teoria_del_big_bang

Don't worry about a disastrous night - it will not be the last.
We have all had them and even the best images have bad nights, be thankful nothing got damages and weather wise if you are in UK then get used to cloud dodging 🙂 

Steve

What scope and camera

Steve

Is there anywhere in UK or Europe to get these type of spacers, more in the 0.5 mm and 1 mm sizes to tune in the BF.
Like these:

QHY have started marketing sets like above but not seen anywhere they are on sale yet and besides they are expensive as they are all sold in sets so prices seem to be from 40 to 140 USD, so if like most stuff will be similar in GBP for us in UK. That seem a lot to pay if you only need the 1 and 0.5 mm ones.

Steve

Still best to do darks in a dark room as well as the covers, I always do mine in Garage and at night as well.

Steve

6 minutes ago, Astro Noodles said:

Thank Steve. I was puzzled as to why a session I did the other night was so noisy. I'm off to take another sequence of darks with the camera zipped inside a bag. 🙂

It was my first go at taking flats, using a light drawing pad. I set the pad to it's lowest light, set the camera to AV and took the flats. Is that the correct method?

Been a while since I did anything with a DSLR but yes using AV mode is correct.

And as vlaiv says use the viewfinder cover , I think you can use for all images not just calibration files.

Steve

You will get best advise from @vlaiv who has helped countless members with calibration files including myself.
Having looked at them and stretched them in PI I can only agree with vlaiv.

Maybe if you can attach the raw data files it will tell us more.
This is the master Dark stretched and magnified.

Steve

Not really done any planetary imaging so can't really comment.
Is this a single shot or stacked or what though ?

If it was only a single frame then I do not think it is too bad.

Steve

2 minutes ago, Stuart1971 said:

The dew band will work fine at the end of the dew shield, as it warms the air inside the dew shield it will stop optics from dewing over…it does not have to be directly around the outside of where the glass element actually sits to work well enough….👍🏼

I have tried mine at the very end, and I agree if it warms the air inside the dew shield it should keep dew off the optics but I did try mine there and found in not as effective as lower down further towards the optics (not necessarily around them).
Maybe if this grips the dew shield tight then it will warm it up more and work better.
I think if I get one I would pay the extra for the heater and give it a go. DSD are pretty good at what they do so I guess they have done some tests of their own anyway.

Steve

I have asked about the heater but no reply as yet, however I have looked again on the website and it does say heater band to keep dew off optics, so it may help to some extent but on scopes with long dew shields I think it is too far away from the optics to be fully effective so would end up also having a band just in front of the optics as I do now 🙂 

Steve

9 hours ago, Big Jim Slade said:

You can't use it for darks as it doesn't seal the tube effectively. I tried running off some darks once astro dark ended and they were useless.

I suspected that was the case but that is not an issue as its not every session you need darks and I would probably take them with scope in a dark garage with the proper cap in place anyway.

9 hours ago, Big Jim Slade said:

One thing I've seen reported is that because it doesn't fold all the way back it can reflect moonlight back into the scope in some cases. I've not seen that, but that will depend on conditions and target I guess.

Interesting, never thought of that issue but it is a possibility so I would take this into account if I go the DIY route. The DSD one does fold fully back so maybe better in that respect.

9 hours ago, Big Jim Slade said:

Ihe DSD one looks interesting. It flips out of the way completely, which is good. But it needs power, which the Alnitak doesn't, and it looks like they are 3d printing sized for different scopes so you'll have to hope they will do one that fits and the tolerances are ok. The Alnitak plastic tie isn't pretty but it is effective and I won't need a new one if upgrade to a FSQ.  

Not sure I see the point of the dew heater as it's at the wrong end of the dew shield? I would stick with a tape around the lens if I got one. That said if the DSD one had been around when I bought I would certainly have considered it.

One thing about the Alnitak I was worried was it running off 5V USB. One issue I have with light panels is that often they are not bright enough for the Ultra NB filters 3 to 4 Nm and you need very long exposures for them. What do you think about this ?

Also I must admit I had sort of assumed the heater was to stop the light panel misting up not a scope replacement band and reading the description again it does not really make that clear but if it is a heater band for the scope then yes it would be a long way from the optics so would still need a band in the normal place.
I will ask about the heater band.

Many thanks for some great info 🙂 

Steve

36 minutes ago, kirkster501 said:

I've looked into doing something in this area too guys.  I find taking flats with a flat panel on the Obs wall a right royal faff TBH and would like something on the scope like the astrodad thingy  Problem is I use FSQ and TEC and so would need TWO of these widgets.  Also how does your dew heater tape connect around the objective if these flat machines are in the way?

Never happy unless we are spending money are we?😂

If I went the DIY route I would have it clamped in some way to the losmandy clamp and not the scopes dewshield. 

And yes why do we seem to be compelled to keep spending more money ???

Steve

1 hour ago, Stuart1971 said:

There is a version that Deep sky Dad makes, for half this price and works well with ekos, also you get the option of built on dew heater too….

The one in the link is for a red cat, but they do many other sizes…

https://shop.deepskydad.com/product/wo-redcat-flap-panel-fp1/

Thanks, I guess this is 3D printed, which is fine as thats how I would do a DIY one if I go that route.
One thing that worries me wit flat field panels is how bright they are, some of the 5V ones are not bright enough for use with ultra NB filters as the exposure time is massive.
 

Steve
 

First off apologies if this is in wrong section as there is no section for accessories as far as I can see.

But I am quite fancying one of THESE. But at £600 they do not come cheap so I do have a couple of questions if anyone has one, used one or has a DIY substitute.

1) I see there is the ability to have the Altinak Flip-Flat Dust Cover in EKOS but does this include the flat field generator so you can close the dust cover then turn on the flat field and automatically take flats after taking all your images ? I am assuming a lot here in that if you are taking flats then EKOS will shut the cover and turn on the flat field itself and a script is not required. Similarly that if you specify darks it will shut the cover but not turn on the flat field (probably not good enough sealing for darks so would not use this option).

2) Is there any DIY projects that still could do the above via EKOS sequence ?

I do remember that @steppenwolf did make a brilliant one some years ago that was in Sky at Noght magazine but not sure how automated it was and whether it could be controled via EKOS.

Steve

Just fantastic, I can't say I have seen many images of this target with such detail 🙂 

Steve

3 minutes ago, Yawning Angel said:

Data from last week, in the heatwave

Wow, with no astro darkness up this end of the country that is really good.

Steve

Very nice image, is this recent data or from darker times 🙂 

Steve

That is a stunning image Adam especially for small amount of data 🙂 

Steve

I can't say for sure as I have not used an ASIair pro but use an RPI loaded with KStars and EKOS which allows you to use PHD2 or the EKOS internal guider and I find both work just as well but because I have always used PHD2 tend to use PHD2.

I assume the ASIair will use similar guiding to the KStars so my guess is that either PHD2 or the ASIair will bot work equally well although that is best confirmed by one of the many users on SGL.

One of the main issues for me in the field is how to power the laptop if using one as they are quite power hungry unless on short sessions less than 3 hours as that is as long as most batteries will last and probably longer than most that are not brand new.

And really no need to go mad on for in in field laptop or tablet as a RPi does all I need. For processing then that's different and that does work better with a good spec computer.

I guess one advantage of the ASIair is it runs on 12V but I think is still essentially an RPI inside. The disadvantage is it really limits you to using ZWO cameras and equipment (I think from what I read on other threads, although I think can run DSLR cameras as well)

I do like using the RPI with Stellarmate, or Astroberry installed, it is relatively cheap and runs all my equipment all night automatically and I just need a laptop, tablet or even smartphone to set it all going, so no need to run the laptop all night as I can put it to sleep (or turn it off) once the session us up and running. The small issue is the RPi needs 5V at at least 3A but there are ways of getting this from a 12V source so you might consider this option as well.

Steve

Are those shots of the planets just single exposures ?

If so they really are very good for single shots with a dobsonian. 
To quote from the tutorial below "A single exposure of a planet will, unless you’re lucky, record slightly blurred detail, smeared out by the atmosphere. One way around this is to record a video of the planet.
This way you’ll capture lots of poor-quality images, but there should be a few good frames among them. Using specialist software, you can extract these frames and combine them to make a sharp image.
Devices that can do this range from webcams, the latest DSLRs, which can now take video, through to purpose-built planetary cameras with high frame rates, specifically designed for this task."

I have not really done any planetary stuff and concentrate on DSO's so can;t really give much in the way of advice. From my understanding most planetary stuff is done with videos rather than single frames.
THIS TUTORIAL may explain better than I can.

Steve

That really is a very nice image for a first DSO.
With the short nights at moment it's not best of times and yes you are clearly aware of some issues with star shapes, but I think everybody has some sort of issue to beging with and may take several sessions of tweaking things to get this right.

vlaiv is far more experienced than myself and has helped me many times so I would take his advice as the first step to getting the stars round across your image. There can of course be more than one issue that can cause this so you still may have some tweaking of distance between the MPCC and sensor but check the collimation first.

Steve

Just  looked and this member has not been on SGL since 2018 so that might not be an option but you could try.

Nice thread about this HERE

Steve

Have you tried messaging @Gunnar to see where you might get one of these plates ?
Or if nobody sells then what the dimensions are you can then get one made pretty cheaply I would think and the tap and drill will not be expensive you could then do the mod yourself.

Personally I would maybe get a new replacement bolt as well as you may find the old one has bent a little, these too are not expensive.

Steve

Must admit I have never had this and I use a Rpi and an Argon metal case.
Also never heard of anyone earthing everything, and apart from being a bit of a pain as the idea is to reduce cables not add them I am not sure it would change anything.

The explanation offered by @Tomatobro is a real probablility.

If you have narrowed it down to the Rpi is that because you do not get this static feeling with the Rpi power supply disconnected ?

A real obscure thing but the Argon One has a fan inside and wondered if this could be rubbing on the fan casing as it rotates and builds up some static - you can either disconnect the fan or turn it off with a command in the Rpi if the Argon One software is installed. Like I said a bit obscure but try turning the fan off.

Steve

 

4 minutes ago, Domain105 said:

. Don't mind the wonky felt nails. It unique not perfect 🤣

Ha Ha, Never noticed actually, functionality wise makes no difference but I think we all have some form of OCD.

Steve

Looking spot on  🙂 

Steve