Alien 13

The Skywatcher 6V motor systems should run fine on the 5.2V output from a mobile phone /tablet battery bank, I use a 10AH one and it runs for ages, you will need to make up a lead though using an old USB cable and a DC 5.5 mm connector but cant remember if its 5.5mm x 2.1 or 2.5mm. Alan

Give the scope some fresh air and daylight (not direct sun) for a few days just in case there are any fungal spores in the scope. Alan

Thanks Vlaiv I have struggled with this for years.. Alan

Not on topic but related is how do people add a link for example with an Amazon/ebay item that may have 3 lines of text into a single "here" or similar? Alan

Bit dissapointed that that lens has such a tiny hole to look through.....its smaller than my 32mm plossl. Alan

I like the idea of Magic lantern but wish Canon made available similar features even if it was a "pro" type update at a cost, I always seem to have a camera that takes four or five years before ML gets updated... Alan

As mentioned above the Canon will have a mirror lock up function but no silent shooting mode, you can get lockup to work with an intervalometer but you have to be creative as shooting with lockup enabled requires two trigger pulses... The way to use lockup is by first enabling it and also setting the self timer too for 10 seconds, an intervalometer can now be used to set the exposure duration as normal and will activate the mirror lock with inbuilt self timer starting the exposure after the 10 second delay. Alan

I have PS CS6 but it is pretty much useless with my new Canon camera as it does not support its RAW files so I switched to Affinity Photo and to be honest its hard to tell the difference. Alan

Looks OK but I would want to fit a better filter on it, my personal preference is a CO2 cylinder that moves dust realy well and far better than a "rocket blower" type thing that effectively sucks up dust and blows it out again.... you can get cans of compressed gas that do not use a propellant but they are not cheap. Alan

Check places like WEX and MPB photographic for cameras and lenses, the 450D is a very good starting point. Alan

I use a Canon 80D with camera lenses and it has probably the best noise performance of any of their APS-C cameras (not far off dedicated CMOS), it has an articulated screen but more importantly full wi fi control of everything including focusing. The camera is not modded but has plenty of Ha response for me. Alan P.S. regarding the issues with the 650/700/750D series it has been reported that they can cause banding issues due to the hybrid AF pixel design which puts a few extra rows of AF sensors between the main sensor ones, I had a 650D myself and never encountered a problem but I never stretched an image too hard.

Never understood why a homeowner has the right to complain about what a neighbor is doing, if he wanted to build a 50 story block of flats on his property that would be fine with me............... Alan

I am a complete novice in the theory of these things but for me it would make no difference to the number of photons and hence its brightness from a single star going down a 4 inch tube whether it had a focal length of a 10 foot or 6 inches, I expect extended objects might benefit from shorter focal lengths though with or without a reducer. Alan

I would have thought that even after a comet strike the conditions on Earth would be far preferable to any other object in our solar system, so why leave? After all advanced life survived the last one.... Alan

I have my tinfoil hat so I will be fine Alan

The later 650/700/750D models are not the best for AP as they suffer from banding under certain conditions due to the "hybrid AF pixels" they use. If you can stretch the budget a bit have a look at the 60D as well and check the MPB photographic site too. I do like the wifi feature though... Alan

The scary thing is that we will get hit by a comet at some point in the future but could take several million years or next year.... Alan

I have done this with potentiometer knobs, got some nice anodized metal ones but they need a bit of packing out with shims made from a beer can.. Alan

I enjoyed it but agree with the other Alan that some questions didn't get answered properly, I still struggle with the size of the universe with the observable size and most distant object and its age considering that some say that the universe is smaller than the smallest sub atomic particle. Alan

Not sure if you are using a mono cam and filters but are they rated for use at f/2 as some struggle?... Alan

I would advise you to think about what you want the camera for, modding will make it pretty much useless for normal daytime photography unless you spend lots on a proper filter replacement option. Some of today's modern DSLRs do have reasonable Ha response without modification anyway. Alan

I would have said a 3 inch refractor a few years ago but now would go for 60 mm instead...... Shame is that there are not many realy decent ones around. Alan

Not a fan of straps etc, its the uneven side pressure that causes spacers to stick in the first place so using them will never end well. Alan

I have yet to meet a spacer that I cant undo with the palms of my hands, roll the spacer first on a worktop etc to remove any stresses then a quick flick with the palms will undo it. Trainers work well but best of all if you cant manage with your palms is a pair of table tennis bats, even better if you can print an astro design on them Alan

Its best to look for Polaris during twilight or even daylight, it stands out then or if you have an illuminated reticule turn it up so the dimmer stars vanish.. Alan