RayD

Wow!!!  What a difference indeed, Reggie!!

Both great images but the 2020 one shows way more detail. Nice 👍

Wow that's excellent, Geof 🙌

11 minutes ago, ollypenrice said:

 

This is what I want to do:

Frame.

Focus using FWHM.

Set up a sequence: filter/ exposure time/binning/number of captures.

Name those files. (Hello, that means I want to name them with no help from the software.)

Run.

But no, that is far too simple for the likes of SGP who know far more about what I want to do than I do.

What the hell is wrong with these people?

Olly

Soooo demanding!! 😉

On 17/08/2020 at 22:27, Grant said:

• Ha - 46 x 20 mins = 15h20m
• OIII - 29 x 29 mins = 9h:40m
• SII - 44 x 20 mins = 14h40m

Thanks, Grant.

Can I assume the OIII is a typo and should be 20 mins also, otherwise we have no matching dark frames.

Thanks for the time and effort put in to providing these data.

Really sorry to read this, John.  It was all giong so well and looked so promising.  I guess there are things like the slewing noise and vibration that those of us with ROR observatories woudln't even give a thought to.

Fongers crossed you get a suitable and reasonably costed solution.

15 minutes ago, Jkulin said:

The shutter opening on my dome is very unpredictable and noisy so I want to change it to either chain or something similar.

I've tried looking for plastic chains, but have failed miserably, can anyone advise?

Many Thanks.

John, @steppenwolf in another thread linked to Renold here and rated them extremely highly.

Wow, absolutely superb.  Bravo to both involved, and a gentle rub and polish for the equipment used.

7 hours ago, Anne S said:

I've only found this one - ADM Dovetail Side Mounting Counterweight Kit 'D' Series.

Ah.  Maybe my side weight is D type only.  I have a couple and the normal one here is definitely dual, but I thought the side one was too.  Maybe it isn't 😐

39 minutes ago, Anne S said:

I was looking at getting that counterbalance system but it looks as if it only fits Losmandy. I was planning on keeping my 70edt on a vixen bar.

The one I have (ADM) fits both, Anne.

1 hour ago, Jkulin said:

I couldn't resist having made a  200mm x 130mm aluminium embossed plaque to secure to the Obsy: -

It meant so much to me to have shared Neowise with my dear wife, who's shear patience and support she has given to me through this build.

Superb, John.  Love it 👍

16 hours ago, HydrogenBadger said:

All, I have just taken delivery of an Ioptron CEM70G and a Williams Optics GT71 with a load of accessories. I cannot balance it.  Although I am very amateur, I believe it is because:

 

1. the counterweight is too heavy for the scope - impossible to balance in RA

2. the scope is too short when fitted with all other accessories and accessories clash with mount - cannot balance in DEC

Am I doing something stupid? Pictures attached  

If you have a look at my video here you will see the issue you are having is common (this in on my CEM120).  I added an ADM weight to the front of my longer dovetail which helped sort out dec (and it will help RA) but also allowed for trimming off centre balance on the third axis.

FLO does variousl types and styles of dovetail weights.

13 hours ago, tooth_dr said:

I think you know you are an imager at heart when you prefer looking at, rather than looking though, your scopes.

I like that, guess I am definitely an imager then 😉

That said, is that the lesser spotted Mesu handbox I see there, Adam?  A rare sight indeed 🙂

It is amazing the different perspective you get looking out from within an aeroplane.  Below picture was taken a couple of years ago above Malaga, and shows pretty clearly how bad the light polution is there!

2 minutes ago, Tenor Viol said:

That's good - plane windows are notoriously poor.

Not in first class, they're FPL53 😉

Nice image, tough task with plane movement.

15 minutes ago, George Gearless said:

Not sure if this is the right place to ask, but here goes.

I have an older laptop that I'm thinking of using for imaging. It only has two USB2 ports. For the most part I prefer using a mouse rather than the finger pad. So that leaves one USB port for cameras and 'other stuff'.

Let's just for arguments sake say that I have a main camera, a guide camera, a focuser and mount control. If I put those four into a USB-hub which is connected to the single USB2 port, what will happen?

A. Nothing. The single port will not be able to distinguish what signal goes to what because it's all jumbled together in the hub. It's like playing four different television programs at the same time on one screen.

B. Technically, it'll work. But because you're cramming a data-stream meant for four ports into one, you'll experience 'lag' during big data transfers. But it will get there eventually. As fast as the USB2 will allow. 

C. It'll be fine. I'm surprised you're even asking.

 

Anyone got any experience with this?

 

Georg

 

Data wise will be fine. 

The one thing you will probably want to do is make sure it is a powered hub as your laptop hub may struggle to provide the power needed to run all the devices, a couple of which are USB powered.

Duly ordered, thanks for that 👍

8 minutes ago, Icesheet said:

Yeah, I see their ACL 200mm lens is probably more of a RedCat competitor. Interested to see how it compares to my Samyang 135. Also looking forward to see how it does with a 1.25” star diagonal attached. Since it’s modular I’m hoping it will be a very compact travel companion. 

Defintiely.  Look forward to seeing how you get on with it.

Looks really good, but I don't think it can be paralelled with the RedCat, they are different things.  The Redcat is a Petzval and has a couple of other features such as built in bahtinov mask, dew shield and the facility to house a 2" filter internally.  The newer version also has a built in tilt plate.

I think it looks like a really good piece of kit, at a good price, but probably fairer to compare it with similar FL camera lenses.

Nice one, Adam.  Good for you, the image deserved it 👍

1 hour ago, Anne S said:

I've been imaging for years with a MHP (the one with 5 USB ports) and a MHP compact with Lakeside focusers and it's worked perfectly. I only use the hand control when I forget to rack in the focuser when storing the telescope!

Thanks, Anne.  Yes, I have the original MHP (the plastic one with 3 USB ports) and this runs the focuser no problem.  I don't doubt there is a reason for keeping the lakeside controller as well, would just be interested to know the reasoning as it seems like another largish box to house and USB device to go wrong.  However, these guys know an awful lot more about the subject than me, so I'm sure they wouldn't use it unless it was necessary.

Are you using a coma corrector, reducer or flattener of some sorts?  If so, I would check the spacing from that to your camera sensor.

Purely out of interest, @FLO, what is the reason for having the Hitec MHP V4 and also using the Lakeside focuser control box?  Does the hub not include a focus controller meaning you can do away with the lakeside one?

I use Pegasus hubs and my Lakeside focuser plugs straight in to it, negating the need for the additional controller, and I thought the Hitec hub had the same capability?

Not saying it is wrong to do it the way it is, would just be interested in the rationale of doing so as I could well be missing an important feature of the controller.

It's a great place which is a credit to the Admin and people who started it.  Above all I think it is extremely well moderated, so a huge thanks and hats off to all the mods who do a superb job which, I know from experience of doing it myself on other forums, is often a thankless task requiring the diplomacy of a UN peace keeper and patience of a saint........bravo 🙌🙌

I tried a few forums before coming across SGL and can say, hand on heart, it is by far the most intuitive to use, friendly and inclusive out there.

Thanks also to @FLO for their generous and continuing support, without which I don't think SGL would be the place it is.

The one thing I have learnt is never to ask a question which could be open to opinion as you will get around 23665488 of them, and go away with even less of a clue than you started with 😉

Indeed you do end up with lots and lots of subs to process, which in itself is an issue, but it does at least let you get enough data to get a really good image out of it at the end.

There are, of course, ways to deal with it in processing, but that can also be a little challenging.

27 minutes ago, MylesGibson said:

Thank you @RayD for the advice! When you did 30 second subs, were you able to get any of the dust at all? And if so, how many subs? 

I haven't got the hang of blending yet, but I may look through some tutorials and give that a go. I did think 2 mins was quite long, but I do want to get the nebulosity too. It just seems a bit of a conundrum in my head! 

The 30s I shot was for for stars only.  If you are looking to image only one integration time, then you will need to go slightly higher I would think, but you will just need to get lots of subs.  I would try the 2 mins to see how blown out the seven sisters look, but don't be afraid to reduce this and up the count.