teoria_del_big_bang

10 minutes ago, powerlord said:

Is this normal ? To find collimation is totally different with coma corrector ? I'd have thought not, and maybe mine is just off somehow, but it does explain I think why my stars were still a bit rubbish last time I imaged - a: it wasn't collimated very well anyway, b)add the coma corrector and it was even further off.

As collimation is the aligning of primary and secondary mirrors I would not think the coma corrector should affect the collimation when it is collimated.
Perhaps if out of collimation then the introduction of the corrector could make it look different (i,e either more out of alignment or less out of alignment) but when in alignment should stay aligned.

That is how I see it but I am not saying this with 100% confidence I am right.

I got one of those returns from FLO to use on a Ritchey-Chrétien, and can't even get the offset adjustment to work, it works but the maximum both horizontal and vertical is only about half what I need to centre the circles.
I think it is the scope that is at fault though and the focusser (which is attached to primary mirror, is not straight.

Steve

Hard to believe 3 small pieces of coloured glass can cost over £2K.
I could have replaced all of my double glazing panes for that (and they need replacing 😞 )

Looking forward to trying them out but a little disappointed that for over £700 each they come in a paper envelope and not a proper box.

Steve

For a first image that it fantastic.
The loss of colour is just a factor of doing the stretching. There are ways in some software to enhance certain colours selectively in some software to preserve them, to a degree, but generally as you brighten things up the brighter areas do loose their deep dark colours.
Also ways of masking certain bright areas as you stretch so it stretches the dark areas but not the masked parts, not sure how to do in Gimp though or if that is possible. But processing is a whole new world and getting the data is only half the story.

Keep it up though there should be some great images to come if that is anything to go by 🙂 

Steve

That's a very nice image,  looks like even the South of Yorkshire has been clearer than North Yorkshire, let alone rest of UK.
Very frustrating here as there have been a few very clear almost cloudless days so put out my rig but early evening the clouds have rolled in. £ nights been the same now.

Steve

If using a mono CCD then an electronic filter wheel is a Godsend, but if your filters are not parfocal and you need to focus on every filter change then you really need to have an electronic focusser as well to get the full benefits.

The focusser is basically a stepper motor with some electronics to drive the motor that is controlled by the sequencing software that you choose to use (there are several flavours of software, mot free or pretty cheap).When you have this combination of FW, focusser and sequence software you can choose to re-focus on filter change, or as @scotty38 says you can learn what the offsets are and then instead of actually re-focussing it can save time and just move the focusser by the offset.
Also it is a good idea to re-focus every so often as big temperature changes can noticeably affect the focus. 

Software (Windows based) that can do this include:

• APT - I have not used for a while but when I did I really liked this software, there is a free version that does everything you need but I liked it so well I got the paid version which is only about £15.
  APT
•  NINA - again free but great software and donations to the developers can be made. This is very popular with imagers, there is a lot of things this software can do and is a bit more complicated to use than APT (but soon get used to it) . This is my choice of sequencer at the moment.
  NINA
• Sequence Generator Pro - Not free but I think also great software. I never used but used to be very popular when it was a one off reasonable price but a lot of people got very upset when they started charging around £140 one off then about £50 per year ongoing cost.
  Sequence Generator Pro
• Maxim DL Again not free but I think just a one off cost. I never used but this is very popular with the more advanced imagers who seem to love it.
  Maxim DL
• Voyager - Also not free and this is the software I was going to try until I tried NINA. Its about £120 one off payment then about £20 a year which isn't bad as remember with these ongoing payments you get support including some remote support with this.
  Voyager

I am sure there are others, these are just the ones I am aware of.

As well as the above one very good and popular bits of software is EKOS, or more often Kstars (which is EKOS and a Stellarium called Kstars). This is a free and a great piece of software and real easy to use but only available for Linux based software. Many use it on a Raspberry Pi  version 3 or 4 (RPi), which can be fixed to the mount and run remotely via WiFi from a warm room and so makes a very cheap method of controlling your scope with loads of features.
One very popular way of achieving this it to load a RPi3 or RPi4 with Stellermate (around £40) or Astroberry (Free) which is a package that can load all the required files including PHD2 and star bases for Platesolving.
I used this software for quite a while and loved it, only moved because I did not get on with Linux (my problem!)

Stellarmate
Astroberry

Steve

Wow, another great image, can't he;p staring at this and in awe at the number of galaxies we can easily see without even trying.
Just amazing, and beautiful 🙂 

Steve

Hard to tell from looking but it does look a nice drop, enjoy 🙂 

Cheers 🍷🍷

Steve

Never sure if it is the computer or me, but got it going just before I cracked the top off a red and gave it up.
I still have opened the red but also got the imaging going as well so win - win 🙂 

Steve

Seems to be okay now, not sure why, powered down several times still same but last power down seems to be working again

Help!

Anyone know why in NINA I now get this error everytime the mount tries to move ?

Never had it before.
I did update NINA at the very start of the session but can't see this would cause it.
Mount does not move at all.

Steve

Wow, that really is superb 🙂 

Steve

Nice capture, the wide field looks good and the cropped version works well 🙂 

Steve

Yes I also like this target (or targets).
Two great images there @scotty38 and @Budgie1 🙂 

Steve

1 hour ago, Elp said:

Not too concerned about colour variation, it's the physical properties which can be an issue. I've had prints break off their support structures/rafts fairly cleanly and others which stick to them like they're fused together rendering them unusable.

Yes I find exactly the same.
I did have a 5 filament MMU attached for a while and to begin with worked well for supports as I could use any old filament for the supports and then use PVA for the last couple of layers before it connected to the actual print and being water soluble made really easy detachable supports.
But after a while the MMU gave some frustrating issues and after 3 years trying to get it reliable gave up.
I do have one of these on order which if it does what it promises will be a game changer regarding using PVA  for detaching supports as one of the tool-changer heads can be dedicated to it.

Steve

That's pretty good and much better than my first galaxy.

If you do not have a coma corrector then yes you will get those elongated stars in corners.

Steve

I cannot say for sure what the small blue square under the jack is but my best guess is it is insulation as there will be a connection to one of the pins that is exposed on the underneath of the socket and probably there is a track on the PCB that needs to be isolated from that pin and that blue square is the insulation to do that.

I think ?

Steve

Also when you put the replacement socket in it may be a slightly different height so need to ensure that it ends up the same height from the board to the shoulder of the new socket so that when you put it back in the mount you can get it through the hole and secure with the nut and washer (if there is a washer) and it does not put strain on the solder joints otherwise they may fail over time.

Steve

2 minutes ago, Carbon Brush said:

A kind offer from @teoria_del_big_bang

I didn't offer because it would be a 70 miles or so round trip for the OP, or the same postal delays.
I'm sure someone more local (SGL or not) could do it.
It is after all fairly large through hole parts.
 

I would tend to agree, I am happy to do it but if it were mine and replacement boards are not available I would not be happy to put it in the post twice.
If it were to get lost then no compensation will get the mount running again.

Steve

I do have several of those sockets which you are welcome to if you want to have a go at it yourself or get somebody local to change I can post today if you want.
I am assuming the 3 pins are the same thing as the original one (i.e one will be ground, one will be Earth and the other 12V  but whether on all sockets the pins are the same order I am not 100% sure, if doing it myself I would check first with a multimeter.

If you do go ahead and do it yourself be careful not to get the solder pads too hot as they can then come away form the board itself, especially on older boards.

Steve

That board looks real simple so should easily fix.
Are you sure it is the socket that is the only fault ?

You may not want to but you can send me the board and I can at least replace the socket and check the other connections out. I have a multimeter, Oscilloscope (if needed - probably not) and all the soldering equipment. Means you will not have a mount for a week or so but if that helps message me.

Steve

2 minutes ago, powerlord said:

A good all rounder is PC - and that's my goto really.

Something else I have been meaning to try but not really had call to yet.
I think because of the price being 50% more than PETG and so far not particularly needed rigidity as I have not printed anything that directly affects the scope such as spacers or clamps, most of my astro  stuff has been brackets things to neaten up my setup and I like PETG for that as the slight flex makes them less prone to breaking on a cold night (and its cheaper - can you tell I am a Yorkshireman 🙂 ).

But I should get some PC in in case I need something more rigid. What PC do you use ?

Steve

11 minutes ago, Alien 13 said:

Its an Ender 3 pro..

Alan

I also have a magnetic bed on my Original Prusa, and tbh I had never thought of issues with the magnets but yes you are right, in theory it will affect them I guess.
I have printed with ABS and used 110C bed temp but not often and usually only go to 85 C for PETG and never had an issue with loss of magnetism (well if it has reduced it is still more than enough to hold the build plate).
 

Steve

13 minutes ago, vlaiv said:

Anyone tried ASA as ABS replacement?

It is supposedly better and does not give of nasty fumes when printed

Not yet, I do intend to try it as it has some good reviews, it does come at a cost though as generally retails around £30 for a Kg as opposed to £20 for ABS or PETG.

Steve

8 minutes ago, Alien 13 said:

Problem is that magnetic beds can only realy go up to 60 degrees before you degrade the magnetism..

Alan

Out of interest what printer is it ?

Steve