adyj1

On 30/10/2023 at 13:54, Albir phil said:

I have a zwo 533 colour camera

Are you connecting it to a Field Flattener or a Coma Corrector? If so, which type and model do you have? 

On 30/10/2023 at 14:26, Elp said:

In such circumstances it's always wise to consult the manufacturer product pages to find out all the information you need, they usually have technical drawings which show the dimensions you require. The 55mm measurement needed is from the bottom of the flattener thread (or telescope if it is a built in flattener type) to your camera sensor. In the case of most (not all) cooled zwo cameras, the distance from the front face of the camera to the sensor is 6.5mm, 17.5mm if you include the m42 female to m42 female coupler ring (as the ring is 11mm thick). You will get +/- from that 55mm due to manufacturing errors/acceptable tolerance.

Good advice - ZWO have an excellent resource for this:

The best solution of 55mm back focal length – ZWO ASI (astronomy-imaging-camera.com)

2 hours ago, FLO said:

Apologies for not replying sooner, I have been on holiday. 

None necessary - hope you had a good one 😁 

On 29/09/2023 at 15:09, adyj1 said:

Apologies if this is obvious, but what does it mean by "capability to connect a motor focus"?  Is there something special that allows easier fitting of a motor focus?

What sets this apart from other focusers in this regard?

Thanks

Ady

Answering my own question, the Starfield Optics website page for this scope says "The Optional focusing motor can easily be disengaged to allow for manual focusing with a simple twist", and shows their Oasis Focuser that FLO sell (£298). 

What started this all off was me being prompted to install 'sgl' on my android chrome browser rather than selecting from any menus, and the resulting 'user experience' not looking like a Web browser. 

When I use the "add to home screen button" for a website - say FLO for example - I do get a different icon and when I then follow the FLO icon it opens inside the chrome browser.

The SGL 'not-an-app-because-it' s-a-browser-shortcut' doesn't obviously open in chrome, and has none of the chrome menu options... 

here is the chrome and 'not-an-app' Windows when I swipe up to show running apps. 

It's actually a lot more convenient running this way. 

Ady

17 minutes ago, adyj1 said:

I'm sorry for misleading everyone.

I have updated my original post

56 minutes ago, Cornelius Varley said:

I wasn't the only one who was mistaken into believing it was a downloadable app

58 minutes ago, Cornelius Varley said:

The way you described it suggested that it was something you installed from Google play and not just a browser shortcut that installs on your home screen.

I'm sorry for misleading everyone. (However it is more than 'just a browser shortcut'.) 

3 hours ago, Cornelius Varley said:

@adyj1 should have explained this better.

I checked my running programs and it is called 'sgl' not 'chrome' and runs completely in its own instance, so I checked it wasn't  just 'a browser shortcut'.

@Cornelius Varleythe prompts I followed said 'app' at least twice during the install, so it's a bit unfair to lay the inaccurate description at my door... 

** CORRECTION: it isn't an app, it is clever android trickery to make the SGL Web pages run in a separate instance to the  Chrome browser window **

Just installed the new SGL mobile App on Android... 

Excellent work - thanks to all involved 👍 Much easier. 

Apologies if this is obvious, but what does it mean by "capability to connect a motor focus"?  Is there something special that allows easier fitting of a motor focus?

What sets this apart from other focusers in this regard?

Thanks

Ady

8 hours ago, WolfieGlos said:

The only thing I don’t get are the images on right hand side, I suspect this is because I keep the laptop on airplane mode,

This would also be the case if you were at a dark site without your PC connected to the Internet.

Here's some instructions from   Patriot Astro YouTube  telling you how to set up offline framing. There's a chunk of downloading to do first, but it's worth it... 

Glad you've made progress though

Ady

17 hours ago, sinbad40 said:

Its an Altair 533 ctec hypercam, using nina, as i say, not had the issue before.  Tonight, I will take the cooling down slowly with heater on full pelt, only down to -10

The reason I ask is I have recently acquired a 183c which the Altair specs say has a heater built in. In NINA, no heater control is shown in the 'camera' panel of the Equipment tag and I was getting much the same result as you (see pic). 

I fitted the zwo heater strip and run a couple of all-night tests and it seems to have fixed it... 

I guess my camera doesn't have a built-in heater 😔 

(cooled to -5 over 2 mins in NINA)

Just for background, what camera is it? What software are you using to turn it on and off? 

Further to what Malc says, be sure to understand the difference between the motor drive options - which are *not* GoTo, but do track once you manually find the target, and the synscan upgrade - which *is* GoTo and can therefore do things like platesolving as well.

(It is also worth mentioning that there are DIY GoTo upgrades you could build to save money, but these aren't for the technically faint of heart...)

HTH

Ady

4 hours ago, WolfieGlos said:

So by doing using this, will I even need Stellarium running? 

Yes. 

NINA is a hugely powerful tool that never ceases to amaze me with its functionality and reliability - but sometimes when you just want to look around an area of the sky for a target to image, planetarium software like Stellarium (I use CD) is useful;

Perhaps there's a bit of residual cloud in the south and I look up and see the sky is clear to the north - I want to image something in that region and so bring up CdC to browse. I spot Cepheus and realise I haven't looked at the Elephant's Trunk this year... I can't just type that name into NINA, I need to know the designator for it - but I can type 'elephant' into CdC and it will find it. Right clicking on the area I want to image and pressing 'telescope' / 'slew to cursor position' will slew the mount to that location (or a close approximation depending on how expensive your mount is 😉). Flipping back to NINA and pressing Plate Solving with 'reslew to target' selected will get you pointing at exactly the spot you selected in your planetarium software. 

You can even import those coordinates back in to the NINA framing tab by pressing 'Get coordinates from the current scope position' in the Coordinates options in the Framing tab, and fine-tune your framing before continuing. 

Patriot Astro does some very good YouTube videos on NINA and I would highly recommend them. 

Ady

1 hour ago, WolfieGlos said:

I still use Stellarium to move the mount though, does NINA allow this?

In NINA, use the 'Framing Tab' - here's a screenshot (Michelangelo eat your heart out 😉 )

1. enter your DSO name (has to be designator, such as M13 or IC31396 for all but the most popular of objects)

2. press 'Load Image' and adjust your FOV as desired

3. press 'Slew and Center' and the mount will slew and carry out a platesolving iteration to make sure you are pointing in exactly the right place.

I would normally then use the 'add target to sequence' button on the same tab to set things going...

HTH

Ady 

4 hours ago, scotty38 said:

If you're using NINA then install ASTAP and then have NINA run platesolving to align things. You can also use the TPPA plugin to polar align if you wish.

For focus just loop, say, 1 second images and adjust focus manually until you're happy.

With the moon out you've got a giant object you can manually point your scope at, and the picture should be very bright (take 1s or 2s images on loop). Start without the Barlow and the focus tube all the way in and slowly start winding out. Hopefully you will eventually see the glow start to diminish in size and become clearer, and then come in to  focus (you may need to realign the scope with the moon as you get closer).

If you haven't reached focus by the time you get to full extension - either you need to go even further out with a tube extension, or your camera is unable to get far enough in to reach focus. A Barlow could help in that situation, so rerun the test with it fitted and see if that works (although a Barlow is not ideal for dso imaging) . 

Ady

[btw, Nina can't platesolve or tppa if the image doesn't contain any nearly-focussed stars....] 

The 150PDS already has a Crayford dual-focuser. 

Both astronomiser and cheapastrophotography have very good reputations on these forums.

You don't need the full spectrum if you are just looking for HA. I had the filter removal done by Juan and was very happy (although they are small volume setups, so perhaps don't expect immediate turnaround)

18 minutes ago, Ratlet said:

These were all taken with either a 200mm takumar or 300mm Tair 3 telephoto lens

Out of interest, what mount did you use? 

As you asked, here's an early shot of the Orion Nebula with a Canon 1000d (astromodified), 150PDS with Skywatcher Coma Corrector, and the motorised EQ-5. 

48 x 60-second exposures using APT capture software and a mini-PC. Processing is a bit rudimentary... 

and M51, the Whirlpool Galaxy with 34 x 90s exposures - same setup (I don't think my calibration was up to much back then).

I've learned a lot (and spent a lot!) since then, but when I started I couldn't afford more than the EQ5 and it worked well for me. I still use the 150PDS 👍

I started with a 150PDS on a diy-motorised EQ-5. I found it a useful learning platform for a few years while waiting for my finances to catch up with my ambition. I would worry that a 200P would just be pushing the limits - not that it wouldn't work at all, but that you'd hit more issues because of the extra size and weight. Once you can afford to add PC control, guiding, etc, the weight starts to mount up. 

You should try to factor in a coma corrector either with your purchase, or soon after. What camera will you be using?  

Hope you get fantastic views - you've certainly got the right kit for it!

Where are you heading?

2 hours ago, Mandy D said:

do large Newts never get delivered to the customer by a carrier? Do they not go through hubs and get thrown around and dropped off conveyors?

I do see your point, however the courier is accountable for damages in transit - if there is wanton damage wreaked on your insured package then the courier will be held liable, and so has a vested interest in improving their handling processes and encouraging their staff to treat packages properly.

And then there's baggage handlers... 😉 

Can you pay extra for handling of 'fragile' baggage? Unless you can find a hard padded case I would not trust it to baggage handlers... 

Here is a video you might want to watch...

Ryanair passenger films baggage handler ‘slamming’ his musical instruments onto... - Classic FM