upahill

I realised yesterday that after almost 18 months of imaging I haven’t actually looked through a telescope My 65mm is a bit awkwardly mounted to be useful so wanted something i could quickly put together and use whilst the imaging rig does its thang. I found an LX10 ending soon on eBay, it was local, a few hours later it’s in the garden. Which leads me to my questions: the previous owner said you can get a computer handset for it. I have looked into a bit more and it seems this would be the Magellan 1 unit with additional encoders. Rather than hens teeth. Are there any other 3rd party devices I can integrate with the scope to achieve push to or relay position info to Cartes/Stellarium? would Baader Hyperion lenses suit this scope? I only have the cheapest lenses right now.

Well thats something to aspire to..... and a perfect upgrade for all you 1600 users out there 😉😉😉 I think I would need a new PC to process those 60mp raws too 🤣 I believe im right in saying that will be the most prosumer model ZWO have released to date? Hell of a jump.

Any rumors on the prices? specs? They will no doubt be out of my leauge but interesting anyway.

I had considered this, there is a welder near me with some 8" box section laying around in his yard so was considering asking him to make me a pier - a brake disc would be a good solution for the top of it for sure.

6 Months on and the pier and mount are still perfectly stable. They both stayed outside during the autumn/winter/spring bagged over but fully exposed to the weather of the valley including snow, gale force winds etc. Each time I have set up the polar alignment has been pretty much spot on, but the main reason I left it all setup was to test the 3d printed adapter. Despite the ribbing I got on FB the PLA has held up fine, no deterioration or melting, no mounts on the floor. Given that there isnt even bolts between any of the blocks either im reasonablly impressed by that and will consider it a success. I looked at covers for the whole setup that I can throw over during a session should rain start etc. Ended up picking up a £23 egg chair cover off amazon that will do the job for now. The obsy plan is on the backburner for the moment so this setup is going to have to last me through the summer and probably the winter again. PS: The extension isn't live 😛 🌧️ As there isnt any astro dark at the moment (or clear skies) im considering now as the perfect time to rebuild and tune up the EQ6. It's looking a little tired and could do with some new bearings and go faster stripes.

So FLO had a deal on a set of ex-display 36mm baader narrowbands So that's the decision made on filter size if nothing else and the ball is now officially rolling. I am leaning more towards the ASI now, considering holding out til a second hand unit comes up but they appear to be few and far between. Anyone nearing upgrade time? 😁😉

Doh, mis-read that then, I think 7x36 is going to be the most future proof

Hmm I had heard of the first problem but not the latter. I also want to see if anyone has issues with condensation. I noticed that FLO sell a heater strip so this could be a potential issue?

Interesting, and if like rickwayne says the benefits of the 16bit can be achieved by stacking more subs then maybe the smaller pixel cmos option is ultimately better. This is a good point, and I have lost plenty of nights fighting with the canon too. If I was going OSC I wouldn't agonise about it as at least the upgrade can be staged, camera, then a while later filters/wheel etc. With mono I have to kind of do it one go and that makes the decision just that little bit scarier Good point, I ran the calculator for some other scopes and the QHY10 undersamples on my TS65 but is fine for most others. If I understand it correctly oversampling can be solved by binning on very long focal lengths. That would make the ASI options the best all rounders on that metric.

Currently DSS reckons my FWHM is anywhere between 3 and 5 if im understanding it right. Im not looking for exacting standards when it comes to pixel peeping - but dont want to miss out on finer details that I could otherwise get by making a different choice. This camera needs to last me a few years but anything is going to be a step up from the noisy 1200d im using right now I guess. I was worried about the slight undersampling on the QHY10 - but its the only 16bit CCD option compared to the other two 12bit CMOS cameras. Or am I barking up the wrong tree with CCD being preferable perhaps? I still have my fingers crossed that I might snap up a bargain on the second hand market which could well sway the decision regardless 😂

I've been tearing my last few hairs out trying to make the call between a few different camera options and filter options but just not sure which way to go. Ideally I want to get into some narrowband - 99% sure I want mono over OSC. Undecided between CMOS and CCD options though. To begin with it will be used on the TS65mm Quad, but want to ensure whatever I get can be used with a larger newt/frac etc too in a year or two. FLO have the package deal for the ASI1600mm Pro + Filter Wheel - this comes with 3 filter size options to which I was leaning towards the 31mm or 36mm after reading there can be issues with the 1.25". I am at f/6.4 right now but wanted to leave a bit of room should I get a faster newt. The other alternatives were the QHY163M, which is the same ballpark price as the ASI1600 - I cant discern any major differences between the two units other than very tech figures regarding noise. Any advice on a comparison between the two units? Bintel says Good sampling at 1.87" /pixel for this and the ASI. If I go for this option I would still need to source filters/wheel etc so looking at closer to The other contender was the QHY10 - CCD, 16bit over 12, larger pixels - Bintel suggested this camera would slightly undersample with a resolution of 2.97" /pixel Filterwise there are two options in my price bracket - ZWO or Baader. There isn't much between the prices on any of these options: Any suggestions, curveballs or tips appreciated, its kind of all melded into one thing in my head right now.

Not visible in mine but I lack the level of clarity you have. Great image!

Yeah just looked it up - https://www.yellowtrace.com.au/nix-gerber-miniature-interior-sets/ Some pretty amazing models - I thought the telescope mount looked a lot like a ball head for a camera

Wondered that too - but it looks like a diorama to me, or an odd photo effect.

I know, my point was just that sometimes a planes lights ruins a sub, sometimes a satellite, most times cloud. This will be a new challenge.

It sounds like we won't know the true impact for some time yet - and at least they are actively looking at changing materials to reduce reflections. Im probably coming across as a bit of a fan boy / devils advocate but there have been plenty of times when huge changes have had to happen despite uproar and we have been better off for it. Like all those electricity pylons cluttering up the countryside, or the copper phone lines on every street. Or a satellite dish for every home. Im 99.99999% sure that astrophotographers will find a way around this - relatively easily. Can it be that much worse than this?

Had a quick look and this post, thinks its a copy of the HT17-073. The motor is supposedly discontinued and manufacturer suggested replacement is the HT17-273 which has some torque variations but is generally the same 1.8deg 200 step 8 lead nema 17 style copy. I dont have that mount so cant say the above with any confidence - just what a quick search has helped me find. YMMV --- The upgrade kit might be the easiest way to get the motors if they are the same model, and would ensure you get any additional cogs etc you may need when pulling the old ones?

Could be on the cards...

I was thinking more of access to education in third world countries etc when I wrote that but yeah - it's going to improve my online gaming speeds at the same time 🤣

Yes there are predictions posted here: https://www.n2yo.com/passes/?s=74001

On the plus side, the project could be pretty amazing. Worldwide high speed internet access will literally change to way the planet develops.

Thanks, its the first time I have used FITS, used to getting CR2 files to stack. This appears to be a whole'nother ball game. All I have managed to do with the stack so far is produce some very grainy results. It's only 30x180s that I managed last night, with darks but would normally get better results 🤔 Something to play around with whilst it rains

Just read a post on CN that said they will basically only really be a problem when imaging is already difficult - so dawn, dusk and moon. If thats the case I can't see it having too much effect? Maybe P.I will have a new "Remove Starlink" routine soon

Yeah was a lot fainter this time, lost visibility completely as it passed over me so only really got to see a few of the brighter ones at the end.

01:40-01:50 is the next "showing" - West to East again