Helen

See you all in January 😎

The OU is running another of its free short (4 week) courses starting in January. This one uses the constellation Orion to 'explore the night sky, discover how stars are formed and find out about exoplanets. From the basics of astronomy to the science behind the birth of a star, this course will change the way you see the night sky.' While you can access via the Open Learn site and do the course at any time, if you sign up for the January Future Learn course you get the added extra of discussion forums and support from the OU (I'm part of the support team this year 🤗). https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/orion Helen

I used a Stanley tool box - something like this. It has useful storage for eyepieces etc too 🙂 https://www.diy.com/departments/stanley-24-pro-mobile-tool-chest/261674_BQ.prd?gclsrc=aw.ds&ds_rl=1272379&ds_rl=1272409&gclid=CjwKCAiAluLvBRASEiwAAbX3GUKBS21yY3Ck8L-tN9l_ANzseaH-P58BeTZSQDzvhBqZQl5uitVAkRoCwnEQAvD_BwE

Yes, mirrorless has no mirror. My Sony 6500 has an electronic viewfinder as well as the display on the back. Helen

Thanks 😊. I've been trying to get it working with Maxim. It completely died about 2/ 3 weeks ago. Reinstall of drivers didn't work. Resetting all the usbs didn't work. Changing cables didn't work. The computer did see it sometimes, but even when Maxim saw it it hungs when downloading. I might have some time for testing tomorrow. I'll report back! But I think worth contacting atik, as it seems too much of a coincidence that we're both suddenly having very similar issues. Helen

Thanks 👍

I've had the same issues with both my 460s(mono and colour). I emailed atik, they've asked for more info, but I've been tied up for a few weeks and so haven't got back to them. It might be an idea to email them too... Helen

Sorry, missed this Ben, yes of course 😁

Thanks 😊

From talking to them at IAS the motors are certainly in their plans 😉

Food for thought re remote focusing... the Tak 100/AZGTi is a lovely portable combo, but the length of the tube does cause some vibration. Are you listening Santa?? Helen

Thanks Mike 🙂. No immediate rush - we'll be doing some more work on it in the new year 😊, but there's no actual deadline. Helen

Thanks Jeremy 👍

Hi James, Yes, given that's what is mostly used - or something platform independent (if such a thing exists) Thanks 🙂 Helen

This was last week, while staying in Milton Keynes for a few days. I deliberately picked an edge of town/rural Airbnb as the forecast looked reasonable. I was really glad I did 🙂 One great night - the following night got overun by fog and so just managed a quick lunar fix! Tak 100 on a azgti - very portable but fun set up (used the tour function) Helen

As many of you know I help with the Faulkes Telescope Project and do schools outreach. We've been developing an idea to demonstrate light curves ( I was going to give it an early run out at the star party but...) Currently there is a simple set up consisting of a rotating turntable, a simple webcam, a torch and a potato (a good proxy for an asteroid). It uses simple capture software which shows a live light curve http://www.planetarium-activities.org/shows/sp/lightgrapher but this is flash based and freezes a lot. We're working on extending it to simulate exoplanet transits, doble stars etc. It would be really good to have some better software, It doesn't need to be very complex. The current one allows you to set the size of the circle to be measured, then sets a time. The graph is shown building in real time, and the data can be saved. That would be the basic functionality. What would be an added bonus is if it could record the visual image alongside the graph so that both could be replayed together (that would be great for visual analysis). An additional option/alternative is to get something working with mobile phones . Anyone fancy a collaboration???? (we could probably trade time on a few very large telscopes 😉 ) Thanks Helen

Thanks to everyone who took the time to complete the survey - I've got lots of food for thought (and there's still time if anyone else would like to complete the survey 😉 ) I presented my emerging findings, alongside the work I've been doing with schools, and the plans for analysing 67P amateur data at the Royal Astronomical Society's Special Meeting on Comets yesterday. The presentation took the form of a poster, and I had lots of interest in the work and many good conversations about it all too. Here's the poster I presented and a picture of me in deep animated discussion about it in the rather splendid library at RAS (and beneath a portrait of Francis Bailey - after whom Bailey's beads are named 😉 ) Thanks again, Helen

I've had a couple of nice boxes from Wex in the last week. A nice small but robust manfrotto tripod (for travelling) and a new zoom camera lens (early Christmas present) both from black friday/cyber Monday deals. The poor Parcel Force driver delivered th first at around 10pm - he said he'd been on the road since 9am and had done 170 deliveries. For the second one it was only 7pm, but he had 50 left to go. Crazy! Helen

Thanks Derek 🙂 I've shut off a few times, but not multiple repeated, so will give that a go 😉 (hopefully via Teamviewer - brrrr) Helen

Hmmm cleared the usb, camera will connect, but cooler clicks on then off. But maxim hangs when downloading. Have emailed atik... life's too short (and its freezing out here!!!) Helen

I'll take a look tomorrow... and let you know 🙂 Helen

Thanks all. I'm using Windows 10 - as Adrian also had a problem and there's been arecent windows upgrade, I wonder... My Asi 1600 worked ok last night too 🙂 Yes, I used the same usb cable inside too Derek. I think it might be good to clear all the old USB stuff and start again, Dave. Helen

I've got a permanent set-up. Usually consists of 2 atik 460 cameras (one mono and one colour) on 2 refractors (one guiding the other) and a C11 with an asi for lunar planetary. I use maxim v5. I sometimes have the usually 'camera not found error' but a unplug/replug or restart sorts it out. The last time out a few weeks ago I removed one 460 and replaced it with an asi1600 for spectroscopy all worked fine. But not yesterday/today. Yesterday it would sometimes find the 460, but wouldn't switch on cooler, and if I tried an exposure it would get to downloading and hang. I switched cables, even switched out the other 460 and same errors. I've plugged in to different power and different usb hubs. I brought in the camera and got it working with my laptop, so it doesn't look like its the cameras. I've removed all the atik drivers and reinstalled, but although the 460 is showing up in device manager it is not found by maxim or sharpcap with either the atik driver for maxim or the ascom driver for either. I'm stumped!! Any ideas?? Thanks Helen

I picked this up from the 'what did the postman bring' thread, but the deals are so good thought it was worth flagging it up! WEX currently have both a 25% off (black friday code see below) and a£50 cashback on some excellent tripods eg Manfrotto MT190XPRO4 Tripod (£159 -25% -50= £69.25), Manfrotto MT190XPRO3 Tripod (£139 -25% -£50 = £54.25 😲) and Manfrotto MT055XPRO3 Tripod (£149 - 25% - £50 = £62😲) Helen