Stub Mandrel
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Everything posted by Stub Mandrel
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The 450D, but teh 150PL is f8 so I don't use my CC with it. M57 is a crop to only the middle third of the frame, so absolutely no risk of coma, but the M27 shot is virtually full frame APS-C. Here's the full M57 frame after a preliminary stretch, I'm sure it's light spill from a star or some other light source:
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Well we deserve one night of decent conditions in the UK every year!
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Here's M57 from earlier in the evening. Nearly twice the data but deeper in the LP so not as good, the 150PL also suffers if bright stars are nearby, the full frame has a huge blob of light from HIP93017, I should flock it!
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M27 from last night. Only about 40 subs, but the seeing & transparency was phenomenal around 1:00 am - light touch processing, it looked colourful even on the preview screen!
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Not sure, I'll have a look at mine. Suggest painting the cut end of the tube black. I superglued a little square of brass on the flat on the tube to act as a stop.
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Well I parted the end off in a lathe, but Hacksaw is fine, if you mark a line with tape to cut too and tidy it up with a file afterwards ;-)
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+point for self employment. I can set up the scope, put the camera timer on and come in a and do a couple of hours work so i get a lie in :-0
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I have to reprogram my goto box and then wire it up ...
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M5 from last night, 30-second subs, but not enough to make it good enough for teh 'comp'. Amazed I don't appear to have tackled M56 before. Unfortunately anything lower than M10,M12,M5 is going to be a big challenge from home. I'm wondering if I can get away with putting the scope on top of the kitchen's flat roof... as long as I'm not stomping around while it gets on with imaging?
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I lopped off about 1/2 I like Spillage's idea, however, I think cutting out some shallow arcs as well as lopping the end off.
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I cut the end of my focuser and glued on a stop so it doesn't wind right out.
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Single raw sub from last night stretched carelessly in Raw Therapee. Might be a tiny bit of coma in the very top right corner, or it might be because the scope was pointing straight up.
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The 130p-ds mask appeared to give me a sharper result than the one I hacked from plastic. I was inspired to do this after buying a decent 150PL one from FLO (at an excellent price!) which also worked better than my knife-cut one. It seems dead straight edges aren't critical, but they do help as a more defined pattern is easier to get just right.
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Last night I focused on Arcturus with a bahtinov mask, got it spot on, tightened the lock screw half a turn so that turning the focuser knobs made no difference to focus. IMHO I think that proves it is possible to get the stock focuser set up right.
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I've put STL files for three sizes of Bahtinov mask from Zeiss Sonnar up to 130P / 130P-DS up on my website at: http://www.stubmandrel.co.uk/astronomy/147-3d-printable-bahtinov-masks The sizes are such that you should be able to make them fit any scope or lens from 2 " - 6" (~48mm to 130mm aperture) overall diameter by scaling them in X and Y. They are not a close fit, they just 'hang there' so as not to disturb the focus/pointing when you lift them off.
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Or at least in mycase the locking screw doesn't need to be so tight as to push it out of kilter
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Mine is quite content with a 450D hanging off it, never had it slip. You can tighten it up, loosen the setting grub screws on the centre line of the plate above the adjuster, tighten the corner screws to make it just a tad too tight, then tighten the two adjuster screws until it is spot on. May need a couple of tries to get it perfect, but once done it should hold a DSLR for focusing while still being very smooth, then naturally you lock it with the lock screw. I bet a lot of people's issues with this focuser are down to poor adjustment. BTW I reversed the focusing screw to eliminate conflict between mount and low-speed control, as with a camera on I have the focuser on the mount side.
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I found astro-modding hugely increased what I got from the NAN, and brought out the Pelican. It's not as hard as it seems (OK I did destroy a 10D sensor on my first try...) How do you do that 'mouse over' index thingy? - it's great!
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Shame, I think 'Steve's Actions' which you get access to with 'every photo counts' has a red halo removal tool. Have you astro-modded your camera? If so you might find that adding an IR/UV cut filter reduces the haloes. When I modded my 450D I retained the UV/IR filter, although for the 10D I had to remove both as they are joined together.
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If you have PhotoShop it might be worth getting this (formerly known as 'Noel's Actions'): http://www.prodigitalsoftware.com/Astronomy_Tools_For_Full_Version.html It can do a good job of getting rid of those blue/violet haloes which are caused by blue/UV overspill and achromatic lenses.
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Do you have the 0.9x Skywatcher CC ahnd an APS-C DSLR? If so if you centre on M86 you will get the whole chain, plus a couple of nice galaxies on the far right.
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My optician told me there is now treatment to remove floaters! I said I've put up with these for over fifty years, why should i want to get rid of them now!
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I know several people who have had cataract surgery. They say it's life-changing and all wish they had it done sooner.
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Enough to make you want to get one, but not enough to stop you getting started with imaging with the scope, you can always crop to the centre part of your images until you get a CC.
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You're enjoying this, aren't you :-)
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