Anthonyexmouth

9 hours ago, alan potts said:

Yes Dave I did, I guess I have to go through a learning curve again but I was well pleased i was able to get it working sort of on my own. Guiding was poor though last night but I am sure there was thin cloud in upper air, I also found later my guide scope was a long way out from the direction of the main scope, must have knocked it. I only actually saw this when at the death I pointed at the moon to check guide scope focus. The main scope pointed straight to the moon landing it more or less centre, the guidescope, nowhere to be seen, just a glow. That can't be good.  Considering I paid a reasonable amount for this SW ED guidescope, it often goes out of line with the main scope despite tightening the screws up what I consider well.

Alan

Not sure how it would relate to your setup but when i started with the SW finder in the shoe and then piggybacked an ST80 my guiding improved substantially when i finally got a side by side setup. not sure how much can be credited to that but the improvement was dramatic.

Also, my FOV on the guide is not spot on with the imaging scope but both are rock solid and no movement even when bumped during the fitting and removal of the cover

10 hours ago, scitmon said:

I've been imaging with a SW ED80 for nearly a couple of years now, using a DSLR with the stock focusser with no issues.  I've heard stories of the stock focuser slipping for some people with heavier imaging equipment (mono camera + filter wheel) which is something I want to upgrade to in the not too distant future. 

Something I am also looking at getting soon is the Sesto Senso Autofocuser, and I was wondering, do these help with the prevention of focuser slippage at all? I want to avoid focuser upgrade if at all possible because I would rather invest the money into an Esprit which is a scope I want to buy at some point.

Worth a watch.

The Money Pit. 

1 minute ago, TerryMcK said:

Some great replies from everybody. I have reinstalled the 64bit version of AstroTortilla (was previously the x86 version) and this is noticeably faster , installed a demo version of APT, installed PlateSolve, UCAC3PS and ASPS (for APT integration).

Now just have to wait for some clear skies. I think it may be OK tonight 07/10/2019 in north west England. 🤞

make sure all of the camera settings are correct in the platesolving apps and that the catalogues needed are downloaded.

after you've used pointcraft goto++ there's no going back.

pointcraft for goto++ platesolving and Sharpcap for PA make the hobby so much more enjoyable. 

For me, Astro Photography Tool and its use of platesolving and GOTO has been fantastic. It's dirt cheap and integrates image capture/goto/plate solving/focus

I have played with N.I.N.A but think it's got a way to go yet. 

Astro Photography Tool is only 18 euro initially and then 6 euro a year after that. 

the plate solving is carried out by APT but uses platesolve 2 and ASPS

52 minutes ago, Beulah said:

Looking at Google maps it looks like you've got some lovely open moorland to the South of Elgin. I'd be scouting around during the day to look for any sort of layby or old forestry tracks to set up as there's not much light pollution southwards....as long as your vehicle can get there and back...

+1 for finding a back lane laybay or just a field entrance. No point lugging gear into a field. 

47 minutes ago, DainiusU said:

Hi,

 

I have just got a new flattener/reducer and want to measure the backfocus for my Canon DSLR. Any ways to do it without taking clear sky pictures?

 

thanks for any ideas!

just attach the FF/R to the T Ring. that's all thats needed. 

1 hour ago, WanderingEye said:

I think I read somewhere that with APT you have to connect the cameras in a certain order.....not sure if this would help...

iv'e never noticed an issue, sometimes i fire up sharpcap first then phd2 then close sharpcap after PA then APT. other times i start APT then PHD2, doesn't seem to make any difference what order i start the app or connect the camera. What does make a difference is poor quality usb cables. that is the main offender in connection issues. 

2 hours ago, newbie alert said:

Hi Guys, just going around in circles here..

I purchased a second-hand esprit 80 a few months back where the guy said the spacing was 65mm, I've looked in a few places now where the spacing differs from 75mm down to 55mm with most figures in between.. Skywatchers manual says 66mm but that's incorporating the removal of the 6mm adapter to allow extra backfocus should it be needed..

I read something on I think was on cloudy nights where someone says if you take the 6mm spacer off it's 66mm and leave it off it's 61 which don't add up unless a 6 mm spacer is 5mm? 

I'm at a loss, I initially put it at 65 as the previous owner says, then I read it should be 55mm so changed it again, I 've also had the same issues with atik as their manual says the sensor is "approx 18mm"

If you look at it it's not looking that far back so I think it's 15mm..

I'm thinking if I shine a torch down the front, remove the camera and filter wheel and see where the light comes to point of focus, would that work?

What camera and what flattener are you using?

I use the ASCOM drivers for PHD2 and APT for my 290 guide and 294 imaging camera with no issues. Also use sharpcap for PA. 

8 hours ago, petejw said:

Thanks for info everyone, I had planned for future expansion by building a 300 mm diameter pier but hadn't given any thought of different pier adapter if I upgraded the scope. I can also see the advantage of being able to easily tweak the height of the pier if needed. I don't plan to do visuals directly from the scope either. The plan is to run by remote from the house. 

Anthony,

How far is your run from the workshop to the scope are you using usb or ethernet - my scope is going to be about 40 meters from the house which is too far for usb, I am ok for power but haven't decided whether to run a long ethernet cable or a wireless solution. Probably going to have a small laptop or PC at the scope end

the 12v and 240v and cat6 ( not being used yet but there just in case ) is only about 7 metres to the workshop, the usb at the moment comes the other direction towards the house and is 15m.

i would definitely lay cat6 if you can. 

2 minutes ago, PlanetGazer said:

Well I checked the voltage before and after, and it does increase, a five minutes charge increased it from 11.7 V to to 12.2 V , this is based on the handset reading. I could charge it at a regular plug (AC), but would have to order a special charging cable.

According to the the Synscan Manual, the requirement is  10 to 15 V and 1 Amp. I remember reading that it requires 12 V and 2 Amp in another manual, but I guess the difference is little, in which both cases is covered by 7Ah by the battery.

the 7Ah refers to the capacity, not the current. 

charging mismatched and differing state of charge batteries on the same alternator isn't really a great idea

i dont know about the correct setup for a dob but if it has to be setup pointing north make sure nothing is throwing the compass off. any metal or underground cable could potentially give a reading thats way off. 

the way i set my height up is when the scope is level with the horizon the eye piece is at eye level. that way if i ever wanted to do any visual it would be comfortable from a stool/chair. i doubt i ever will do any visual though, i mean, its 2019 not 1919? i could drop the adapter flush with the middle plate if i wanted or could be bothered. 

15 minutes ago, petejw said:

Hi Anthony

Interesting pictures, what height is your kit say from the bottom of the pier to the bottom of the mount?

I'm looking at about 1 meter for mine and was going to attach power, usb etc to the front of the pier. I wasn't planning on anything between the top of the pier and the bottom of the mount, just the brake discs. I am trying to understand why people use the threaded bolts. Is it just to gain the extra height? I am worried that if go with my planned design I will be missing something.

Cheers 

Pete

 

Well for me, it gives me flexibility. the middle plate can be changed to accommodate a different pattern adapter if i ever change mounts. 

pier has all the cable routed through the middle and back to my workshop. 12v/240v/usb/cat6

height, pier is 900 high and i think its about 1300 to the bottom of the heq5

6 minutes ago, Annehouw said:

I had the exact same issue.

After I changed the Max Star Size parameter in ps2 from 6 to something higher (I chose 12 after examening the star recognition image...at 6 a lot of bright stars were not taken into the platesolve pattern), it has been quick and reliable.

I'll try that.. if the clouds ever clear again

I built mine with 16mm stainless rod with every intention of placing a steel tube between the top and middle plate to stop any vibration. As it turns out there isn't and  as such i still have the tube sat on the bench. maybe it'll go in one day when i strip it down for servicing. plan is/was to make a steel box for the lower section for the usb/12v/240v/cat6 sockets but once again, its working and the thought of taking it all apart again is a job for another day. if you find there is movement you can always sleeve the threaded bar with steel pipe and clamp down on that to add stiffness

11 minutes ago, upahill said:

I would get this issue sometimes when EQmod wasnt letting Goto++ update the co-ordinates on the first solve. Usually due to being miles out of position on initial startup.

Also as @PaulR1 says the focal length settings would dissapear sometimes.

The really annoying thing is its slewing to almost the correct position on the first go with the target in or almost in the frame, sometimes platesolves ok then after making a tiny adjustment fails to platesolve . Blind solve has no issues. 

if the RA/Dec isnt a known object in APT then clicking on a star in the middle of that frame should bring up the details on the left hand side

54 minutes ago, Simon128D said:

How do you go about getting a true north with a compass? This is probably why when I did use a compass all I could do is setup using magnetic north and was too far off. 

it varies throughout the UK but can get pretty extreme around the world, google will let you know what it is in your area, UK is anywhere from 0-3 degrees. you also have to account for deviation which is the local environment effecting the compass. to minimise the metal tripod causing deviation use the compass to find true north with the tripod out of the way, use a stick to mark it then bring the tripod back and placed in the right 

currently using an AA 0.8x reducer with my SW ED80. wondering if i would have any problems with image quality if i were to try a .6x reducer. quite like the idea of a cheap way to get a wider field for some bigger targets.

you have to compare focal length of telescopes and camera lenses.. then they work the same way

eye pieces are an additional step 

1 minute ago, Simon128D said:

Both common sense tips there. Unable to mark the ground as I set up on gravel. I have tried the compass many years ago and was not close enough for me to just get away with using the mount knobs to achieve polar alignment. 
I should try doing that again sometime. 

you have to make sure you're pointing true north not magnetic. you have to check where you are in the world to account for variation which can be quite different from magnetic north.

as for the gravel, drive a few wooden pegs into the ground that can be covered with the gravel but easy enough to find when setting up

if you setup in the same area then put marks on the ground for the tripod legs. if youre in a new area then get your compass out and point it true north. that'll get you close enough that the tripod doesnt need moving. 

1 hour ago, Look left said:

When opening the image tool in Stellarium showing the view through my Rebel Camera the Longtitude shows OK but the latitude is a mess it seems to show the latitude twice one on top of the other so I cannot input these into APT todo list. How can I put this right.?

can you post a screen shot? 

APT has its own database of objects you can use.