Alien 13

I do like this mount, I can have my DSLR and lens on it and from the comfort on my sofa be able to find/focus and image either the moon or any other object, I would disable tracking and just use the 400 rule for wide shots or track objects like the moon with the 400 lens.

Alan

If the Universe is flatter than a flat thing then any extra dimensions that make the earth a sphere are just an illusion 

Alan

I have been thinking more about this mount and using it in combination with a DSLR and wide lens or even the 70-200 to take 10 -20 second exposures of Comets etc. 

Alan

1 minute ago, DRT said:

It's called SynScan (by Pacif Telescope Corporation) on the Apple App Store and the icon is the black and white spiral galaxy SW logo.

Thanks very much for that, found it now 

Alan

10 hours ago, DRT said:

I just downloaded the App - the answer seems to be yes  

I want one, I want one, I want one 

I couldn't find the app on android, whats it called?

Alan

1 minute ago, Helen said:

Not without an adapter (eg the Berlebach one).  The pier also has just a 3/8 fixing - so will fit on a photo tripod.

Helen

Thats good to know.

Alan

5 minutes ago, Helen said:

Thanks

My initial experience of the tripod is that it compromises stability/rigidity for lightweight and cost (I remember someone saying that everyone wants a cheap, light, stable tripod, but you could have at most two out of those three!).  The pillar is rigid though.  But at least with a 3/8 fitting it is straightforward to upgrade to a better tripod!

Helen

Its an unfortunate result of the laws of Physics with tripods that you cant have all three, for me weight is the most important provided some of the stability can be recovered by going low, can the height be adjusted by any amount?

Alan

35 minutes ago, Helen said:

How do you connect?? (I know the staradventurer uses usb and that is hugely convenient)

Thanks

Helen

You have to use a std USB lead and cut one end off and solder a suitable connector to it. Think its a 5 mm x 2.1 mm or 2,5 mm connector, the red and black wires in the usb lead will be plus and minus.

Alan

To get back on topic, this new mount is still the best option I have seen offering wi fi, there are so few around and I have looked...

Alan

Just now, DRT said:

Really?  For how long?

My EQ3-2 will run for for weeks off the 11000 mAH one, the Canon about 4-6 hrs. 

Alan

9 minutes ago, DRT said:

Yes, I know, but not to drive a telescope

 

They can power the SA the EQ3 and EQ5 with standard motors and even my Canon with a diy adapter. 

Alan

Just now, Stu said:

I get the power supply issue, but being a non imager what is the problem with the offset and DSLRs?

I was thinking about using it for normal photography (my camera is fully wi fi controllable) so the offset might be an issue for panoramas etc.

Alan

1 minute ago, DRT said:

This is my only power bank - lots of power and the size of a half brick - https://www.firstlightoptics.com/batteries-powerpacks/tracer-12v-22ah-lithium-polymer-battery-pack.html

Smaller and cheaper options available for a mount of this size

 

You can get a 11000 mAH mobile phone power bank for £5 

Alan

6 minutes ago, Stu said:

Come on then Alan, what's the almost about?

Seems great to me, nice to see Skywatcher coming up with some more innovative products.

I would have liked a 5-6v supply so I could use mobile phone power banks and I would be using it with a DSLR and lens so the offset is a slight problem once you add in an L bracket.

Alan

This mount is almost perfect for me almost...

Alan

1 hour ago, HN50 said:

It has been a bit of a while since I have done anything on this what with work and my attempts to detect SIDs with my laptop and a loop antenna, however I have been wanting to get back to it.  I had thought about trying to see if I could design one from scratch but in the end working with someone else's schematic would be more straightforward. 

I spent some time making a proper test bed for prototyping circuits as I had been trying to hold the breadboard in one hand, and antennas, volume controls, batteries and earths in the other.  I found some spare Perspex kicking around and made the thing below;

Everything is mounted in the board, and all you need to do is make sure you are touching the earth (the bolt on the left).

I have started making the BBB-4 by Stephen McGreevy as I would quite like to try a different design to the one I built before.  On its own it does not have an amplifier powerful enough to drive headphones, so I have also looked around for the circuit for this too.

The circuit in the screenshot works (I can hear that telltale spitting pan sound  ), though there is quite a lot of feedback on the volume.  

Anyway, I will look at that and if I can get it working I will turn it into another of those plans and post it here.

Nice, its good to see a proper test bed..

Alan

Great scopes folks, I think of all the "show me threads" the MAK one is the best, some beauties out there..

Alan 

The key to stability with the SA and lightweight tripod is to keep it low to the ground, this is easy if your camera has a flip out screen and you have a right angled camera viewfinder you can hold against the polarscope,  tethering and using Polemaster would also let you keep it low. The addition of a camera ball head used with the L bracket is very useful for framing wide field shots.

Alan

3 minutes ago, carastro said:

Having used both DSLR and Mono CCD cameras, my comments are as follows:

A DSLR is certainly a lot cheaper and probably a lot less to learn for a beginner.  In particular processing is probably more straightforward.

BUT  Apart from the fact that a Mono CCD camera shows much more detail, it is far easier to see if you have the target framed in the FOV and get focus.  

I have been helping a newbie recently with a DSLR and I had forgotten how difficult it was to find the point of focus with a DSLR, if you're not near focus you won't even see it on live view, and you certainly can't see the nebulosity.  So from that point of view Mono cameras are easier for a beginner.

Therefore in summary, I recommend a beginner (if they can afford it) should start with a mono camera and just do Mono imaging for a short while until they get the hang of it all.  A filterwheel and filters can be added afterwards.

Carole 

 

I am not sure about this, I can see nebulosity in liveview with a DSLR and it takes no more than 20 seconds to hit perfect focus just using liveview first at normal magnification then X5 then X10 and certainly without any tools or bat mask, I expect that the fast optics I am using helps though.

Alan

15 hours ago, mikey2000 said:

Did you ever see this page?  What ISO is best for my DSLR and astrophotography?

lots of theoretical stuff and some handy charts to help pick the correct ISO for various camera models.

Strange results according to the table my camera is ISO less like a Nikon...

Alan

Just looked up my Camera (80D) and the graph looks totally different to all the others i.e. its a straight line, not sure what it means as I always shoot ISO 800-1600.

Alan

4 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

Here's my Omegon MightyMak 60. Small but perfectly formed. On Velbon EX-Macro tripod

Jeremy

 

Thats even cuter than my 90 mm, like the tripod too.

Alan 

I had always thought refactors had two optical elements in the design, the problems can be equally blamed on the objective and eyepiece and I very much doubt there is a perfect eyepiece out there.

Alan

10 minutes ago, Timebandit said:

 

Sorry. Do not agree that 120mm does not excel at anything???

For lunar and planetary on visual, at its price point then the frac SW120 ed really takes some beating IMO. Give me a 120ed over a 70mm frac any day .

But if Jules wants DSO faint fuzzy Woow moments ,then it's great seeing conditions and dark sky's IMO combined with as much aperture as you can get your hands on and a 6" reflector is not going to be enough aperture for a Woow moment IMO☺

 

A 70 mm frac can do widefield something that a 120 mm cant.

Alan

I have always thought that a 120 mm frac sits in a middle ground where doesn't excel at anything, 70 mm fracs are great at wide field vistas 6 inch reflectors start to open up DSO and small Maks do lunar like nothing else for there price, I wonder if its a case of wrong scope in the wrong place.

Alan