freiform

My SO didn't order anyting astronomic, but the package was themed anyway

Something seems to have rubbed off on the stamp, but the Eagle is nice anyway.

Sven

Hi Frank,

ard those controllers still available? A used synscan upgrade for EQ5 can be had for cheap and gives you all the options. Including controlling via PC or App and omitting the dreaded controller completely. 😄

Of course, there's always the teen-astro project and.

Sven

No, you have to keep your imaging path exactly as it was for data acquisition.

Consider the dust bunny on the CLS filter. That's what you want to compensate for (amongst other things).

Sven

I would start out again, as I did back then, without goto. Maybe a simple motor for the RA axis for relaxed and jitter-free observing, but a steady hand on a not too fragile mount will achieve the same. In my opinion, and as others already have stated, this is a basic experience and it lets you focus on the sky. Not batteries. Or cables. Or loose connections. Or handsets with gloves. Or longitude and latitude. Or timezones. Or n-point alignment when you have no idea what you are doing in the first place.

Get a book, a scope and look at the sky, and with nothing distracting and adding complexity, it is such a soothing and rewarding experience

Goto can be added later.

Actually I miss this. My mount is only used for imaging these days. I guess I have to get a Dob or small backup mount.

Sven

You are talking about a 7 % increase in reflected light, under otherwise perfect circumstances. What exactly are you expecting to gain? What are you missing?

If you have been bitten by _the bug_, by all means spend money, it's fun! But consider what for...

I would first look at eyepieces before investing in an upgrade for the diagonal. What do you have? How do they cover the feasible range of your scope and your interests? And most important, what about their quality? Maybe there is more to be gained here?

Sven
 

I suppose the D300 doesn't support full USB tethering, i.e. you cannot do bulb exposure. I had the same problem with my D3100 a couple years back. More info and a solution can be found here:

http://www.beskeen.com/projects/dslr_serial/dslr_serial.shtml

Follow the 1st link to the specifics for Nikon.

This worked fine for me.

Sven
 

Why not using a more up-to-date, distributed solution like syncthing? It also monitors, syncs across multiple devices, can be run on all relevant operating systems..

Sven

Dear Louis,

thank you very much for the very detailed description! Your procedure sounds sounds relatively straightforward. Since it apparently is never going to stop raining here, I will give this a shot this weekend.

Thanks again

Sven

Hi Louis,

that looks interesting, I've been interested in measuring the FOV of my eyepieces for a long time now, but never came around to do it. Can you elaborate how you mount eyepiece and smartphone? When calculating the FOV, which distance is relevant? Sensor to tape measure?  

Sven

Hi Steve,

thanks for the info! For those not in the UK or maybe indisposed at the time:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0008yhf

Sven

9 hours ago, Calzune said:

What's the difference between free and pro? I cannot find any details about that.. 

On the bottom of the main page, there's some rather conspicious red text: 

Hi,

I am looking for an adapter to get an old, manual Nikkor 50 1:1.8 lens attached to my ASI183. It would be nice if I could vary between using a ASI filter wheel (T2) or a threaded 1,25" filter directly.

ZWO themselves list two variants [1], [2]. I assume [2] just has an additional 11mm extender? Are there other differences? Just the extender cannot make up for the filter wheel (ZWO 8x) , which has a width 20 mm. What else do I need?

Or are there other adapters available? [2] doesn't seem to be listed here anyway. 

Sven

[1] https://astronomy-imaging-camera.com/product/nikon-t2-adapter-for-efw-asi1600

[2] https://astronomy-imaging-camera.com/product/nikon-t2-adapter-suitable-for-all-asi-cameras

Good morning everyone,

I certainly agree that there often is confusion about physical facts (surely not just for AP!). I often was confused in the beginning, and sometimes I still am. I think that a terminology used lightheartedly without actually taking time to understand what is going on is the reason for the confusion. The underlying principles are not difficult, but one has to think about it!

But I suppose you are right, if this confusion can be avoided by forgoing potentially ambiguous (or straight out unsuitable) terminology, then by all means, let's do that.   

Sven

Hi Olly,

I never came across the use of the term for dedicated CCD or CMOS cameras. Only for "terrestrial" devcies, and almost only for APS-C DSLRs, for oen of which this thread was started. And for those devices I stand by my statement. The term crop factor is fine. As it describes exactly what it is. As it is written in this device's specs.

I see your argument, I understand it. And the crop factor is just a relative description of one of the terms you prefer: Sensor size.

And besides that, the confusion regarding the term crop factor has nothing to do with that name! It has to do with people making false, uninformed assumptions and/or spreading (maybe unknowingly!) misinformation that others pick up. Isn't the internet great! I personally have no idea how anybody actually thinking about it could get the idea that a crop factor somehow has any influence on focal length! That is, unless somebody else told him.

Sven

3 minutes ago, DeepSkyMan said:

Not before time I have eventually sourced a protective carrier for my Oberwerk Tall Tripod.  The Geoptik carrier for Eq6 and tripod.  It has a bit more capacity than I envisaged, wondering if I might fit my Vixen HAL 130 alongside it, need to get the Vixen in from the garden to check it out. No more dings and scrapes😀

Very neat! I really have to get my gear sorted and stored properly. My ED-Apo is the only devcie I have a case for, not counting the Star Adventurer's Box.

I havevbeen planning for a long time to get cases and make proper foam cutouts for my Vixen GP, the Star Adventurer and a few other odds and ends, but never come around to actually do it.

I think crop factor is perfectly fine. The image appears cropped relative to a full frame sensor. I don't get the confusion. Just leave focal length or magnification out of it and you're all set.

You do not change the focal length in terms of 'making things bigger'. You just change your FOV.

Sven

And replacements. TS initially sent me the old ones, those are the new ones with (better) AR coating and blackened edges.

Sven

An old manual Nikkor 50/1.8 and C-mount adapter I got for 55 €. Widefield!

Now I have to figure out how to get everything working with the ASI183, filters, distance, etc.

And how to mount it, although there are 78mm lens mounts available for cheap [1]. The one offered by ZWO [2] ist around 50€, but has a dovetail and a thread to attach a small finder.. mhh.

Sven

[1] https://www.amazon.de/MENGS®-Stativschelle-70-200mm-100-400mm-35-350mm/dp/B00K0BI55Q

[2] https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p8771_ZWO-Fotostativadapter---Haltering-fuer-gekuehlte-ASI-Kameras-mit-D-78-mm.html

What Markkus said, the D3200 ist doing dark-subtraction by default. So for a 15s exposure, it will take another 15s dark frame. You can also enable it on your Canon to level the playing field 😀

Also, beware that the 3200 cannot do bulb via USB tethering. But there are workarounds for that.

On 29/08/2019 at 23:36, JamesF said:

I think this was my first ever DSO image.  I used an ST120 and SPC900 to capture this of M13 seven years ago:

This is my first M13 from June 2014 . I guess this was the D3100 through the R135S? I have to check the FOV..

Sven

August 2013, a Nikon 3100 with 200mm kit lens piggyback on a Vixen R135S sitting on a Vixen GP. 18x10s! There are even 5 dark frames in that folder

Sven

12 minutes ago, JamesF said:

Does the "Buy Now" button on here not work?  https://ideiki.com/astro/Purchase.aspx

It did two days ago...

... and still does

Hi,

this is the first light of my new ASi183MM Pro with wheel and ZWO filters. 24x180s Hα, 10 Darks. Stacked in DSS and stretched a bit. 

There are some problems with tracking/guiding (using Ekos' internal guider), mainly in dec. I don't really know where to start, but I probably will run the setup through PHD2's routines and see what comes up. Hopfully I am not just overloading my old Vixen GP!

Things to try:

• Have a look at the logs.
• Check balancing.
• Cables. Lots of cables!
• Backlash in dec? PHD should be able to measure this.
• ...?

Well, but for my first try with filters, wheel, new camera and half a moon from a small city, I am quite happy.

Sven