mikeyj1

I have the WO61 and i am surprised at the comments that suggest you should possibly choose something else.  Build quality is excellent, and it is a flat field, even with the SW flattener  rather than the WO one- i never tried it without as for imaging you need a spacer, or a FF to get focus, so i always have it in the imaging train with a DSLR.

My only issue is the light gathering capability, but then i am comparing it to sessions with my 10" reflector, so it's not really fair.  

It fits the SW Star Adventurer well, and is easy to carry in a backpack if travelling

for me it rates 9/10

hth

Mike 

34 minutes ago, Radders said:

I'll order one

you sure it wasn't in the kit? I had one with mine

OK, frustrating times!  Thanks for the picture, you can see the score is low, the FHWM is high not sure why, maybe a bit out of focus?  The other thing i would try is to stack without all the calibration frames, sometimes i found that 'bad' flats or darks messed with the lights during registration process - so you will need to 'register already registered frames'.  

I also tried out Astro Pixel Processor, and it stacked when DSS failed....the free program is good, but has some limits it seems

have a look at individual frames, can you see (>10) stars ok?  Have you tried the slider (advanced tab of register settings) to 2% for the max sensitivity?  What about the 'scores' on the frames?  if below 100 you will have a problem with the frames.  I had a similar problem with a set of subs one time, the only way i could get it to stack was changing to APP

hope that helps

Mike

2 minutes ago, Yearofthegoat said:

I'm assuming that my 150PDS has the same focusser as your 250PDS,

Thanks YOTG

Ady has that scope, so he or I will post about the outcome soon...the difference to the thumbscrews is immediately obvious, i was getting off axis mishapen stars on some images, and now there is no chance or movement at all, so i would recommend that you strive to get rid of them...i will let you know if there are any other issues or benefits.  

Ok, i have an update, and wanted to post it for reference to anyone else with the dilema above:

I was able to move the mirror on the existing screws far enough up the tube to get focus with the Canon.  Typically after cleaning or flocking I would wind the screws in fully, and then back them off around two turns to make the collimation.  The gap between the mirror cell and the housing was around 2-3mm and the springs were under good tension, which seemed the best option.  I was able to move the cell about 6mm using this method, giving a focus point clearance on the click lock of around 3mm.  The focus tube still protrudes into the image train considerably, so i may look at shortening that.  However, I changed out the Canon for my Altair GP290c, and the focus point is considerably further out, so wont be able to remove as much as i initially thought.  Here are some pics to explain better:

The pencil line is the original focus point with the std adapter.  This extended position is the GPcam focus point, with the 1.25" adapter fitted ontop.  After moving the mirror, i have 3mm clearance from the clicklock to the housing

Here is the gap now - big enough for a finger to fit in, or perhaps more importantly, light path to enter, so i think i need to cover the back end now.  Note the locking screw (smaller one) is almost at limit of travel.

thanks for the replies

Mike

10 hours ago, Yearofthegoat said:

I looked into this a while ago and wrote to Baader about it. I wanted to do away with the thumbscrews of the focusser drawtube clamp and the 2" and 1.25" eyepiece holders.
 

I didn't get round to doing it until now, so I'll dig out my email from Baader but do you have the S57 going into the original Skywatcher focus tube clamp?

 

would be good to hear what Baader told you.  looking at it again this morning, I think the only two options if i want to use the Baader Click lock are 1. replace the focuser with a low profile version 2. shorten the tube/move the mirror in a bit, which is not going to be easy..  i could potentially take 5mm off the top of the focuser housing, but once again...seems like i may end up causing more problems than i solve!

Yes it’s the m54 that I bought, the sw Adapter in the photo screws directly into the focus tube, so the click lock replaces that, so it’s true that it fits, but bottoms on  the outside of the focuser when trying to focus with camera, which is fitted with a coma corrector

I was so excited to replace my standard 2" fitting on the Skywatcher with the Baader Click lock:- perfectly centred and grips like a vice.  Only one problem - I cant reach focus with the 1300d now!  A friend (Adyj) fitted one to his 150p-ds and has the same issue - about 5-10mm more inward focus needed.  I guess it may be possible to move the mirror up the tube, but starts getting potentially problematic 

Anyone have another solution, or do i have to send it back?

thanks

Mike

  this might help?

thanks...i am staggered by how many rocket launches there are in January alone!  (eg There's another one in China one hour after this one!)

4 minutes ago, Peco4321 said:

There's an APP for all launches

whats the APP Peter..?

I notice on Sky-Safari that it has the option of either an AZ or EQ type mount, and also the ability to connect to various types of Celetstron mount eg 6/8i or GT.  Might be different on the dedicated portal app, but i am interested to help you find a solution as i am buying the Skyfi at Christmas

The only other problem i had with my Nexstar mount was having the OTA on the wrong way around (i use the Skywatcher Mak, which has the finder on the other side)..

Mike

Hi just to add that Skywatcher say my AZ-EQ6GT mount should achieve a best of 1 arc minute PA error.  

To do this:  PA with polar scope, 2 or 3 star alignment, and then the additional HC Polar alignment routine (adjusting ALT and AZ manually on another target, one at a time), and repeating this 2-3 times.

Sounds like about 30-40 minutes worth of work.  it also says cone error will have a limiting factor on this as well, so check that first.

tbh I haven't tried the additional routine, the PA with scope achieves 5-20 arc min error on first pass.  this has been ok for 60-90 subs for me, but i am no expert..

Mike