JohnSadlerAstro

Hi,

I believe that the mirror is the same as the standard 130P, although there is another version (Which I happen to have as well) which came in a starter pack with an EQ2. Often marketed as the Explorer 130M, if i remember right. As far as I know, the P-DS has the primary mounted on the inside not the outside of the mounting rings on the end of the tube, giving a focus point further from the focuser (shortening primary-secondary separation while maintaining the same focal  length.

Those carbon OTAs look amazing, right? Especially the Orion Optics ones (not Orion as in Orion Telescopes and Binos) with orange tube rings and extractor fans!  

Apparently, the latest generation of EQ5s and 6s have green detailing--put that all together and it would make a very intimidating setup.
(With a finderscope, of course; OAGs don't look so good )

John

Hi,

I feel slightly embarrassed posting my attempts here! 

A sort-of-test M51 image, with EOS 1000d (Modded) 1 hour 2 mins of subs, at ISO 800 120 sec each. 

Mounted on EQ5 with dual-axis motors, guiding using ST4 and PHD.

There's a bit of gradient caused (I think) by the flats not matching up to the data images, this was because a small piece of plastic loosened by the modding process fell onto the camera sensor when I rotated the scope back down from tracking M51. I had to remove the camera to get rid of it, so there is probably a slight angle error between flats and lights.

I'm quite pleased with the results, considering it was full moon, the collimation wasn't amazing, and a small galaxy is not what my setup is designed for.

John

Creepy. I find collimation a frightening and nerve-wracking experience, despite the fact that ive read plenty of guides on how to do it. Last time I collimated (after taking the scope apart for putting black felt inside), I ended up going round in circles with aligning the secondary dead-centre and then being forced to tilt toe primary so much it was almost falling out of the tube! In the end, I got the right angle  with the secondary and it seemed to work.

I did cheat just a little tiny bit though --I slightly adjusted the secondary vanes to bring the secondary into the centre. Only by about 1 mm, I decided to get a compromise between the mirror being centred and the secondary being true to the focuser.  

John

1 hour ago, Uranium235 said:

Though I've not really seen any negative consequences of breaking that limit, there must be some penalty

Hi,

Surely there aren't actually any *actively negative* consequences? I mean, the telescope's resolution will continue the same regardless of how many camera pixels its image falls onto? So in theory, the only downsides are secondary, things like hotter camera (more pixels, probably less efficient cooling p/p) and also far larger file size per mm^2 of sensor?

John

Hi,

I had the same issue with new EQ5, the locking knobs were rotated so that they couldn't fully unlock the axes. You need to unscrew them, loosen the locking bolt, and then put the knob back on again. The issue should then be sorted.

John

Believe me, once you have had 4-5 hours of about 20 kinks in your back and nerve damage from the terror of modding, you will have had quite enough! Leave any smart cooling systems for another day, it'll save you from losing too many years of your life.

John

Hi,

I used an old laptop box as my 'workstation', with the top half of it holding sheets to stick the removed screws onto, and the bottom half lined with white card so I could see clearly. The sides of the box prevent any runaway pieces. 

I am aware that at least one of the Canon DSLRs requires soldering, I'm not sure which one that is, though; do be careful!

If you want to, it might be worth looking over this; I listed the main sticking points of the 1000d modding process after I finished the operation. They will probably be a bit different in the 350, but it might be useful.

(No self-promo intended! )

Hope all goes well! (I never had a screwdriver which fitted, so I filed one down on the day )

John

The only way I can get a before-after image is by getting some shots of the Rosette or M42, Ive really wanted to do that, but I stayed mostly away from the red nebulae before I modded, as I wouldn't have been able to get much detail.

This is a ton of 5 mins subs without modding, on the Rosette. The background is quite bad, this was before I reworked the control system and got dithering in. 

As you can see, Ive picked up blue in the neb, and only a bit of red.

 On modding, I did do the mod myself, but only because of the very detaied instructions available online. I'm not sure they covered the 350.

John

Hi,

My latest image with the 130 and EQ5, this was more of a test of my 1000d post-mod. Ripping out the IR filter has certainly given this grandfather of DSLRs a new lease of life; I was considering replacing it a while back.  

Also some Work In Progress data of M81 and 82, I won't really be able to finish this one until next year, which is a bit of a shame. The biggest problem for me right now is having to set everything up from scratch each session, also I usually wait for the streetlights to turn off after 0:00, then any subs which I take are gradient-free.

My plans for this one are some more 5 min subs to get the galaxies showing a bit 'cleaner', then some 3 min ones to capture more of the red filaments hiding in the Cigar. (This data was taken before I modified the 1000d.)

John

1 minute ago, serbiadarksky said:

It can easily handle the 13pds?

It can easily handle anything!
The EQ5 I am using is one hardly anybody uses, because the motors for it were only recently given a handset with ST4. I wouldn't really want to increase focal length, to be honest, but i am using a 50mm finder as guidescope, so some improvements could be made there!

John

Hi,

Well i guess its my turn to post here now, I've had a 130 for almost a year now, I'm using it with a basic EQ5. These are my best images; I'm working on software/control reworking then i should be back into imaging for the new year.

John

All I can say is I wouldn't like to be around if that thing was run over by a car  Lithium + Oxygen ain't good for the 'ealth!

John

22 hours ago, Adam J said:

Something in another thread prompted me.

Or, "Somebody"; I think that was me!  

I must try that out with my new P-DS.  

John  

Hi,

If you want the theme to be "Clouds", get these guys on the job!  

https://cloudappreciationsociety.org/

John

Hi,

My 130P-DS is due at the door any minute  FLO certainly have quick dispatching and shipping!

John

Ouch! That sounds nasty. Though you can probably claim to be one of the very few people to be able to see Black Holes.....

John

Hi,

So this is a comparison... no prizes for guessing which is 8-bit!!! Interestingly, 8 bit is 1.2 MB, 16 bit is 10.4 MB! (both have slight sharpening applied). The halos on the 16bit are a result of something............but its not in GIMP, stack looks like it, so I don't know. (oh, and only 13 frames in 16 bit, 70 or so in 8-bit, I did a very critical restack.)

This is the old, 8-bit, with bad gradient, noise, nasty colour, and clipped.

Then we have the 16-bit version,  still loads more processing to do, no clipping, lots of colour, loads less noise, and overall "healthy" look. Although I haven't got everything out of it yet, the data is really improved in it. (I like images with quite right backgrounds, easier on the eyes, black sky = bad sky)

Hmmm...Nice idea, that.....your SW as bad? We've had 2 "good" nights this year--my mount has more motors than that!

Issue with Gaussians is, they can reduce resolution; planetary imaging-- (I've only recently heard of that, never realized you could see PLANETS or THE MOON whatever that is  from the SW!!!  ) ---would be a nightmare with that!  

John

I am so sorry, sire moderator. I was too excited  

LOL

John

Erm....can you get banned for using too many emojis?

My HAPPIEST post ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  

I have 16-bit GIMP now!!!!!!  Thank you so much for the links to it. It's amazing! I could see the difference as soon as I did the 1st stretch!!! Now I know why my photos were looking bad!!!!! 

Ha Ha, beat ya, noise!!!!   I am soooo excited right now..........  

Also Gradient...It melts away with discerning use of the Curves function!!!  

Before the background looked like.....a typical 'clear' night in the South-West, ie., muddy puddle...  

I will look into the trial versions of the £££ software, and see how they compare, and perhaps buy one one day........ (Though it seems unjust to ME for me to have to spend my MEAGRE pocket money on a COMMERCIAL license , but then.....)

John

1 minute ago, cuivenion said:

16 bit is on the way. It's implemented in 2.9.4 beta:

https://download.gimp.org/mirror/pub/gimp/v2.9/

How do I download this? Just click on the Latest  ".md5" file?

Hi,

So I've recently realized how much 8-bit GIMP is affecting my images, and I wondered, is PixInsight worth the £175 price tag? And do I have to pay that much? Surely I'm not "Commercial?"

Also, is there actually a 16-bit version of GIMP available?

John

Hi,

When I owned an EQ2, my motor drive seemed to work ok, the main issue I had was the big hawser that seemed to be necessary to supply power from the handset to the motor ! I think really that the EQ2's drive is very basic, and as there 's no polar alignment scope,  I personally have spent 3 hours drift aligning, and still found it wanting. (Although I still used it in my 1st imaging attempts). I never got a stationary image. Thank goodness and an Uncle for supplying the money for an EQ5!

And just a thought----this thread was started in 2009, lol  

John

yeah, I meant about an hour of 60-90s expos. Thanks for the advice, I'll try it with the lens, and see what I can get.