ofranzen

I just saw Astrobiscuit's latest video and it featured Dave Woods from Dark Frame Optics saying to overvolt SkyWatcher mounts by 1-2 Volts. He's really a guy who should know this stuff but I've never heard elsewhere about overvolting the mount. Has anyone here tried it? Could you notice a difference?

Turns out the solar wind only blew away the computer's understanding of how to use the camera... Why is always something breaking between sessions so all the time goes to fixing errors?

Did I burn my guide camera? I had my scope out during the day with the lenscap off the guide scope and only a tea towel that covered the guide scope opening. I covered the scope that way to let the dew evaporate but forgot to put on the lens cap on the guide scope. The chance that the scope pointed directly at the sun is minimal but for a while this morning it was pointed in that general direction. Now I can't get an image out of the guide cam although PHD2 says the camera is connected. So, guide camera toast? How can I check?

I had a chance to try it now and yes, with the clear glass instead of what I think is filter for planetary use, I can achieve focus in the finder with the locking ring in place. I can't say for sure that I got better sensitivity too but I have never polar aligned with Sharpcap this fast before.

Hi all. Apologies if this has been answered but I could not find anything searching. I have the SW MN190 mak/newt with 1000 mm focal length and would like to find a reducer around 0.5x for it. Could anyone here guide me to one that would work for the mak/newt? Preferably 2" thread. Thanks in advance. /Ola

This is most likely a very early versionof the camera so it seems you are quite right. I'll just give it a try with the clear glass next time I get a chance and see what happens. I should focus better if nothing else and maybe I can get better sensitivity too.

Hello. I got a QHY5L-II-C with a mount/scope package I bought second (or third) hand and have been having problems with poor guiding sensitivity. The camera was mounted to a regular skywatcher 9x50 finder scope with an extender and can focus. It can however only focus with the locking screw on the finder scope removed so the objective can be screwed in almost to there the threads end. I started looking through the equipment I got and pictures online and this got me a bit confused. The previous owner had the "c adapter" on the camera and then fitted to the finder. The "c adapter" if I understan correctly has some AR coating and seems to also block IR. At least it looked like it when I used a remote and phone camera. Then I found a ring and a piece of clear glass that doesn't seem to have either coating or IR filter. They were both in the camera box and it looks like the glass had been glued in the ring but has fallen out. So my guess is that the "c adapter" should actually be used for planetary imaging/video and this other ring that fits in its place should be used just to protect the sensor when guiding. This "clear glass ring" is shorter than the "c adapter" which would also I'm hoping get the camera to focus with the focuser screwed in less so I can put the locking ring back. There is some foam rubber around the sensor that pushes against the loose glass so I don't need to glue it back in. Is this correct? See photos taken with a potato below. Thanks in advance /Ola

Thanks for your input. The Zoom and its 2,25x barlow sells for £235 as a bundle so chances are big I'm ordering that soon. Clear skies. /Ola

Thanks for a quick reply. I'm leaning a bit towards the Hyperion zoom with its barlow. I really don't know what FL will be most useful to me yet so the zoom, or the Hyperion modular with the tuning rings could perhaps be a good start. The zoom is particularly of interest as it will come in handy basically forever when showing the telescope to family and friend as for some reason the first question is always "where is the zoom"

Is there anything particular one should keep in mind when looking at eyepieces for mak/newts? I have the SW 190MN astrograph and the eyepieces I got when I bought it are all but rubbish. I am looking at a bunch of different models ranging from about 5-25 mm and perhaps 60-85 degrees fov. So nothing too extreme. More expensive EPs talk about "well corrected" but that is less of an issue with the mak/mewt, right? Regards /Ola

Apologies if this is in the wrong section. I have two DSLR camera adapters with T2 and 48 mm thread respectively and I need a 2" nose piece. The T2 nose piece I have is for refractors and too long for my mak/newt. The 48 mm is for filter drawer I think but that's in the future for me. I can pretty easily find a 2" nose piece for the T2 thread in the country but will have to order a 48 mm from abroad I think. Will there be a difference between the larger 48 mm and the smaller T2? I'm mainly thinking about vingetting. My camera is a Canon 1200D which has a crop sensor. Thanks in advance.

Thanks for your replies. It's been raining forever here and will for the upcoming week too so I haven't had a chance to try even a single location in my yard. Oh well, planning is fun too...

Hi all, An odd question perhaps but for most of us we have to prioritize what part of the sky we will see the best from our backyards. I'm trying to figure out where to arrange a more permanent spot for setting up my AP rig and I have trees basically sorrunding my backyard. So, I need to prioritize which direction(s) will get better or worse views. Can one say that one direction is more important than another or is it better to aim for the darkest parts? My backyard has the following conditions, at 59 degrees north. Skies are pretty much too bright from May through August. North - Trees are lowest but street lamps and neighbors are closest. East - Darkest skies and 3rd highest trees. South - 2nd darkest skies and highest trees. West - Most light pollution and 2nd higest trees. Would e.g. setting up so I "sacrifice" West, which has the worst condition, be ok and I can just wait for targets to come into view? Or will there be DSOs that I will never be able to target? Thanks /Ola

Thanks a million. It keeps crashing but at least I know where to look now. /Ola

Hi all, Feeling a bit stupid now but what application do I use to control my DSLR in Astroberry? Specifically a Canon 1200D. "gphoto2 --auto-detect" finds the camera but how do I take preview photos for framing and then automate the photo session? Or is DSLR imaging solely for the Windows domain? Cheers /Ola