AstroPhil

Well I just pulled the trigger on an Atik 460EX mono.... and am looking foward to getting into Narrowband in due course!

My first Frac was a ZS71 and I still use it a lot (my dedicated imaging rig with the reducer/flattener). Never used the Evostar but they get good reviews as well. Tough choice!

Hello Wim, Thanks for the quick and super helpful reply - this sounds great. I agree that the indiduino setup looked rather tricky, I spent a while reading up on it and got nowhere so I'll try the Weather Watcher. The station I came up with uses the Arduino MKR1010 and a Ethernet shield and already posts the data to a simple webserver, so it sounds like it should be easy to port to the INDI. Thanks alot! P.S. The ESP32 looks interesting... I actually just ordered on to play with as well.

Hi @wimvb I've been following this, and the thread of @Gina, with huge interest, so much so that I was even inspired (lockdown project anyone!!) so make a similar weather station. In my case I don't have an observatory so it's not used for automation. At the moment the Arduino is plugged into a Pi housed on my flat roof (with an all-sky cam running over stellarmate and a wired network). I'd be keen to hear more about exactly how you integrated the Arduino into INDI? Is it as simple as just plugging it in via USB? In which case I could just plug it directly into my imaging rig (which has another Pi/Stellarmate) but I wonder if there's any way to connect the imaging rig profile to the weatherstation over a network connection? (save me moving it!). Spent hours last night googling for ideas but without much sucess. Any thoughts/ideas? Cheers!

Finally aquired a hard case for the new 'portable' setup...

3.5mm TV Nagler... I bought it for the Mars approach last year and use it mostly for Lunar now, perhaps Venus occasionally...

Sucess here as well - using my Opticron 8x32's just a few moments ago. Fair bit of light pollution, but despite that, diffuse tail and a compact core both very obvious. Super nice!

Bit more pricey, but the WO equivalent is an option I have my eye on myself: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/william-optics/william-optics-zenithstar-126-apo-telescope.html

How did I miss this news (well, house move I guess ;-) partly to blame!). This is epic, brilliant. Received my Tak from Ian and lots of advice. This'll be a great team I just know it.....

Hi Mike, sounds great - I have the new RPi4 on order anyway (just for trying out in my locked-down state!) so I'll gve this a go for sure, Cheers!

Great idea... I'll give that a go (I already have a stellarmate so am familiar with KStars/Ekos... can't think why that option didn't occur to me haha!!).

Hi all, Hopefully this is the right area for this question if not, my apologies! After our move to London I've re-set up an all sky camera on the roof. Despite the light pollution it's actually surprisingly good! The only easy way I found to avoid USB issues (as well as allow dew heater control and other things) was to mount one of these "mini PC's" in an IP67/68 box out there as well, and use that to control the camera PC via temviewer (I've managed to run an ethernet cable via an old satellite TV trunking so connectivity is good). However, the PC is incredibly slow (an atom powered 'monster' no less). I was thinking of an R Pi 4 based updgrade - but I cannot find much in the way of software to control a camera (SX Superstar based). Does anyone have an recomendations for Linux (Umbuntu Mate, say?) based capture software (such as Sharpcap / Firecap) that might suit? Thanks!

I use one of these: Netgear range extender A cable will always trump wireless, especially with regards to latency and interference, but one of these can either bridge the wifi from the BT-supplied (or the ISP of your choice) hub to a point close to your end point (window facing the garden/Obsy?) Or plug it into a port via a cat5 cable and likewise place it as close as you can to the observatory. I use it in bridge mode and it is fine. You can also select either the 5GHz or 2GHz bands (or both). The 5GHz band is newer, has a higher theoretical bandwidth, and is a less congested band for interference. But it's easier to block (smaller wavelength)...

I'm thinking about a CMOS as well - partly as I cannot justify the expense of the large format CCD equivalents, but would like a larger image. Currently trying to weigh up the Atik horizon vs. the ASI 1600 (mono in both cases)... I never heard about microlensing before. Fascinating stuff.

Well, here's my attempt: before and after. This is an overlay of 30s and 1 minute subs on a background of 5min subs.

Thanks for the advice and weblink, @ollypenrice, @JemC, I'll have a go! I've taken 5minute and 1 minute subs so far - if the skies clear I'll try replacing the 1m subs with something shorter. I'm not using a cooled camera (SX Ultrastar), so short is good.

I had exactly the same question! It's something I have been working on for a while; I'm trying to avoid going down the multiple layers/exposures route and so far have been playing about with the HDR multiscale transform function in PixInsight - but it's a real challenge to keep the image from going 'flat' and retaining some detail. Attached is a before and after, using 7 layers, 2 iterations, and overdrive of 0.3 - 5mins of data (11 x5). Any thoughts welcome! P.

Indeed! I did get plenty of advice and was told the MPA-TAK2.7 for the 2.7" focuser (which this is). Oh well. It works perfectly though - there are 4 set screws and nylon seats that are adjusted to make the unit fit and mesh properly with the gear and OD of the focuser; the small gap is the same all round - the radius of curvatures match. So all-in-all I'm happy with it.

And here's a comparison, from me... FT version.

Well I'm happy to report that the MPA-TAK2.7 is now installed and fits perfectly to the FC100DL (2nd run). Silky smooth and very happy with it. And... clear skies! Maybe I try it out as well ;-)

In fact this is exactly what happened earlier today; Ed suggested that if the drawtube is 2.7" then the MPA-TAK2.7 is the one to go for, so that's now been duly ordered. I looked at the MEF as well but could not find a supplier whereas the feathertouch seemed more available, as it were (not that I looked particularly hard, I admit). @Piero I certainly agree with you that microfocusing is a personal thing... I just like to have that 10:1 'tuning' available, for some reason, but the standard tak focuser I actually like a lot (basically, I find it just a shade heavy for fine tweaks).

Well that's what I thought as well, but I also seem to recall that the 2nd run was a little different to the first, and I cannot find what the 2.7" dimension refers to (other than being the size of my drawtube!). The Sky90 refers to a 2.5" drawtube.... so yeah, it's a tad confusing!

Hello all, Rather than start a new thread I hope everyone doesn't mind me asking a question on this one - after all it's related to the FC100 ;-) I have an FC100DL (the new run) and would like to update the focuser with the feathertouch micro-pinion. Ian at Ian King imaging (who supplied the scope) tells me that these use the same 2.7" focuser as the DF, and indeed when I measure the drawtube that's the OD. Can anyone confirm that's correct? (i.e. this is what I need: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/specialist-focusers-borg-tele-vue-lunt-gso-rc/feathertouch-micro-pinion-for-takahashi-2-7-inch-focusers.html) Thanks!

Here's my mongrel of a Newt - an OLD orion optics (UK) 8" - modded with a BC&F mirror cell and upgraded focuser (don't remember where from!). Orion finder, Vixen SP mount, and Berlebach tripod...