bthoven

Just got a new one to replace the old one. Pls see the timelapse video here: Europa Cafe' Observatory - Allsky Camera Timelapse Video I got a fly at 4.16min Latest snapsot from the camera at fullhd It seems to have a bit more sensitivity than the old one. I can see the Orion belt now. Before installing, I covered the long slit with black electric tape in order to protect the internal circuits from direct sunlight.

The internal firmware allows the video invert/flip..... I put it outdoor 24/7 for almost 3 years. No sign of moisture/fog, even during and after heavy rain. The polycarbonate dome itself needs to be polished after almost 2 years of tropical weather. I use Vinol to polish it; but it won't last as long as a new unit. I have to keep polishing it after a few months.

I've been using this poe almost-all sky camera for over 3 years. It's not as sensitive as the more expensive ones; but it is adequate for me, in a light polluted city (Bangkok, Thailand), just for checking whether the sky is clear or not. I placed it beside my private observatory, and I have an old tablet placed in my house for easy view; even on my mobile phone. I bought it three years ago at US$85, but now the price is reduced to only $46; so I decided to purchase another one to replace it because the dome is not as clear. Just to let the community know. I've produced timelapse videos so you guys can see how it performs. Not sure I can post the store link. Just PM me if you are interested. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hr69kSNQP8U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQ0aicXqQdY

Thank you guys. The mount was tracking fine and it is perfectly polar aligned. The above video may not be long enough to show that the same stars will rotate back into the guider view (Finder scope guider). The video frame is rotating to the right and came back from the left of the guider view...….. Last night I changed my quider CCD to QHYIIL and it works perfectly fine. I need two guider scopes for my two scope setup. If this cannot be solved, I need to buy another guider ccd.

I left my astrophotographing gear in my observatory for a year. Last night I came back to shoot some deep sky objects/comet and found that my QHY5 guiding ccd had problem (shown in the attached video). The stars in the frame keep moving (confirm not my AP900 mount movement). It looks like the guider can't freeze the image frames. I tried to update the driver, detach and reattach cable. Shut down my PC...try PHDGUIDE, PHDGUIDE2, LUSOL guide. They all gave the same problem. Not sure, it is hardware or software problem. Any advice would be appreciated. GuiderProblem.mp4

Got confirmation from Skywatcher help desk that we can use both firmwares for Virtuoso. The main difference is Allview firmware has panorama scan feature. Still not sure what went wrong with my setup. ps. Just know that Celestron owns Skywatcher because my ticket created on Skywatcher website, but got an auto-reply from Celestron!

Mine is latest version 3.39.05 which is supposed to work with either EQ or ALTAZ mount?

Thank you. That was what I did every time.

I have Skywatcher Synscan V3 working with my EQ6 without problem. I've lately flashed firmware v.3.39.05 and tried using it with my Skywatcher Virtuoso. I have problem with 2-star alignment. After manually move the mount to point to the first bright star, align; then choose the 2nd alignment star, the mount will slew to the sky very far away from the 2nd star. After I managed to complete the 2-star alignment successfully, the goto accuracy was very bad. It always placed my scope quite far away from the targets. I've tried the whole night and gave up. I then begin to wonder whether I have to flash the hand controller with the firmware for Allview mount (v.3.09.06) instead. Anyone can share your experience on this? Thank you.

I've never measured it because I've never used my heritage longer than an hour per session. However it took only 5-10 minutes to fully recharge it. So I believe it would last several hours with push-track-push, but would last only a few hours with your bluetooth GOTO setup.

Canon 300D attached to the included L-bracket. The 3800mah Li-ion rechargeable battery is feeding both the mount and the camera.

The 12v Li-ion 3800mAh, $16, from Aliexpress.com attaching to the mount arm with velcro tape.

This video shows how I used the included mobile phone adapter to take the Moon photo by attaching it to a cheap Chinese universal bracket. The mobile phone bracket can be mounted horizontally too. http://youtu.be/LO35danxKlY The mobile phone bracket, bottom up.

Here are more detailed photos on this grab and go scope. Love it! The whole dob mount Battery cover Battery cell the dob mount where the battery housing is located the Vixen style clamp, made of hard plastic. Seem rigid enough. the azimuth with release/lock lever. Spirit level is builtin. the builtin controller. Though convenient due to being at the fixed place; but give noticeable image shaking when pressing any button. It has backlit light. Let see a close up view of all the buttons there are three ports (left to right): canon camera shutter release, DC in (12V, 2.1x5.5mm dc plug), and RJ12? 6-pin port for optional AZ goto controller. Under the mount base, there is a standard female 3/8" for attaching the whole telescope to the medium-size camera/video tripod. The objective cell of the included Mak 90. It came with a plastic cover and a Baader solar filter ready to put in front of the Mak corrector objective. The scope is now mounted to the dob. The telescope tube is made of roll-aluminuim sheet and have a Vixen-style dovetail fixed at the tube. The dovetail is rather short (around 4" long) and may not have enough length for proper scope balancing, especially when you have a rather heavy DSLR camera attached to the scope for photographing. a better view of the aluminium dovetail. The included finder base is made of hard plastic which is compatible with a 11mm red-dot finder clamp. Though the Virtuoso model came with a 5x24 optical finder, you can replace it with a red-dot finder later, if you prefer. The finder bracket is cleverly designed to be used as a Solar finder. By removing the included 5x24 finder, you can point the scope to the Sun by trying to align the Sun disk projected from the front bracket onto the lifed white platic screen. I found it rather useful and work quite well. the white hard plastic screen is lifted, ready to work as a Solar finder. the included Baader solar filter. It fits very well in the front cell. No worry that it will fall out during Solar observing. Unfortunately, the filter has narrower diameter (only 60mm) than the scope objective which is 90mm; but no complaint for free stuff; and it gives a very clear view of the Sun. Solar finder ready. The 1.25" rear cell is quite rigid and the tube has two thumb screws, great. It is a slow telescope. A lot of standard accessories: mirror diagonal (platic cell), 26mm and 10mm eyepiece (lower grade than Plossl), mobile phone mounting base, Canon-compatible shutter release cord, L-bar to attach DSLR, compact camera, and/or mobile phone. We can attach two cameras. A small compass for help orienting the telescope to the North during the initial setup. A close up view of the L-bar All assembled and ready to use. (The Vixen zoom eyepiece shown in the photo is a quality one I own). My son is viewing the Sunspots (not sure he was viewing with his eye or nose Another setup at night ready to view Jupiter. The telescope is easy to setup for a quick observation. I bought a small 3800mah li-ion battery (12v) box (around $15 from eBay, shipped) and attach it to the mount, which makes it much easier to grab the whole set at one go.