results with Jupiter and Saturn later this year, I can enlarge the image with a 2x Barlow, and if that is insufficient get a 4x Barlow, or use eyepiece projection as I do with my Canon 6D. Not sure whether you can enlarge the image scale with the ZWO 462. 

John 

Venus Processed.bmp

20 minutes ago, Commanderfish said:

RESURRECTION!

Does anyone actually have the Masuyama 26mm 85?  How is the performance in F7.4 scopes and over?  I mostly run F7.4 Fracs and F10 CCs.

Would be interesting to see how it would compare to the now discontinued Tele Vue 26mm Nagler eyepiece, I don't suppose that there would be any comparison in an f5 Newtonian.

I can't understand why Tele Vue decided to discontinue their 26mm Nagler, leaving a large gap between the 22mm and the 31mm.

John  

2 hours ago, laudropb said:

Correct Jeremy.

 

Hi Laudroph

Which of the two chairs do you prefer, I have some thoughts of getting one, which would you recommend.

John 

38 minutes ago, Clarkey said:

Most of the information you need regarding set up can be found on the ZWO website.

https://astronomy-imaging-camera.com/

Anything else the forum here is as good a place for information as anywhere.

Thanks Clarkey

Looks like I can use either ASICAP or SharpCap for planetary imaging, not sure which one is best, but very little information on ZWO's website regarding how to use either.

Last year I found a couple of quite good videos on YouTube, and got the hang of using Registax for post imaging processing, but can't find anything similar for SharpCap.

I'm hoping that with the ZWO, unlike with my Canon 6D, I won't need to use PIPP for file conversion. 

John 

Recently purchased the above camera, which arrived  this week, I purchased it mainly for photographing the moon and planets, and I am hoping for better results than I was able to achieve with my Canon 6D digital SLR, using eyepiece projection. The ASI 462 is supposed to be an upgraded version of the popular ASI 224, and was recommended by FLO.

I also purchased a new laptop with USB 3, a Dell Inspiron with an Intel i7 processer and 16 GB RAM, which I hope will be fairly fast for processing.

What struck me when I opened the box, was the lack of information regarding how to use the camera, in what appears to be a sign of the times, gone was the set up CD/DVD, which would normally have included a comprehensive manual in PDF format. Instead all that was included was a miniscule Quick Guide (in which the print was too small to read, but I was able to download an print off an A4 version) with instructions to downlead the ZWO camera driver, and then to download SharpCap which I did, but there was little information about how to use it.

I've found a couple of YouTube videos, which I did not find to be very good, can anyone point me in the direction as to where I can find some easy to use instructions. 

It might work around full moon when the moon is at its brightest, but the lunar disc would probably not be bright enough to work around half moon when most detail is visible, it would also be affected by the aperture and focal ratio of the telescope used.

John 

10 hours ago, Don Pensack said:

Don't neglect to consider the effect of the OCA (GPC) on the magnification.  In many binoviewers, a 24mm behaves as a 12mm eyepiece.

Don

Apologies for my ignorance, but what do OCA and GPC stand for.

John 

4 minutes ago, Commanderfish said:

 

 

My calculations suggest not all will focus with 30mm travel!

Just 30 mm of travel on a focuser, especially on a refractor, is absolutely ridiculous, even most Newtonian focusers have more travel than that.

John 

25 minutes ago, Highburymark said:

Agreed Stu. The maximum cabin baggage size even with premium airlines like British Airways is 56cm length, so even 550mm will be touch and go - I think it probably needs to be 540mm or less. Takahashi are marketing the DZ as airline portable, but I’m not sure it is. It is however, a beautiful telescope! 

I've also heard that the 100 DZ won't fit  within the cabin baggage requirements, despite Takahashi claiming that it does, and wonder whether I would risk putting one in hold luggage. I was thinking of getting one in time for the 2024 Mexico/USA total solar eclipse. 

John