Corpze

Hi again, it has been awful weather here in Sweden during the autumn, but I did get some clear skies during the holidays, and got to compare images from the spring 2022 where i had the "old" fan mountings.
I did how ever also changed my secondary mirror which also might have had "some" effect of the images....
But here is the video where I compare before and after the mod:

/Daniel
 

This is how I run my cables

/Daniel
 

You might already bought a mount by now, but for what it is worth - I have a lot of videos on my youtube channel where i go through how my DDM 85 works...

You can find my channel here: https://www.youtube.com/c/ExoPhotography1/featured

And this is one of the videos with my mount:

I have tried several collimation tools, i even made a video of it, just because i was fed up with bad collimators 😛
 

Stumbeled upon a forum thread saying the some of the ZWO ASI Cameras has issues with vibrations from the fan.
I don't know if i had any issues with my fan (having a ASI 2600MM) but I am to corious not to test this out.

I made a video of how I (try to) analyse my vibrations with my phone as it has a accelerometer, which indicated a bit better values after the mod.

You can find my video on my youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0K_7oEQbEg&ab_channel=ExoPhotography

Have you noticed anything like this? Have you made the mod? Have you changed the fan for another, better one?

Regards, Daniel

On 19/07/2022 at 20:41, servitecnic3999 said:

Hello, I have everything installed, but pressing does nothing, I have kept it pressed for more than 1 minute, but only Exo Photography sqm-meter appears.  any solution, thanks

Hve you altered anything in the code?
If not - check your hardware connections, it "should work"

/Daniel

Hi!
During the last couple of months I managed to get the Bubble nebula finished and i found a, at least to me, new nebula which I have never heard of - It looks just like Alien or a skull...
Maybe someone knows a bit more of that nebula? When was it discovered?

Take a look at my video and you can clearly see that it is almost invisible even after 4 hrs in every filter, but is quite visible when all three filters is combined...

Best regards / Daniel - Exo Photography
 

So, as the topic say - How do you plan for a imaging sessions - what object to photograph? What criteria to tick off in the planning stage?
What software / website / book? do you use?

I made a video of what I am using, but am I missing something? How to find those sweet, anonymous objects?

Best regards, Daniel / Exo Photography
 

I thought that this video of perhaps the most well engineered trailer observatory might wake your interest.

I was very exited when i first saw the trailer and when Anders (the owner) let me in, my yaw dropped to the ground!

You can find the video here: https://youtu.be/LwFM_5mCspU

Best regards / Daniel - Exo Photography

https://youtu.be/LwFM_5mCspU

On 29/09/2021 at 11:17, tooth_dr said:

@Corpze sorry I didnt thank you sooner - thank you for sharing this with the wider community.  And thank you to @ollypenrice for creating a DIY version for us all to emulate - the idea of being to test the camera for tilt on a jig in the house has been a game changer for me.  I just didnt have the capacity or incentive to do this on the fly at night using software and measuring FMWH etc.  Although my stars arent totallyperfect yet, they are at a very acceptable level for me, and I'm starting to enjoy my Epsilon after 2 years of ownership.

This is the very reason i do these videos - to help out fellow astronomers  
And the reward is you saying they are helpful - entirely my pleasure!

/Daniel

Thought this might be interesting for anyone who might consider a ASA mount, or anyone else who just wan't to follow my adventures trying my best in the obsy

Anyway - here is the video of me polar aligning and making a new sky model

/Daniel
 

Nice to se that more people have found this amazingly easy design ( and the results )
I have been imaging with my ZWO ASI 2600MM now for a couple of weeks and the stars are perfect in all corners, unlike with my Atik 460 which I tried to adjust during the imaging at night - to no sucess.

This rig got it right the first try ( but the ZWO was very good straight out of the box )

I made a new video regarding the items i use, and adress some questions I have got on my Youtube channel, more specific - what to use as a "barrel" for the nosepieces to the cameras - but as you guys say - a hole in a wooden plank and two supports seems good enough.

I have also read some questions about how to make sure everything is parallel - and to be honest - i haven't made sure. But, I use aluminium rig components which is quite parallel if mounted properly.
Not sure it needs to be parallel though. 

Anyway - here is the video:
 

Hi, I have been getting a lot of questions regarding what components my "optical test rig" has, and how to clamp the camera/laser with.

I found some new bits and pieces which makes it very simple to build your own rig
 

Well thank you so much - the solution or products was already there, but maybe a new way to use it

/Daniel
 

Hi everyone!
The last couple of weeks, I have been trimming in my telescope on my newly overhauled ASA DDM85, and since all direct driven mounts needs quite accurate balancing, I went out and used a bit different method of trying to achieve  the "perfect" balance.

When using my EQ6, i balance my rig slightly east-heavy, but for this rig, it needs to be very close to perfection.

Clear skies! / Daniel

This sensor is harder and harder to get a hold of, as all kinds of chips these days 😕

/Daniel

2 hours ago, ollypenrice said:

I was interested in your bench test for camera tilt. Do you have more information on how that works?

Olly

That works really well, you can find the original article on Starlight xpress QA page.

5 hours ago, teoria_del_big_bang said:

I just use the recommended BF from the flattener manufacturer, which as you say 55mm seems to be a common measurement, then add 1/3 thickness of my filters that are after the flattener (so if I have a LP filter in the train but before the flattener that is not included.

So for my setup that is 55.7 mm.
Then I put my spacers together and connect them to the filter wheel, and rotator if using one, and actually measure the total length with digital verniers as accurately as I can and use that distance as the actual distance not what the filter wheel and spacer manufacturers say they are. Then tune the distance in with different spacers until it is as close to the required distance as I can get with my spacers I have.

I then do some imaging and study the stars in the very corners to see if the distance is correct.

I try to have some of THESE thin spacers, or shims, in the set-up and start off with a 0.5mm in there so that if I need to shorten the BF to make stars correct I can take it out, or replace with a 0.3, or I can add spacers or go up to 1 mm until I get the stars perfect, usually being less than 0.3 mm out doesn't really make any noticeable distortion, to my eyes anyway.

So trial and error really I guess.

Very interesting video though and very interested in that optical rig 🙂 

Steve 

I agree with everything - a lot of shims makes it easier to adjust, and the caliper is probably your best friend 😃

I have always wondered how you guys calculate or work out the right back focus distance in your setups.

In the beginning of my astrophotography journey, i just wen't with the standard 55mm which seems to be a standard measurement for more or less every OEM corrector/reducer.

In the later years, I have been more and more keen to use a excel spread sheet to roughly calculate the back focus necessary, and to see what kind of adapters I need to order.
But the two last setups, the calculated distance and "real", measured distance can vary by almost 1mm.

What is your experience  and practice when setting up a new camera train?
I recorded and put a video together of how I did last time.

/Daniel
 

On 15/08/2021 at 04:05, Kitsunegari said:

today i tried out adding extensions to my luminos 2.5x barlow.    I used 50mm extension increments before the camera.   Did not calculate any field of view or anything, but you can see at the camera what happens in real life.    (basler 1920-155um)

Doing this with a calcium filter focused on the sun, i dont have the skies for night time stuff.    

5x was 200mm of extension on the camera nose.

 

That looks very good! I haven't tried to add distance to any barlow myself, but it seems to work out just fine

/Daniel

In the first video, I am showing how to build a optical rig to check and adjust the tilt of your CCD or CMOS camera.

(It can also be used to collimate your collimator), this video can be found here: https://youtu.be/3NUe5iowGo0

In the new video, I am showing how it actually works, and how to adjust the tilt of your astro camera.

This is a huge advantage of beeing out in the cold and adjust tilt in between taking different exposures and evaluate them, at least for me 

Clear skies / Daniel

1 hour ago, markse68 said:

you could use a v- block instead of the tube- 2 thin vees cut from ply joined together with a spacer would do

Mark

ps it was @Corpze who posted this in here

https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/380736-diy-optical-rig-for-aligning-cameras-and-collimators/

 

And the second video of how it works is just uploaded on my YT channel 😃

ps, I just noticed that it was that video you had linked to 😛 

Wim is right, couldn’t explain it vetter myself.

I will compare the grid pattern from the pixels of my Atik in the video with the ASI 2600MM when it arrives, to see how they look.

/Daniel

And here is the actual tilt aligning process

/Daniel
 

10 hours ago, markse68 said:

That's a clever idea. Is it safe to shine a laser directly at the CCD? I suppose it must be if SX do it

Mark

I thought so too when i first saw this idea - so why not build one and try it for my self

Yes, you should probalby not use any stronger laser than the allowed 5mw i presume.
I did try it with my iPhone and can easilly see the pixels or the touch screen touch points, in a pattern with each "dot" approx. 1mm apart.

/Daniel 

Hi - I just wanna share my latest build - based on Starlight Express optical rig in which they align their camerachip / housings before the ship them out - And i was inspired to build my own.
I am very keen to be able to do so much adjustments and tuning to my gear during the day as possible - and this is another method of doing just that, and in this case the aligning of camera tilt which can be a royal PITA during the dark and -20 degree C.

So, here is the SX article on what i was going to build: SX Article

Note: I haven't reciieved my new camera yet so the video does not contain the actual adjustment, but as soon as i get my new camera - I will show just how it works!

/Daniel