Helen

4 minutes ago, JamesF said:

Yes indeed.  Been looking forward to this one.

James

Grant gave a quick update last night: Youtube have blocked upload because of the amount of music involved 😞   Youtube suggested removing the music, but that completely defeats the object!!  I think Grant and Peter are trying to work something out...

Helen

Marmite jar lids and clothes pegs as micro focusers 😉 

If you liked the look of the amazon one then you might like this excellent free one instead https://openstax.org/details/books/astronomy 🙂 

Does this help Dave https://forums.sharpcap.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=2582 ?  My skyris and SC do have an uneasy relationship though

12 hours ago, JOC said:

That's quite lovely, you are so clever - I can't sew for toffee.  Well done, I'm sure it will be a much appreciated square.

Thanks @JOC I'm no good at freehand stuff, but really enjoy all types of counted thread work.  It's very therapeutic and satisfying.  I also particularly enjoy doing things for a purpose, so cards, wedding samplers, special gifts, and things like this!

Helen

I should add that there's still lots of time if anyone wants to get involved - deadline December.  I just had to finish it to stop me getting distracted from what I should be doing 😉

More details here https://ras.ac.uk/news-and-press/news/ras-quilt-project-online

Helen

Thanks 🙂   

This mission literally changed my life, so I thought it would be fun to combine with my love of stitching!  (I'm thinking of using a photo of a variation of it as the frontpiece of my PhD Thesis, when I eventually get to that point!!!)

Helen

Mine is called Ty Seren (Star House in Welsh) Someone on here misread the sign and wondered why I'd called it TV Screen!!!  🤣  My alternative was 'Cwtch under the stars' which the Welsh folk on here might recognise as a take on 'Cwtch under the stairs' - cwtch in Welsh can mean a hug or a small safe place...

In reality its is usually refered to as 'The Obs'!!

But its fun to think about something that you can use if you register/contribute to campaigns etc

Helen

Rain has advantages - more sewing time!

So I've completed my RAS Quilt contribution (subject to final tidying up, ironing etc).  It has been fun, and I'm pleased with how it has turned out 😊

Helen

4 hours ago, Dannomiss said:

Perfect. Will pick some up at week. Do you keep it in the tube or have you made yours removable?

My telescope is a different design as it completely dismantles, so no tube... I store my shroud separately.

Helen

5 minutes ago, Dannomiss said:

Where you get your shroud from?Thinking of make one from Hobby foam

That looks like an astrozap dewshield, but if you want to make one can I suggest this https://www.wickes.co.uk/Proplex-Black-Surface-Protection-Sheet-2400-x-1200-x-2mm/p/118670 instead of hobby foam.  Its cheap, super-light, easy to cut, and keeps its circular shape.  I've also used some in strips to keep the shape of a lycra shroud for my odd shaped ultra-compact dob

Helen

I've tidied up the thread to keep it on topic 🙂  (fascinating discussion!)

Helen

Its not up yet Carole, but maybe subscribe to this https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCV7I4X4eUSGn-_P9MDolYHQ

Helen

Yes, I hadn't seen it before, and it is very nicely done. You can export the graphs too which is good.

Helen

https://observability.date/

Does the usual of showing visibility for a given date, location etc, but also an annual chart.  The neat extra bit is the link to the main scientific databases, the lovely pictures and the identification of anything else in the field of view 👀

Helen

I assume you having the same problems with your astro essential ranges?  (I'm waiting on a little guider since mid March - not an issue, just curious)

Helen

Watching with interest 🥰( bank manager watching with trepidation 👀)

Helen

Lovely!!!  I've had loads of fun and value from my single stack 70mm - but I've probably enjoyed even more being able to show other people!  ( @Stu, @James, hundreds of kids, people at science festivals...)

I bought mine from Ken at IAS when they had a special show discount, so effectively got a 70mm filter for the price of a 60mm from a retailer.  When the views deteriorated I sent it back to Helmut - turned out just a blocking filter problem (the bf protection filter issue which seems common to all solar systems over time) and had great service from Helmut and his team.

I'm interested to see your double stack shots (although it could prove expensive!!!!)

Enjoy!

Helen

10 hours ago, Dr_Ju_ju said:

1st off, & personally, I would never use an active extension....

Having said that, couple of thoughts,  have you tried a good quality (Cromo) short USB 3.0 lead (2 M max) direct to a USB 3.0 port on the computer, with no other devices plugged into the camera USB ports ? 

Also, in the driver, have you reduced the USB speed, to limit data download to PC ? 

Thanks Julian 🙂  I took out the active cable and all seemed to work ok - why it worked on my laptop but not my desktop is baffling, but I'll settle for it now working!  So I've ordered a normal 3m extension (the test one was so short I risked garrotting myself!)

So now its cloudy......

Thanks again

Helen

I've been re-jigging the observatory and decided to put the asi1600 mono - cool on the FLT123, and the asi100 colour pro on the borg 71 for widefield.  I've set it up so that both cameras link into a usb3 hub on the mount, then via a Lindy active cable to the USB3 port on my new windows 10 computer.

It should be straightforward, but..... the colour works fine, the mono just keeps cutting out.  It shows in device manager, shows for opening in sharpcap and then disappears!  Unplugging and re-plugging brings it back up temporarily and then the same... switching the cables and removing hub doesn't help.  I plugged the end of the acive extension in to my laptop and both cameras work.  So I rolled back to the same asi driver on the pc, but the same....  It works plugged into the usb2 hub, but the whole point was to get faster frame rates for lunar...

Any ideas?

Thanks

Helen

This may be of interest - some nice pro-am observing opportunities!

https://www.europlanet-society.org/europlanet-telescope-network-launched-to-support-planetary-research-and-build-global-pro-am-collaboration/

Helen

8 minutes ago, Davey-T said:

Nice Moon Helen, just got to take all new calibration frames now 😁

Dave

Yes, Dave, lots of things still to sort out... I did eventually get all 3 cameras working, but still some work to do on cabling, dew control, scope alignment and fine balancing.

Helen

Wow!

I spent yesterday dismatling, cleaning and reconfiguring the telescopes/cameras in the Observatory.  It was a little challenging....  the Moon was a good target for testing though (the good news is that the re-cabled version now does USB3 rates of transfer, so higher frame rate 🙂 ).  Here's a result with a colour asi1600 on a Borg 71.  The inverse version just gives it a bit of added geological depth I think (and the orientation just remided me of the iconic Earth from space shot).

Helen

Thanks both - certainly like the sound of those!  I loved 'The Glass Universe' about measuring stars 🙂 

I've had a spate of reading WW2 novels, which I've really enjoyed, but they are sometimes not really suitable for reading just before sleep!

I really enjoyed a biography of James Clerk Maxwell recently too -'The Man Who Changed Everything'  by Basil Mahon.  So as a reciprocal recommendation 😄 

Helen