geordie85

Reprocess

22 minutes ago, Ande said:

Well, after some concern that maybe my new Samyang wouldn’t reach infinity focus, I was finally in a position to test it today. My Williams Optics Bhatinov mask arrived this morning, courtesy of FLO.

I set the camera and tripod up outside, and located a suitably bright star. At first I was a bit miffed, as I’d never used a Bhatinov mask before, but I had seen loads of the diffraction images that they produce. What I hadn’t realised was that those images had all been zoomed in massively. So when I had a tiny star, and a dinky little diffraction pattern around it, my tiny brain was desperately trying to figure out what I could possibly be doing wrong. Then it dawned on me to just simply take a quick snap and then zoom in. Eureka! A diffraction pattern that resembled those that I had seen. And, more importantly, infinity focus is successfully achieved just short of the stop. My big fear was that I was falling just short.

Really happy that I’ve got a properly functioning lens.  Also very pleased with the WO Bhatinov mask. It has three small screws that locate in slots, so that they can be slid in and out to accommodate differing lens sizes. These screws are shrouded with a soft, silicon sleeve which pinches in on the lens quite nicely once adjusted correctly for a fairly secure fit. I think it should serve me well for many moons to come 🙂

Glad it works, just remember to remove it before starting your imaging run. Not that anybody has ever done that ever 

Something to keep me busy on those cloudy nights

43 minutes ago, simmo39 said:

V nice, like this a lot.

Thanks

41 minutes ago, teoria_del_big_bang said:

I 2nd that, a very nice image 🙂 

Steve

Thank you. Looking at it now I'm thinking maybe I've over cooked it. That's late night processing for you.

I'll give it another go soon 

After an absolutely terrible start to the evening on christmas eve taking over 4 hours to set up, I've finally managed to produce an image with my dual rig. 

40 X 300 second subs, Ha 3nm on the Esprit 100 and ZWO183m

20 X 300 second subs in both O111 and S11 5nm on the WO FLT98, 0.8X reducer and QHY183m

Wow.

Just wow

I finally managed to try out my dual rig, first time since I bought my 2nd scope in October.

Had alot of issues getting everything set up and balanced. I started setting up just before 6 o'clock and didn't take my first sub till 10 o'clock. Once everything was working as intended I managed a few hours on the rosette nebula.

Looking forward to processing after today's festivities are over.

Ha with my esprit 100 with matching flattener, zwo 183 mono. O111 and s11 with my William optics FLT98, 0.8 flattener and qhy 183 mono mounted on my neq6.

I used a skywatcher guide scope mount to align my flt to the esprit, but I need something alot sturdier as most of my time setting up was trying to get it aligned.

49 minutes ago, Ande said:

Recently bought one of these lenses, and am slowly getting everything together for imaging.  Next on my list is a Bhatinov mask. Is there one made specifically for this lens that is worthy of recommendation? I’ve seen a few 3D-printed ones on eBay, but not sure if they’re any good.

I just use the one that's for a wo star 71. 

It really all depends on balance, polar alignment and most importantly the wind. 

I used to use the same set up and have achieved 30 minute subs but the slightest blow would ruin my subs due to the lightweight mount and the 200p acting like a sail.

Personally I wouldn't bother with any filters imaging from bortle 4 skies.

40 minutes ago, Andrew Singleton said:

@vlaiv Arr yes, the flats are going to need to be considered. I dont have a permanent setup but I do plan on keeping the camera connected to the telescope so hoping I can get away with shooting flats semi-regularly. Its all well and go until I have to turn the camera 90 degrees to frame the photo. I must admit, with my DSLR I take flats after every session. With mono and multiple filters would you need to take red flats, refocus, take blue flat, refocus, take green flats, etc? That would be a major pain at 3am! I guess you could just do flats before switching to another filter. 

If time was short I was thinking of doing perhaps 15 mins at a time and cycling through, another thing I'm hoping to take advantage of is live stackibng.

Thanks for your detailed responce.

Personally I don't think flats are needed for every filter. I've always only taken flats through my luminance filter and I've never had and problems with them not working. I don't have a permanent setup so I have to build up and take down every session, but I do always leave the imaging train alone.

My cameras are always connected to my scopes and I move them independently of the mount.

With regards to framing, couldn't you just rotate your OTA inside the tube rings? I know it's not ideal but may be a better option than constantly taking flats and trying to remember which flats go with which lights.

I've used both OSC and mono versions of the qhy183. A trade ad came about that wanted a straight swap for a zwo 183 mono.

I now have 2 mono cameras. For me as I live in bortle 6 location then mono is better as I have the opportunity of pure narrowband imaging when the moon is about. Plus my filters are pretty good at reducing the effects of light pollution.

Yes Trevor does seem passionate and gets to review alot of equipment, but would his reviews be the same if he had to buy all of the equipment he reviews? Personally I don't think they would. 

There is also a good chance that suppliers know this equipment is going out for review so they ensure the equipment is perfectly functional.

I recently posted an image in the "imaging with Samyang 135" thread that was taken in less than an hour. The OSC camera could never have got the same results in the same time, from my location.

Here's a very quick M45 as a test image.

24 x 60 second Luminance, 11 x 30 second RGB taken from my back garden with bortle 6 skies at f2.8

25 minutes ago, Pryce said:

If it's not for unmodified cameras then what is it even for?

 

But my point still stands about the UHC, if its meant for visual, why are there so many clip-ins for it. 

Im guessing they wouldnt produce clip ina for so many different cameras and on top of that sell so many of them if it werent a great photographic filter

The only reason a company exists is to make money. The more variety they make, the more they will sell. 

It's like cars, they will all get you from point A to point B so why does 1 company make so many different kinds, to make more money.

Mine arrived a couple days ago. It's gonna be a present for my 5 year old son 

52 minutes ago, michael.h.f.wilkinson said:

At it again with the Meade SN6 Schmidt-Newton 

Looks like you've got some star trails 

https://www.astrobuysell.com/uk/propview.php?view=168512

This one does have cooling (not mine)

Having used both OSC and mono qhy183 CMOS cameras I'm happier with mono, especially as I mainly image from my back garden in a bortle 6 area.

I've seen some absolutely amazing images lately produced by OSC cameras but I keep reminding myself most of these images are taken from very dark sites with alot better skies than the average UK weather allows. 

1 hour ago, tooth_dr said:

I am experimenting with my DSLR hanging underneath a dovetail courtesy of an APM bracket.  Seems to be working ok so far - the sky is not great here at all but getting something at least tonight.

 

Anything is better than nothing. Plus a very nice looking setup.

Have you tried your JTD rig yet? I need to get one but they always seem to be out of stock or my funds are empty

1 hour ago, gorann said:

Yes, some nights I can get an SQM of 21.6, so Bortle 2-3, but last night was not as great with an SQM of 21.1 and poor seeing. But an FL of 400 mm is quite forgiving and f/2 helps a lot.

Still alot better than my bortle 6 skies.

That's amazing for such a short integration time. You must have pretty dark skies.

I tried this a few years ago with 30 minute subs and got nowhere near this.

Yep

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/adapters/baader-varilock-46-lockable-t-2-extension-tube.html

1 hour ago, msacco said:

Interesting..while the APM reducer seems to work very well with different kind of scopes, a dedicated reducer might be awesome, and it's much cheaper than the APM one as well.

Exciting!

Yes. I'm following this closely as I'm really hoping that they release one for the esprit 100

21 minutes ago, msacco said:

Anyone knows if this would be better than the APM 0.75x reducer for the Esprit 120?..

Best guess would be yes as it is optically matched and designed specifically for the scope