upahill

Can you not just use a 240v to dual USB plug, like this... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Speedy-Fast-Dual-2-Port-USB-Charger-3-Pin-UK-Mains-Wall-Plug-Adapter-UK/183745203959

26 minutes ago, tooth_dr said:

Superb! I like orientation. Very impressive result 

Thanks Looking forward to getting a decent dew strap on the scope instead of my heath job. 🤣

Hairdryer works but not ideal.

Last night was clear for a few hours between 10pm and 3am.

Managed to get a couple hours worth of subs, took some better calibration (mostly as I rotated camera) and kept the dew at bay. Processed this today and very happy with the results. I haven't had this much 'star glow' before to deal with, but I quite like the effect its given the image.

I have tried imaging this before, and the goto + platesolve usually leaves it in a landscape orientation, but having played with Telescopius I thought I would give this orientation a go. I actually was a little out from what I had planned which would have given me a little more in the upper right, and shifted the image over to the right slighty - but will save that for next time.

Just glad the observatory is doing what I wanted it to do - letting me get out and imaging without the faff.

"The problem with standards is there are so many of them."

I looked into this as I will be using aviation connectors throughout but couldn't find anything that would suggest a common convention. I will just choose my own convention and make sure I make up all the leads from power bricks etc to match.

Other than the Eagle im not sure if any standard astro equipment uses these connectors off the shelf, so shouldn't be much in the way of cross compatibility issues.

I started with, and still use, APT - its simple and free (there is a premium version too which gives you a few more features) - generally the camera stays in manual mode all the time and the settings are controlled from the software, so I setup a run of say 30 x 30 second exposures at ISO800 and click start. Pretty simple and there are some tutorials on youtube to help out too.

Sounds like you got  a good deal there.

No problem, as for screen size - I do all the aquisition from a laptop, actually wish my camera didnt have a screen, never used it.

Assuming you are printing with side facing us being the top then I can't see any issues with that.

Sideways holes usually come out ok for me. If it gets chance to build up the sides (eg cylindrical holes).

3 hours ago, skybadger said:

I found that the patchy transparency of the fibre gel colouring causes my internal security camera to issue motion alerts when the sun changes internal illumination. So I'm painting mine. It may also help with condensation, but then so will a thin liner of neoprene on the roof. 

I had considered painting inside. If for no other reason than to try and make it look a little smarter. Also considered fitting a vent at the base of the ring to try and improve the air flow and reduce condenstation but more research needed before I do either I think.

Forgot to mention keep an eye on some of the Facebook astro sale groups too - there is someone selling an EQ5 with motor kit for £170 - doubt thats the GOTO model, but a boost in payload capacity and tracking facility. The one i usually look at is Secondhand Astronomy Equipment UK

These earlier ones are one piece bases and one piece dome, the later designs got assembled in sections and much easier to move I imagine.

That's the largest luton I could get, and thats the only orientation it would go in.

🤣

Thats an interesting solution to the aperture problem. Not sure I would trust the weight of it on that hinge but it does look like it may have had safety wires attached.

FYI, I happen to know these wont fit in a luton without cutting 🤣 Flatbed trailer is the way to go. Potentially a bargain though I paid around £600 for mine.

3 minutes ago, JamesF said:

Those all look like Harlequin ladybirds to me.  Killing them will do our native ladybirds a big favour.  They release some horrible chemicals when stressed or threatened, too.  I believe fly spray will do the job, or you can apparently fix a bit of loose-woven material (an old stocking or something like that?) over the end of a vacuum cleaner so it gets sucked inside, suck them up into the cloth and tie off the top so they can't escape.

James

I was worried that might be the case, as much as I hate insects - I do struggle to kill them.

A couple of them have released some pretty gross looking bright yellow liquid.

Well im putting it down to the sheer volume of rain we have been having but came home to find the dehumidifier screaming. It doesn't seem to be able to kick the compressor in so is resetting every 2 seconds. The bucket switch seems to functioning ok and can't see a seperate float switch so not really sure what is causing that. Will take another look in the daylight but I imagine that im going to have to replace that.

Picked up a storage solution for loose cables, tools etc which is astro-themed, £19 in Lidl....

Perhaps the biggest issue besides damp at the moment is the wildlife, we have some crazy 1cm spiders everywhere here at the moment, quite a few in the house, but they seem to be partying in the obsy. Whilst they look relatively harmless they freak me out, have started hiding in autoguider ports etc and frankly are just unpleasant. Going to have to figure out a way to keep them out a little better.

We have another insect which has decided to build a nest in the corner of the aperture, if I open the aperture im likely to crush them all so need to move/get rid somehow.

There are already a few fatalities around the dome floor

2 hours ago, lux eterna said:

I was in a big nature reserve area, heading back to where I had parked my car after a long photo session by the shore. It was pretty dark but not pitch-dark, so I could just see where to put my feet without using my headlamp. Then I noticed some large stones (?) lying here and there in the distance, and I just got a feeling it was not stones. My sixth sense told me it was cows, and then my seventh sense was convinced they were bulls (at least). On the way out, in the afternoon, I did not see any 4 feet animals at all - just some of what they leave on the ground. If they were just lying resting now I did not want to disturb them, so I diverted my route a bit and did not turn on my headlamp.

Maybe 200 meters from the gate at the parking area I first heard some kind of sneezing sound and then suddenly the whole horde was running. Towards me. I could feel the vibrations in the ground. Running away from them would probably have beed my last action on this earth, so I managed to walk slowly, shining my very bright headlamp on them and also holding my extended photo tripod like a stick (I knew these animals are used to respect sticks). They slowed down but sitll approached me, and when I reached the gate they were all around. From the safe side of the fence I noticed they were mostly heifers, some of them very upset and butting each other - glad it was not me...

I would never set up my telescope and stuff where cattle can reach me. Wild boars etc are more predictable - just make a little noise now and then and they will keep off.

Ragnar

That would scare the heck out of me, really struggle to feel safe around cows.

Having observed them from the window for sometime it could be that they were heading over thinking you had some feed. The cows in the field next to us can hear the farmers truck and will hurtle the full length of the field to get to him - quite a scary stampede. Very rarely they break through the gate and head down our lane, I have found arms out wide and loud shouting whilst walking towards them slowly will get them to back off and go back to the gate - YMMV.

4 minutes ago, Gimboid said:

Although I am sure there will be plenty more questions in th future I have one more for now.....  Having decided to keep things as simple as possible for the sake of just dipping my toe into AP not to mention being skint at the mo I have set my mind on a cheap canon camera and just a 18-55 lens to start with.. I'm looking at either a 450d or 1100d currently  the 450d being £57 and then I buy a lens for £40(these being the cheapest I can find right now) or I can pick up locally what looks a good condition 1100d with a 18-55 lens and a few filters for £80.. I have read plenty of posts asking about comparisons between the 2 cameras but then I have been reading a lot about all sorts lately so finding it hard to digest it all so just want to check, am I right in thinking that either camera will be fine for what I want? Cheers.

Im not a camera expert so take what I say with a pinch of salt, but from what I can tell the 1100d has a better ISO range, uses DIGIC 4 instead of DIGIC3 with better noise reduction and faster processing. It's also 3 years newer. Both have the same size and resolution sensors. The 1100 would be the one I would go for. Plenty of people using the 1100d for astro so its a fairly safe bet.

 

Welcome to SGL from a not-so-sunny Monmouth.

Clear skies!

My guess would be a drone. Blinking lights and erratic movement.

Don't get me wrong, as a package I think its great for those that understand its limitations, and are happy to buy knowing those are there. And I don't begrudge ZWO making margin on it, they put some work in.

It's just not for me, I have some ZWO products, but im not prepared to buy into their entire product ecosystem, others will which is cool. Ill go for whichever option gives me the most flexibility on product use and software. If they improve 3rd party device support, go open source, or whatever ill probably buy one.

Of course the downside with that for me, is having to lug around my laptop with a dozen different programs. I envy the convenience gained by those with an ideal setup for the Air.

What I do like about the rumoured Pro model is that they are evolving the hardware side of things, it looks like its not a Pi with some software anymore and they are thinking about stuff like power distribution. Adding some value to the hardware element and not just the software.

I have been tempted by the ASIAir but it either has to support everything or be open to using standard drivers. If they dont address it someone else will build a nice mobile frontend for EKOS/Indi and a script to update your ASIAir to use it. Pushing ZWO software out of their own product. As the current version stands its £130 more than a standard RPi - which is an expensive mobile app imo.

I love the stuff, wouldnt use it on its own though as a substitute for concrete. As WanderingEye says it never really penetrates all the way through and tends to crumble.

I opted for building a block of concrete using premade £3 blocks - was easy and seems very stable but if you are planning on being there for some time I would go for straight concrete pour - probably much cheaper and you wont be worrying about it everytime you bump the pier.

My 2 cents - dont shy away from eBay/ secondhand. PayPal buyer protection is pretty good and will cover you against receiving anything not as described. My first (and current) camera was a Canon 1200D - picked it up as a faulty unit on eBay for a cheeky offer of £80 (2 years ago) - its only fault was being unable to write to the SD card, which didnt bother me as it hooks up to the PC for downloading.

I would strap a canon and the cheapest telephoto lens I could get to the mount and just have a play - you wont be able to do long exposure until you can track, but you'll get there if you get the bug. I have taken some great moon shots in the past with £15 car boot manual lenses with adapters.

If you get the bug I would not upgrade the EQ3-2 to motorised but rather save a little for an EQ5/6.

EQ5 mounts regularly go on eBay for £250-£350 - EQ6 for around £600 its a lot less hassle to save for an EQ5/6 than to try and diy mod something (depends how handy you are), if you really want to get into the imaging side of things though - "put the money where the mount is". Its probably the piece of gear that will stick with you the longest and be the most responsible for getting good long exposures. You can progress to using an upgraded mount and your dslr/lens setup straight away without the need for a telescope and get some really good widefield shots whilst you decide on your best choice of telescope. Plus you can put your existing telescope onto it for visual use too.

If I was starting again from scratch with just a camera I might look into mounts like the star adventure - £130-£220 second hand. A lightweight setup for widefield and just cameras / small scopes. Whilst these are less expensive and much more portable they wont help further down the line if you decide to go bigger with the scope, so a used EQ5 Synscan would still be preferable to me.

Check out some of the simpler setups people on YouTube use to get an idea of the results. Some of my favs include AstroBackyard and Galactic Hunter. Both used DSLRs early on with great results.

Postie just dropped off a small box courtesy of @david_taurus83 - many thanks

Now I just need something to gather the photons that pass through it 🤨

1 hour ago, PhotoGav said:

I know this might be controversial and has been discussed briefly before, but... what about finding a new location that is not next to a flood hazard.... I’ll get my coat........ 😮

It's not a problem thats going to go away anytime soon. I was suprised to see that the marquee and tents were going in the further field, last year that area looked like it was lower than the other fields if i recall correctly.

I imagine finding a campsite that has all the facilities, and is willing to have large extended bookings is tricky during peak times. I like the time of year, just a shame that these long periods of rain and the wye flooding is becoming a regular occurence.

2 minutes ago, Thalestris24 said:

I reprinted it with supports 'everywhere' overnight and it's fine - the only trouble is I'm not sure how to remove the support which is a big lump between the top and bottom? Brute force?

Louise

Should be reasonably brittle, I use a pair of sharp side cutters to clean up the edges once the bulk is removed.