RolandKol

I would suggest, do not touch Any Screws of the Secondary at the start.

Colimate the primary Only, the secondary usually comes in close to perfect position from the factory.

So once you colimate Primary, which is quite easy, run a de-focused start test on the bright star and if you will get a Close to symmetrical result, - do not bother about the secondary as it may lead to even more issues.

The adjustment screws of the Primary mirror are based at the bottom of the scope.

6 hours ago, Thalestris24 said:

Can you believe it - after ordering the Creality PLA I decided to have another go with the PLA+ - you guessed it, it was fine this time!! Not only that, I used the same temperature settings as for the PLA. Now I'm going to have an extra kg of filament... I suppose it keeps a long time unopened? The SUNLU was vacuum packed.

White Creality PLA left, Black SUNLU PLA+ right:

I've stayed up much too late - going to bed now.

Louise  

Nice results!

But for astro "toys", it is probably better to go PETG or even ABS way... Not sure about PLA+, but simple PLA deformed and and melted during the summer time on my scope under the cover... 
Had to reprint it all.

I have not yet tried ABS, as I am quite happy with PETG, and I fell in love with a RED-Transparent one

"Long time unopened "

Depends on luck I guess... I have received one Sunlu spool which was humid even in the vacuum bag... it was my 3rd spool in total, so due to the lack of experience I was very confused why I end up with a bad prints.

This issue led me to print/craft the drybox for printing and made me to by another plastic box for filament storage.

Wet PLA I had, was dried in the oven at 60C / around 5 hours (I dried all spools I have, just in case), later placed into the drybox with a silica gel for printing and was "consumed" properly  

So even if your PLA gets wet, - do not worry. 

But since then, - all the filament I buy and if opened, - it goes directly into the drybox and printed from it directly, PLA/PETG, no difference. 

Drobyx is especially good if you do not print for several weeks and etc.

P.S.
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3320749

(the link is just an example, I use a different set up)

6 minutes ago, Jkulin said:

OK I have got to ask, what people think of this 2019 Prusa i3 3D Printer DIY Kit MK3 Heatbed MK8 Extruder,Large Structure Size

For £73.19 would it be a waste of time or worth trying?

I thought maybe they were just selling the bed but they have confirmed "Our printers just need to be assembled to be a complete printable."

 

I would not consider any wooden frame for 3D printers...

I guess, it may work, but you will end up printing in a very low speeds....30-40mm/s
Plus, they even have not bothered to place Z axis properly for one of their advert pictures.... So quality control is at the lowest rate...

However, - all the electric parts and metallic rods used, - probably would cost more than this printer if bought separately  interesting...  

P.S.

Ender 3 or Mega, are probably the cheapest options which actually work...

9 hours ago, Thalestris24 said:

I'll try reseating the ribbon cable connectors tomorrow. I don't want to have to send it back... I noticed when I was doing the assembly that moving the gantry up and down caused the screen to flash!  That suggests that it was generating inductive voltages which could have caused some damage You'd think they would have incorporated measures to prevent that... 

Louise

It is normal for Screen to flash once you move the bed  on the cheep printers while they are off.

Stepper mottors are generators also, - so avoid moving bed very fast as there is a small chance to burn the mother board.

My 3D printed Sam+Evoguide universal holder is 90% ready.

Universal, as Asi1600mm with EFW or Canon will fit in.

Also, Autofocuser (10%) and it's holder is the process.

This toy will go on top of my 130PS or separate.

Took awhile to design and redesign

Waiting for a clear night to test

If you've got another dovetail bar,

just use it...
I was made to drill one extra hole in it.

9 hours ago, masjstovel said:

@RolandKol Speaking about focus. I got my ASI1600 today. And there is talk about this 55mm backfocus, which i dont understand. 55mm from what? I see from the picture of your setup that you have an OAG on. I dont. How would i attach all these rings in the focuser to get the correct "backfocus" ? I saw some drawings on ZWO homepage, but i dont get what is left in the focuser? Do i take away that adaptor which i had to loose and had to tighten which I mentioned earlier in the post, or what do i do?

As you do not have comma corrector, - no difference, - simply attach the longest spacer to the camera (or Filter Wheel if you have one) to get a good hold in the focus tube.

Once you will get Coma Corrector, - you will need to get camera and Coma Corrector in a close to perfect distance (55mm), and ZWO camera has all needed spacers for this in the box.

11 hours ago, masjstovel said:

Got the 3D-printed Bahtinov mask today. Had to secure myself in both ends so both the flaps and the screw-holes. The flaps fitted perfectly. Now i just have to wait for clear skies to see if it works:)

Wow  thats a thick one!
I print mine twice slimmer
I am sure, you will not need screw-holes, - you can chop them off later on to save some space if needed.

And yes, - it will work 100%, - the main tool to have
And yes, it will also enable you to see how your focuser behaves once you lock it (APT Bahtinov aid or any other imaging software Bahtinov Aid is really handy with it).
So once you get your "perfect" focus, - lock the focuser and check the Bahtinov Aid figures again... Lets hope you will not have much tilt and figures will not run away a lot 
To be honest, - "Locking" was my main pain while focusing Manually....
 

P.S. Make a habit to place B mask in the same manner, - it will enable you to learn the software and know which direction to turn the focus knob to get closer to focus.
For example, negative figure will mean - turn Left, and opposite. If you will keep swapping B mask position each session, your figures may mean different directions.

6 minutes ago, Thalestris24 said:

Oh well, I ordered an Ender 3 Pro earlier and via Amazon I did glance at the slightly more expensive CR-20 Pro but wasn't sure if it was worth the extra plus the search for ideal devices can become never ending!  Also ordered some Sunlo (Korean) filament - hope that's ok... Will see how I get on with it all. What's the worst that can happen?? I think my main problem will be finding the time! Plus, I registered with Autodesk for their Fusion360 software but not downloaded it yet. I said I was a student for the next 3 years .

Louise

Gratz!

Just once you assemble it, - do Not Press "HOME All" button! 
Level the bed properly  

and better if you level it once its pre-heated up to your preferred bed printing temp, which will most likely to be 60C, if you will print PLA.

Hmm,

but doesn't it depend on the print speed also? maybe he was too lazy to wait and printed on 80mm/s? in this case, - result is quite Good!

with my Mega-S, I can get very clean surface or similar to this one

3 minutes ago, Barns said:

I've spent this morning trying to pinpoint where the backlash is coming from and am coming to the conclusion that it's internal to the EAF unit itself and not with the scope focuser.

With the EAF attached (unpowered), I can turn the microfocuser about 1/8ish of a turn each direction until it's stopped by the EAF. With this turning I can see the focus tube immediately go back and forth a little - so I diagnose no backlash between the focus mechanism and the tube (i.e. not on the rack/pinion). However I can see the EAF motor shaft being turned as well whilst I do this little back and forth turn on the microfocuser, meaning the backlash isn't somewhere in the coupling between the EAF and the focus mechanism. Hence I think it has to be internal to the EAF itself; it's allowing a small amount of back-and-forth play on the motor shaft.

Does this sound like a "bad" EAF unit? I've read elsewhere that the EAF itself shouldn't have any "play" on the shaft like this.

It does not sound good, - for such a price...
However, a slight backslash should not be a major problem, just like @blinky stated... this is why all kind of soft and drivers have the option to compensate it.

On another hand, - just to be 100% sure the motor or it's gears are OK, drop a line to ZWO directly, you will probably get quite a fast reply once you do it on their Facebook page, as they advertise their EAF at the moment.
https://www.facebook.com/ZwoDesignAstronomyCameras/posts/2320136088035601?__xts__[0]=68.ARAi7ml7Ud4HRNjUDrf8B_ysHYbboLDl5_PiLTjTVw-NxJ65O_4_E_v0EGeuXSeu50tCXVFauwIXfk_LvVTRPh2K1F5OjtBErwNi6X4hugzlO014_Lv6lSZQcJL8FY95xGURoJEDzP50OjdafTEEJTTcBGotxrCD5lUDr0wYDryh4xKc3zXBqESS-FLaDl_0RPb9gKrao3l2yDvqBoPNZngEqkxv8kY0ho1sggzyL8JcGt_w22eNH-OgMkuyc4gaJ-2zgapSGFVCgpD6CMEQT3EtG3Lpfc4xuhZS7gpNUqW7GFudVlexYrOu0M75wk2bEMDnrP-QZFcGcEr7zakMKAkj2Q&__tn__=-UC-R

1 hour ago, masjstovel said:

Permanent? You have a foundation in addition to the EQ6? 
Nice to see have an insight in others workflow. I have because of time and weather used around 50hours (prediction)  on youtube/forums for learning, but only around 10 hours with the actual equipment - And half of those on setup, aligning and calibrating roughly.
Point is, naturally there is alot of tips & useful information that doesn't show through videos and articles i believe. I don't know if this 5 to 1 ratio on theory vs practice is healthy, but thats the story so far.

If PHD calibration is not good, or guiding is not good, how do you troubleshoot?

I see on the picture, but 6 o'clock like 90 degrees on the scope or paralel with scope?

Also i don't have a coma-corrector, but i figure i need that from what i've read. Do i need additional adaptors for driving the ZWO through this?

Permanent, but not on the pear... I keep my tripod and the rig outside under the BBQ cover

as per PHD calibration, - if it fails, it can be due to many ssues, but the most usuall one is, - your Rig is not in balance.

6 o'clock in relation to RA axis, in other words, once your scope is parked, camera has to be parallel to the counterweight shaft.

ZWO will have all the spacers needed to get the cam into correct distance from Coma Corrector, however, like in my case, I had to add 1mm in addition, you may not need it, - maybe.

You will face lots of issues for sure, but better sort them as they come  

In your place, I would not, as the Calibration procedure succeeded, so the next step, - guiding and Imaging.

If you will be happy with the imaging results, - why should you spend any time on adjustments to make some red/blue graph look nice?

The end result is what matters.

P.S.

If you will run into guiding guiding problems, and you probably will, - you will need to improve the Guiding, not the calibration itself

27 minutes ago, masjstovel said:

I bought the ZWO 1600MM Pro with 1.25" Filter-wheel, LRGB filters, and Narrowband filters now..
Please dont tell my girlfriend.

As a bandage on the wound: My friend is 3D-printing a Bahtinov-mask for free ($1800 used - $20 saved :)

And you know what?

This not the end!  hahahaha

P.S.

Congrats!!!!

9 minutes ago, Thalestris24 said:

Gosh, it's just over a year since I started this thread! I never did get around to buying a 3D printer kit... But... but... Now I think I really do want to get one Is the Ender 3 Pro still a reasonable starter? It's going for around £220 at the mo which seems affordable. I just want to print smallish things mostly linked to astro stuff, maybe no more than about 12cm square by maybe 8cm high. Until I get one of these things I will know nothing, and have no feel for the ins and outs of 3d printing, so have to just dive in! Any thoughts or other make suggestions?

Cheers

Louise

It looks like Ender 3 is the most popular entry level printer. I thought it is even cheaper at the moment, something like £170.
The only competitor in this price range I can think of, is Anycubic Mega-S, which is a bit more expensive (costs £220), but comes partly assembled.
I have not used Ender. I was in between these two printers initially... Do not remember why I went Mega way...
It had some problems, which needed some time investments to deal with, like bed warping and thermistor failure, but nothing serious and acceptable for such a price. 

P.S.

Ach... I was not sure how difficult it was to assemble  Ender an how accurate it should be... Partly assembled printer won.

Now, I would go for a cheaper option
 

7 hours ago, 5haan_A said:

Had another crack calibrating tonight. Got to something a little bit more acceptable. 

This is more what I after isnt it? I'm not familiar with what acceptable calibration data looks like but I'm assuming because I got no warnings and I did more than 2 steps this is better.

To be honest I dont have a smart way of how the above happened. I used my newer laptop, installed all the astro software and it just seemed to work straight out of the blocks. I'm not complaining.

 

For Skywatcher Mount like HEQ5 or NEQ6, - it is good (not perfect).

For something like Mesu200, - not really good at all...

depends what you've got.

Hi, like Dave said,

You probably need to reduce Calibration Step, ms value.

Leave EQMOD at guide rate 0.5 (for the start), PHD should pick it up and pre-set default 0.5 value in the "Detailed Calib Parameters" Guide Speed section,

And also, check which EPOCH you use on other Astro software, JNOW or J2000 and set up EQMOD accordingly. You should use the same Epoch on all the software.

Maybe this one also will help https://openphdguiding.org/man-dev/Trouble_shooting.htm

P.S

Now, we all know were your home and astro rig is based... (paint the coords off from EQMOD pic).

1) Do we have the same focuser (except yours is modified)? - yes, 130PDS and 150 have the same one. And no, my focuser is not modified, I just attached autofocuser to the focuser's shaft directly.

2) Why the DSLR on the lower part of the scope?  - balance... 130PDS is quite small, once I placed autofucser (500g) also  ASI + EFW, I was not able to balance... I wanted to move scope lower in the rings, but autofocuser's motor was in the way... So I needed something heavy at the bottom. My Canon fit the purpose!

3) The beauty of the Cooled Astro Camera, - you can use library of Darks and you do not need to collect them each night as you control the sensor's temperature.

4) I consider myself as a new starter with just a bit of experience  (only around 2.5 - 3 years in hobby)... but my routine is as follows:

If camera was removed before session, I focus using Bahtinov Mask and SharpCap Bahtinov focusing aid on any Brighter but not the brightest star. (if camera was in, SGP autofofus is enough).

As my scope is permanent I do not do Polar Alignment each time, however, if mount suffers from bad guiding, - after focusing, I start from PA routine (usually using PHD2 drift alignment). That Means I delete all sync points on EQMOD invest another 30mins to PA.

Once PA is done, I move scope just a bit lower than 0 Alt, later lift/slew to the Star which is located just above 0 ALT and close to the Meridian to do PHD calibration (I move scope just like this as PHD calibration starts from moving scope North, and I want all gears in DEC to be intact, without any backslash).

Once done, I start my imaging session. SGP uses EQMOD in a "dialog mode" and manual sync points are not needed ... (At least in my case it works without them nicely).

I do flats at the end, in the morning...  I use a simple Stencil LED panel as this one  https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/A4-LED-Art-Craft-Drawing-Board-Tracing-Light-Box-Table-Pad-Tattoo-Arts-Stencil/264220730411?hash=item3d84c8642b:m:mmdtuhOAM_wQQuyyu5iAR6Q

It came in a card box, so I just cut the hole in it to fit the scope, placed 3 peaces of white paper in and used SGP Flats routine to get exposure times for each filter. I use full light ON all the time and regulated the light reduction by adding or removing white paper, to keep the same brightness for all sessions and all filters.

I do not re-do Flats each session if I have not moved the camera. Can be a bit dangerous with Newtonians as they are wide open, but I am lucky so far.

What else...
If you check the image of my set up again, - keep your ASI camera on the scope in the same position, at 6 o'clock or at 12 (I cannot use 12 as I have cannon on the top and it would become useless).

ASI +EWF are quite heavy and such a position will give you the best balance. Also, try keeping counterweights as close to the mount as possible, if you use 1 which is at the end of the shaft, - place 2 and bring them closer to the mount, it will make mount RA movements easier which = to a better guiding performance. 

Hmm.... Some more novels can be written here  

but this is probably the basics I can drop out at the moment

I would agree with Vlaiv,

You may, or may Not suffer from a drawtube tilt problem.

And even if you will, - I almost sure, you will not really notice that for the first 3 months, till you get your eyes/brains adjusted.
and as I mentioned before, if needed, you can tighten the drawtube travel by the screws at the bottom of the focuser, it will reduce or completely eliminate the tilt.

Asi1600mm will be a good all rounder cam, it will fit almost any scope you decide to use later.
Once you get it, - do not put it on the scope. Power up, connect to the PC, put it in the dark cool place and collect Dark subs at gain 139 (unity gain) and in -20C.

not sure about your imaging sub length, but do not go further than 600sec for NB  (I stay in 300sec area) and probably up to 60sec with LRGB. In other words, collect library of Darks.

For Bias, do not use shorter exposures than 0.3sec, or even move to FlatDarks if you have enough patience!  (I don't). 

P.S.

600sec is approximate value.

ASI1600 and other CMOS sensors do not really like very Long exposures and you may get AMP glow at some part of the image (usually, top, top right and etc).

Once you get your camera, you can test with Darks, stack several darks which are longer than 600sec and stretch them.  https://astronomy-imaging-camera.com/tutorials/what-is-amp-glow.html 

So you can learn your camera limits.

And just a remark:

if in your case 10 steps = 50microns, you will not see focuser to move at all! as this distance is the same as the thickness of a human hear

In other words, you need to know what's going on

Hi Barns,

I do not have ZWO EAF, I use DYI one.

I use SGP, and can comment on this software only.

1) You need to use 11 or 9 measurement points (you can reduce it to 7 later). Would advise to start from 9 as does not take so long as 11.

2) For the start, use 100 value for the backslash (I do not have any backslash with a direct motor connection to the focuser's shaft, but anyway, I was made to use 100 to make SGP work properly), you will need to learn which way IN or OUT to use (in my case it did not matter).

3) Move your focuser by 1000 or 3000 steps and measure how many millimeters it retracts the focuser's drawtube (do it several times to measure the average), divide the the average figure by 1000 or 3000 accordingly and learn your focuser's travel distance per 1 motor step. Lets say yours is 5 microns.

4) Calculate your telescope's critical focus zone/distance (the distance which focuser can be moved which does not effects the Perfect Focus).  Lets say yours is 50 microns, it means, if you are in the perfect focus, you will remain in it if focuser will move one way by 5 steps, or 25 microns approximately.

This data will let you know, how many steps you can move the focuser manually and stay in the Focus, - in other words, you will understand what exactly autofocuser does.

5) Also, you will need to calculate the SGP step size for 9 Data Points, - this SGP link shows step by step procedure http://mainsequencesoftware.com/Content/SGPHelp/SequenceGeneratorPro.html?UnderstandingAutoFocus.html

(I was made to use a bit larger step size, calculation value was 75, but I got a better results with 100).

6) Seeing... I managed to set all up only in during a good seeing conditions... (I am based in London... sometimes nights are VERY bright....).

I hope it helps!

And yes... it is tricky at first... it takes time to set all up, - but you will be happy at the end 100%

15 hours ago, masjstovel said:

Thanks @RolandKol! You habe an URL/name for a useful autofocuser in my case?
It's almost funny - this "It would be cool to take a photo through a Telescope"-project never stops surprising me with must-have-gadgets :D.

@RolandKol , @vlaiv and @AdamJ: Yes the inner adaptor-ring With the locking-screws is slightly moveable (<1mm). This is the issue you're addressing? Is it not fixable with just a toothpic pushed in between or something? Maybe im cursing in the church now, but…

Hi again,

Unfortunately I cannot recommend any brand of autofocuser, as I never used them... As I mentioned before, - mine is DYI. The cheaper brands are Pegasus and ZWO (not joking  ZWO has it all), but ...

To be honest, it is 4 or even 5 times cheaper to go DYI way, just check https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8jLOAR2ZHU, - it is almost simple like this (the software he uses is no more accessible, but he shows the basics, currently the same software, but a bit more advanced is accessible, just a bit more difficult than the basic one. There are some threads in this forums about it and etc.). The main headache is to attach the motor to the focuser, - it can be a challenge, the rest is just some fun

As per focuser drawtube tilt/wobble:

You simply need slightly tighten the drawtube bolts which are based under the focuser, - toothpick will not help.
There are several threads on this forum about it.

P.S.

Have you decided which camera you will go for?  

P.P.S.

"It would be cool to take a photo through a Telescope"-project never stops surprising me with must-have-gadgets :D.

I placed my smartphone to the eyepeace to find Andromeda as my skies are very light poluted....

and ended up with this one  
https://www.flickr.com/photos/154881882@N05/40483860193

Welcome to the dark side!

8 minutes ago, vlaiv said:

I'm a bit puzzled with this.

The way I've done it is to take linear mono channels and do background/gradient removal prior to any combination. I also don't like the idea of combining data prior to stretching it for NB images - Ha is much stronger and if you combine your data and stretch it - you will get poor saturation in color mix and Ha will dominate image. I tend to do it like this:

- calibrate / stack / whatever and do gradient / background removal on linear channels separately.

- do stretch of mono images until I get nice looking level of detail in each and brightness is at about same level between mono images (that largely depends on SNR of each channel)

- combine images and do channel mixing to get certain palette out of it

PI has a nice tool called"Liner Fit".
Usual procedure is to use the weakest Signal (OIII in this case) as a reference image and apply "liner fit" on H (and SII if any), later combine, color calibrate and etc, and stretch at the end.

I go both ways each time... Stretch>combine, or Liner Fit>Combine>Stretch, and always end up with the different results on the different targets  it takes sooo much time!  I hate this part

11 minutes ago, vlaiv said:

- Don't have experience with focuser on 150mm newtonian, but I can tell you that focuser tilt is real issue and I ended up upgrading my focuser so I can have threaded connection and everything now stays in place.

Threaded draw-tube connector is probably the best option, - the plastic end with bolts on the focuser can be removed and connector attached, however, it will not allow to use Collimation tools properly.

So I went "TS-Optics 2" Adapter compression Ring" way, - it is placed instead of the plastic part at the end of the draw-tube and centers the imaging "toys" in the focuser quite nicely, plus it allows to use collimation tools also.
There is a similar Baader Click Clock which is more comfy, - but as my web explorations showed, 130 PDS+ClickClock+ASI1600=No focus...
Baader is a bit too long/thick for my PDS.... not sure about 150PDS, I guess, - also.

2 hours ago, masjstovel said:

Thanks! I see what you mean. I'm planning on buying something like i.e an 80mm f/6 in addition, which i think will be a good choice when the 150PDS makes it too close (?). Maybe down the line i will add something like the 130.
I don't quite understand what you mean about the focuser? It will not stay in place because of the weight or?

To @RolandKol and @AdamJ: Will this sort the problem? https://www.astroshop.eu/motors-controls/skywatcher-auto-focus-system-for-telescopes/p,11469#tab_bar_0_select

Shortly No, that motor will not help.

A bit more about my 130PDS focuser:

No, don't get it wrong, camera and EFW did not slip due to the weight, but it had a slight wobble/tilt.

I am almost sure yours has it also. Simply test it, once you in focus, try moving camera to sides and it will most likely tilt the focuser's draw-tube by a fracture of the millimeter.

That tilt, usually is enough to cause some prolonged stars in one of even few corners of the images even if you use coma corrector.

That tilt is also noticeable once you try to focus using any Focusing aid software, - once you lock focuser, you will notice figures will "run away" from your "perfect" value. These issues, do not cause any Major problems, just a bit annoying.

You will most likely have it with any other camera & EFW together anyway.

PDS are good for the price sold, but are not perfect, so some modding or tinkering is needed.

As per autofocuser: it must be strong enough to keep the rig without locking the dawtube (in this case it eliminates the draw-tube tilt during the lock, plus if it is not locked, it can refocus without your interference).

if you go mono, you will use minimum 3 filters if you go narrow band only (LRGB, + four more filters), - you will need to refocus on each of them once filter is changed.
So Autofocuser MUST  be computer controlled and with a Stepper Motor, which has strong Holding power, not like simple motors, which you can easily rotate the shaft with your fingers.

So moving forward, - think of autofocuser also...

You can buy one, - starting price from something around £200 or do it yourself.

Just keep in mind, if you will go autofocuser way, - always get one with thermometer. I did my autofocuser for around £65 (I had only some electric and software related experience in my teenage times, but managed to do it in  few months).

My tests showed, focus leaves critical focus area once temperature changes by 1C on 130PDS. Yours is larger, - probably more sensitive. So my autofucser does it's job not only once filter is changed by SGP, but also, once temp changes.

VERY VERY HANDY TOOL!

Allows me to sleep all night while imaging!