Thalestris24

19 minutes ago, saac said:

Amy what about Balloch country park - train direct from Queen St or Central Stn underground from what I remember. I suspect relatively dark, as dark as you can get being so close to Glasgow but it also looks out onto Loch Lomond so much of the sky to the North should be pretty dark. Don't know what the park is like for security or if it closes at night so again maybe somewhere you would want to go with company.  Also need to check out time of last train home - you don't want to get stranded in Balloch    If you want to head south you could try Lanark  (Lanark park) - train connection from Argyle St Stn I think but you may have to change at Motherwell or Hamilton.   Strathclyde country park in Motherwell itself could be useful but being in Motherwell the light pollution would be bad/awful

Jim 

I suppose it depends where exactly you're travelling from and what your carrying... Of course, there are trains to/from Balloch but they aren't that frequent. You're right about not wanting to get stranded there! The station is unmanned... The other thing about Glasgow is needing to travel to somewhere at quite short notice. The weather forecasts are abysmal - often only valid for 3-4 hours ahead, if you're lucky! I don't know most of these distant parks though I've been to Bellahouston/Pollock (back in my race running days). I used to get the subway to Ibrox and walk from there though there are rail links also, I think.

Louise

52 minutes ago, laudropb said:

I would not recommend Ruchill Park. It’s not a safe area. I fact most of Glasgow parks close at dusk as far as I am aware.

It doesn't close, AFAIK but any large green space could be a bit dodgy after dark and on ones own. I did plan to go to the flagpole to do some imaging as it's walking distance for me. However, it's still problematic for me to even carry stuff down the stairs. It's probably better to go with someone after dark. I used to do a bit of longboarding there on the pathways, down the slopes

Here's a YT video: 

Louise

47 minutes ago, JamesF said:

@Thalestris24 is in Glasgow and doesn't have a car as far as I recall, so she may be able to help.

James

Hi James! And @Amy cello  

Well I can't recommend anywhere in Glasgow really - too much LP and way too much cloud and too much water in the air... Not that I do observation anyway... However, if pushed I might recommend Ruchill Park where the flagpole is  

Of course, the further away from the city centre you can get, the better!

Ps I still haven't ventured out of my flat (for astro purposes)  

Louise

Pic from the net:

A couple of views I took in 2012:
 

1 minute ago, orion25 said:

Mars is a'comin', Louise!  

I could see it's brightness last night  but that was through the murk - hence no stars visible at the time. I don't really have anything to properly image planets. I await some clear nights for the stars to appear...

Louise 

I can't see any stars but can see Mars!

Louise

37 minutes ago, Macavity said:

Nice one, Louise. Good idea too! 1.5kg, eh? <thinks> Every little helps?
I know some people "cannot understand [why]" etc. lol. But many folk do
genuinely find standard setups "hard work" (and for very many reasons). 😛

Ironic Aside: Just thinking of modding an RF "Antenna" (Radio Astro Tests?)
--- Replacing thin-walled Aluminium tubes with 5mm stainless steel BAR!
Hopefully my "aerial guy" can do some (socially distanced!) ladder work?! 🥳

I have a "thing about weight". lol. It's often hard to find this in the specs... 🙄

Well, the original stainless steel legs, with the inner legs and feet, weighed 4.1 kg. So a total saving of 4.1 - 1.5 = 2.6kg - which is quite significant. Of course, if I ever try it out outside I'll need level ground or some way of levelling the mount. If needed I could put something under one leg - I'm sure there's a way round it! I'm a little old lady so the weights of mounts and tripods ++ have stopped me from taking kit outside as I have to navigate two flights of stairs. I have a Star adventurer but I never got it to work properly (must have had a duff one) and a guided EQ3 pro on the Al tube legs seems a much better way forward. 

Louise

Put the new 16 gauge legs on earlier today. Looks the same, ha ha but it must be ~1.5kg lighter than with the 10 gauge legs 🙂 . No sign of any clear skies. July has been awful here. I've seen glimpses of Mars rising in the East a few times. - it certainly stands out, even through the murk. At least it's getting darker earlier. Winter's coming! 

Louise

1 minute ago, MarkAR said:

Well done Louise, if you find you get any vibration using the thinner tube you can always try a squirt of expanding foam inside them.

Thanks. I don't think vibration will be a problem. I'll only be using it with the 300mm lens pictured above 🙂 

Louise

Just now, Neil H said:

Louise when i did mine i removed the 4 grub screws and it just pulled a part i dont remember it having glue . Just dont loose the pressure bar in the bottom clamp in sits in the plastic holder inside the outter leg that the inner leg passes through so when you lock the leg it does not dent it 

I've done it and replaced the original legs with aluminium ones ok (see above). I'm not using the inner leg, unless I find I have to.

Louise

The 16-guage tubes arrived today 🙂. Much lighter, but seem like they will still be fine. Since I fitted the 10-gauge ones I've had nothing but cloud so they haven't even been tried. There's a faint possibility of some clear spells tonight but I won't hold my breath. Will try and fit the new, lightweight legs tomorrow.

Louise

Just now, Stu1smartcookie said:

which i probably have done  ... if there is a bit of dust on the sensor , how can i clean it ? 

I would suggest using a magnifying glass  (head mounted ones are good) and a air blower (as used to clean dslr sensors). If necessary, you could use a small artists' paint brush to dislodge anything. You may have been lucky and not got any dust on the sensor. However, if it was in my living room, for example, then no such luck!

Louise

2 hours ago, Stu1smartcookie said:

Thank you for the reply ... when you say leave the glass window alone , do you mean , leave it on the camera ? So sorry for appearing dumb on this .. lol i cant even remember if it was attached to the camera in the first place , as i tried so many combinations .  . ... DOH ! ive just watched a vid that i found on you tube .. quite clearly you are right Louise ...feel a bit less dumb now lol 

Thanks also , Bryan for your input . 

Its good to know that people can get help really quickly .

Hi

Assuming that you have one of these and it looks like this:

The reddish appearance is just a glass window to protect the sensor. If you have a colour version I think it will also be a UV filter. You really don't want to remove the glass and get dust on the sensor!

Hth

Louise

Hi

You have to have the camera in a scope to get an image. Leave the glass window alone! You use the scope to focus but the focal point of the scope has to be on the sensor.

Louise

2 hours ago, knobby said:

Ah, interesting ... I've always calibrated at around 30° Dec ... Sort of South South East and up towards celestial equator.

I was just talking about the mount, not the scope 🙂  

Louise

27 minutes ago, knobby said:

Maybe after COVID ... 😁

By the way, I take it the mount is pointing close to North when you calibrate (always have DEC Compensation checked too)

Louise

1 hour ago, knobby said:

See what you've done 😁 there I was , prepared to accept the fact that I'm at the limit of the mount so living with it ! Now I'm going to be picky again 😂

Might there be any nearby members that could give you a hand / fresh pair of eyes?

Louise

12 minutes ago, knobby said:

Thanks Malc, I think it's a combination of things to be honest. Loss of confidence , poor weather / seeing, skill, expectation, mount limits.

It will calibrate pretty well on the replaced mount so long as I manually nudge North first.

Need a few nights of decent weather.

Hi Knobby

You shouldn't need to nudge a belt driven mount in order to calibrate - that probably indicates a likely balance or setup problem. You should be able to get a perfect L-shape calibration, especially with an oag (the RA and DEC axes can be assumed to be orthogonal and obviously should be with an oag).

Louise

1 minute ago, michael8554 said:

Higher Guide Rate helps mounts with large Dec Backlash.

Although the mount has belt drive which removes the backlash due to the gearbox, the worm backlash doesn't look great according to the Calibrations so far.

Michael

Personally, as it's a brand new replacement mount and still appears to have the same issues as the original, I think I'd first look elsewhere for the source of the problems. I may be wrong but it just doesn't seem likely that two new belt-drive mounts would appear to have the same/similar problems.

Louise

I just (02:30) had a look in the North East - couldn't see anything 😞 

Louise

1 minute ago, knobby said:

Thanks Louise, target points very random, using oag so guide star fairly iffy but was round and value in PhD was 5.8 (best I could get it). Mount is nice and free so I'm fairly sure balance was good.

Noticed another thread where @vlaiv suggests that a heavy scope needs the best tighter than the 2mm flex ? I've emailed Rowan to see what they suggest. Really appreciate your time helping 😊

Remember, it has to be balanced vertically as well as in RA and DEC 🙂 . Always make sure guide star is not saturated and has a good snr (or best you can get). Not sure what you mean by "the best tighter than the 2mm flex" ?? So with oag what fl are you using in PHD2? I've never used either a oag, or a SCT, or other long focal length scope, so I don't know how good the guiding would be expected to be. I'm sure someone else on here will have had the appropriate experience 🙂.

Louise

5 minutes ago, knobby said:

Starting to feel pretty despondent 😞 tried again last night, got nowhere fast, PA spot on in 20 mins (Sharpcap) quick align, calibrated PHD2 (With correct cam) usual dec backlash messages ... ran guide assistant, accepted suggestions and guiding up and down + and minus 2 or 3 ... well balanced, no cables flapping. Guess I'm really asking too much of the mount although others do use the combo successfully. I'm starting to wonder if it's just my seeing is too poor here. Good news is that this mount is better / more consistent than the one it replaced 👍 

Hiya

It might just be the seeing - what was tracking like with the Guiding Assistant (i.e. guiding off)? You shouldn't really be getting any backlash with a belt mod (I've said before, I'm sure!).  Calibration should be very good lines. I still suspect you may not be perfectly balanced. When you run PHD2 for a while are the points on the target clustered around the centre (good!) or to one side (bad!)? If to one side that indicates imbalance. Another possibility is guide scope flex if guide errors are random. What was your star profile and snr like?

Louise

New tootsies came today . They needed a couple of layers of tape to make a snug fit but I was expecting that. Of course, with the current arrangement I have no way of levelling on uneven ground so I'll have to stick to somewhere flat. It's still a little heavy for me to carry (I'm a wimp, I know) though I probably could just about manage it with a laptop and small battery in a backpack. I think the 16 gauge legs will be better in terms of weight but it could be several more weeks before I get them. The weather forecast is mostly cloudy anyway 😞. 

2 hours ago, nfotis said:

Apologies if it has been already answered, but what's the rationale behind the rebuilding of the tripod with aluminium legs?

Lower weight?

Or do you want more stiffness compared to the old tripod?

 

Regards,

N.F.

 

Lower weight, as discussed above

So far, so good 🙂 

Louise