tooth_dr

Thanks Alan. It’s strange alright. My solar scope is never stored outside, it lives in my living room apart from when it’s being used. And it really doesn’t get used too much!

I took photos of mine this morning, is it worth contacting Lunt?

Hi Johannes I’m using a SW 250px that I purchased in 2010. Excuse the mess of cables. Just a temporary setup.

Steve this all sounds ominous. Can you please clarify if there is a concern over safety.

Thanks so much Alan. This sounds like mine and ours appear to be produced consecutively

Interesting Alan that my scope is 0001004 and reflects white (although the filter looks green) White B1200

I had another look at mine as ive noticed 5 blotches around the periphery of the green lens. It’s minor but I’m guessing it worsens? When I shine a light inside the b1200 filter through the geeen lens the back of the red lens looks cloudy. Is this normal?

Not something you see posted a lot, and to be honest using the 10" scope has really opened a lot of targets that I find totally fascinating. Lack of darkness and the moon (totally clear tonight but a massive moon) meant only 6 x 2.5 minutes with the luminance filter. And I was surprised to see a tidal tail of ARP 159 in the stacked data. I would really like to get this done with more subs and RGB. Plus I need to sort out my flats, but my currently flat panel doesnt cover the larger aperture. I just thought I'd share it anyway, hope that is ok. Adam

I'm the new recipient of this wheel. I did find the motor was slipping so I adjusted it but it doesn't appear to have corrected it. I may remove the position sensor and replace it to see if that helps. I think I'll try my other EFW to see if it is completely correcting these faults too. I shot 10 flats tonight, rotated the wheel 1 full turn anticlockwise and took another 10 flats, then rotated it 1 full turn clockwise and took another 10 flats.

For one it means your tripod is no longer any use if decide to use your telescope away from home. But honestly it’s a terrible idea from every perceivable angle. My pier is an off-cut of plastic sewer pipe, filled with concrete. That didn’t cost anything apart from the cost of concrete. To save yourself money remove the legs from your tripod and use the top piece as your adapter on top of the concrete pier. You don’t have to spend a lot but don’t scrimp on perhaps the most fundamental part of your setup

This data was captured on the 9th July 2018. I decided to come back to it as I felt it wasn't as good as I could do, and my processing skill has improved since then. Atik 383L+ 24 x 300s 12nm Astronomik hydrogen alpha Canon 40d 14 x 300s ISO1600 12nm Astronomik Oiii Total integration time = 3 hours 10 mins. Stacked in APP, and processed in PS. The Oiii signal was very very weak, so the colour balance isnt quite as I liked but I'm still happy with the improvement. However sometimes I cannot see the problems until pointed out so please feel free to comment. I added the original version below. If you feel it is better in some aspects please also comment! All the best Adam.

That’s nice Carole. I did actually image this a few weeks ago in Ha but neglected to post it due to it being pants! I picked out some outer structure but the middle bit is just too small to resolve at my FL.

Thanks Ciaran. The peak to peak guiding was around 4" using my ED80s before the mod, and with that 10" scope it was 2", with RMS just under 1". I had to run the guiding at 0.5s which goes against the grain. But at anything more than that the graph was see-sawing between +2 and -2. I'm not sure what this means but I would like to get to the bottom of it. It could be a weight issue, or belt mod issue, or flexing issue, I dont know! If I have to guide at that and I get consistent results then thats ok, but it does make finding guidestars a bit more limited, and I'd say with an OAG impossible.

Lovely Carole. Beautiful and delicate.

Nice! I’ve tried this one and it’s difficult!

Beautiful. Stunning. Superb. Outstanding. Your images never fail to impress.

@Craig123

Definitely agreed with that. I hate to 'waste' a clear night, but it's quite demanding due to the lateness of getting started. 3 nights in a row and I'm busted

Despite no longer having astro darkness, I want to get some colour on the Whale Galaxy. Four nights ago it was clear, with a bit of moon, so was able to get 2.5 hours of data during the darkest part of the night. Luminance = 4th and 5th May / 3 hours RGB = 11th May / 50 minutes per RGB filter Total integration time = 5.5 hours in 150s subs at -20oC Atik 383L+ through a SW 250px on EQ6, guided by finder guider / ASI 120MM It doesnt stand up to much scrutiny, and is mushy at close inspection. My guiding was around RMS 0.8-1" and my imaging scale is 0.92". Thanks for looking, comments welcomed. Adam

I've a few from last summer because I just bought my first cooled camera and wanted to try it out. This is the data I was talking about RGB stacks out of APP. There is about 50 minutes of data in each colour. I used flats but these were hastily taken so I need to redo them properly as they are correcting. I managed to salvage them in APP light pollution removal tool, and got a decent result using luminance taken on the 4th and 5th of May.

That’s got lots of potential. Nice one.

Hi Craig I imaged this in July last year, I don’t really pack my gear away. Ever.

I’ll tag you in the processed data! It might be pants.

I recently had that same experience. I didnt bother with my main imaging rig, plate solving, guiding, etc, etc. I went out to the back yard, and simply did a quick polar alignment with a Star Adventurer mount and imaged with a DSLR - no cables, no pc, just pure simplicity. It was incredibly relaxing being outside, not in a warm room or obervatory, looking up at the sky, etc. It doesnt do any harm to take a break from it all at all.

I imaged RGB of the whale last weekend, havent processed it yet, but I had zero astro darkness at the time!