Rush

Well , finally the hour of truth has come. i.e the Cheshire CT from TS with CONCENTER tool test. Everything i left untouched from previous tweaking (laser show)

And here s the View through Cheshire CT.

Through Concenter tool, Wonder if i ever will get those  rings aligned with primary to secondary and vice versa cos of the offset ?

An an image after the previous laser tweak. The halo around the bright star is gleaming . Primary edges need tuning ? paint it rough black ? Next adventure ? Thanx much CS,

Rush

2 hrs L and 1 hr RGB with the prvious laser tweak test. Bright star core light streaks around. Sorry if its dirty crude processed , red gradient kill next time after serious extrem imaging:)

On 01/04/2019 at 10:04, RolandKol said:

The problem is actually in all those tutorials...

I fell on them, probably just like majority newbies did... I do believe my PDS was quite well collimated, but it was my first scope for AP, and I read a lot and checked youtube tutorials before I touched the secondary, and guess what?

All of the tutorials suggest to adjust the secondary during the usual collimation routine of the primary, and guess what? None of them actually highlight, - "Do not touch the Central Bolt of the secondary!!!".

So I have adjusted even the central bolt as other 3 were quite tight...

And later star test became soo bad... Just like yours... And maybe even worse! And I had only laser at that time and could not figure out why it is so bad, as laser beam was in center and etc

So I ordered Cheshire, while waiting it to come by post, disassembled scope into small peaces, flocked it, centered focuser, placed Autofocuser, put all back together and had a prolonged battle with the secondary... Which is not yet 100% finished

P.S. But I would afraid to do it to Quattro!!!  130PDS is in completely different price range... in fact, thats why I bought it, - to learn the "anatomy" of the Newtonian! 

plus, I guess... Battle with F4 is much more difficult than with F5

Battle with F5 is the same as F4 .some screws are ill fitting and kind of small , thats all .

Internet offers wisdom of lightnig speed, can make even Plumbers rocket scientist with few clicks. God,dont mean to under rate a plumbers intelligence.

Some r bible long and totally sense twisted these articles. Create a sense of scariness to touch  the secondary or the scope itself.

To be honest there s nothing so really very complicated with this mirror and few Chinese  screws . Kind of exaggerated this  dont touch it propoganda.

Most of them are crude made and kind of simple.  This F4 mirror is glued with  double side  adhesive tape for carpets and home appliances i guess.

While washing mirror i was cautious not to wet it.  Using dew straps around and overheating can make loose the adhesive tape  (who knows)

Primary too needs cleaning, so after mastering offset secondary lesson move on to the next mystic myth:)

Meantime  waiting for the Cheshire CT, with collimation cap got the secondary round as possible.

Barlowed (2XBarlow) the laser and adjusted the secondary doughnut on the laser window screen. This is where im now,

View through the d.tube

Barlowed laser and secondary doughnut on the laser window.

Test shot on NGC 3187 and co inspired by Mr Alacante

Ordered one TS Concenter along with Cheshire CT. lets see what a Concenter ( magic tool ) does.

Sorry , if i wrote too much. Thanx 4 reading:)

CS

On 29/03/2019 at 11:41, RolandKol said:

Welcome to the collimation BattleField of the Secondary Mirror!

It looks like you have PDS just like me... And I can assure you, even if you would have Cheshire - you would fail to place the secondary correctly from the first time.

Without it, - not even worth a try... Laser will not help with this task....

So order one, - even second hand, try once received.

Just not sure, which one is better for PDS, - short or long one... Short are used for refractors after focuser change, but long ones do not show mirror clips on PDS , - a bit too long.

Maybe someone else is able to advice on it.

 

On 29/03/2019 at 11:41, RolandKol said:

Welcome to the collimation BattleField of the Secondary Mirror!

It looks like you have PDS just like me... And I can assure you, even if you would have Cheshire - you would fail to place the secondary correctly from the first time.

Without it, - not even worth a try... Laser will not help with this task....

So order one, - even second hand, try once received.

Just not sure, which one is better for PDS, - short or long one... Short are used for refractors after focuser change, but long ones do not show mirror clips on PDS , - a bit too long.

Maybe someone else is able to advice on it.

 

Thank you for the warm welcome to the crucial warfields?,

ordred a long handle from TS . Meanwhile continue with my self made collimating cap . Read so many articles on collimating , can sing  collimaion blues in C.

Cs

Rush

PS : this scope was send by a gentle person  from UK to Germany. Plus me giving a hot bath to the secondary made it all worse.?

Well Well, Thank you great people for the precise detailed explanations and helping spirits.

Right now Im walking the front line of secondary collimating battlefield, but  reaching  somewhere near the shimmering winning path?.

I don’t have a Ceshire  C T., but have only a self made primitive collimating cap with which I used to collimate my old GSO Newton. But this Quattro beast is quiet weird as all the primary screws are extrem sensitive and the Offset secondary.  Here is bahtinov focus test which looks promising. Will update my progression, Thanks to all, great week end, 

CS

Rush

Star test looks like this,

Cs

3 hours ago, Jason D said:

Your collimation as shown on the above photo looks good

Jason

Hi ,

apologise if im gatecrashing

 i do have a simmilar issue, i.e when i look through the cap, Reflection shows, a left bootom clip and the top one , focuser and the 3rd clip refelection on the right is missing. What should i do from this point ? any advice will be helpful.

 thanx man,

CS

Rush

3 hours ago, Danjc said:

Cheers, I didn’t realise that the guidescope location could cause issues with guiding errors.  I can switch things around easily enough. 

Flexure issue was prominent when i moved the Guide Scope away from the mount center . G.Scope ,rings and the base plate adds extra weight, tension on top of the main scope ,front heavyness too. Watch the PHD graph and  the corner stars in the image . If  stars r round  you can leave it as it is. I avoid dew heater plugging in  the hub where  the imaging camera s plugged. Happy testing & success:)

Rush

Guidescope more to the  mount Center (in case of guiding error)

Looks nice,too perfect to be real ?.

If u see my wire jungle you will  breakdown and cry?

Cheers

Rush

Core and continum looks like this.

49 minutes ago, Seanelly said:

Thanks for responding. I will try as you suggest if Carol's discovery doesn't pan out (the DSLR box was not checked in DSS). I'll restack with that done and see what I get. (Man, every time I think I've got everything under control, something else pops up!)

No worries, We r all here to help?.

(Man, every time I think I've got everything under control, something else pops up!) Same old story

happens at regular intervals. Usb hubs and usb ports start playing game too.?

Lum looks like this.

Suspect its comming from the Cali Frames. try only with darks and see if its the same. Looks as if those flats too are not matching.

Cs

Rush

2 hours ago, David_L said:

I scrolled up and saw your pictures - weird thing is I'm pretty sure I saw them earlier LOL! Don't know what I was talking about when I said I couldn't see them ? Sorry ?

Those pictures you posted are stunning - I'd love to see skies like that.

One frac is the Altair 60EDF for imaging and the other is a Altair 50mm guide scope ? 

I've had a lot of fun over the past week with the SA - some struggles tonight (posted elsewhere here) with a dew shield but it made me laugh ?

David

 

I scrolled up and saw your pictures - weird thing is I'm pretty sure I saw them earlier LOL! Don't know what I was talking about when I said I couldn't see them ? Sorry ? No worries ,u dont need 2 be sorry.  Since astronomers do things n the dark, weird things happen quiet often.?

Those pictures you posted are stunning - I'd love to see skies like that. Dark site hunting is a side effect of night sky addiction. ? Im glad u like them.

One frac is the Altair 60EDF for imaging and the other is a Altair 50mm guide scope ? R u using a DSLR or CCD cam ?  Use a Reducer/Flattner with Altair 60EDF.

I've had a lot of fun over the past week with the SA - some struggles tonight (posted elsewhere here) with a dew shield but it made me laugh ?. Struggles , Cable USB horror, Mosquito  Draculas pretty much a never ending story  of this hobby.  Some say in Pain begins the Pleasure?.  cheers Rush

1 hour ago, Klitwo said:

1st. Class Image...Excellent!

Klitwo

Thanx 4 the flowers??? and im realy glad u like it.

Cs

Rush

On 03/02/2019 at 20:11, David_L said:

Doesn't appear to show a picture in your post?

Was there one?

I've been doing my first imaging with a Star Adventurer - I'll be interested to see and hear how it went for you - please share a link to whatever part of the forum you post your results to - if you do ?

David

Hi David,

If u mean picture of the set up, its up there. ( please do Scroll up, 6 pictures from yours)

The blueness of that sky makes me remember of KALAHARI desert stinging cold nights. 

I can see the outlines of two fracs ( 60 or 71 mm) on Your SA.  SA does a good job with widefield optics. its a nice grab and go set up.

Hope u like it. Clear skies and Cheers

Rush

All systems go for another night of imaging with the Star Adventurer - this time guided - on M45 ?

Looks like a crispy chilly promising night advancing. Hope it stayed for a while ?

6 hours ago, Klitwo said:

Excellent!  Splendid looking setup.

Klitwo

Thanx Man.  Phew..........it works too ?.

cheers

Rush

Addicted to sky?

CS

Rush

.

Frustrated by day light and hyparactive after sundown.

IC 1805- Takahashy FS- 60CB + Atik 383L HARGB - 7 hrs     

Barnards  E - Takahashy FS- 60CB + Canon 600Da - 2 hrs

M45 - Takahashy FS- 60CB + Canon 600Da 2 hrs

M45 -  EOS 600 Da  + Canon 50 mm lens  2 hrs

Heart & Soul - Atik 383L + SMC Takumar 135 mm HARGB 4 hrs

Clear Skies

Rush

3 weeks bvor ,had the opurtunity to try a dark Zone in Asia with SA / 600da and a 50mm lens.

Only headache is the PA, but with 50 mm lens its quiet Ok. 15 Frames @ 300s.

CS

Rush