Skipper Billy

NGC7822 (it doesn't have a common name!) 2 hours each in 600 sec subs of Ha, S2 and O3. Processed in Pixinsight using the SHO (Hubble) pallet. CC welcome. NGC7822.tif

Unless I'm missing something the 72ED doesn't seem to have a screw thread at the end of the focuser. I assumed there would be. It should have - mine does !! You will probably need one of these to make adding extensions cheaper and easier - the M54 thread on the focuser drawtube is an relatively uncommon size https://www.firstlightoptics.com/adapters/astro-essentials-m42-t-adapter-for-sky-watcher-newtonians-and-72ed-refractor-m54.html

The end of the focuser is threaded - this is an all screw together system - you will need about 4" of extension.

Someone else just asked the exact same question - no point reinventing the wheel ....

I had the same guide scope at one point and found that the adjustable rings it came with were awful in terms of flexure. I made an alloy plate with two stainless steel exhaust clamps and fastened the plate to the top dovetail - the guide scope was protected by slipping silicone tubing over the U bolts - zero flexure!! Not adjustable but the guide scope doesn't have to point exactly where the imaging scope is pointing.

One way of doing it is to swap the miniscule dovetail that comes with the ED50 for a longer one that can the be bolted directly to the top of the main scope rings. See attached - different scopes but same principle.

I think the answer to that depends upon what you want to achieve in the longer run. If you will only ever want to use a DSLR with a wide to medium lens that a Star Adventurer might be just the job. If you want to do some more serious deep space or planetary imaging them the HEQ5 seems to be the sweet spot between price, performance and portability. Something like a HEQ5 gives you the ability to hook it up to a laptop which opens up the worlds of GOTO and platesolving etc. Personally I would jump straight in with a HEQ5 or similar.

A humbling message to all members. Aston Smith is an 8 year old laddie. He has ADHD and Autism. He also has an almost fanatical interest in astronomy - so much so that he has just published his first book on Astronomy!!! He has extremely basic equipment and one of the reasons he wrote the book is to generate funds to buy a basic scope. His book is a fiver and I know times are hard but it would make a lovely Christmas present for someone you know. If you haven't got a fiver spare then why not send him a nice message?? You can buy the book or send him a message via this page https://www.astonsmith.me.uk/?fbclid=IwAR2uwy1DpBElXgNJndwM8EhG-wfqhSW4fbUtMS5Txy-wQ8Dd2DHiUnQEvTY?fbclid=IwAR2uwy1DpBElXgNJndwM8EhG-wfqhSW4fbUtMS5Txy-wQ8Dd2DHiUnQEvTY

https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/telrad-replacement-reticle.html

I dont use any of those facilities but it will do them and it is an area that is currently being worked on by the Devs at NINA. There is some info here - https://nighttime-imaging.eu/docs/develop/site/tabs/equipment/dome/

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Intel-NUC-NUC7i5BNH-i5-7260U-3-4GHz-8GB-RAM-120GB-M-2-SSD-HDMI-WiFi-Win-10/124419796082?epid=580627049&hash=item1cf7ff6c72:g:TlAAAOSw6N1fnzxY

When you are getting ready to do it make sure you have a good supply of DISTILLED water - not de-ionised. They are different things.

Just a wee update for completeness. The issue has been identified by the NINA devs as a timing issue and has been fixed. 👍

Yep - no problem at all - I wouldn't try running WBPP on Pixinsight whilst imaging but for all normal activities its more than enough.

Just a wee heads up. I had a focuser issue in that NINA always picked up the incorrect values when first connected from the ASCOM driver. If I disconnected then reconnected the focuser it always picked up the correct values. I posted this issue to FLO as they are responsible for Lakeside products, the ASCOM forum and Discord (the NINA forum). Everything pointed towards a NINA issue as the exact same setup had worked perfectly under SGP. One of the devs picked the issue up and agreed it was a NINA issue especially as it was 100% repeatable. Within 3 days I was asked to download a specific Beta version to test and it worked perfectly every time. Apparently it was a timing issue - which means the square root of diddly squat to me. Might be worth trying the latest Beta version Version 1.10 HF2 BETA003 from here https://nighttime-imaging.eu/download/ If that doesn't work its worth persevering with the devs on Discord.

Love it !!!! I know that's not a very analytical response but I am viewing it on my monitor at work which is poor quality and has odd colour casts and is constantly getting brighter then dimmer !! It's one of my favourite targets and I can only dream of getting as much time on it as you have. Well done.

Hello Steve That is almost exactly the same NUC that I am using. I bought mine used from a company on eBay that specialises in NUC's and I can hand on heart say that it has been absolutely flawless. It runs NINA (and formerly SGP), PHD2, Stellarium, CdC, a remote IR camera, Atik 16200. Atik EFW3, Lakeside electronic focuser etc all at the same time without breaking into a sweat. I also have Pixinsight installed on it and it will run this whilst imaging for having a look at stretched subs etc. I have found the 'disk' size to be more than adequate but I am using a CCD camera whereas a CMOS would be creating for more subs and probably bigger file sizes but you would be going some to fill a 250gb 'disk' in one session !!! The whole system is controlled from indoors using Windows RDP At the end of the night I just send all the files to a NAS drive and the following day I copy them from the NAS drive to my indoor machine for processing and leave the original files on the NAS drive which is effectively my backup drive. There are some photos here so you can see how its hooked up. Two things to mention - it will run quite happily off 12 volts. If you think you might ever need more than 4 USB ports its worth making sure that you can buy the replacement lid that gives you two more USB ports for the exact model of NUC that you buy - they are not available for all models in the UK - I ended up buying the lid from the USA and got caught with VAT, Customs charges etc. Happy to answer any questions you might have if I can.

I am going to print that out and frame it. I have never heard those words before about Scottish Rugby !!! 😉😉😉🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

N.ow I.nstall N.ice A.lternative 😉

PS - I should counsel that chucking money at it is no guarantee of success. Maybe the best £20 you could spend right now would be on this..... https://www.firstlightoptics.com/books/making-every-photon-count-steve-richards.html

I would suggest having a look at the Mesu mount - without wishing to sound like a 'fan boy' its probably one of the best mounts for the money available. Without going into silly money for mounts like the 10Micron range that don't need guiding its a great mount. Scope wise - it depends what you want to look at/ image. I don't know which country you are in but if its the UK the stockist of Mesu is Bernard Karpinski at Modern Astronomy https://www.modernastronomy.com/shop/mounts/mesu-optics-mounts/mesu-mount-200/ That accounts for about a third of your budget but by the time you have added in a suitable imaging scope, decent camera, filter wheel and set of good quality filters your 20k will have gone!

During a recent check up at the quacks I mentioned to him that I was into astronomy and he said well Mercury is in Uranus, I said NO! that's Astrology!! He said no, the thermometer has broken..... In the last 7 years the winter weather has got noticeably worse here (NW Scottish Highlands) but the summers have got better. Bad for astronomy but great for a seasonal leisure business like mine 😉 It enables me to buy all manner of nice things to not use over the winter!!!

Yep - just do what you can to minimise any flexing.

Reasonably close is usually more than adequate. A good solid flex free mount rather than rings is a great move.

This what happens when first connected so it doesn't appear to be an ASCOM or driver issue - the value in the ASCOM box of 825 is correct and is the value picked up by NINA upon reconnection.