alacant

Hi Why not simply leave your laptop at the telescope and control it using your 'phone/tablet/desktop using vnc/teamviewer/autodesk? From anywhere. Cheers

You really need longer. We use a 55cm Losmandy dovetail plate with 4cm X 2cm thick walled aluminium to tie together the rings. Really? The AliExpress guys have all the springs with free postage. We used 1.4 X 12 X 15. It only takes a week. Anyway, good luck with the upgrade:)

Hi everyone Not many blue nebulae here, or rather there probably are but they're too distant to see! There were only 3 hours left before sunrise after the xmas tree. The little 130 really is amazing. Galaxies even... **EDIT: almost forgot a callout for Ivo's new SuperStructure module in the latest StarTools; did a great job retaining the faint fuzzies in the bg:) eos700d @ ISO800

Hi everyone. Still plugging away with the blue nebulae. Few and far between it seems. A bit rough around the edges; it's difficult to set the black because there's stuff everywhere.

Hi Try without first. You may well be pleasantly surprised;) Cheers

Hi A big tip of the hat to all UK based astro-photographers. The images you produce under such conditions are amazing. I've visited UK a few times and to my eyes, the weather and light pollution (why do they put carriageway/street lights so close?) would be sufficient to conclude with a big no for astro-photography. Or at best, join a club and use their stuff if there was a clear night. But judging by the amount of gear which UK astronomers amass, there must be something worthwhile in it. There does seem to be much more of an emphasis among northern Europeans on equipment; there are threads on this forum of pictures of equipment. Just equipment. Mostly in daylight. Some are taken outdoors, others in a kitchen or dining room. The pride of ownership factor may explain this. But hey, AP is a challenge. I like it because getting the myriad of parts to make the whole is difficult. If it were easy, I wouldn't bother. Adding an extra layer of difficulty (weather, lights...) can only make it more of a challenge. The guys who visit us with their AP gear (some from UK) invariably make fun of how easy it is in Spain with 367 clear nights per year. No matter how much I assure them that it isn't; rather you learn AP quicker here. UK AP folk seem to be isolated. So maybe join a club or make a WhatsApp group; don't buy that filter, borrow it and share your own instead. Stick around for a bit. When we're allowed, make AP more of a social event? But yeah, once you've done the brighter targets over and over, then what? Cheers from a dull, grey and cloudy Alicante.

Hi Thanks. 650mm. A Bresser 130.

Hi everyone This seems overlooked as a colourful target which we came across by accident leafing through kstars. No filters used as I'm not sure whether this bluish stuff benefits at all. Anyone else had a go at this? Filter(s)? Looks as though this may benefit from a few more frames. Thanks for looking and clear skies. 700d @ ISO800

Hi I wouldn't bother with dark frames. Even the best dark optimisation algorithms (the one in Siril is the best we found) can't match the noise reduction offered by modern clipping routines. Instead, use bias frames to calibrate your light and flat frames. Dither between the lights and stack using a clipping algorithm. Beats dark subtraction. For us. But of course try both methods as YMMV;) Cheers

Hi everyone Almost forgot about the old workhorse and a job I'd been meaning to do for ages; replace the 3 rubbish primary mirror springs with 6 worthy-of-the-job variety. Anyway, here's a galaxy cluster in leo, based around ngc3189. Not an ideal focal length for a dslr but it's quite nice to see the galaxies in a sea of emptiness. Cross reference to this post where we discussed light artefacts on the 130pds which seem to happen when there are bright stars just out of the FOV. Thanks for looking and do keep posting.

AliExpress. There are dozens of suppliers e.g. this one. To save time, I extracted the items suitable for telescopes here. Specify your choice in the messages section of your order. Good luck.

Yes. Bobs knobs or ts-service supply 1.3mm wire springs, but rather than pay €silly for still-not-up-to-the-job items, just order from AliExpress. 10 for €3. Any wire you like. I'd recommend at least 1.4mm. Cheers

Hi That's the gso. You'll definitely have to change the primary mirror springs! Cheers

Hi everyone I posted something similar last year (I'll find the post later) but here it is again this year. The streak is not fixed on every frame and all but disapppears after a meridian flip. Nor does it appear on every target. In fact I think it was this target last year and I haven't seen it since. Even a harsh sigma clip won't shift it entirely. 130pds: 3 minute cr2->fits->jpg frame from eos700d Must admit to liking @almcl's theory of nearby but out of the FOV bright stars as there is also a second fainter streak on the other side of the galaxies to the one which is more prominent.

Hi When fast reflectors first appeared, many years ago it says here, they earned themselves bad press due mainly to inadequate mirror mounting and bendy metal tubes. These days, the early problems have been addressed, but I'd still recommend some simple modifications: six strong springs for the primary mirror cell, a long wide dovetail plate and a stiff rail along the top of the tube rings. Holds collimation all day. And night But hey, unless you need the extra FOV, why not replace the f5 you have already with a modern variant? I'd still recommend the same modifications however. Call out to @laser_jock99 who pioneered the work for the modifications. Cheers and HTH. **If you can extend to the Bresser 203mm f3.9 with the aluminium alloy tube and proper focuser... Very much a step up from SW build quality.

Hi Good effort. You're gonna need a long time for m33; 60x5 minute frames would be better;) Noise: lose the dark frames. On a 700d, they will introduce more noise. Instead, take bias frames at 1/4000s and stack them to make a master bias. Use this to calibrate both the light and (when you can) flat frames. For the noise to diminish, dither between light frames and then stack using a clipping algorithm. Stars: dunno. Maybe focus drifted or wasn't locked? Cheers and HTH

The Ubuntu advantage for me was multistar guiding and automation. Now with phd2 having multistar in development and nina seemingly on the verge of putting sgp out to pasture, the advantage is not so great, but not close enough to get this user to switch. Ruined clear night sessions fighting windows anti-virus and upgrade mechanisms decided it for us. Cheers

The 200p reaches focus fine with a dslr. The short answer is to simply unscrew the eyepiece holder and attach your camera using a t-ring. long answer HTH

Did you see this post? Cheers

Hi I wonder if you may have read too much into it. Point your optics at an evenly lit wall/lightbox/sky and partly depress the shutter button with the 1300 set on Av. Adjust the intensity of the light until you get around a 3s exposure indicated. Now fire 12 or so frames. That's it. Cheers

Hi Lovely image. As you dithered, how about trying without the dark frames? We find they introduce more noise. Cheers.

Read all I may, I've never understood this. It depends on f-ratio. So my 72mm f6 skywatcher will capture the owl nebula faster than the 2 meter f10 telescope at La Palma?

Mmm. I often wonder about that. I tend to think not. Maybe worth checking. Cheers

Thanks wim. I wish I had the patience. Maybe I should have made it a new year resolution. Too late now. Anyway, if we have another night of rain and no more new data, I may just be forced to... Cheers and thanks for the encouragement.

Hi Not sure if that pi has usb2 ports. If not, you'll need to upgrade the t7's firmware. Copy here. Maybe worth doing anyway? You'll need this cable. How will you connect? 'Phones I find fiddly. A laptop or a tablet makes life easier. Otherwise, looks good to go:) Cheers