alacant

Let's try to help the OP if we can. He doesn't need anything other than a m42 t2 adapter and what is supplied by Baader. Thanks.

The distance flange - sensor on a Nikon F is 46.5mm try: 8.5 + 46.5 Ring any bells? clue: it's an infamous back-focus number Cheers and HTH

Please share the documentation. We always recommend turning off in-camera dark removal.

With your reflector, you'll be able to cut the frames by at least 1/3. 2 to 3 minutes should be fine compared to our miserably slow refractor. Do post the result.

Try not to overthink it. The focal plane on a 130pds is about 6.5cm above the front face of the fully retracted focuser. The Baader cc comes with an adjustable adapter to place the camera sensor 55mm -plus a few mm wiggle room- from the front face of e.g. this t2 ring. Stick the whole assembly -the cc slides into the focuser- into the telescope and away you go. No need to measure anything. There is ample room either side of focus. That's it. Cheers and HTH

Well done. It really is the only way. And just look how clean those stars appear:) Congratulations. You can now use the primary locking screws as they were intended to be used or -even better- fit six stronger springs; three to replace the existing weak springs and a further three, passive style, over the locking screws, leaving the latter loose. Cheers

Hi Oh, desr. Maybe the secondary wasn't big enough. In any case, it doesn't matter. If you really do want to perfect it, wait until you can get along to an astro club. Meanwhile, concentrate on adjusting the primary. But don't spend too much time doing it. Remember that the secondary is just a flat bit of glass. Get it somewhere close. Then leave it. But yes, if you want to do photography, cheap (all?) Newtonian telescopes need pulling apart and rebuilding with components fit for the task. Cheers

Hi The guiding depends heavily on seeing. One night you may have 0.40. the next night, on the same target could be double, or more. And that's all that matters; your satisfaction:) Here's an analysis which would be better done on linear data, but it's quite flat. If you don't like it, you can always have a go at it in software. There's a trend ATM which seems to want to obliterate stars. I like your shot. It has natural looking stars. We spend €thousands on gear to take images of stars. then reduce them to oblivion!

Hi With only a tiny piece of guiding, without the log and -more importantly- the images which were produced as a result, it's very difficult to comment. One general point would be that what the guide camera sees and what the main camera sees can be quite different, especially with separate guide telescopes. If you're satisfied with the images, I'd say stay as you are. Look at the images, not the graphs. Cheers

We try to make pretty pictures, that's all. I don't know the source you mention, but certainly for us, spending €silly on a filter for an effect which can be had for 1/10 of the outlay isn't justifiable. Even less so if the quality is questionable. As one of our visitors -armed with a €200+ piece of glass- put it, 'I think I've been taken for a bit of a ride!' as I revealed our humble €30 UHC. I suppose there's the marketing hype to pay for too. Dunno. Perhaps if you're stuck in a city and it's the only way, then maybe. But have a go with the sensibly priced stuff before you dive in, surely. Cheers

Hi everyone Can't find the ngc for this one. Our resident sky geek tells me the cluster is 2244 so that's what I used for the EKOS scheduler. The UHC cuts a hell of a lot of light and at 5 minutes, there was still only a hint of the nebula. We had to go to 8 minute frames to convince onlookers, although I've the feeling that -more of- 4 or 5 minute frames would have done just as well. Thanks for looking and do post if you've had a go at the rosette with a dslr + uhc. 700d on 72mm f6 siril 1.0.0 rc3 + ST 1.8.522

Your experience guiding just got a lot easier!

Yes, of course. On the guide tab, simply select: Via -> On Camera The connections are USB: computer - camera ST4: camera - mount Note: have at least one spare st4 cable and/or get a proper flexible one. HTH

Hi Keep it simple? You may find it -considerably- easier to use EKOS' own first-rate guider rather than adding a third party app to the mix. Cheers

So, plug and socket on each;) In this game, especially at 03:00 when you're half asleep and the dew has had chance to work its magic, you need the fewest possible bits to check. Believe me! Cheers

We connect via eqmod, sometimes remotely. Quite often I'm the guy on the ground at the telescope end... Speaking from bitter experience, they're cheap items and for us at least, replacing three pieces of hardware (eight mating surfaces to go wrong) with just a single cable makes for far fewer sleepless nights! Cheers

+1 Maybe when the current thread has come to an end would be a good time to apply. All information in plain language in one place would be very helpful. The main problem would be catering for all variants e.g. we've already revealed at least four methods of connecting just one mount... Phew...

Perhaps the main disadvantage is that one still needs the hand controller in the mix. Is it possible to use EQmOD without PC-Direct? Cheers.

There seems to be confusion about mount connection alternatives. There are three methods. Here they are: 1. USB cable from PC to hand controller (HC). The hand controller runs normally, you do polar alignment and 3-star alignment from the hand controller. Kstars/Stellarium/cartes du ciel etc can send commands to the mount to tell it where to go. AFAICT, on-camera st-4 guiding (phone cord from camera to mount) is the only way of guiding with this configuration. 2. USB cable from PC to HC, just like (1),but set the HC to PC-DIRECT. You no longer need to do a 3-star alignment from the HC. Install INDI or ASCOM on your PC. It allows the PC to take the place of the HC. This makes things like plate solving possible, which greatly simplifies life (once you get plate solving configured and working). on-camera or pulse guiding are possible, the former being preferred. It also eliminates the need of that phone cord from camera to mount. Anything for fewer cables;) 3. Lose the HC and use a ftdi eqdir cable as recommended here. Connect that directly from the PC to the mount. Control, guide and plate solve from the comfort of anywhere with a network connection. Or from beside the telescope if you like that sort of thing. Simple and effective. Having tried them all, the only one which we find works reliably, accurately and each time-every time is (3). Please add other methods if you know of any. Cheers and HTH.

Here we are with the TSFlat2 at 128mm and a UHC filter. Yeah, I know. I changed too many variables [1], but it looks like the halos seemr more under control. [1] I expected the filter to introduce more -or larger- reflections.

Hi Yes, that's it. Easier and more reliable to simply lose the hand controller and use this ftdi cable instead between computer to mount. There's a usb to serial chip in the plug. Cheers and HTH.

Hi Be sure to read the common collimation myths and the no nonsense explanation of collimation. You're quite close as it is so to hit the ground running... Make sure the spider vanes are all of equal length. Now adjust C = D and E = F. Now you can rotate the secondary and tilt the primary to get A = B. Then use a Cheshire sight tube -preferably one with cross hairs- to perfect it. Repeat the whole process until you're satisfied/bored. HTH

I know of no Newtonian which works for astrophotography (well) out of the box. Maybe TS can help within your budget? Or how about the SW 130pds? 650mm. It can be made skyworthy -i.e. made to retain collimation- in around an hour. Don't forget the extra for the coma corrector. Cheers

Yes. That's where the focus podition should be, around 6cm above the top of the focuser. But why the massive 7cm secondary? If you don't need to cover full frame, specify 58mm or 63mm. I believe though that even the UNC retains the toy springs. And still only 3 of them. Easy to fix of course, but if you're paying €high...

Hi Look carefully at which model it is. AFAIK, there is only one type available at sensible prices. The one we tried had a metal tube and of good quality, but the spider for the secondary was buried quite a way from the open end of the tube, was un-reinforced and the tube dented as you tightened the spider thumb screws. It had an unnecessarily large secondary throwing the focus position to a position way out from the tube, even with a dslr. It really was unworkable and un-balancable, as half of the light path came after the secondary. Here's an example with an eyepiece at focus. A camera is not going to be much better. We came to the conclusion that if you wanted a sensible 150 f4, you'd have to specify an ONTC yourself with the secondary further up the tube, as there seem to be no other versions other than the GSO/TS reasonably priced. If you find otherwise, please post, as the idea of something as light and as fast as this appeals:)