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Adam J

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Everything posted by Adam J

  1. There is nothing wrong with using this lens for astro many do, just don't expect perfection from it...or to different degrees anything else. It just depends on how fussy you are really and what software tools you have to mitigate where it falls short. Some people rave about blur X terminator and how it helps with stars, I tend to think it's cheating a bit and can look artificial to be honest, but many don't see it that way. But you can't get something from nothing. Its not a bad lens it's just some are better like the Samyang you mentioned. But personally I would move away from lenses due to the connection type and not being optimized for shooting at infinity. For wide shots I use the FMA180 as I value image quality over speed. I find F4.5 sufficiently fast for my own use but I am not taking an image in a single night but over multiple nights so I don't need it to be. The new pro seems better than the original. The FMA 230 also seems to do well. Collimation of the optics really doesn't have to out by much at all at the speeds you are shooting at and it's difficult to see when using a OSC camera. I tend to star test with a mono camera and a green filter when looking for collimation. If you are removing stars.in processing then why not shoot with a fast f-ratio for the target data and then add stars in shot at a slower f-ratio in processing? Best of both worlds. Adam
  2. So for me the first shot is not too bad but the second is showing a collimation issue as the rings infact don't appear concentric to me. The center of the pattern appears offset to the 10oclock position. It would only be worse at 2.8. That will be your odd star shapes. So essentially the center of the optical axis is not passing through the centre of the sensor although that in itself can be an oversimplification in these lenses with multiple elements / groupings. You might improve it a little by trying to adjust sensor tilt something that the small sensor is going to allow you to get away with a little more than a larger one but in the end you will be fighting one problem by introducing another. The lens is not perfectly corrected either and the red is clearly focusing to a different point than both green and blue. But to be honest the cannon 200mm prime was never the best astro lens, more an ok for the money solution that you should not expect perfection from. Adam
  3. I can recommend a setup like this: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/sky-watcher-az-gti-wifi/sky-watcher-skymax-127-az-gti.html Portable compact with GOTO mount that connects to a phone. https://www.firstlightoptics.com/sky-watcher-az-go2-telescopes/sky-watcher-skymax-127-az-go2-wifi-maksutov-cassegrain-telescope.html Same thing above on a cheaper mount. Ignore the bad review the chap did not know what he was doing. Adam
  4. Just the mobile imaging rig. So I don't get to the top of a mountain and find I am missing a USB cable.
  5. Do a Star test, post a image of a bright out of focus star in the centre of the FOV, show between three and five rings. Will let me diagnose the issue.
  6. I side by side mount mine with the guide scope. So one of these: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/dovetails-saddles-clamps/astro-essentials-mini-vixen-style-dovetail-clamp.html and two of these 18cm dovtails: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/dovetails-saddles-clamps/astro-essentials-dovetail-bars.html The you can just mount side by side and balance in both directions. easy. There is a second one here too that i am using to clamp it to the back of the esprit 100, ignore that one, its effectively your mounts vixen clamp equivalent. Adam
  7. Well so long as the wood was not sourced from the Red forest then your fine.
  8. That is not a major worry for me, I don't need my dove tails to look pretty. If its digging into it then its secure. Adam
  9. Just wondering what market segment this is targeted at, the area is already crowded for Skywatcher the EQM-35 pro seems only £100 less and virtually identical capacity and in fact the EQM-35 has more teeth on he RA axis while using stepper motors. Has me scratching my head wondering what SW had in mind. Perhaps I am missing something obvious. Adam
  10. This is not how I do it. I tend to find that blend mode lighten is very often problematic in trying to recombine stars. Normally use a star only layer and combine using screen, seems to work every time. Adam
  11. New scope from ASKAR...sort of. 50EDPH-Jiaxing Sharpstar Optical Instrument Co., Ltd. (sharpstar-optics.com) I say sort of because: This is the new 50EDPH spot diagram: V and this is the FMA230 spot diagram: they are identical so I am going to go ahead and say that the 50EDPH is the optics from the FMA230 in a different package. As the FMA230 is £669 the pricing of this scope will be revealing. Adam
  12. So I would actually say the top right is suffering from a tiny amount of tilt.
  13. No the L2 is the same spec as the ZWO one and will change nothing.
  14. Yes that is star bloat as a result f chromatic aberration, not unexpected on your 72ED. There are better options than the ZWO UV/IR filter you are using, the astronomic L3 being one good option as it will cut more blue out. The 1.25 inch version will work fine just use the filter adaptor that came with the camera. Adam
  15. you are probably best off emailing FLO directly via their web page.
  16. very nice, have been wanting to get into this for a while who did you get the flat from?
  17. One thing I have wondered about this is if anyone know what the little bright nebula is halfway down the right hand edge of the frame?
  18. A wide feild shot of the North America and Pelican Nebula complex in SHO with HOO stars. All subs taken between Aug 23 and Oct 23. Total intergration: 16 hours with about 5hour 20mins per channel using my ASI1600mm pro, Astrodon 5nm filters and FMA180 refractor. I was quite happy with the amount of detail that I got at this focal length of only 180mm with the SA GTI holding the rig nice and steady. I think I may add more SII in future if I get the chance as alot of the highlight detail is very dependent on it and I feel it was the limiting factor in processing. https://www.astrobin.com/z9ah6a/E/ Hope that I did not take it too far in the processing and that you like it. Thanks for looking, Adam
  19. Not sure I have read any bad press. I got V1 when it was £350 and have considered it one of my best buys at that price, but then I have realistic expectations. I also shot this subject recently with my FMA180 and ASI1600mm pro, it frames it perfectly. Adam
  20. Honestly the 115/800 is a known good objective and so why take a gamble on a new design?
  21. You will have many other things you need that extra cash for more than you need the difference between an ED80 and the 72ED, the 72ED is also a much more user friendly scope. https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/rvo-horizon-60-ed-doublet-refractor-ota.html or https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/rvo-horizon-72-ed-doublet-refractor-ota.html with FPL53 glass are your real upgrade path in my view and not the SW80ED. Both will be slightly sharper due to better CA correction. Two other features on the RVO 72 are great in my opinion and the imaging packages good value. 1) It has a collimatable lens cell something not seen on. other clones of this scope design and actually very important. 2) They test their refractors in house and are guaranteeing 0.95 strehl. ...shame about the colour but you won't notice in the dark and I don't like the SW green either anyway. Adam
  22. Honestly the spot size on the redcat is so good that its one of few scopes that can actually take advantage of the small pixels on the 183mc pro, but I have got to say that my preference accross the board at any focal length is to go with mono. In which case my choise would be a mono 533. If 183 then why buy new so many to be had on the second hand market, but if you want faster imaging the 533mc is the choice as it will image faster with the bigger pixels. Adam
  23. Steve, You quote ED optics both here and on the FLO site descriptions, this to me normally means FPL-51 equiverlent, yet on starfeilds own site its calling them FPL53. https://starfieldoptics.com/gear60-quad If it is FPL-53 this is something that deserves a mention and should be on the description as its an expensive freature not to mention. Adam
  24. On the used market: Got a AZEQ6 GTI for £650 and sold my HEQ5 for £650 to buy it. Free upgrade. I got my ASI1600mmpro for only £1025 new in the Christmas sale back in 2018. I paid 'only' 250 for my Astrodons months before they doubled in price too. Adam
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