Andyb90

7 hours ago, Ouroboros said:

Is electronic focussing possible? 

Yes. It says the scope is compatible with EAF on the WO website.

An unboxing of the Redcat 61.

Pleiades 68 is fl 258 / f3.8 from this facebook post:

https://www.facebook.com/1234907422/posts/10223535210508443/?mibextid=rS40aB7S9Ucbxw6v

Pleiades 111 is fl 528 / f4.8 from this:

https://www.facebook.com/1014188687/posts/10225865268711085/?mibextid=rS40aB7S9Ucbxw6v

Here is a video of the scopes from NEAF.

The Pleiades scopes are 68mm and 111mm, but no focal length or f-ratio is given.

I looked on Facebook and WO have said the Cat61 will have the same Petzval design as the Cat51. Focal length is 300mm.

Facebook link:

https://www.facebook.com/100063897040146/posts/641307854675777/?mibextid=rS40aB7S9Ucbxw6v

There is a post on the cloudy nights forum with some pictures of the same scopes.

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/861025-neaf-2023-is-back-live-april-15th-16th-2023/?p=12636109

One of the pictures in the post is labelled ‘William Optics Pleiades Septuplet 71’.

In the pictures you can see the ‘Pleiades’ name on the side of the Blue and Black scopes.

On 17/04/2023 at 11:58, Dark Raven said:

There seems to be an entire line of WO WIFD scopes coming.

I emailed William Optics to ask about smaller scopes with the WIFD design. They said they will start selling a cat61 WIFD scope in June. I think it might be the scope pictured on the mount. I see that scope has the paw print logo on it that the other cat scopes have.

44 minutes ago, 900SL said:

There's a GN adaptor for 48 to 42 from memory

Its a good tilt adjuster, I don't have a filter wheel, mine is mounted behind the FFreducer in front of a filter drawer

 

Great thanks for the pic. I also saw the below pic on the Gerd Neumann website, which shows the CTU inserted between the scope and the rest of the imaging train like your setup. So I think I should be fine setting it up that way. Ordered a couple of adapters too. 

Also I see the adjustment screws are on the side of the CTU which is even better 🙂

Hi all,

I'm looking to get the Gerd Neumann Camera Tilting Unit CTU. Has anyone used it?

If so do you attach it to your camera and then to the filter wheel or can you put it between filter wheel and scope?

I see there is an m48 version. Do you just use an adapter then like m48 male to M42 male/female for connecting to scope or filter wheel with M42 connection?

Regards,

Andy

On 27/11/2022 at 10:09, bottletopburly said:

plenty of good data here https://stargazerslounge.com/forum/294-iki-observatory/

Ah great. Thanks. I somehow missed this when searching here on the forum.

On 27/11/2022 at 09:56, Stuart1971 said:

Check out this link, he has 4 beginner tutorials and they are very good, and he includes the data so you can follow along with him…they are very well explained and easy to follow…

https://www.youtube.com/@lukomatico/videos

Thanks. This is excellent being able to follow along with the videos and try processing the data myself.

Hi everyone,

I recently purchased Pixinsight and have about 1 hour of Ha data due to the clouds rolling in during my last session.

Is there anyone who would be willing to share some mono Narrowband data for me to have a go at processing in Pixinsight?

I wouldn't upload images to any websites. It would just be to help me learn Pixinsight.

Thanks,

Andy

On 25/11/2022 at 17:30, Adreneline said:

I've settled on using a second long Vixen bar which extends out behind the focuser - works a treat with my RedCat and on my Samyang.

I also attach a mini-Vixen clamp to the lower rail as a fail-safe to stop it falling out of the mount saddle.

HTH

Thanks for the suggestion. I ordered some 30mm spacers to raise my scope up a bit more. Will then see if I can get the ASIAIR on the Losmandy plate like you have done on the vixen bar.

Hi everyone,

I’m trying to figure out how to mount an ASIAIR Plus on this rig. Does anyone have any suggestions?

There doesn’t seem to be a finder bracket available for the Feathertouch focuser.

Thanks,

Andy

15 hours ago, scotty38 said:

Regardless of what else you check out have a look at the official PI youtube channel and also have a look at Adam Block's free stuff particularly his WBPP series

Channel looks very good, and it really starts with the basics like workspaces, windows etc. Thats just what I need.

22 hours ago, Adreneline said:

I found these invaluable. A bit dated now but the fundamentals and approach are still sound.

https://www.lightvortexastronomy.com/tutorials.html

 

This looks very good. As you say the fundamentals have not changed.

Hi everyone,

I’ve just purchased Pixinsight and would really value any recommendations on learning resources for it.

Is there a course/book/channel that you swear by for Pixinsight tutorials/guides/lessons?

I would be open to purchasing material, such as books or a course.

I’m shooting in mono, mainly narrowband. So any good resources leaning towards that would be helpful.

Thanks,

Andy.

11 hours ago, symmetal said:

No it won't, unless it gets loud and you can feel the vibration which I can't see happening. Many power supplies in particular make a noise, linear ones can buzz or hum, and switch mode supplies can give of a high pitch whine. This is due to the continuously changing magnetic fields in inductors or transformers which are carrying significant currents creating a force which tries to make them vibrate very slightly, (Fleming's Left Hand Rule). They continue working for years without problems. 😉

Here's an article explaining acoustic noise in switched-mode power supplies. Half way down it mentions the piezo effect which is likely the cause in your case. It states that 

"Ceramic capacitors that undergo high dv/dt swings often prove to be audibly noisy"

High dv/dt means a large voltage swing in a short period of time, which is what's happening in your dew controller PWM circuitry. If the noise isn't too much of a bother then I should leave it as it is. 🙂

Alan

Ok, thanks for the info. As the ASIAIR is attached to my imaging scope I think I'll test with and without the dew heaters powered on just in case the vibration has any impact on the images.

3 hours ago, symmetal said:

This is a common side effect of PWM (pulse width monulation) switching used to control the dew strap power, as a result of the circuit design and possible PCB board layout. At 0% and 100% there is no actual PWM switching occuring so there is no noise generated. PWM is used as it's very power efficient and easy to implement.

The noise is generally produced by capacitors on the PWM output circuitry, commonly ceramic plate, among others, the plates of which will vibrate at the switching frequency due to the piezoelectric effect. As surface mount capacitors are usually used nowadays, this plate vibration gets transmitted to the PCB itself and it's the PCB vibrating you can hear.

The MOSFET (Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistors) commonly used for the power switching can switch very fast and unless steps are taken to limit the rate at which the voltage changes on the MOSFET gate pin then it's likely the switching output will be too fast and 'ring' after each transition which is a high frequency AC voltage oscillation which decays over time, superimposed on the PWM waveform. This will likely make the audible noise louder, as well as reduce the switching efficiency, making the MOSFETs run hotter than they should.

I made my own Arduino based PWM dew controllers which switch at 4kHz or 8kHz depending on the output used, and using an oscilloscope to check the output waveform, selected components to eliminate any 'ringing' while still switching at a fast enough speed, and also used through hole components rather than surface mount, so any possible vibrating components are mechanically isolated from the PCB. It's totally silent as a result. 🙂

Changing the PWM switching speed in software could make the noise less annoying, or clamping the PCB down more to reduce vibrations. Putting a small resistor capacitor combination in parallel with the dew strap would likely inhibit the ringing, but the capacitor mustn't be too large that it stops the FET switching fast enough which could cause it to overheat.

Probably more than you wanted to know. 😊

Alan

Thanks for the response. Do you think the vibration could damage the unit either imminently or over an extended period of time?

I could always go back to using a separate dew heater controller. Using the ASIAIR Plus for dew heater control is convenient, but not a necessity.

1 hour ago, OK Apricot said:

It may be a sign of the power distribution being near its limit - I'm pretty sure it's only good for 6A across all four ports. Do you have anything else connected? Do you know what your power draw is with everything connected? 

I just tested again with only the 3 dew heaters at 30% and get the noise. The power draw is showing as 0.75 amps in the ASIAIR.

I noticed if the dew heaters are set to 100% the noise stops.

Hi everyone,

I’ve got 3 dew heater bands connected to my new ASIAIR Plus. When the bands are powered up the ASIAIR Plus makes a buzzing/humming noise. Does anyone know if this is normal or if it is anything to be concerned about?

Thanks,

Andy

16 hours ago, AstroKeith said:

DO NOT USE DRY WIPES!

Ok, thanks for the advice. Do you think some distilled water on a Kim wipe would be ok for less stubborn marks/dust spots?

I’m a bit nervous about using alcohol in case I damage/remove the filter mount coating by accident.

Hi everyone,

Can you recommend the best way to clean Antlia Pro 1.25" mounted Narrowband filters?

I read on another forum the threaded filter mounts have an alcohol soluble coating. So I think I'd need an alcohol free solution. Also I have some Kimwipes delicate task wipes. Would they be ok to use dry for minor dust marks.

Thanks,

Andy

2 hours ago, malc-c said:

I see you asked the same question on Cloudy Nights forum.  Other suggestions when googling the topic seem to result when the filter wheel has been over tightened, or as suggested on the other forum, used an different USB lead to the filter wheel, or confirming the option has been selected.  I can't really assist as I don't have / use an Asiair box

I changed the carousel in the filter wheel (7 x 36mm to 8 x 1.25”), but I think the carousels are not interchangeable in the zwo efw. I put the original carousel back in and it worked fine.

Hi everyone,

I’m getting the error “Failed to set EFW” when I try to run an imaging plan with my ASIAIR Plus. I have a ZWO EFW (8 x 1.25”) filter wheel connected. Does anyone know how to resolve this issue?