greealilee

Thanks for that, i have another scope and set up which i use for imaging only. But i am interested in this scope just for visual use only, that i miss after i sold on my C8 some time ago. I know its not a financial decision for him very much more space and i think when he did get this scope it was a bad idea and he says he has used it twice maybe. So with all that said i think i will pitch in a £300 as i will need a few bits to make my life easier such as a mains power, collimation tool, bag to store the scope in and i would like the mirrors cleaned which i know all adds up. Wish me luck and thanks for all the help.  

Any thoughts on how much i should offer based on that. He is a friend and wants the scope out of his way, but i do like a bargain.

Just measured the tube and it's around 93cm ish and also has the 10:1 focus, but i'm still interested to know the age. When did Skywatcher change their branding on this scope. 

Can any one help, i have been offered a second hand Skywatcher 200 PDS with the EQ5 Pro mount. I'm not sure how old this scope is as it does not have the branding 200 PDS on the tube that i see on all new ones on line also it doesn't have the new green dove tail bar and other little bits. I've been asked to make an offer for this but not sure where to start, i have tried it all set up and all seems well just need to try observing next. It doesn't come with any packaging and has the 28mm ep. Any thoughts what it might be valued at.

Thanks,

Lee.

Thank guys,

What about plate solving and guiding any problems?

Morning people,

Thinking of getting a ASIair Pro and want to use it with my Cannon 800D. I can see that the ASI does support this camera but would like to know if anybody has experience in using ASI with a DSLR camera. Have looked on YouTube but all seem to be using dedicated astro cams. Things I would like to know is how do you go about setting the ISO, can you power the camera via ASI.

Another question is does your guide cam have to be ZWO or will my Altair work?

Thanks.

Thanks for that, I've tried it again and it has worked first time. The only difference this time was I have left the Ob's date at default, every other time I was putting in the date I took the image. Any thoughts why this is ?. And thanks again for your help 👍

Here you go let me know what you think, focal length 430mm pixel size 3.71.

M51_16.04.2020.xisf

Greed couldn't buy you toilet roll last week and for phone connection, when was the last time you hugged your loved ones outside your home. Simple things always comes at a cost, even looking up at the stars.

Many many years ago when the first human looked up at the night sky and wondered what those simple yet brilliant dots of white light was and yet many years later discovered that some of these points of lights are actually planets and still yet we have more to see and discover. At what point does firing thousands of sats up in to low orbit help us achieve this.. If anything it fuels our need to dig through the dirt we call earth, the pollution, the global warming and yes pandemic. All I wish if anything, is that we try and keep the night sky clear for all our sake, to me it's our only last unspoilt haven.

Slowly one by one  they get more and more apart, just to screw up your nights view/ image. I don't want to fault the guy (Elon) for what he is intended to achieve and will with out a no doubt achieve (don't they all). But please spare a thought about us smeg heads on the pale blue dot looking up, we don't want an intercity 125 screaming through our small window of the night sky.

I'm sorry for the tittle but I have just witnessed a train of sat's run by without a care what so ever, bang, bang , bang, bang they went by.(lost count after 12) Totally blown away by what I have seen., STOP At what point do we see this as progression for humanity or continual sucker that we are for POWER.  At what point does Space X aka Elon understand what IT is trying to achieve, it' undermining the basics of our need to look at the greater cosmos  from our humble back garden.

Lee

I'm having trouble trying to image solve an image of M51 using the script 'Image solver' in PI. I tried this the other week on an image of M81 last week and it worked a treat, but not so this time and keep getting the below process description;

I have tried adjusting star detection as it's the only thing I really understand. Is the image scale have anything to do with this, if so can anyone point me in the right direction please.

*** Error: Found too few stars in the catalog. The magnitude filter could be too strict or the catalog server could be malfunctioning

Please check the following items:

• The initial coordinates should be inside the image.
• The initial resolution should be within a factor of 2 from the correct value.
• Adjust the star detection sensitivity parameter, so that the script can detect most of the stars in the image without mistaking noise for stars.
• The catalog should be matched to the image. Choose the appropriate catalog and magnitude filter, so that the number of stars extracted from the catalog can be similar to the number of stars detected in the image.

*** Error: Unable to plate solve the image: Alignment failed

This is usually because the initial parameters are too far from the real metadata of the image.

Thanks all,

I think I will leave it and look for a better way to store the scope.

It's this bit I'm not sure about.

Can anyone help,

Looking to remove the dual focus knobs of my WO Z73. I have fitted the ZWO EAF on the opposite side and have had this on for some time now, all works very well. Reason for wanting to take the other knobs off is to make space for a new Geoptik bag because I'm tired of breaking the scope down for it to fit the WO bag I already have. I have got as far as taking the knobs off far it to leave the focus pin. Not sure what to do next if at all possible.

Lee 

Nick,

I also took this image of M81 and M82, but would like to know if I have captured some other faint little fuzzies.

Hi everyone,

After using Pixinsight for a short time now, I have gone back to view the YouTube Pixinsight for beginners again to refresh my mind on a few details. But only to find out from ill health I think Mitch has taken them down (hope things get better soon). Does anyone else have any news on this and how things are for Mitch.

Lee

Hayden,

To tell you the truth the last image was taken un guided as I couldn't get PHD2 working at the time, I am for from an expert with this stuff. I sold the lodestar some time ago to pay for PI ( pixinsight) and use the altair guide cam when I can get guiding to work. Also I use the dedicated field flattner for the scope. Never say never just keep going at it and you might find that one night everything just falls into place.

Lee

Hayden,

When ever needed please give me shout, one of the reasons I went for this scope was size after working with my C8 but also the wide field of view. You go on about the learning curve, trust me it never ends but in a good way that is. Look at these 2 images of M31 the first was taken a year ago and at the time I was happy, the second one was taken 3 weeks ago and is still work in progress. Yes the curve goes on!

Hayden,

If there is anything I can help you with please let know.

Lee

This is the best I have got of my WO73, not sure what the spec is but what I do know it's a damn good scope. And will find you will need a longer dovetail bar and counter weight to find balance as also attached.

Dave,

You have just blown my mind, what is this almost black magic. Is it dark web stuff, after doing/trying astro stuff I turned to solar and never did I believe this stuff was out there. You have just added more fuel to my love of the greater cosmos. If not a little sun burnt.

Dave,

Thank you for this, as silly as it sounds but what is the veggie bag!. I do have Gimp but so frustrating. what can you recommend for future images and again thank you for the quick process it's nice to know that their is people out there  willing to help and share 😀😀😀 

Thanks Dave hope lunch way good.

Lee

Not quite sure, other than the fact I was struggling to see my lap top due to the sun. Think I need to go under cover to see what I'm doing in future. Any thoughts on how to go about putting the 2 images together. I don't have PS.