Spaced Out

I find it strangely satisfying when the 130PDS starts getting frosty ........... Is that normal ?!!

The 130PDS cooling down under the moon this evening in preparation for some NB imaging.

Thanks for these replies, very useful. So there isn't an all in one off the shelf solution that I can just chuck batteries in and stick on the roof ? Looks like I will be buying a soldering iron and some components to make this happen. 🙂

Hi All Just wondering if anyone can offer advice on a cost effective, plug and play rain sensor ? Does such a thing exist ? Looking for something I can mount permanently on the roof of my shed that will give me an alert should it start to rain. Thanks

Finally...... A night free of cloud !! Seems like it’s been months and months of solid cloudy weather here, it was nice to get back out with the 130PDS. This is the Rosette Nebula (NGC 2244). 20x 180 sec each of RGB 15x 90 sec Lum

That's a lovely image ! 😍

Thanks, I will do !

At the moment I'm using a HEQ5 pro but dreaming about getting an EQ6R sometime in the future.

Hi All Just wondering if anyone is using one of these for astrophotography ? I have just acquired one and I was thinking about (somehow) chucking it on the mount with a modified 6D. So, I was wondering.... A - is it worth it ? and B - what is the best way to mount the lens safely ? Thanks

Thanks for this. I'll take a look at that too.

Yeah last time I stripped the 130PDS I used a collimation cap to square things up. I now have the 2inch concenter so I may check it out again with that. I thought the concenter was quite expensive for what it is but I've found it fairly useful.

I narrowed it down to focuser alignment/tilt (and possibly a very slightly curved vane ?). I tried to correct things by shimming the focuser, it helped but it still wasn't perfect. Then I was given another 130PDS ! I started using that instead and the other scope is now sitting in reserve. Interestingly, looking around online I noticed a few other newtonian images showing the same sort of pattern, maybe it's not uncommon ?

Try speaking to teoria_del_big_bang on here (steve), he did mine for me, top bloke ! https://stargazerslounge.com/profile/57911-teoria_del_big_bang/

I used this handy 3d print file and some velcro to mask my mirror clips....... it works well 👍

I had a quick check of my all-sky camera online tonight and happened to look at just the right time to catch this beauty ! https://northumberland-astro.space/all-sky-live/

Yep, understood that, just thought you might like to know that the starsharps don’t appear to be plastic anymore, that's all. As for WO masks, I have zero experience of those, sorry.

I bought a starsharp mask recently to replace an old starsharp mask that I accidentally broke. The old one was plastic and felt sturdy, well...... until I trod on it ! The new one is different, it looks more like layered cardboard or some sort of fibre board ? It does the job fine but in the back of my mind I am wondering if it will be as durable as the old one ?

Hi everyone Thanks for all of your replies, really helpful. I added another nights subs and full calibration frames and it has improved things a lot ! 👍 I suspect my lack of calibration frames, particularly dark flats may have been the issue ?

Hi I've wrestled with the Baader MPCC Mk3 and the 130 PDS before, I found the MPCC was quite fickle about spacing but good once it is spaced properly. I solved my coma problems by carefully fine tuning using Baader Delrin spacers. Make sure the camera is firmly seated against the focuser before starting (to minimise any tilt) - wind the focuser right in and push the camera/CC quite firmly against the focuser while tightening up the thumb screws. Use a single frame to assess coma and then compare between frames as you add or remove spacers, it can be a bit faffy but it’s worth spending the time and once you've got it good you don't have to touch it again. Here's the fine tuning spacers I used https://www.firstlightoptics.com/adapters/baader-t2-delrin-spacer-ring-set.html I had to snip these plastic spacers with scissors and stretch them slightly to fit but they worked well and are fairly cheap. You could also try a free trial of CCD inspector to help you work out if you are over or under spaced. I did this and it did help me head in the right direction with the spacing but I’m not sure how accurate the software actually is ? https://www.ccdware.com/products/ccdinspector/

Out with the 130PDS the other night, a bright moon but that gave me an opportunity to try my hand at ‘proper’ narrowband for the first time. This is my first ever colour image produced using NB filters with the ZWO ASI 1600. Just feeling my way around with this mono camera tbh, lots more still to learn, particularly with image calibration/processing. NGC 281 - Pacman Nebula 20x 300s Ha, 20x 300s Oiii, 10x 300s Sii + 50x Darks, 20x Flats and 20x Dark Flats for each filter.

A very quick Flame and Horsehead grabbed between the clouds the other night. Ha 5x 300s + the usual calibration frames.

Hi, if you search back through this thread there are a few discussions about coma correctors for the 130PDS. Two of the most popular seem to be the Baader MPCC Mk3 and the Skywatcher 0.9x coma corrector.

I find it simpler because (in my case) there is no laptop/guiding/software involved and no telescope to worry about collimating etc. The wider field of view with lenses can be more forgiving in terms of polar alignment errors too, as long as I point the thing towards polaris I usually get good exposures of 3 minutes or so with 50mm and 80mm focal lengths. If you need longer exposures/guiding/goto etc I think you can add these too ? But I just keep mine dead simple with SA + DSLR + wide lenses. This thread may help.

This isn't bad advice at all. +1 If you have experience with polar aligning the EQ5 then a star adventurer should be easy to set up and use. I have one and moving to it from a HEQ5 I found it very easy to set up and get images quickly using just the SA a DSLR and wide angle lenses (50mm and 80mm). All you really have to worry about is polar alignment but with the SA, DSLR, lens combo it will be wider angle and therefore less critical/more forgiving of any PA errors. You could just use a simple stand alone SA/DSLR/Lens rig to start with, this is all I use and it keeps things very simple, but you could always introduce a PC/software etc later too. The only thing I find lacking from my SA is a goto function but I just point the camera in the right direction and take some short very high ISO test shots to help frame the target before doing the longer exposures.

Thanks, I've got new flats and dark flats now from a different night. I'll maybe try using them instead, I've not seen any obvious dust on the flats and I just want to try and correct that horrible vignetting if I can.