swag72

That's pretty much what I did before..... didn't like it ?

Thanks all for your comments - I have gone back and re-worked the flame a little. Now it's more contrasty and less 'lemon'  

@carastro - I'm not really convinced with this target in NB either - Hence why it's sat on my computer since January!! When I first processed it, I went for my usual colour palette - More orange and blue and no green. It looked as flat as a pancake!!! Perhaps Next year I can think of something else to do with it  

3 hours ago, vlaiv said:

In general I do like it, I love the detail and 3d kind of feel to it. I love color balance and palette.

Flame bothers me a bit I must say, composition wise - it somehow detracts from the image - both placing / brightness and color seems to be "out of place" on otherwise superb image.

It also looks flat compared to the rest of the image.

Not sure I can do much on the composition! This was supposed to be a 2 pane mosaic carried on from last year, but the weather and equipment didn't play ball so I had to give up on this pane. I'll have another look at the flame (I won't thank you for getting me to go back and look at this again!!  ) 

Thanks all for your comments and thoughts....... I'm still reserving over all judgement

I have both the IDAS and Chroma, but can't do a fair comparison as they are both in different systems.

As an aside to this - the Chroma LP filter blocking capabilities that I would say look slightly better to the IDAS.... as far as I can compare the IDAS graph earlier in this thread and this one below.......

These are a stunning set Dave..... I really like them ????

31 minutes ago, iwols said:

thanks guys looking at the upgrade dont think i could justify the $79 thanks for your comments

I'm with you..... The planning tools are probably  nice to have (but I rather enjoy my own planning) - Until they bring in dual synchronicity and some form of automation for restarting a sequence after cloud has closed everything up I will stick with V2.

8 hours ago, Jonk said:

There won't be, I had the same question - don't waste your time, he replies to say 'advert was as per the images', although he's used a stock image as well as a photo and the stock image shows the adaptor. You might need a 5-6mm spacer depending on the camera to be used.

Go for it, I think it's great and for around £50 or whatever it blows the 'freebie' meteor lenses away.

Sorry I'm being a bit thick here - Does this screw directly onto a C thread then or is there an adaptor needed?

I'm looking into an All Sky build myself and this lens was one I came up with...... I'll be interested to hear how it all goes  While I continue to investigate

12 hours ago, Gerd said:

Hi guys, I've fixed Niels' old website http://www.njnoordhoek.com and intend to maintain it until I keel over myself.  There are too many cool things on it.  Poke me if anything isn't where you think it should be or you have any questions.
Gerd.

This is brilliant news - Many thanks for taking this on.... You have made many peoples lives much easier in their astro imaging world and they probably don't even know it yet!!  

2017 was a fun year for me.... a selection is below. I like to do a montage each year to see what I've been up to in one place! This isn't all of the images, but a selection of what I felt was the best. 

For me the question would be..... will the Tak 106 increase the quality of your images over the Esprit? Personally I would suggest not. The big thing going for the 106 of course is it's massive imaging circle. You'd never have to worry about not being able to get a bigger chipped camera..... but with that change invokes new BIG filters and that's a pretty expensive pill to swallow.

If you want to waste money then a Tak 106 (the new kind!) ... if you want value for money then the Esprit range. If I didn't have the FSQ85's then I'd be buying the Esprit for sure. It makes so much sense.

14 minutes ago, Bino Pete said:

How’s payment usually received - do they have Paypal abroad? I’m a novice at this!

Yes PayPal works fine...... as do bank transfers ? it's not quite 3rd world in the Mediterranean ??

As someone who lives abroad, it's really good when people are willing to send to foreign climes. In my experience 'International Signed for' is a good service and I've never had anything lost on its journey to Spain. 

Well done to the winners...... a great set of NB images...... top drawer ????

I have a Salicru UPS and have everything connected into it....... mount, camera, lakeside, all sky, PC, 9" dewstrap at 100% ...... I had a power cut for 15 mins. Everything clicked in straight away and there was no lag that caused USB issues. I used about 25% of the battery for 15 mins.

Interesting!! I'll give this a go soon  

5 minutes ago, ollypenrice said:

If you were happy with your QSI decision I can't see that it differs significantly from switching to the same chip from Moravian...

Olly

I agree.... the Moravian is a good bit of kit ??

How about a couple of constellation challenges? These could be based on time of year and would be open to all regardless of kit. 

The spacing requirement depends on the flattener used and so that should be easy to find on the retailers website...... something tells me for the ED80 it's 55mm, but DO check it. Then you need to find out where the necessary spacing starts from (probably the lens facing the camera) and then measure the correct distance from there to the sensor on the camera.... there's a marking on the camera case for where the sensor is...... Then you just make sure that the distance is correct between those two points.... as well as allowing a distance for the filters, but I can never remeber if you have to add or take that distance away, so you really do need to confirm that as I can't!

Yes the internal wheel takes 1.25" filters, but I guess you'll need to specify what carousel you want in the wheel when you order. The Baader LRGB filters are fine

Hope that helps  

11 minutes ago, ollypenrice said:

My main setup hasn't changed in two years. What could go wrong next time out?

Everything!

lly

You're not wrong there - A perfectly working setup one night can turn into a total pig on the next night where things don't work etc yet NOTHING has been touched!!! It makes no sense

I put a moonlite on my 120ed....... Good luck with it!! 

I have used a Moonlite, Feathertouch and Baader Stelltrack clone for imaging. I have to say that out of the bunch the Moonlite was the worse. It became very 'notchy' quick quickly and while it looked nice it was all mouth and no trousers in my experience. 

The Feathertouch is lovely - It was buttery smooth all the way through the focus and was a joy to use, inspiring total confidence.

The Baader Steeltrack clone was very good....... It was perhaps not quite as smooth as the FT, but worked well and held my camera without issue. 

The guiding issues were sorted by using scope rings instead of the clamshells I was using previously. This is all covered in the thread I started about setting up the dual imaging rig and also on my website