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Everything posted by laser_jock99
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SHOW US YOUR NEWTS........
laser_jock99 replied to laser_jock99's topic in Discussions - Scopes / Whole setups
The long dovetail is pretty much a must have. You'll also notice in my photo a short ED80 refractor top mounted on the Newt. The extra mass can be used to offset the weight of the camera somewhat. Balance never needs to be perferct though- a slight load is better for tracking stabilty I understand. -
Skywatcher ED120, some musings
laser_jock99 replied to nightfisher's topic in Member Equipment Reviews
LOL. The standard Skywatcher EQ6 is capable of an ED120- a positively lightweight scope in fact! I've been running a 35kg 12" Newtonian on an EQ6 for years. It does 600 second guided subs routinely. An EQ6 will therefore handle the combined weight of an ED120 (6.5Kg) & Mak180 (7.5Kg) with ease. -
Skywatcher ED120, some musings
laser_jock99 replied to nightfisher's topic in Member Equipment Reviews
A 120 mm frac can do longer FL views something that a 70 mm can't....... -
SHOW US YOUR NEWTS........
laser_jock99 replied to laser_jock99's topic in Discussions - Scopes / Whole setups
Great rigs & pictures- keep them coming! Since I'm being held to ransom by Photobucket I'll re-post my scopes from Flikr 12" Revelation Astro F4 Newtonian 6" GSO F4 Newtonian (with Starwave 80ED refractor piggy backing) -
Very professional looking pier. Nice!
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Have you seen the price of a tin of Hammerite- powder coat for £30 is probably cheaper!!
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Best DIY pier I've seen for a while- no cardboard tube full of concrete or 'wobbly bolts' for leveling in sight!
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Show us your set up in action at night.
laser_jock99 replied to Peco4321's topic in The Astro Lounge
My 6" F4 Newtonian at work in Mid Wales. -
Kielder Star Camp - a timelapse
laser_jock99 replied to James's topic in Imaging - Widefield, Special Events and Comets
Great video- must try that- timelapse from an EQ mount! -
The NO autoguider Eq SHOWCASE
laser_jock99 replied to Gerry Casa Christiana's topic in Getting Started With Imaging
With good polar alignment you can get half decent results. Heres a single unguided sub of M42 with a 750mm FL ED120 , exposure was 120 seconds.- 7 replies
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How to sell a property in a Dark Sky Location?
laser_jock99 replied to Droogie 2001's topic in The Astro Lounge
You'd be surprised at how many 'townies' move into rural properties seeking the country dream and are then scared by the darkness. The 'For Sale' sign comes down and the 24 hour 'insecurity lights' go up shortly after. Many a rural location has been blighted in this way...... -
I bought a set of 1.25" narrow band filters and ended up having to buy 2" filters a year later......... Clip filters- again you'd have to re-buy if/when you upgrade to CCD.
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Minimum exposure needed to capture horsehead Nebula
laser_jock99 replied to Peco4321's topic in Getting Started With Imaging
I had a look through my old images to see what sort of exposures I had used to capture the Horsehead. You basically don't need that long an exposure to see it. Using a 12" F4 Newtonian scope and unmodded DSLR @ ISO3200 I got this in 300 seconds Using a smaller 6" but optically faster F2.8 Newtonian scope and modded DSLR, i captured the area in 142 seconds. -
Show us your set up in action at night.
laser_jock99 replied to Peco4321's topic in The Astro Lounge
Some good shots posted so far of everybodies scopes 'at work'. Here is my 6" F4 Newtonian - the inset is the picture it was taking at the time. Another one of the same scope - all the red light is coming from the LED on the intervalometer! -
Newtonian Astrograph vs refractor
laser_jock99 replied to Ohm's topic in Getting Started Equipment Help and Advice
The fast F4 Newtonians are interesting scopes (I have four!) the caveat being that unless you love a really steep learning curve- they're not the best scope for starting out on. Collimation is fairly easily mastered- again the caveat is practice and the right tools to make the process fast and accurate. As others have said- the mount is fundamental, if you're already thinking about largish scopes then it might make sense to invest in the bigger EQ6 from the go. That way you'll be fairly future proof even if you start out with a small refractor. BTW- the Telescope House GSO/Revelation Astro F4 Newts are good value http://www.telescopehouse.com/telescopes/telescopes-by-brand/brand-revelation-telecopes/revelation-8-f-4-m-lrn-optical-tube-assembly-ota.html The monster 12" is steal at £575 but only really suited to observatory use. -
Canon 200mm F2.8L vs. Fast Refractor
laser_jock99 replied to Tommohawk's topic in Imaging - Deep Sky
The 130PDS used with the ASA 0.7x corrector/reducer would give a respectable F3.5 / 455mm FL instrument. I have tried it with the 150PDS and it seems to work okay. Never going to be as portable as a camera lens though! -
Canon 200mm F2.8L vs. Fast Refractor
laser_jock99 replied to Tommohawk's topic in Imaging - Deep Sky
If you want a portable F2.8 astrograph consider the 6" Boren-Simon Powernewt . Similar to my home cooked version but with most of the mods done for you. -
MWAS - Mid-Wales Astronomy Society.
laser_jock99 replied to Probablynot's topic in Star Parties & Astro Events
Hi Mark, Nant-y-Moch is a good dark place, plenty of places to pull in along that road. Ynyslas (nice place) is probably not that bad either (never been there at night though- although I might be tempted to night fish the beach at some point!). I keep my fishing boat down at the Ynyslas Boat Yard- which reminds me I had better go and fetch it soon as I'm unlikely to use it again till Spring..... LJ99 -
Stunning image.
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Windy Knoll Observatory - My Build Thread
laser_jock99 replied to Scorpius's topic in DIY Observatories
Solid job. -
Windy Knoll Observatory - My Build Thread
laser_jock99 replied to Scorpius's topic in DIY Observatories
Keep plugging away at it- mine took the best part of two summers to complete. -
Windy Knoll Observatory - My Build Thread
laser_jock99 replied to Scorpius's topic in DIY Observatories
Looks lik a solid job- I don't envy the guy who eventually has to remove it! -
I have had one a couple of years and find it interesting to see how much the readings can vary from session to session. Typically at the obsy site in Mid Wales 21.2 to 21.6 and rarely 21.8 I think a lot of this boils down to moisture/transparecy. On ultra clear nights the readings get lower- possibly because starlight is contributing to the photon count. It also depends on where you point the device- ideally the Zenith, but if The Milky Way is overhead you'll get a false reading. The SQM can also be used to evaluate sites on a cloudy night since they are very good at measuring the illumination on the underside of the cloud base. Interestingly from my obsy site on cloudy night I get a reading of >22 simply because there is no light either from stars or local light pollution. So the blackness of the clouds might be a better indication of light pollution levels? To illustrate the point see how bright the background sky is compared to the passing clouds in this video: Maybe we are measuring the wrong thing?
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Not much of collection to speak of really: Some Williams Optics 10x50 (nice views but military build quality means they are rather heavy 1.6KG!!) Swift 20x80 (again rather heavy & better used on a tripod) and a group of cheap 10x50's from Prinz, Bresser, Boots etc. These to be honest get more use because they are lightweight.
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SHOW US YOUR NEWTS........
laser_jock99 replied to laser_jock99's topic in Discussions - Scopes / Whole setups
What make of scope is that- looks very well constructed?