Stub Mandrel

The sensor chips will be capable of coping with the heat from a reflow oven that melts the solder (very quickly)

A hot air gun might be less likely to melt the solder and require less waving around (although one is capable of melting solder).

Hmm good question! Looks like when you stop down you reduce lens aberation but introduce diffractive effect. See here: http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/diffraction.htm

That led me here: http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/diffraction-photography.htm

the link has an interactive tool that lets you compare the airy disk for any given f-ratio with pixel size. It seems a scope's f-ratio is fundamentally more important than aperture for photography, though the link between f-ratio and magnification

Quite a bit of food for thought, but it reinforces the rule of thumb for using shorter camera lenses to drop down a couple of stops from full aperture.

If you stop down a lens, does it effectively reduce the diameter, so you lose resolution. or does it just reduce the light level?

I think you need 50 posts.

A good first shot, Simon. I assume you haven't got tracking. I would guess you could get longer exposures at 200mm that will bring out even more detail without blurring the stars.

If you have 'spare' manual lenses or ones dedicated to astro use, you can modify them by removing/altering the focus stop http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/256671-astro-modding-lenses/

:-)

Hope to gaze into the depths of your mirror one day!

That sensor I found in the bottom of the drawer is duff.  Below is the sort of image I get.  I guess the result of the scratches.  Could be useful for practising debayering before I tackle a working sensor

IMG_0001_9a.jpg

You could sell that to the Tate Modern.

The forum software is excellent, as an admin on another forum I am deeply jealous.

I thought this was so cool last year 2014.  My first picture M42.  Taken with 80mm Refractor - no guiding - single image -cropped.

The second one was taken last week with same refractor but with go-to tracking mount.  10 subs( ISO 1600 @ 90 seconds) , 5 darks. Preprocessed in Nebulosity.

That's a brilliant way to encourage beginners, Tim! It has to encourage people especially knowing it's the same scope.

Perhaps we should have a before and after my first year thread to cover how much your first faltering steps can improve. it cost me about £210 to go between these two shots (OK they are planets not DSOs:

Perhaps we should have a specific before and after thread where people give an idea of the time between the two images and a rough idea of budget and equipment, focusing on the progress they made at the beginning, rather than when they could afford expensive gear?

@ Stub Mandrel: I've got a spare LP1 filter from a 1000D. If it fits your camera and you want it, feel free to PM me.

Thanks, you have a PM<, though its shame to benefit from your misfortune.

Has anyone in this thread got an unwanted LP1 filter that could be retro-fitted into my Canon D10 to save me from bloated stars?

Ah, I don't now how the glass is supported on the Sony chips. The Canon ones have a significant gap between coverglass and sensor.

Ok, here's another idea.

Get a single point diamond wheel dresser (about £4 on the bay, a fraction of the cost of a scriber).

Scribe four lines around the hole you need in the chip, then VERY GENTLY two more across the diagonals (optional).

Apply tape.

Press on centre of the glass  with thumb or tap with tail-end of dresser.

The centre should break out with no need to use heat.

I used my wheel dresser to allow me to break a 6-foot mirror in two so that I could tip it a few weeks ago.

Just a suggestion - the hazard is shattering the glass cover and shards breaking the chip wires, is it not?

Why not put a slip of high-strength tape over the glass before trying to prise it loose. That might stop any chip large enough to cause damage coming free.

Gucki 2.3 x 40 widebinos 28°

These arrived today, of course it's been raining with 100% cloud cover so I've no Idea what they're like to look through. Seem very well made, very light, and came with a nice little carry case.

Add a head strap and they would make a great SteamPunk accessory

1. Miyauchi Bj-100 20/37x100

2. Helios Apollo 15x70

3. Oberwerk Ultra 10x50

4. Opticron BGA 10x42

5. Vortex Raptor 6.5x32

6. VixenSG 2.1x42

7. Strathspey 15x70 (actually 15x62.5)

8. Strathspey Marine 10x50 (actually 10x41)

9. Frank Nipole 10x50 (yes that is a hinge-mount tripod adaptor fixed to it)

10. Zenith 10x50 (belonged to my late father-in-law -sentimental value only)

11. No-name (well, would you admit to it?) 12-60x70 (actually ?-??x49) zoom - with "the latest ruby coatings" possibly the worst binocular I've ever had the misfortune to look through. Kept for when I give talks, as an example of everything to avoid. No, I didn't buy it; it was donated.

Ok, I get it - you are the human fly and have compound eyes...

> The guidescope I'm working on (not pictured) is an old 500mm telephoto.

Interesting, I'm thinking of making a t-mount fitting focuser, if tehre's enough room, it would be fun to make my 500mm f8 lens into a very compact grab'n'go maksutov

It's amazing what you can get away with up to 20MHz+, and there are times I suspect the 10D runs at nearer 20 KHz... anyway nothing to lose by trying  ;-)

I doubt you'd be getting good enough conductivity. There is a reason why those wires are made of gold..

If conductivity was the requirement, they'd be made of silver not gold, its so they are easier to attach and don't corrode.

The silver paint has ~ 1/400 the conductivity of gold but as the cross-sectional area will be many times the diameter of the wire and current path will be very short, I don't imagine the difference would be significant (possibly detectable by the people who use gold plated battery clamps for their in-car HI-FI).

Any minor difference should be compensated for by control frames.

I think its actually doing it that's the challenge.

How about this stuff to re-attach wires?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/0-3ML-Silver-Conductive-Compound-Electrically-Paint-Glue-Wire-Paste-Trace-Repair-/381261278511?hash=item58c4f16d2f:g:SRMAAOSwNSxVOvyD

That's pretty much what I had in mind. CPC do one you can wash off if it goes wrong.

If we can work out a wire-reattaching method... I now have a 10D sensor to practice on :-(

Courageous choice. You've avoided the 'owe it to our lads' fallacy!

Keep up the updates!

In every instance, the Canon S110 always falls short of that seen during a live session.

As a spectacle wearer I can vouch for the fact that the eye/brain combination is very good at doing on-the-fly RGB alignment. It can be fooled, illuminated TESCO signs in red and blue and the HSBC logo on a computer screen both show movement of the two coloured parts when I move my head - in fact the red spelling wiggle under TESCO moves side to side as I shake my head! But when the colours are overlaid, the eye correct (e.g. the word TESCO in white doesn't split into RGB except at the extreme edge of my vision, even though the red bit must be moving as much as the wiggle!)

Personally I find the Moonraker overdone, the understated Zeiss says quality that has gone into the optics, not the bling.