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Uranium235

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Everything posted by Uranium235

  1. Uranium235

    Butterfly OIII now in the bag... processing.... please wait.

  2. Uranium235

    Weather forecast completely wrong as usual.

  3. Uranium235

    Feelin' hot hot hot!

  4. Uranium235

    Blocked drains..... a messy and smelly business indeed!

    1. Tinker1947

      Tinker1947

      i have 1 manhole in my property, the next manhole is shared so the water board have to clear it, not blocked for maybe 10 years now

    2. Myopicus

      Myopicus

      Sympathies. I own my own drain rods, out of necessity.

    3. Uranium235

      Uranium235

      It was midnight before I got it cleared. Had no rods to use, just loads of caustic soda and boiling water (it was the kitchen drain).

      There is a reason why I always bang on about "no food in the sink", a plea not always heard...lol.

  5. Uranium235
    Write up on newt flats here: http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/220477-taking-effective-lum-flats-with-a-cheap-newtonian/
  6. Uranium235
    Well, it stems from a paper written by SBIG a while ago about stray light in optical systems. So to solve the problem raised I initially tried sky flats, which worked to a degree, but the level of illumination is constantly falling. So, what if I were try to recreate the same conditions indoors by using a really large monitor? Well, thats what I did and it seems to have worked! The spectra from the monitor wont be the same as a twilight sky, but the main problem was to solve the issue of removing stray light from the interior of the telescope. Eg: Light that completely bypasses the primary/scondary and just goes straight up the drawtube. On further investigation, it seems these types of flats are called "dome flats" - but being as I dont have an obsy, the idea never twigged. I will be doing a proper write up sometime this evening. The nub of it being, dont have your EL panel flush against the telescope if using a reflector. Edit: Just need to add that this is affects LRGB only, narrowband has always been unaffected (bar OIII, which leads me to think the problem was in the Blue/UV area)
  7. Uranium235
    Initial results from a new method of gathering Lum flats: Just 40 min worth of data, but I think we can see where this one is going
  8. Uranium235

    By jove! I think ive solved the problem of newtonian flats without stray light!

    1. Show previous comments  2 more
    2. Uranium235

      Uranium235

      Will do a proper post when I have my examples to hand (would like to show before and after). Its probably the next best thing to a skyflat.

    3. Coco

      Coco

      Sounds logical, my light box is too bright, made from 30mm 300 x 300 x 300 polystyrene and illuminated from white LED's , I think I might spray over the LED's with some acrylic paint to dim them down... cost so far £7 :D

      Another idea was to use a white sphere over the end of the OTA, there is a white plastic globe in a local lamp shop that looks a good candidat, if I can cut it in half.... :P

    4. Uranium235

      Uranium235

      Have you ever had the same problem with Lum flats? Its like there is a circular reflection or something similar in the middle of the frame - which when subtracted from the lum data, is quite noticeable.

      The explorer range of newts does not have any baffles, and therefore is probably more prone to this problem - glad its sorted now becuase it means I can chase really dark stuff now.

  9. Uranium235

    Guiding tonite!

    1. Amra

      Amra

      Good luck, setup was a struggle for me, but now it works fantastically. :)

  10. Uranium235

    Senior moment.... spent a whole night on the wrong filter... doh!

    1. gingergeek

      gingergeek

      Yep, been there and done that as well. We are all muppets !

    2. Coco

      Coco

      Yep, I usually un tick the record button..

  11. Uranium235

    Guiding tonite! (hopefully!)

  12. Uranium235

    Guiding tonite!

    1. Show previous comments  4 more
    2. Uranium235

      Uranium235

      omg... thats a new level of stupid! Forgot to PA and didnt notice for 45min... doh!

    3. tingting44

      tingting44

      DOH! lol, what was your PHD graph like...

    4. Uranium235

      Uranium235

      a bit zig-zaggy in dec, no wonder why!

  13. Uranium235

    Forecast says clear for tonight.... will believe that when I see it!

    1. Show previous comments  1 more
    2. SnakeyJ

      SnakeyJ

      Same down here, but solid cloud and quite gusty wind at the moment - I'll review after a cup of tea ;) Good luck up country!

    3. Uranium235

      Uranium235

      It was 11pm before it started clearing, and still too much light. Might go into summer shutdown for a few weeks.

    4. hobsey

      hobsey

      Good idea as the light evenings and cloud want annoy you then. I went into summer shutdown a few weeks ago and wont be getting the scopes out again until I visit a friend on the edge of the Brecon Beacons at the end of August.

  14. Uranium235

    Could it be true? Friday forecast as clear all day and night! I'll eat my socks if that turns out to be accurate.

    1. faulksy

      faulksy

      of course its true, its full moon always seems to be clear then lol

    2. Uranium235

      Uranium235

      Seems as though my socks are safe, forecast has changed.... how predictable!

  15. Uranium235

    The calm before the storm - GCSE Maths (Monday 9.30am) biggest cohort ever.... stress on a stick!

    1. tingting44

      tingting44

      are you taking them? i thought you were older...

    2. Uranium235

      Uranium235

      Nope.... im running them!

  16. Uranium235
    Doh! Did a dup post (not sure how that one happened!), just tidied it up anyway.
  17. Uranium235
    More for the pot (IC1396): Source thread here: http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/218053-elephant-trunk-in-ha-130pds/
  18. Uranium235
    With this particular telescope? Well, the main challenge is the focuser - and getting your coma corrector to sit squarely in the drawtube. Simplest solution to that is to drill and tap a third hole for another thumbscrew - theyre M4 threaded, so thats a tap size you can pick up from B&Q (they do an M4, M5 and M6 kit for a tenner). Next you might have to tweak the tension of the focuser (especially if you have a heavy camera), as long as you can get it to focus against the action of gravity (ie: with the camera pointing straight up) then thats good enough. The 2" EP holder just screws off the drawtube, so its easy enough to remove and work on. If, after youve done the above (and collimated it to death) and youre still getting a dodgy corner/side - then you have to tackle the job of squaring the focuser. But I would leave that as a last resort becuase thats where things get really fiddly. Edit: Dont use a laser for collimation either, a sight tube/cheshire EP is all you need - the main thing is that you need to eliminate rotation of the secondary mirror.
  19. Uranium235
    Dont be It takes time to get this far down the road (in my 4th season), as the years pass by you will accumulate gear, find your niche and have a settled imaging routine. By that time you know all the little foibles your gear has, and how to counter them. But with this telescope for me its been more of a case of "make it work, or I'll blow your brains out!"....lol. My astro spending has been severely curtailed for time being, so I've been given little option but to get the most out of it!
  20. Uranium235
    A complete Ha layer from the 130, corners look ok and managed to get plenty of contrast. Not bad for a bargain basement telescope!
  21. Uranium235

    Guiding tonite!

    1. tingting44

      tingting44

      :D

    2. tingting44

      tingting44

      your not using the 130-pds now are you?

  22. Uranium235
    A work in progress from the 130:
  23. Uranium235

    Ok, who has been buying astro kit?! Its absolutely lashing down outside (got soaked!)

    1. Show previous comments  4 more
    2. cutepetgroomer

      cutepetgroomer

      Not a star in sight here, nor planet.. Thinking bout getting eyepieces though

    3. Uranium235

      Uranium235

      Perhaps tonight there will be a clear slot between weather fronts. Might be a case of "grab & go".

    4. Luke

      Luke

      Sorry, some filters for planets!

  24. Uranium235

    Guiding tonite!

    1. Coco

      Coco

      Woop woop ... Go on there fella..target is?

    2. Uranium235

      Uranium235

      Still on the pelican and ngc7000, topping up the Ha. Managed to grab another 90min worth!

  25. Uranium235
    Looking clear for tonight, so I think a little more Cygnus action is in order. Need to download the latest version of Artemis before going out, as there are some funky new features i'd like to check out.
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