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Midnight_lightning

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Everything posted by Midnight_lightning

  1. Super image Skipper, seen a few of yours on UKAI The 106Q is out of my budget so I didn't look at it but just looking at a handful of 106q images on Astrobin and all of them had superb stars - much better than anything else I have looked at.
  2. Absolutely makes sense but this will almost certainly be the last scope I buy (Pension lump sum) so whilst I really like the Esprit I'm still hoping there is something even better if I spend a bit more. My very subjective evidence suggests maybe not but I'm still hoping someone proves me wrong. Also, I focused on Star Shape, some of these other scopes may be more or less sharper and have better/worse contrast.
  3. That looks good, very like my smaller 80, and the star shapes are much better than most of the images I found on Astrobin
  4. Part of my plan is to get to a FF sensor, good to know your stars are sharp with an APC-S. Be good to see your image I bought my Esprit via Teleskop Express and it was tuned by a chap called Tommy (he's not there anymore). He stripped it down from new, collimated it, retaped the lens cell and provided reports - most of which went over my head but it recorded 94.4 strehl which I suspect isn't bad for a mass produced scope.
  5. I looked at that one early on and it is interesting but I would like a larger aperture and FL - also it's an unknown at this point which makes it more of a gamble.
  6. An EQ6 is certainly an option but I would rather stay with the HEQ5 if possible - its so good (c 0.21" RMS with my 80/400) and I currently leave everything set up indoors and just lift the whole thing out for imaging. My analysis is massively subjective and I have no background to any of the images - the only thing I can say is that I looked at a lot of images before coming to a conclusion. That's why I am open to being corrected and would love to see high quality images from any of these scopes - preferably before people use software to make the stars round! Back focus is a pain and I have gone to great lengths with my 80 - having to get complex custom adapters made. One of the massive advantages of the GT102 is the flattener/reducer has adjustment built in - just screw in/out to adjust BF. A key objective is to have a longer focal length say 600-800mm to pick off smaller targets and be able to use a reducer for larger targets. I use an SX814 atm which is quite a smal chip but my next upgrade will be a larger chip, possibly one of the new full frame CMOS camera's which is why I am so keen to have round stars across the FOV - NO point in going full frame if non of these scopes can cope with it. They are all good in the centre but many soon trail off towards the edges.
  7. Having spent weeks of research I am still trying to find my next telescope, something to give me a longer reach and better definition than my excellent Esprit 80/400. Good Star shape is especially important all the way into the corners. I started looking at £2-3K scopes and am now also considering increasing the budget - here are my current candidates: Esprit 120 APM 107/700 Altair 115 ED APM LZOZ 115/805 WO GT102 Vixen SD 115 S TSA-120 Based on reviews and reading forum posts I expected the TSA-120 and APM LZOS 115 to come out strongly on top. However having spent a day looking at images on the web taken with each of these scopes I have ranked them in order of teh ones I found had best star shape across the FOV - the results surprised me. Many of these have good star shape near the centre but, even with a flattener or reducer, show marked stretch into the corners - particularly with full frame cameras. Astigmatism and mis-aligned colours were also noticeable even in the higher end scopes. It is highly subjective due to differences in flatteners, guiding, cropping, cameras, processing etc etc but I made notes as I went through the analysis and the Esprit 120 came out top and surprisingly the Tak didn't seem better than the cheaper scopes. In a blind test I would find it difficult to distinguish between most of these scopes although I suspect the Esprit 120 would do better than most. I was hoping to find a light weight 115 or 120 to go on my HEQ5 but I'm now wondering whether to get the Esprit and use the c. £2500 I save to buy a stellar tuned EQ6 mount. I would really like to hear your views if you use one of these scopes, and also please post see your images showing sharp round stars across the frame. I'm happy to be proved wrong, I would rather stay with my HEQ5, and welcome any help in making a decision.
  8. I'm completely new to this topic, as you may have guessed. My monitor comes with Eizo's ColourNavigator software - am I right in thinking that using this with the Spyder will do the calibration?
  9. Thanks Vlaiv for that excellent answer and analogy. I purchased a sensor today and have an Adobe RGB capable monitor but I think given what you say I will calibrate the screen but stay with sRGB. I doubt most people would see the difference in my images and it quite honestly this hobby is hard enough without adding anything that isn't essential Thanks again for replying, very helpful.
  10. I currently display images online and have had numerous images printed at A3 size which I have around the home. I have some interest from friends about buying prints so may offer prints for sale at some point. My objective is to do everything I can to produce the best images possible but not to make life unnecessarily difficult. If using Adoobe is going to cause problems I will stay away from it.
  11. I recently upgraded my graphics card and ever since all images on screen are brighter and more saturated than they used to be. For some things I like the new look but my astro images are too rich - bottom line is I intend to calibrate my screen, don't know what to do but am reading up on it. One question I am struggling with is should I use sRGB or Adobe RGB? I've read sRGB is better for on screen display and Adobe for printing - but is that it? I also read somewhere years ago not to use Adobe RGB because it would " lead to problems" - cant remember what they were worried about. My screen is an Eizo CS240 and supports 99% AdobeRGB and is 10 bit from 16bit - whatever that means. So, if anyone could enlighten me I would be grateful - I do most processing using APP/PI and Affinity Photo. Thanks Jon
  12. Thanks Mark, the SW pier is interesting, its hard to know whether it would be more or less stable than the tripod but would certainly fix the issue and the wheels would be a plus. Chopping an extension is a good idea too - thanks for the offer. Think I will get the new dovetail fitted and then see what I still need resolve.
  13. Thanks Mark, I'm on an HEQ5 and the only extension I can find is 16" high and made for observing - I think its too tall for solid AP. If I could find a 4" version it would be perfect.
  14. Thanks discardedastro, that is really useful info - I'll need to do a new PC build before long so maybe will go back to AMD - always used to like their processors. I agree the vignetting is worrying and will investigate, seems very odd they haven't gt this right on such an expensive camera.
  15. Hi Ken, Thanks for the detailed response, that has clarified a few things and also provided other things for me to think about :). I built my PC maybe 6 years ago and will need to check the spec but something like good i5, m2 250GB, 12GB RAM so maybe looking a bit weak now. I would be interested to see a full frame version if you have one? Thanks again for the info Jon
  16. Ill see if I can get a photo tomorrow, I have tried it with the FW straight up but it just means my Lodestar OAG camera is straight down and just as big as the FW. If I rotate it I then cant balance the mount.
  17. Yes, unfortunately I have moved everything as far as I can, a larger dovetail will certainly help. I cant get a photo at the moment as everything is locked up.
  18. Its a new scope, GT102, and I am using the foot at the moment which I can just get balance when its mounted right at the end. I have ordered a longer dovetail which will certainly help but I don't think will solve the issue. A pier extension would certainly do it although I haven't been able to find a short one.
  19. Thanks Ron, I think a diagonal would exacerbate the balancing issue but its an interesting suggestion and great lateral thinking
  20. I have always used CCD cameras to date but am now looking at the new CMOS high mp cameras and possibly full frame. Just wondered if anyone is using one and how they are getting on with it? One of the things I am wondering about is processing the data - the ASI6200MM is 62mp and I'm wondering if you need a Cray and an SSD NAS to do the processing? Thanks Jon
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