tooth_dr

36 minutes ago, AKB said:

Yea, saw that.  Huge mixture of emotions here, including largely jealousy. 

Very best of luck with the new one, I was sorely tempted myself as that model has been on the wish list for a while.

Strangely, though, I'm moving in the opposite direction, away from the 8" Quattro I've been using, and to an Esprit 120ED for this season.  Painfully trying to up my game on the processing side too.

Tony

Thanks Tony! I had a good clear night last night. Still getting to grips with focusing, APT didn’t achieve the best focus point despite running the routine.  I’m going to try SGPro tonight to see if it fairs better if it’s clear. 

I changed the 9 pin cable going to the focuser and there is activity from it! I only ran it briefly through the MHP interface but it’s moving 👍🏻🙈 

It’s looking clear tonight so I’ll try APT.

Any suggestions on settings or just use the default ones?

So just to update this thread, I did purchase a new scope to replace the dual rig.  I bought a Takahashi Epsilon 180ed, which has a pretty much identical focal length, 500mm versus 510mm for reduced ED80, and at F2.8 is twice as fast as F6.3.  It came with a motorfocuser so I killed two birds with one stone.

Thanks for the advice, and I hope this works out in reality!

Cheers

Adam.

16 minutes ago, Adam J said:

 

The movements of the focuser are very very fine mate, You would bearly be able to see it move at all in only 25 steps. My focus cube is 0.006 degrees per step so 25 steps would be 0.15 degrees. 

Cheers Adam.  It could well be that I just cannot see the movements.  I'm going to try this again tonight and see if I can get it sorted.

21 minutes ago, AdeKing said:

I have this setup, but don't use a computer to drive it I'm afraid.

However, using the manual Moonlite control box, I need to have the adjustment dial turned up a long way before I can see the focuser move appreciably.

As Dave says, you also need to ensure that the clutch is tightened.  If you can turn the knob on the other end of the focuser shaft by hand then the clutch probably isn't tight enough and could be slipping when the stepper motor turns.

My example also has quite a bit of backlash in the gearbox so it takes a while for it to change direction, though you should be able to tune this out in the software somewhere I believe.

Edit: Have you tried using the push buttons on the black hand control box? Just seen that you don't have the control box.  Are you coming to SGLSP?  If so I can bring my control box along for you to try.

Thanks Ade, I double checked the clutch, and it was tight, and I cant move the manual knob when it's tightened.

Because  I dont have the Moonlite Controller V2, I dont think I can test it with the Moonlite interface. 

Yes its the one with the clutch.  TBH I know very little about it, it came with the Epsilon scope.

22 minutes ago, markse68 said:

I’m afraid I don’t know anything about your issue but might be worth contacting Ron at moonlite- he’s very quick to answer questions and genuinely helpful 👍

Thanks.  Both the hub and focuser/stepper motor were purchased used so not 100% sure are working.

Can I ask anyone currently using a Moonlite (or similiar) focuser - how far would I expect the focuser to move with 25 steps for example? I'm using the top link below, which includes the ascom driver.  It is connecting ok using the MHP focuser via the ascom dropdown in APT.  It doesnt hang and the little counter moves as I click to move the focuser but I cant see the focuser moving.  Any ideas?

Yes imaging at F2! With 8” apeture 🤘🤘

Nicely framed. I really like this a lot. 

Bumping this up. Spent some time last night and the focuser doesn’t seem to respond but it is coming up as connected in APT. Any help appreciated. I’m connecting via a Hitec Astro MHP, using the mount hub focuser Ascom software. 

More comparisons!

Single 300s subs from 1) ED80 40d 2) ED80 KAF8300 3) 180ED KAF180.

8 hours ago, Laurin Dave said:

That's what 5 times as many photons per pixel gets you.. brilliant.. literally!

Even with the dual rig I have, it's still 2.5 x faster

I found the luminance I took last year, around 8 hours, with the ED80 and same CCD sensor, compared with same exposure time for the 180ED, all in 300s subs.

Wow. Feels like you are actually there

Very nice!  Great for just 2 hours of data, sometimes people put 4x that in to an image. 

1 minute ago, Kev M said:

So at an angle of 45 degrees if you let it go it stays there and doesnt return to the horizontal ?

 

I know this question isnt addressed to me, but yes I can move my scope literally anywhere, unlock the clutches, and it wont move from that position.

19 minutes ago, Kev M said:

Consider when you balance a scope.....when horizontal it is perfectly balanced....if you change the angle, it wants to come back to the horizontal position.

Therefore when it is in use and not horizontal it is not balanced.....this would be pretty much all the time...unless you were observing the Horizon.

Are we doing it wrong !

 

In my opinion the only way to get it to be balanced at any angle is for counter wieghts to be used that exactly match the wieght of the equipment and for these weights to be placed at the same distance as the centre of mass of the equipment.

Actually the Horizontal method above would work fine.....the important bit is the counter weights matching the equipment.

 

In an ideal world you would have a selection of counter weights to exactly match the equipment.

 

Since I moved to a dual rig, I now have my scopes balanced in 3 axis.  This means that it balanced no matter where it's pointing.  I think this is how we imagers do it anyway?

1 hour ago, jjosefsen said:

Nice scope and the initial results look promising!

I look forward to seeing your images with this little bad boy.

Thanks Johannes.  I hope I can get the focuser working properly. 

1 hour ago, Craney said:

Wow, scope of dreams... very interested to see your results Adam.     After wrestling my 10" quattro around the garden last night, maybe LESS is MORE.

With a full frame camera you should be able to get the entire Milky Way in the shot !!

 

Thanks Sean. The 10” Quattro is a nice scope too.
I bought a Nikon D800E earlier this year and have a Tak-to-Nikon adapter so I’m just debating what direction to go. 

Just now, JeremyS said:

Great story and great first result!

Looks like you managed to travel on remarkably calm seas...

Thanks Jeremy.  I'm not much of a writer!  It was probably the calmest crossing i've been on both in and out.

Just now, Davey-T said:

Congratulations on your purchase Adam, there are some excellent images around taken with the Tak' Epsilon, wish you many happy hours of fun with it.

Dave

Thanks Dave.  It a bit of an investment, but for an imager its a dream.

I got the ferry and drove through Scotland and into England with one of my kids last week to collect this scope.  It was a great road trip with my middle daughter, where we covered around 400 miles.

I had to make a modification to my EQ6 - fitting a Losmandy head.

I made and added rings for a finderguider, and added a plate to attach the hub to the OTA.

I got it set up rather rushed on Sunday morning with the intention of using it that evening.  The clouds stayed away and although the guiding was poor in DEC (due to I assume poor balance - I need to rotate the tube a bit I think), I got a load of subs.

All the subs were 300s, which looking at it may be too long for this scope as all the star are completely overexposed!!

I plan to have the camera positioned 180 degrees to where it is now, but this will require modifying the Losmandy plate.  It's forecasting rain this week, so an ideal opportunity to fine tune these things, and tidy up the wiring.

The MHP worked flawlessly, and it is pretty cool being able to remotely switch 12v on and off eg the fan.

I couldnt get to grips with the Moonlite focuser and high-res stepper motor.  So I focused by hand.  With a critical focus zone of 10 microns this was a challenge.  TBH I didnt spend that long, and I use the diffraction spikes as a guide.  It's not completely in focus so I'll need to address the focuser, and get it set up properly.  I ran the autofocus routine in APT, but it didnt work as expected.  I'll need to check that the focuser is actually connected properly and working.

Here are the details:

Scope - Takahashi Epsilon 180ed, FL=500mm F2.8

Camera - QHY9 mono (KAF-8300)

Mount - Belt modded EQ6 Pro

Guider - SW Finderscope and ASI 120MM

Filters - Baader Luminance 2"

Exposure - 83 x 300s

Software - APT / APP / PS

Thanks for looking, any advice welcome.

Adam.

Would a fan be effective? There is a fan attached to the primary of my reflector and I’m just curious would the steady flow of air help. I’m imaged on Sunday night with the fan on without dew but that may have just been favourable local conditions 

Breath taking! A text book image.  I agree it’s the most beautiful sight to behold.