ejp1684

46 minutes ago, MarkAR said:

You're better off apparently hooking up via the USB port to a hub and letting your computer control everything. That way you can use pulse guiding.

Yes, this is the way I successfully used my GPCam.

Hi and welcome to the forums. I've been visiting the Algarve for the last seven or eight years each summer. Was due to visit in June but for obvious reasons that was cancelled. I've stayed with friends near Carvoeiro, just down the road. From the little time I've spent in Portugal you seem to have many more clear nights that we do in the UK. I hope you enjoy your astronomy, and as you say, there's such a wealth of information on these forums.

Eric.

14 hours ago, bottletopburly said:

Run scripts in Siril is literally a few clicks of the mouse .

I agree. Below is my first attempt with all processing done using Siril (on Mac), taken with Star Adventurer and ancient Canon 400D unmodified, and old 35-135mm lens.

 It's actually a screen shot as I couldn't get Siril to export a TIFF file in colour, seemed to want to stick to grey scale.

Eric.

I use Parallels on my iMac and run DSS and other Win software without any trouble.

Eric.

Castlemorton Common, just south of Malvern is supposed to be one of the better places in the area. Or contact the Worcester Astronomical Society who might have some suggestions.

Eric.

53 minutes ago, drjolo said:

You don't need a direct sunlight to take Sun spectrum - it is enough to point the spectroscope inlet to the cloudy sky. I took my first spectra ever this way  It was captured with IMX224 camera

 

Thanks for this. But my main task is to check that the guide scope works. I had a bit of trouble with alignment on the last version of Lowspec I made.

Eric.

Encouraging. I'm still waiting for a clear night (or even an hour or two!) to check out my Lowspec 3. Thanks for this comparison, I hope to get an 1800 grating when I get everything working again. Not much sunshine here, either.

Eric.

...but we live in hope.

Eric.

9 minutes ago, Thalestris24 said:

I have a small 45 deg mirror that I made before 🙂 I'll try a finder first and see how I get on - I'd rather do that than hunting around for the zero order. Will post my result 🙂. 

Louise 

The zero order on my Lowspec3 is very close the the zero mark on the micrometer.

Eric.

6 hours ago, Thalestris24 said:

Ok. Hmm... I'd have to take the grating out to do that - or maybe I could just use a mirror. It's 2:30 am here now so I'm turning in for the night!

Thanks 🙂 

Louise

Or use the zero order reflected from the grating?

Eric.

1 hour ago, drjolo said:

One tricky part (for me at least) was to align guiding optical path.

Same here. I've now used a laser to try and align the mirror, waiting for miserable UK skies to clear so I can try it out.

Eric.

I'm at the final stages of constructing LOWSPEC3. I've incorporated the Relco holder provided by drjolo on another thread. When the UK weather gives me a break I'll try it out, but so far so good.

Eric.

Wow, I'm impressed! Not sure I'd be capable of doing all that even if I had all the 3d files and instructions. I'd be interesting in seeing them, though.

Eric.

Ken, could I ask what camera you use for guiding?

Thanks,

Eric.

Yes, I've printed threads successfully on a Prusa i3 using 0.1mm layers.

Eric.

1 hour ago, Merlin66 said:

When viewed from the telescope side, the numbers appear correct, the chrome coating and slits are on the rear face - towards the collimator.

When I view my OVIO disk like this the numbers are mirror images, similar to Paul's comment.

Eric.

On 01/01/2020 at 00:37, Thalestris24 said:

Happy New Decade Everyone!!!

And to you, Louise!

4 hours ago, Thalestris24 said:

Not sure why it appears a bit blurry at the flipped bottom. I'll have to check the slit holder assembly is seated ok.

I had this but not quite as emphasised as your example. I did wonder if my grating wasn't exactly vertical in its holder, and it did look as though it was pointing down slightly, so I packed it out at the top with a couple of slivers of paper and it seems better. Probably doesn't matter too much, as only a very small section will be used for calibration.

Eric.

With the bulb just in front of the slit the exposure time will be much  quicker; mine for the S10 are typically 5secs to 20secs depending on which end of the spectrum I'm using.

I'm not very good with electronics so bought this inverter from ebay which plugs into my battery box.

I used resistors in series with the S10 bulb (33k from memory which I think gave about 86v) and an inline fuse, and the S10 flickers slightly but remains on as long as power is connected. My 'hole in the lid' of Lowspec works, but not ideal. Would be great to have something like a flip mirror with the bulb fixed inside the case.

Is it possible to get an 'adjustable' inverter to provide approx. 86v from a 12v supply?

And as Louise said, many thanks for Lowspec, Paul.

Eric.

Go to Calibration on the top menu and select 'Show/Hide Calibration Points'. That should toggle the calibration lines on and off.

Eric.

Louise, I did a quick check of your result and found the following from the S10 calibration data. I don't quite understand your comment about there being '?'s against most of the lines, I read these values straight from the charts.

I find the lower end needs more exposure to get accurate results. Other bulbs may work better for you; I used the S10 because it was there on the shelf at B&Q!

Happy calibrating!

Eric.

The issues I had with the guiding were to do with the first version of Lowspec where the guide mirror was fixed in position and not easy to adjust. In this latest version the guide mirror is adjustable and I found it easy to get the slit in the centre of the camera.

In my setup the slit is not easy to see at night ( I think I need a more sensitive camera), so having the illuminator fitted allows me to quickly check where the slit is, and to set the slit overlay onto it (using PHD2).

I'm using the 20 micron slit.

Eric.

Finally found out where the S10 info came from. The link to it was 'yimg.com' which means it was one of the now defunct Yahoo groups, now the Astronomical Spectroscopy group at 'groups.io'. I think the BASS project is now there as well. The Astronomical Spectroscopy group is worth joining if you haven't already done so, lots of useful info and great advice when you need it. But I've attached the pdf file anyway.

Eric.

SpectraPhilipsS10Starter.pdf

6 minutes ago, Thalestris24 said:

I'm a bit in the dark as to how one identifies the wavelengths in these starter bulbs?

I'll see if I can locate the web address for the info, if not I can attach the files I have.

Eric.

Here's a calibration image from the Philips S10 bulb. The lower end of the spectrum is the most difficult and needs more exposure, once above 450nm it's straightforward.

Eric.

As I mentioned in my previous post on Lowspec I used a Philips S10 starter bulb which works quite well. There's more info in my other post.

Paul has said he hopes to develop Lowspec to include a calibration unit, although I haven't heard any more on this. He also seems to be designing other improvements to the grating holder and changing gratings. 

Eric.