Vroobel

What software do you use for processing your data?

I would recommend a combination of Losmandy/Vixen style dovetail bar with an Arca-Swiss L-bracket. You can easily move the L-bracket along an Arca-Swiss clamp to find the balance. Also, it's easy to rotate the camera/body/lens 90 degrees from its horizontal positioning to vertical one and to attach the guider to the second arm of the L-bracket. One bigger clamp should be screwed to the dovetail bar, smaller one to the guider.

Did you think about a 120mm APO binoscope? 😏

The postman didn't bring it, I brought it from a DPD collection point. 😏 But I think I have to give it back. There is 100% in the picture, while my copy has 31% only... 🤔

Only with the 2.5mm ring attached you can have the proper 55mm back focus. I can only conclude that it's attachable/detachable to get a longer back focus if you need to add device(s) needing a longer optical path. I also didn't use the spacer in the beginning, but I had bad coma in corners/edges. Recently, after some break, I used my Netonian again with the MPCC Mk III together with the spacer and with my ASI2600MC and I had nice and flat field.

A back focus of the 26C is 17.5mm. I can recommend a ZWO Filter Drawer v2 as I think you will want to use filters. It's 21mm long, so you need any 16.5mm spacer which I believe the AA provides together with the camera, like ZWO does. 17.5 + 21 + 16.5 = 55 which is exactly what the Baader MPCC Mk III needs. Please remember about a 2.5mm ring provided with the MPCC.

Thanks. The effort put in the cable management gives back twice in form of a piece of mind. I have 3 ZWO EAFs, but this time I didn't decide to buy another one. I designed and printed a Bahtinov mask which isn't as convenient as the EAF but I can perform the focusing in around 5 moves. Another EAF would be just an overkill. It would be even more complex, as I can replace the Canon and Sigma lens set with an ASI2600MC and e.g. Carl Zeiss Jena 135mm lens which I recently bought from the SGL fellow, another set of cables is already there.

That's another clever solution, I have to look how it works.

I also use the ASIAir (Plus v1) and I experienced an odd behaviour of the main camera. The ASIAir is based on a Raspberry Pi computer, simply saying, the newer ASIAir, the newer RPi board. In case of the RPi 4 with 2xUSB3 and 2xUSB2 there is a known problem of using the USB3 ports when a WiFi 5GHz is working. You can try to switch the WiFi to 2.4GHz mode which I did. I also found that the main camera (ASI2600MC-Pro) works flawlessly when it's connected to an upper USB3 port, which is in fact a bottom USB3 port of the RPi board installed there up side down.

There is one factor affecting the FPS which isn't related to the camera or the USB speed, assuming that we work with an USB3. I use a quite fast gaming laptop, strong CPU, fast ports etc. I work with a 2um ASI678MC and I was unable to reach maximum of the FPS which I expected. It was because the AVI was recorded on a system SSD drive which is randomly busy due to an OS. Thankfully, I have second slot for the SSD, so all data related to my astrophotography are stored and processed on the second SSD. The FPS increased dramatically, also PixInsight works much faster since then.

I use both ASIAir and a small PC with NINA for 4 different setups. Now every setup has its cables 'permanently' tied with velcro, I only place and connect the computer and a dew heater controller. 3 of 4 my setups have several Vixen bars around to use with a ZWO ASIAir Vixen clamps (FLO). I use them to attach the devices and guiders. I use a lot of velcro for the cables' excess if any is too long and also here the extra Vixen bars are very useful. Always only two cables go down: a 12V power cable and an USB one connected to a mount. Another 12V power cable goes upwards from a PSU to the mount, but it's not related to the setup. I use a kind of extending rod if the setup is 'too short' and there is a risk of snagging. BTW, two Xbox 12V 16A PSUs supply my Celestron CGX and SW EQ5 OnStep GoTo. All 12V joints are made using an aviation GX16 2-pin male/female connectors. I hope it is helpful anyhow.

As you know the NINA, I highly recommend creating an artificial horizon, if you have one place for your setup. There is a dedicated plugin for that. Once you create the horizon with NINA you can use the data with a Certes du Ciel, Stellarium, the great webapp Telescopius and I don't know where else. You don't need a good weather to do that, just no rain at the day is needed. Avoid using a mobile phone method for that, it's not accurate enough. Your horizon will be perfect if you use the plugin with e.g. 5 degrees accuracy. You can use it for starting imaging and stopping it on the exact time when the DSO appears and hides behind the horizon. All information and tutorials are available on YT and other websites/forums.

I've had it for a month now, but it's the most exciting thing out of all the recent ones: the Sigma 40mm F/1.4 Art. 🙂

Yes, I did. I had clearer sky after midnight, but high clouds didn't allow me to do it properly. Nothing to show yet, it's very faint.

Airing my Altair 102EDT F/5.6 while waiting for a piece of clear sky. Tonight taget: comet 62P/Tsuchishan as my first comet ever. 🙂

Yeah, I guess that its albedo must be around 1, so there is no choice, it's much brighter than other small observable flying stones...

Hi, It's not entirely a comet, but I got the idea after looking for how to capture comets and after installing an 'Orbitals' Plugin for NINA. Yes, it's the JWST. I couldn’t believe that it’s so easy, after all, it stays 1,235,777 km from the Earth. https://www.astrobin.com/gmh64m/

I nearly forgot what is the 17kg OTA + accessories... Hunting the James Webb Space Telescope last night 😊 https://www.astrobin.com/gmh64m/

The Spaghetti Nebula (SH2-240, Simeis 147) 17-18 January, 26 January, 30 January, 1 March, 3 March, 5-6 March 2024 The Spaghetti Nebula is an extremely difficult DSO even at the first stage of its imaging. It's faint, especially the OIII component. It should be captured under a really dark sky, not in the Bortle 9+ location. I'm going to continue imaging it in the next season when it's reachable. Askar FMA230, Optolong 2" H&O, ASI 2600MM-Pro @ Celestron CGX; 14h 40m of total integration time: 47x300s Ha, 129x300s OIII; Gain 101, Offset 50, -10°C; NINA, PixInsight, Affinity Photo; Liverpool, Bortle 9. AstroBin combined : https://www.astrobin.com/51veym/F/ AstroBin starless : https://www.astrobin.com/51veym/F/#rE

Below is a quick first light of the Sigma 40mm lens and the Canon 6D from the city, centered on Capella (80 x 15s subs, ISO 400, F/1.8, Optolong L-Pro FF clip). It's just a test, the FoV is so big that it quickly covers high trees around. Maybe I should reprocess it... 🤔

We all suffer from bad weather for months. And if the sky is cloudless, there is not enough data collected and the sessions has to be continued indefinitely. What if I could multiply my chances of any success in astrophotography, and also give myself a chance for the acquisition under a darker sky than Bortle 9+? In January, I came up with the idea of buying a Sigma 40mm F/1.4 Art lens, as I already have a modified Canon 6D, and in February I already had it in my hands. For some time now, I have been taking shots only in two sensor positions relative to the mount: horizontal and vertical. Taking advantage of the universal solutions of the Arca-Swiss system for photography, I created the basis for a setup based on ASIair Plus. A couple of weeks later I bought an interesting Carl Zeiss Jena DDR 135mm F/3.5 lens from our forum fellow and decided to use it with the ASI 2600MC-Pro camera, for which an appropriate fastening had to be made, also based on the Arca-Swiss L-bracket. Knowing that I would buy additional glass, in January I started adapting the SW EQ5 mount to OnStep GoTo and I made a fairly light and very precise mount as a result, capable of shooting up to 120 seconds without elongating the stars at a focal length of 242mm (SW Evoguide 50ED) without guiding. I'll write about this modification later in this thread, but for now, I want to focus on what's at the top of the rig. The pictures below show two different lens/sensor configurations, and the sensor can work both horizontally or vertically in each configuration. Any change takes literally seconds, everything is based on Arca-Swiss clamps. I should mention that it required well-managed cables fastened to designed and printed frames: data cables on the left-hand side and power cables on the opposite side. Like always, only two cables run down from the setup: a 12V power cable and a USB cable connected to the mount. There is also a third option: a ZWO Canon EF filter drawer, which will be useful when I move from the experimentation phase to regular astrophotography with a faster 105-135mm lens with a Canon EF bayonet. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07WTC333V?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details (the Sigma 40mm F/1.4 Art mount ring) https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07SQHG23Z?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details (the Arca-Swiss L-bracket) https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CF8ZYVDV?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details (a big Arca-Swiss clamp safely holding the expensive lens with the 6D body and all accessories around, which is over 2.8kg in total) https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B071FBXHNN?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details (a small Arca-Swiss clamp is screwed to the Svbony guider)

First time two rigs in my garden, both are mine. ☺️

I have the EF bayonet version, but it's the same lens.

Hi, Recently I finish a SW EQ5 OnStep GoTo mod with MKS Gen-L v.2.1 custom 3D printer/CNC board, steppers and belts. It works under control of ASIAir Plus. Earlier I made an Opus Magnum EQ fork mount from scratch based on FYSETC S6 v.2, it works with both Astroberry and ASIAir. Harmonic gearing was used and of course steppers. A few months ago I finished a 1:20 scale 3D printed model of a New Robotic Telescope build by Liverpool John Moore University on La Palma, also steppers and belts, but this time an OnStepX was used. I love the OnStep/OnStepX and the new challenges. 🤩

@a6400, did you mean the Sigma 40mm F/1.4 DG HSM Art? If yes, I designed it and printed a few days ago. It works, tested on Capella. Are you interested? 🙂