adyj1

4 hours ago, Stu said:

Indeed. A whole new meaning to ‘free accommodation’ 😱🤣

'all-inclusive' as it were 😉 

1 hour ago, Barry Fitz-Gerald said:

No personal experience but I understand Egypt is not a bino-friendly country if that is your destination.

That's a whole other subject - Never go 'plane-spotting' near a foreign military airfield, for sure (unless you are trying to dramatically increase the length of your holiday, and don't want to do any more sight-seeing 😉) 

2 hours ago, SwiMatt said:

Thank you all for the quick replies! Ever since 2001 they managed to put a damn fear on flying travellers, it's really tough not to get paranoid! 😅

You are right to check and double-check. The last thing you want to do is find out when you turn up at the airport.. 

also never had a problem with a small refractor (virgin atlantic) and a small newtonian (british airways), both in carry-on (no way am I trusting them to the hold).

Hopefully the anecdotal evidence will put your mind at rest, but as binos don't fall into any of the 'dangerous' categories I would be surprised if you can find something that specifically says you can. 

Ady

4 hours ago, GTom said:

That one looks good! For US-flights you might need American FCC marking on it because of the BMS chip.

BA allow up to 150Wh , but I have found out I'll be going with Virgin and they have a 100Wh restriction so these are now no good for me 😞

7 hours ago, GTom said:

Can't find many other 12-13Ah (150Wh) LiFePO4 units

I've seen these - look any good? 

Ultramax NP12-12 / LI12-12 12v 12Ah LiFePO4 LITHIUM Battery https://amzn.eu/d/j9lCYSo

6 minutes ago, GTom said:

I don't buy a power bank, buying 12V LiFePO4 packs, got a Miady 7.2Ah working perfectly fine, paid 40 quid on Amazon last year. The jury is out if I just buy two more of the same type or try to find a 150-160Wh unit that is airline-compatible. LiFePO4 provides remarkably stable voltage between 10 and 90% charge, compatible with all astro-junk we're using without adding any additional reg circuits.

I'm just looking for what to take on a trip to the USA in October (annoyingly a week After the eclipse) , so I'll have a look at these - thanks. 

9 hours ago, Shimrod said:

 

 

Could either of you share a link for these? I also seem to struggle to find my power cables but have a gazillion USB cables lying around! I think it would be handy to have a couple of these in my cables box for emergencies.

I bought these (in 5.5 / 2.1 guise) ;

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/175828428910

Can't say for sure they're any good, but cheap as chips with free postage and reasonable-for-China delivery time... 

56 minutes ago, AstroKeith said:

I've started to use USB C to 5.5/2.1MM converters that have a PD trigger circuit in them.

Today I learned these existed... 😮

Ordered a couple from ebay 👍 

Ady

Finally, v2* of Affinity Photo is on sale (until Tuesday 1st Aug).

25% off means; 

- Windows or MacOS - £49.99

- iPad - £13.49

* (reminder that the latest release of @James Ritson's excellent astrophotography macros only work with v2) 

Ady

Astounding. It really does warrant opening up the link and zooming in on the larger version.

Ady

1 minute ago, George Gearless said:

This might be a stupid question, but couldn't I just run NINA on the stationary PC in my obsy? Could I run the relevant USB connected hardware (Mount, primary camera, guide camera and focuser) through a USB hub that I could extend to the PC?

yes!

You just need a PC that you can leave on throughout your imaging sessions and has cables that reach... You could use a laptop if you wanted. A mini PC fits this bill and can also be mounted on the scope itself if you want, drastically reducing the number of trailing wires. I didn't go for the OTA-mounted PC and got an i5 with 8GB RAM on ebay for £60-odd quid. 

A mini PC is also easy to take with you if you go on an astrocamp 😉  

Ady

1 hour ago, Skyline said:

Currently their SV series IMX533 cameras are exhibiting serious banding issues on images, I just sent back my SV605CC to amazon.

I had to do the same thing - mine had banding with a bit of amp glow (?) for good measure.

Finally took the plunge with the recent Amazon deal because the price was really good (£611 interest free) and returns are easy. Unfortunately had to make use of the returns process immediately.

On the plus side, Amazon included a free 12v 5A power supply with the camera so at least I knew I was giving it enough beans...

Ady 

Are you looking for accommodation to do the actual astrophotography from, or one to use as a base to then travel further into the dark area? 

Well, I took the plunge and bought one... 

I wanted to like it, I really did but before it had seen first light I had problems with darks. Both banding (which I've seen reported in other reviews) and amp glow... 🤯

The reason for buying it from Amazon was the easy return policy, so I didn't pursue any sort of lengthy remedy with Svbony and just returned it to Amazon. 

https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/411875-is-this-amp-glow

6 hours ago, ONIKKINEN said:

... but i would be more worried about the horizontal banding that seems to run across the entire frame. Very unusual looking darkframe for sure.

Yeah, I was going to mention that...

2 hours ago, Adam J said:

Yeah thats not nomal just make sure its not your power supply causing issues before you consider returning it.

Adam

Thanks Adam - I used the 5A PSU that was provided with it. An earlier attempt was with the power lead i already had from a DIY power distro box and that had savage banding. 

Attached is a single 300s dark exposure (gain 130) from an IMX533-based cooled OSC. Can you tell me if the brightness in the top left corner looks like amp glow (which you aren't supposed to get on the 533 sensor...). Taken at night and with an imaging train that I haven't had any issues with light leak. I rotated the camera (unscrewed a quarter turn) and the glow was still in exactly the same location.

Thanks

Ady

Dark Library SV605CC 2023-07-18_2023-07-18_03-53-16_DARK__-5.00_300.00_SVBONY SV605CC_130_40_66ED-R.fits

As @Stuart1971 posted elsewhere, this is now on an Amazon deal of the day for £611... !

(up to 12 months interest free payment option is also offered 😉 )

4 hours ago, Stuart1971 said:

Well, the OSC version on Amazon prime day deals is down too. £611 😮😮 and next day delivery….so tempting…

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Svbony-Astronomy-Telescope-Eyepiece-Illuminated/dp/B0BJ72KY8J/ref=sr_1_14?crid=2RNIBZWBTZEMT&keywords=Svbony&qid=1689063344&s=electronics&sprefix=svbony%2Celectronics%2C72&sr=1-14

Depending on credit rating, etc. you can also get it up to 12 months interest free - if you're into that sort of thing 😉 . But that is the 'wrong' camera for this thread, so discussion should probably continue here:

4 hours ago, GTom said:

Couldn't found my way trough the gov. website maze, found this link on digital cameras, saying you pay 3.7% general rate, 20% VAT and whatever the courier is charging. AFAIK Royal Mail charges 8£, others much more.

 

https://customsdutyfree.com/customs-or-import-duty-for-digital-camera-body-to-united-kingdom/

 

That results in a final bill of approx £900, depending who is shipping. The tricky bit comes when the camera doesn't deliver as expected or delivers a fault.

@GTom, thanks for looking in to it, but I tried to do the same thing and realised I was still guessing, to a certain extent. I'd like to know if anyone has bought high-value goods from the SVBONY official site (or similar) and what they were actually charged. 

9 hours ago, nfotis said:

Maybe you should order directly from the SVBONY official site instead?

https://www.svbony.com/svbony-sv605mc-mono-cooled-camera/#F9198E

 

Does anyone have a difinitive answer as to what extra costs there will be over and above the $899 dollars and postage? I'm assuming 20% VAT but is there duty (and carriers fees for collecting the duty) as well? 

On 30/07/2022 at 13:22, adyj1 said:

Here's the link to the ZWO page that explains the spacing (assuming your flattener requires 55mm)

https://astronomy-imaging-camera.com/tutorials/best-back-focus-length-solutions-55mm.html

Firstly, an update to the link: The best solution of 55mm back focal length – ZWO ASI (astronomy-imaging-camera.com)  (I can't edit the post)

24 minutes ago, MonsterMagnet said:

I assume I can continue to do this and image with the 533 without an IR cut filter

Yes, use the IR cut filter on it its own on suitable targets.

As for whether 2" or 1.25" - it would be your choice. I'd have thought that the 2" would be  more convenient for you as you will need a bigger filter if you upgrade your camera to a one with a larger sensor (esp. as the cost difference between the two sizes for UV/IR is much smaller than other filters).

HTH

Ady 

This info comes from the Amazon.co.uk site:

If the manufacturer's warranty were applicable I would expect you would have to send it back to the US (sold by Amazon US).

Seems too much of a gamble if you want the warranty, although in reality you would be getting the same warranty as buying a second-hand camera - bearing in mind these aren't really available second hand.

You pays your money, you takes your chance...

16 minutes ago, Ags said:

It was a bigger job than I expected. It's not for astro equipment, but it is for storing tables and chairs that clutter one of my astronomy spots. Also, it is proof I am fully shed-capable and ready for the bigger, better astroshed.

Nice.  The big question is... do you have the same number of fingers as when you started putting it together? I found the thin metal lethal (on those occasions I took my gloves off to do something fiddly and then forgot to put them back on!)

I have an 8 x 4 version of this that I've converted to a ROR Obsy.