Geoff Lister

I was watching the image build up on my tablet's screen, and it started round and then elongated. Once 12P had dropped below my local roof line, I went for 144P, about 10 degrees above Bellatrix, and then 62P about 10 degrees below-east of Denebola. After 7 minutes on 62P, the display remained stuck on 4 minutes stacked, so I stopped capture, turned on anti-dew and resumed capture. I like the way the Seestar offers the option of Restart or Continue. Geoff

+1. The nice new functions in the App need documentation. I tend to use Stellarium to search for a target and get an idea if it is likely to be above trees/houses/fences etc., then home in using the Seestar sky map. Using that method has got me 144P. Geoff

It is now much brighter than it was in January (see my posting above) Just 6 stacked frames, and, recording for a bit longer Geoff

Another one of 12P from 2nd March Even with only 6 stacked images It's a shame that this comet is disappearing into my neighbourhood roof line as dusk moves later through March. Geoff

I think that the main problem with these 5.5/2.1 mm connectors is that the plug, with its 2 metal cylinders is ok, but the equipment side, with centre pin and cantilevered spring side contact provides poor electrical contact and very poor (as mentioned above) plug retention. I have added a cable retention clip on most of my mounts that use these connectors. Geoff

And more recently:- 62P is about magnitude 11 and IC 3602 is magnitude 15.5. Geoff

A warm welcome to SGL. We like to help with advice where we can. There is no such thing as a stupid question. Geoff

I am a retired electronics engineer, so making up leads is easy to me. The 18AWG cable has good current capacity for most astro equipment needs. The other thing to consider is volts-drop along the cable. Some of the Skywatcher equipment (particularly Synscan handsets) is sensitive to lowered voltages at its end of the lead chain. This is where the lead lengh, and its related resistance, is important. The table that I looked at, showed 18AWG resistance as 20.9 ohms for 1000 metres. That equates to a volts drop (with supply and return wires, and the 3.5A mentioned above) of about 0.15V per meter of cable length. If you assume 10 milliohms contact resistance for each (clean) connection in your connectors at each end of the lead, 4 * 0.01 *3.5 = 0.14V will be added to the drop, independent of lead length. I think that, given a good 12V supply, most equipment that requires 12V will be OK with 1.5 metres of your 18AWG cable. Geoff

3 days after my first picture (above) the Moon was further east, and the comet was much easier to spot. Stellarium shows IC3602 as being magnitude (at this altitude) 15.68. OK no useful detail, but still impressive for an extremely "faint fuzzy". I'm also impressed with the sky map. It makes finding targets (including comets) very easy. Once the Seestar has identified and centred the session's first target, it slews to take 3 orientation images to plate solve for mount leveling error correction. The mount goes back to the target, and goes through a (roughly) 1-minute process. The on-screen information does not explain why. I am assuming that it is recording a few "Dark" frames to use in its stacking process. If I am correct, it would be nice to have these made available for future post-processing. Geoff

No. I have the, much smaller, Skymax 127 MCT, and this is faster to set up than the bigger Dob., but does not gather as much light if I am going for faint fuzzies. Geoff

I'm no expert, but it works well for me, with a range of eyepieces and a comfortable viewing position range. I do not normally have to adjust the collimation each time I extend it - perhaps a minor adjustment of the primary mirror, a couple of times a year. Geoff

Yes, my thoughts too; when I saw the effect of the build-up of moonlight, I thought it was worth a try. I have started to make one, from a short section of kitchen roll cardboard inner tube (it was hard to find one that was a snug fit in the Seestar's lens aperture), and a square collar (to stop it rolling around, and keep the tube circular). The next step is the matt black paint. If it works I will probably make a spare, just in case I forget it is fitted and power-down.😧

I'm a fan of GoTo, and its associated ability to track whilst I change eyepieces. When it starts to get dark, I can set up my Skywatcher Skyliner 250 flextube Dob. with Synscan Goto, using Brightest Star (2-star, or planet + 2-star); then go in for tea, and the 'scope will still be tracking the last alignment star when I come out refreshed. I can still direct the mount manually, and the encoders tell the handset where the OTA is pointing, so I have not lost alignment. However, I find that it is much easier to use the handset, with its range of slew rates available, to slew quickly and then make fine adjustments to centre the target. Geoff

I agree almost 100%. I have found that if the target is close to the almost-full Moon (comet 62P a couple of nights ago) I was getting some reflection from the Seestar's plastic causing a brightening of the image on the opposite side to the Moon. The Moon was below-left about 12 degrees away. If you look closely, you can just make out the comet. A month earlier, much better:- Geoff

Last night, Comet 62P was too close to the almost-full Moon, and with light cloud, almost washed out However, Stellarium led me to the Eskimo Nebula - small but interesting I also like the way the "Mark" function tries to shield you from adjacent bright objects Geoff

And from North Somerset, Uranus direct from my Seestar, without post processing, 3 moons just visible, Titania (top centre), Oberon (top right), & Umbriel (bottom right) And comet 144P / Kushida (below right of HIP 25278 (111 Tau) [the big, bright one] Geoff

This evening, direct from my Seestar, without any post-processing. Geoff

If I think that I am going to have a long session, I use a little power bank for mobile phones/tablets. I bought it fron "The Range" about a year ago for £14.99. It has 5V 2A and 5V 1A, USB A outputs, and a 5V 2A micro-USB input. It is rated at 20,000 mAH (probably @ battery voltage of 3,7V), so 10Ah @ 5v would be more realistic. It should easily double the length of a session. A quick google shows similar devices, although prices seem to have risen somewhat. Pages 44 & 45 of this topic (Jan 13th onwards) discuss the charging of the S50 and its use of external power at low ambient temperatures. Geoff

Yes, but The Seestar requires Android V8, or later, and my (old) Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 runs Android V7, so it will not even load the Seestar app. It will run the Dwarf II app, but that, I believe, works with V5 onwards. I now have a Blackview Tab 60, running Android V13, and that works well with both 'scopes. Geoff

Just in case, I recalibrated the compass. There was a small gap in the clouds, and I tried a Lunar goto, and, after a levelling adjustment, it went straight on to target. Geoff

This morning, when I started my Seestar app, it advised updating to latest version. I did so and Google Android "App info" now states "Build number 1.15.0" and the connected, and updated, s50 shows firmware 2.30. I like the way the built-in voice says "Updating Firmware" about 7% into the update cycle - very reassuring. Needless to say, cloud cover forcast for the next few nights 😬. Geoff

Hello Manny, and welcome to SGL. I am a visual observer, but have dabbled with a little astrophotography. I have recently bought a Dwarf II and Seestar S50, and realise that (1) you use the JPEG images produced directly from within the 'scopes, or (2) download the individual FIT files and try to improve on the processing. In the past, I have taken videos of Jupiter and Saturn and used Registax to improve the images. But with the FIT files, from the Dwarf & S50, it seems that Siril is a strong contender for post-processing. Looking at your stacked and final FIT files, you have, already, a good mastery of Siril. I am sure that there are some members who are skilled in Siril, and will be able to give you some pointers. I will have to spend some more time looking at the many YouTube videos on Siril processing. This is the direct output from a much shorter session on M51. Looking at your results, I need a longer capture, and more time learning Siril. Geoff

These 3 images of M33 (without any post-processing) were recorded during the same session, and give an indication of the increse in detail with increasing stacking time. I think it shows that even 1 minute (6-off, 10-second captures) starts to show some useful detail. Geoff

I use mine from my conservatory or an adjacent room behind a cavity wall, probably 6m from the s50's location on a patio. The initial connection is via Bluetooth, and then via WiFi. There is probably a wide variation of the "range" of both, depending on the orientation of the s50 and tablet/phone. The s50 does not require a continuous connection. Once it has started imaging a target, you can drop the connection, and go back later to check progress. I do this when I have both my s50 and Dwarf II operating at the same time. If the connection has dropped for some reason, your tablet/phone will probably have reverted to home WiFi, and you may have to use "settings" to go back to the s50 - your screen will show progess within a few seconds, as though the disconnection had never happened. Geoff

Hello shaft, Mine makes a buzzing sound when powering up, and at the final stage of parking when shutting down. I have not noticed any grinding sounds during operation. At the end of a GoTo slew to a new target, the mount makes small corrections and the motor/gearbox will need to take up backlash to change direction; this should be fairly quiet, and without a grinding noise. It may be worthwhile recording the sound, and contacting the retailer for advice. Geoff