dannybgoode

I have been mulling this for a while now and finally bit the bullet and bought a Pegasus Astro Pocket PowerBox Advance.  This powers the mount, camera, filter wheel, focuser and mini PC and makes wiring very straightforward.  

I have also just bought one of these

Bison BATTERY BOX CARRIER WITH USB CHARGER, LED METER, BREAKER & 12V SOCKET : Amazon.co.uk: Electronics & Photo

So, car battery in the Bison, 12v cigarette charger type lead from Bison to PowerBox, PowerBox to everything else.  Job jobbed.  I have a little wifi travel router thing so can hook into the mini PC to control it via Remote Desktop. 

So, process will be.  At home log into mini PC and using NINA create the imaging sequences I think I'll go for that night and save them.  Then, at the field set everything up and then using the iPad, hook into the mini PC and load and run the imaging sequences.  I do have full control from the iPad so can change targets etc if necessary however it is a little bit fiddly just due to lack of keyboard and small screen but perfectly manageable.  But the more I can do at home the better in the initial set up the better.

The Bison will easily hold a 70A battery however mine is only a 40A but even then I'll get a good few hours imaging or observing.

The straight Synscan Pro app is very much available from the Play Store and they will give you the Lat Long in the format you need...

6 minutes ago, AstroNebulee said:

'm a bit ocd so my zwo 30mm guide scope and 120mc-s matches the same view as my main scope

Do you reorientate if you have to rotate the main camera for any reason or do you avoid that at all costs?   

You'll be pleased to know it doesn't at all. 

PHD is just interested in the star and not its orientation

2 minutes ago, Philip R said:

Any thoughts of adding a longer dovetail bar under the existing one?
Preferably one with the slot for the mounting screws [assuming the existing dovetail has some threaded holes in it] then you could 'slide' the rig up and down accordingly. I do this with my 're-modded' ETX105 when it is rear-end heavy.
Apologies... I don't have an image of it to show at the present time.

Yes - funny you should say this as it just occurred to me after I posted I could look at a longer dove tail.  That said some form of weights would likely be cheaper!.  Good quality Losmandy bars are pricey :).  It is probably the correct solution though...

Due to the convoluted focusing setup I have on my TMP 105/650 it is very rear heavy and as things stand I cannot get the DEC balanced as I cannot get the scope far enough forward.  I do have an ADM saddle mount on the way which will help but are there any solutions for adding some weight around the dew shield say?

Looking lovely.  When I started out on this AP lark a couple of years ago I thought it would be the data acquisition that was the time sink but no, the processing is what just eats time and you can just keep going and going with it!  You've got a nice balance here  

Extraordinary...

17 minutes ago, Tom OD said:

I was chatting with someone recently about this who posts on various platforms. Facebook, Twitter, Flickr etc... all use different methods of compression so that their pics load faster, so there is a difference in how it gets presented.

I ve found Flicker posts darker images, than Twitter for example. No idea what Astrobin is doing.

Tom

Astrobin has it right.  It is SGL that has a fondness for dimming my jpeg files for some reason  

Yes thought that was the case.  It is one of the typical 'moon landing didn't happen' conspiracy theory things - 'why don't they prove it with Hubble' without any understand of the technical aspect

Just now, ollypenrice said:

One of the technical guys on Admin, maybe? Grant, perhaps? I'd double check that the same copy was sent to both sites, though.  Is your colour profile sRGB?

Olly

100% the same image and when I post to Facebook, even through its horrible compression at least the brightness is correct.  I have noticed this also when posting IKO competition entries and stuff as well.  My monitor on my workstation is fully calibrated so I know what I have on my screen is correct but then whenever I post here it dulls.  I am not for one minute suggesting any of my images would win any competitions but I feel at an unfair disadvantage here as I need all the help I can get  

9 minutes ago, ollypenrice said:

I wondered if this might be an illusion created by the colour in the rest of the page but, no, your SGL screen shot is indeed darker. Here I copied one onto the other (Astrobin over SGL) and deleted a square from the middle of the AB image to reveal the SGL.

I've no idea why this should be happening and I don't think it happens to my own images because I'm very fussy about background brightness.

Olly

Thank god it's not just my eyes.  It happens to all my images and is a bit annoying as I try and optimise them!  Do you know to whom I would raise this with.  And many thanks for taking the time to compare them

5 hours ago, Sunshine said:

How about if NASA uses Hubble to take an image of webb, at least the back of its sun shield, if anything.

Would Hubble show anything useful though? JWST would still just be a small dot as Hubble does not have the FL or resolution I don't think to produce a detailed image of a small satellite some 1.4m km away from it. 

IC 434 in Ha.  2hr ish of 300s subs and largely processed in PI before moving across to DxO PhotoLabs and Nik Silver Efex for final editing.  Kit; TMB 105/650 LZOS, SX674 Mono CCD and Baader 7nm Ha filter.

I captured this data last March and didn't really think I had much there as it is only 50 mins each L, Ha, SII and OIII.  It was also before I even owned a Bahtinov mask and was manually focussing using the gloriously over-engineered focus mechanism on my TMB 105/650 LZOS which is an utter joy for visual use but a bit agricultural for AP.  As a result the image is a little soft.

However, it is my first full NB image and having worked the data in PI and then Affinity Photo I am happy enough with the end result to share it.  Certainly if someone told me two years ago I would be taking photos of DSOs like this I would have been very happy indeed.

And it gives me a useful base to look back on and see how I have progressed in the hobby.  I will be revisiting this target this year for sure as well with a view to improving it a fair bit...

Well I've got my little diary started.  I just used an Excel template for a month to a view calendar that allows a little of text to be typed into each day field.  I have 4 colour codes - green = clear and did something, orange = clear and didn't do anything, blue = cloudy but did something astro related (say worked on getting software running smoothly or serviced some kit etc) and red = cloudy and didn't do anything.

Then I have just typed in a few words about what I did (or didn't) do on each day.  I will try and keep this up for the year now and hopefully it will give me a record to look back on

I'm using a Beelink mini PC and hooking in via Windows Remote Desktop. So far it has worked flawlessly...

Your amp figures look out to me. 6A for an ASIAir? A Pi4 only draws 3A max that is under heavy load and will often run happily on 2A.

3A for a guide camera and 5A for the main camera seems incredibly high as well. The guide cam I would have thought only draws milliamps and OK my camera is a Starlight Xpress with a small CCD but even with the cooler and two fans running full pelt barely draws an amp.

That said a 5A power bank isn't huge and I would have thought you'd get 2-3 hours from it - once up and running and slewed to target is expect you to be drawing 2-3 amps per hour. 

On 06/01/2022 at 23:23, Stuart1971 said:

Did you ever get this sorted…?

No and I've given up on it. NINA has been far more reliable in general in the short time I've been using it so I've moved over to that. 

I may try Astroberry again at some point in the future but see no pressing need. 

@malc-c - yes this is absolutely the case unfortunately. There is no direct contractual relationship between your CC company and the the supplier therefore S75 does not apply to disputes regarding receipt of goods etc.

PPs own buyer protection may well kick in however it is not entirely nailed on that you'll get your money back from it. In this case I think the buyer would be outside the 180 day time period to raise a dispute...

19 hours ago, malc-c said:

If they had used Paypal, and it was linked to a credit card then yes they could possibly have some form of redress under the credit consumer act and get their deposits back.

Sadly not and whilst slightly OT worth explaining for anyone paying for anything on CC.

A quirk of Section 75 is to whom your contract is with. If you use a CC via PayPal then the contract, as far as S75 is concerned, is between you, your CC company and PayPal. 

Assuming PP then forward the funds on to the end supplier they have fulfilled their contract to you and you have no rights against the end supplier under S75 should goods not turn up etc.

So, you are always better protected if possible, to pay the supplier directly with CC.

Clearly this isn't an option with HOUK however of course. 

Ooo I like this idea as last year I was convinced it was cloudy every night expect 21 June which was also a full moon of something 😅.

It somewhat dampened my enthusiasm and perhaps keeping a record like this will show me we do have decent nights and that it is I that does not always make the most of them. 

Might knock something up accordingly

I hope it is. It's now by far the least accurate forecast tool I have. The Met Office forecast has predicted clear nights far more often than CO has over the last couple of months. 

I have pretty much given up on it to be honest...

1 minute ago, Peter Drew said:

Just rip up the stair carpet and lay it to your observing area.     😀

There's a plan.  Not entirely sure Mrs DBG would be so keen on the plan though...

Looks like it's going to be a beautiful clear night here in subby Sheffield however I have just tried to walk to the garage to get my tripod and PSU and very nearly slipped and fell.  'Tis like an ice rink out there!

Discretion being the better part of valour and all that I am not going to chance carrying heavy and expensive kit about regardless of whether it means missing a night!  I value my telescope and neck more than that (and in that order too  )