RolandKol

On 11/10/2022 at 15:48, ninjageezer said:

I have a new ZWO EAF arriving tomorrow.

please can anyone help me to get started with this in NINA ,i will be fitting it to my  WO Z73 scope at this time .

recommended settings ect....to get me off the mark.

Edit: wrote complete nonsense... cannot delete, so edited.

6 hours ago, ONIKKINEN said:

If its the same focuser that my VX8 had, its a strong recommendation from me to get rid of it. If the CT8 has the same secondary spider that the VX8 has (looks like it in photos), same story. Not sturdy.

it looks like the only solid newtonian option at the moment, -  TS Photon ONTC sub-brand.... At least I was not able to find anything what looks better on paper and from user experience.

Btw, which uses Orion's Optics mirrors

22 minutes ago, ollypenrice said:

In both images the right hand side looks OK while the left shows elongation radiating roughly from the centre.  I don't know what would explain this but I'd bear it in mind while trying to sort the telescope out.

Olly

yep  
kinda strange... No heavy CC and EFW and the tilt is very visible...

18 minutes ago, iwols said:

   Capture Area=800x600

with ROI enabled, you can actually image just around the Planet, as you do not need all the black area around.
It will save much time for processing and etc, plus will enable to do MORE subs per sec. and you want as MUCH subs per sec as Possible.
As per other settings, - keep and eye on the Hystogram, it should be somethere around middle or "middle/slight right" , in other words 50%-70%, -  with as short exposures as you can.
Try different gains, max or Unity, no use to go for 0 gain.

Very nice,

Much better than my first try

P.S.

Try to crop frames with PIPP before stacking.

Or even better, next time do imaging with ROI (Region of Interest) enabled if cam allows.

Hi  mate,

Any updates? Any new Images with CC?

How is the primary colimation between the sessions or meridian flip?
How is the default focuser? Any tilt with heavier (for example, Mono setup?)

Asking, as planing to upgrade my 130 PDS.

I printed quite a few covers//caps and even extention rings (not long ones) in PETG  and all are OK.

5 minutes ago, pipnina said:

I know this doesn't make things any easier but I personally would avoid this scope change : (

OMG...
£1k+ for sucha headache.... I am really sad to hear about your experiences, but also very thankfull!
I played and tinkered with PDS for quite a period of time and simply want a scope without any aditional "games", however I want aperture! hahaha damn...

P.S.
Have you placed the primary on the silicone?

On 01/07/2022 at 22:18, pipnina said:

This was the issue. I had the bracket on the wrong way around! I guess everything is easier after a good sleep and not being tired any more lol.

I got it all sorted now, and I don't put a huge amount of tension on the focuser, just enough to ensure the rotating metal shaft and the focuser barrel have good grip and the sag is corrected. It's still very fluid and doesn't take effort to adjust by hand, so hopefully the EAF should handle it all fine.

Gotta wait for another night to put it to the test though!

Hi Mate,

I think upgrading my 130PDS to this scope.

Any comments?
Especially on focuser as I will hang ASI1600MM + EFW(7) + GPU CC.
PDS focuser is way to cheap for such amount of toys...

P.S.
I will also use ZWO AEF.

P.P.S.

Do you have any images of bright stars after colimation?

3 hours ago, Skyline said:

I can tell you the Quattro is focuser heavy 2 locking knobs and zero shift or at least I have not noticed. I would say they are better than the standard dual speed skywatcher focusers, but if you want creme de la creme expect to pay more. I am currently using a DSLR, I cannot comment on if you were using a filter wheel as well and nor does the draw tube intrude into the light path as the 130PDS is prone to do.

I was out last night dealing with the Ekos problems I was having after I updated the program. I do seriously love how Ekos is setup, but there seems always a problem with it after you update it, I think I will just defer back to windows - even though I do not want to.

I have managed the balance better of the scope by using a 11" ADM Dovetail, but due to the above problems could not get any images off.

@RolandKol What focusers would you expect on Skywatcher Offerings on 8" and 10" Newts? If you follow that path.

I quit ekos.. sadly ..

I used raspberry pi for astro for quite a while.

Ended up back on win10+Nina =no headache.

As per setup, l am on Asi1600+EFW(7)+Zwo EAF.

From pics l kinda noticed Quattro has a monorail or something similar in the focuser... Need a bit more investigation if it's able to carry my toys.

I am not very bright in this field, but l look for scope which wouldn't need any upgrades or tinkering, especially for focuser.

I played quite a lot with PDS Time to settle down

I am sitting on the fence, - thinking to upgrade my 130PDS to 8 or 10",

Quatro is on the list, but the only thing I afraid is Focuser... PDS had a such a cheap, wobbly and unreliable one, I guess Skywatcher has not upgraded much on Quatro also as the price is kinda cheap anyway.... You wrote, you had few Quatros, - any comments about their focusers?

12 hours ago, alacant said:

So we can eliminate the camera too.

Ah well... 

Dunno. Borrow a mirror set of known performance? Try the secondary to begin with. You have now blackened the edges of the same, yes? 

Or just accept it? It's not often you'll have a star bright enough to cause reflection after all.

Otherwise, out of ideas:(

It is 130PDS, my GPU CC is more expensive than the scope itself  
Will go for a upgrade and forget it.

Thanks for help, at least I have stopped banging my head into the wall...

9 hours ago, Adam J said:

you dont really say what you want to use it for?

My oldie NEQ6 mount is kinda limited to Nebulas and Larger Galaxies... Thats's why I wrote F5-F7 range... (maybe F4 also... kinda have tools for collimation) Of Couse, F10 with reducer will do. I doubt I would manage to Guide native F10 + large Aperture properly.

In best case scenario I have around 0.4" Total guiding error on PHD.

Hi guys,

I been imaging with 130PDS for a while and found it nice beginner scope, but I want to move towards larger aperture and better focuser (by default).

Any suggestions in around £900?

In ideal, new scope should still fit on old NEQ6, so full set up should be around to 17-18kg with mono cam bundle (ASI1600 + EFW7 + EAF, 

in worst case scenario, I can get rid of guider scope and switch to AOG , it is minus around 1kg).

My dream would be EdgeHD 9.25 or even larger  but my wallet is not from rubber, so will have to stay with the cheaper options. Plus, I like star spikes.

Thinking of SW quattro.... but damn... if the same focuser is used as on 130PDS... no no no... not the option for me.

maybe StellaLyra 8" f/12 M-LRS Classical Cassegrain Telescope OTA | First Light Optics ?

but I do not like Cassegrain stars... they are much "fatter" than Newtonian (if I am not mistaken, as I tried to check on flickr and astrobin and have no direct experience).

So 10" Newtonian, or around 8" a bit more expensive option...

P.S.

Around F5-F7... do not forget, - I sit on SW NEQ6 with some rust on it...

No CC, using much lighter set up (ASI224MC)... 

sadly, no guiding and no proper PA, - but the pattern is the same... Halo is off... so CC is out of the issue.

autosave_stacked - Copy.fit

6 minutes ago, alacant said:

Flexible focusers? Not a good idea.

Looking forward to when the new sw150 f4 quattro takes off. That really should be fun!

Do you mean, it is better to remove them?
I kinda, used them to tightened the drawtube to the limit as constantly afraid my camera will slip out.

20 minutes ago, alacant said:

Of course, both will give halos on bright stars, but the halos will be of different shapes.

A shot without either will confirm.

The star is not central -causing two reflections- and there is tilt. Make certain that after collimation, the primary cannot slide around in its cell. Out of the box, they do.
Do you still have the rubber o rings in the focuser?

Cheers

 

 

Yes, managed to save these tiny b.... still in place.
as per primary sliding, - not sure... it is quite firmly clipped and rotated scope does not show difference in collimation at least via Cheshire... Had thoughts to put on the silicone without the clips at all, but it will expand and etc during the night also.
Focuser... is another headache... ASI1600 + EWF is most likely a bit too much for it...
Just noticed, GPU spacing was off by 5mm.... Not sure what I was thinking, - but probably it is not the cause...

12 minutes ago, alacant said:

Remove the cc and reshoot. The halo should be gone.

My money is on reflection being caused by the glass surface(s) of the cc. We've seen this before when the telescope facing element has not seated correctly or when a filter is cross threaded and so not sitting perpendicular to the optical axis.

A quick way to align the outermost element is to loosen the retaining ring until upon shaking the whole cc rattling can be heated. Retighten whilst moving the cc rapidly on a horizontal surface until the rattle just disappears.

No mention of the primary cell, so I assume that's been addressed.

Cheers.

Primary cell is not shadowed to see the clips during colimation, racked Out (away from focuser to the very end), GPU CC does not like primary to be closer due to focus point.
And I doubt it is CC issue, as both GPU and SW CC behaves the same!

But I have not tried without cc at all.. probably the last thing to test
 

The view via Cheshire (difficult to pic using mobile, but all 3 clips are visible once Cheshire is directly facing Top or turned by 90 degrees).

The 120sec raw from previous night

L__200_2022-10-06_01-40-39_T4.00_120.00s_0000.fits

1 hour ago, alacant said:

Ah OK.

What glass is there between the secondary and the camera? Has the primary cell been brought up to the standard required for astrophotography? Has the edge of the secondary been painted black? Anything other than mirrors of a shiny nature looking down the tube and into the focuser?

Perhaps post a -link to- an unprocessed frame taken without the mirror clips so we can look further.

Cheers 

GPU or Skywatcher CC, - both give the same halo of the secondary, scope was flocked and flock material used on the secondary perimeter. 
As flock material increased the shadow of the secondary and I constantly had off-center halo of the primary, - I have removed the flock material to increase the accuracy of collimation, - so the secondary is "naked now", have not painted it. Result is the same. 
I am completely puzzled....

P.S. getting inside, will post some pics soon

57 minutes ago, alacant said:

According to which criteria has it failed?

You don't/can't choose. The spider on a 130pds is central. Have you moved yours off centre?

Cheers

My spider vanes are central as per the second collimation picture (not astro baby's one).

as per failed criteria, - in the astro image, the reflection of the primary (the halo) is not concentric and creates a "funny" view.... And it stays like this during my multiple re-collimations...
if I do it central by adjusting primary mirror bolts, it becomes oval.

P.S. trying to target on the artificial star at the  moment... THATS A TASK!!!!

Hi guys,

not sure why, but I am not able to collimate my toy anymore...  I use Cheshire + Camera, I see all 3 primary clips via Cheshire and all cantered with the Secondary mirror shadow slightly prolonged...
But the reflection of the primary during my multiple test is always off... (not sure if focuser is the problem as It was removed previously)
can you please check and advise? (starting from page num: 4)

my NEQ6 is not modded and really old and rusted.
Once balanced properly and with good PA, it keeps my 130PDS (plus mono setup) in around 0.45 Total RMS area, however....

if a slight high-level clouds come, - 0.8RMS and not lower... I tried all kind of settings without any luck...

Give a try once again, my calibration and guiding assistance graphs are MUCH worse

Hi guys,

On my Newtonian 130PDS I can collimate Primary mirror to be closer to Focuser and opposite.

Which direction should I target primary, if I want Focus to be reached with focuser racked our less, if it does any difference at all, but I kinda noticed it does if I am not wrong.

4 hours ago, Pixies said:

That second pic. Most modern Newts will have the vanes central but secondary offset.

As per the second pic, just get the green/red/blue circles concentric and doughnut/dot aligned. The offset should look after itself.

as per second pic, my 130PDS failed....