aramitsharma

And a q.... do I have pinched optics?

7 hours ago, Elp said:

How many subs did you stack? I would have thought they would be nearly none noticeable or even rejected at the stacking stage which averages all the data.

This was a single sub.. marked it as bad

disappeared after two subs. must be internal reflections when my neighbour's arc lights switched on when i went to my garden

On 29/11/2023 at 12:46, Alan White said:

It looks the same as my 40 one, but the older scope has a helical focuser on the blocking filter, the new one does not as the focuser is before the filter.

This is such an improvement. I remember placing the camera and focusing and then turning the camera so it does not turn the focuser under cable tension.

Tested ZWO1600MM with the coronado as the 174M I had for quark was undersampling a lot.. I think I will switch to this cam..

It is a gem, I used it for quite a while. Here's one from the mercury transit of 2016 and a close-up of a prominence 

What do you use to increase contrast in the visual observations through your solar scope. I have Coronado single stack 60mm. The double stack unit are under production apparently but have already missed the expected ready by dates. 

Till they get it out in the market obviously at exorbitant rates, are there any filters I can buy to boost the contrast?

On 01/10/2022 at 18:09, moriniboy said:

Anyone tried this combination, did it work well?

I used this for quite some time. Good views and you can take good photos as well, if you are into it.

On 30/12/2022 at 13:23, Elp said:

This is great, what timeframe was it?

it was 63 captures each 1000 frames ~30-33 sec per capture.

30 sec wait between captures

Used sharpcap

Forgot to take flats so lots of dust bunnies on surface exposures. So had to satisfy myself with prominence animation only. 

So, I have two dovetails on my scope. One, the factory one and the other from ADM which is not a vixen and is meant to hold Adm accessories. I now use it just for lifting the scope. 

Took out the scope after 6 months and surprise, I fixed it on the mount using the adm dovetail. And on the third slew, it came off and dropped. I tried to catch it, but couldn't and it fell on the grass. The mirrors however are intact and collimation still as it was before. Maybe just a whiff of good luck.

Sorry for being thick. By alignment do you mean star alignment or something else? Can you give a link to the topic please. I so need to do this. I will have a spare week next month so can finally find time to do this.

Finally done with processing. Followed the steps in Michael's pinned post at the top of this forum. Next try sometime later now..

Solarmax II 60, single stack and Altair Hypercam 174M Mono

2 hours ago, Nigella Bryant said:

Yes does sound similar to the baader k-line filter. Even though it' says CaK it's to broad a wavelength at 7nm so will only show more contrast in the white light spectrum. Nothing wrong with that, I use the baader k-line filter for white light imaging. 

Recently imaged yesterday using it with a Hershel wedge and an 80ed refractor. 

Looks interesting... so not strictly as good as dedicated CaK, but still good...

Hi anyone having any experience using this filter along with the solar film on the front objective?

https://www.altairastro.com/altair-nuv-7nm-125-filter-6910-p.asp

It took very careful combination of focus shifts and tuning. I think, the details are now getting well captured. thanks to all who helped me... This is just very fast processed. will do a proper one later

I took it out yesterday and given everything a good tightening. I am planning to give it a quick check when I see the sun next... 

I will update .. Fingers crossed

regarding the cigarette power connectors, I've used them inside a plastic box with small vent holes for ventilation. never saw condensation cause a problem.

Although I used tracer and skywatcher batteries, I don't know if this caused erratic guiding or it was just me...

Thanks all... point taken, I will order the deepskydad's DC unit

https://shop.deepskydad.com/product/dc-hub-2/

Now only if i manage to find the cable for skywatcher's mount ending in DC cable

I have recently got a house with a garden (finally!) which means i do not have to stand outside in freezing temperatures all night. I am very tempted to make the switch from battery power to mains without spending a ton. Also, imaging from inside will be good considering the motion sensing floodlights of neighbours. The hubs are very expensive in my small opinion and to be frank all my power leads are cigarette lighter ended to go with batteries. I was thinking of one of these for power, with a cigarette plug splitter which i currently use anyway: 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/RoyPow-Adapter-Cigarette-Transformer-Converter/dp/B019H2EQWY/ref=sr_1_6?keywords=ac+to+cigarette+lighter+adapter&qid=1641857093&sprefix=ac+to+cigarette%2Caps%2C56&sr=8-6

For USB hub, i have a cigarette lighter plug powered USB 3.0 hub.

This way I can have a single USB cable and a single power cable coming inside the house where my laptop will be located.

Is this doable or just wishful thinking?

3 hours ago, Pete Presland said:

Have you seen this thread, maybe some worth a read ?

wow, thanks.. if this is the issue, professional repair will be the route for me as I have 10 thumbs

5 hours ago, Ibbo! said:

have a look at the filters in the diagonal to see if they have not gone misty.

 

checked.. they look fine

6 minutes ago, Pete Presland said:

Hi Aramit, sorry to hear you are having problems. As @Rusted said it does look "off band" if it was my Lunt i would just increae the Pressure tuning knob, obviously this does not apply to your scope. I don't have any experience with the scope you are using, but the focus also looks a bit off to in the 1st image. It could be the seeing conditions also were very poor at the time you imaged.

How does look visually when you are using an eyepiece?

Thanks Pete, yes the conditions were not ideal, but not poor and i've seen better detail from lunt 35 in poorer conditions. it also looks just a red circle with some prominences in the eyepiece.. i have used all eyepieces from 16mm to 25mm. I will try again on a better day, but I had gone through the process of tuning through different holes before and it never made a difference. In fact what camera is showing is better than what i get in the eyepiece

1 minute ago, StevieDvd said:

I have the same scope. The tuning is done by moving the protruding screw/pin, usually needs to be adjusted for surface detail images and then re-tuned slightly for proms.

If you have a read of this CN post you'll see others have had the same setup problem.  You have 3 of the screwthreads visible at anyone time which limits the range of the tuner, but you can relocate the screw/pin to adjust the range.

You can unscrew the pin and move it along one hole at a time allowing you to find the best setting see Solarmax II review

As in the review I turned it to a stop point and then rotated it back until the best setting hole was centred so I had adjustment both sides. Just screw the pin in enough to turn until you get the best image. Proms and surface detail need a small move - the average for both misses the best detail.

 

Thank you.. done that as well, without any affect.  I also have nightmares thinking if i damaged the scope somehow while changing the focuser as well. It has a moonlite one now.