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michaelmorris

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Blog Comments posted by michaelmorris

  1. On 2017-5-6 at 14:25, JimRymer said:

    Wow now  that is a serious set up !!   Congratulations -Is there anything in particular that you are going to focus on excuse the pun!

    Regards

    Jim R

     

    First off is learning how to use it all!

    The whole idea is that the new set up is multi-purpose.

    The 80 mm ED refractor is my main DSO imaging scope.  This will be used mainly for narrowband imaging (with some LRGB as well) of DSOs with the new CCD camera and filter wheel.

    The 66 mm ED refractor serves as a guide scope for DSO imaging, but can be used for wider field DSO imaging with the new CCD camera and filter wheel + a focal reducer as well.  In this configuration I could also add my astro-modified DSLR to the 80ED and add a finder guider and do simultaneous colour imaging and narrow band imaging of the same target.  The 66 mm can also be used for Ha viewing/imaging of the Sun with my Coronado 0.7Ao etalon with adaptor + BF10 blocking filter. 

    The C 9.25 is my main visual scope, used mostly for double star observing.  It also doubles up as my main lunar and planetary scope for both visual observing and imaging.  Thirdly, I plan to try out DSO imaging of distant galaxies and planetary nebulae through it with the new CCD camera and filter wheel + an off axis guider.

    Of course, how on earth I'm going to fit all this stuff in to my life is another matter!

    • Like 1
  2. 2 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

    Laptop may be the way to go, but I like the simplicity of not having to use a laptop with my current setup.

    That's one of the reasons why using a cheap android tablet running DSLR controller or a cheap windows tablet running APT is so attractive.  You can pick up a brand new tablet running a full version of Windows 10 for less than £50. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Zoostorm-SL8-i75-7-5-Tablet/dp/B01FWGRCFW/ref=sr_1_15?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1473766145&sr=1-15

     

    • Like 1
  3. 7 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

    Great, spurs me on! I think I will make mine we a removable back so I can see the screen for focusing etc.

    There might be two easier options for focusing.

    • If you have an Android phone or tablet that supports the 'USB Host' protocol, you could plug in an OTG cable to the camera and view the liveview screen or test shots on your phone/tablet using the excellent 'DSLR Controller' app.
    • Connect your camera to a PC laptop/tablet and use APT or Backyard EOS to view the liveview screen or test shots.
  4. 6 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

    How much does it weigh?

    Are you sitting down?  Okay, good ...

    The empty cooler box weighs a whopping 919 grams.  To make matter worse, most of the mass is on one side!  

    To put this perspective, the camera body and focal reducer together weigh just 755 grams, so using a cooler box will over double the loading on your focuser.

  5. Well, the DSLR cooler is now (hopefully) complete.

    The 2 metres of cabling connecting the project box containing the electrical bits from the original fridge (the power box) has been connected up to the wiring from the Peltier cooler and the two fans in a small project box ‘Araldited’ to the rear of the cooler and a small digital thermometer velcoed to the top of this box.  The temperature probe for this thermometer has been glued on to the inside of the cooler. 

    The USB cable and power cable from the camera pass through a thin slot at the top of the case.  I wedge a small piece of foam in here after these cables are in place to provide a reasonable thermal seal.

    The lid of the cooler and the cooler itself have been painted with blackboard paint. 

    I carried out a 3 hour long test of the cooling performance of the cooler, the results of which can be found  at 

    Overall, I’m pleased with the project and plan to test out how well it actually works on deep sky imaging in the next few weeks.

    IMG_20160912_120212959_HDR.jpg

    IMG_20160912_120228678_HDR.jpg

    IMG_20160912_120242969.jpg

    IMG_20160912_120255132_HDR.jpg

    IMG_20160912_120305424_HDR.jpg

    IMG_20160912_120320111.jpg

    IMG_20160912_120132497_HDR.jpg

    IMG_20160912_120159643_HDR.jpg

  6. The build is coming along rather slowly due to work and other commitments.

    The cooling assembly is now installed with the original pettier cooler and associated heat sink on the outside of the aluminium box and the new heatsink and fan on the inside.  The two are clamped with two bolts running through two holes drilled in the outer heat sink and through the aluminium box and fins removed from the inner heat sink.  Each hole is lined with a whittled down rawl plug to try to thermally isolate the bolts from the outer heatsink.  The gap between the part of the outer heat sink not in contact with the peltier and the aluminium box is filled with some thin sheets of neoprene rubber left over form another project.  This is then all sealed in with some liquid gasket left over from another DIY astro project.

    I've wired it all up to the circuitry taken out of the fridge and it all seems to work okay. (Phew). I've put the circuitry from the fridge into a plastic project box from Maplin (pictures to follow) and bought a replacement 12v lead for the fridge (missing from the original fridge I liberated from the tip).

    IMG_20160831_192059575.jpg

    IMG_20160831_192110925.jpg

    IMG_20160831_192046980.jpg

    • Like 1
  7. Hi Mountain Skies

    Your blog is an interesting personal point of view on starting out in astronomy and I think you make some useful points.  Personally I don't agree with you regarding getting a cheap refractor as a good first scope.  A nice little Newtonian on a decent tracking mount (EQ5 for instance) or on a Dobsonian mount would be my preference.

    Regarding your comment "The biggest problem you hear in astronomy is that someone got a big 1000 dollar telescope and hated it and stuck it back in his/her closet."  Whilst people having "all the gear and no idea" can be an issue, from my experience, a MUCH more common problem is people getting a really cheap scope (with a shoddy mount), and this putting them off the hobby.

    Members of SGL have between them thousands of years of experience of many aspects of amateur astronomy.  Quite a number of members are also professional astronomers.  The strength of the forum is that there is a vast range of experience within the membership, yet I somewhat doubt any member would ever claim to be the' ultimate' authority on any single aspect of the hobby.  Perhaps billing your blog as an 'Ultimate guide' is over-egging it.  Might your blog be more appropriately entitled - 'Starting out in astronomy - a personal view'?

     

    • Like 3
  8. 18 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

    I find it hard to use an eyepiece for more than about five minutes. Although I can enjoy the views, without imaging it just wasn't be worth me setting up a scope because after 15-20 minutes I felt stiff, uncomfortable and frustrated.

    Have you tried using an observing stool?  Sitting down whilst observing can completely transform the experience.

    http://www.firstlightoptics.com/misc/mey-observing-chair.html

    http://www.wexphotographic.com/buy-sky-watcher-anti-tip-observing-chair/p1529203?mkwid=ssbfh8c4f_dc&pcrid=89741389979&kword=&match=&plid=&gclid=cj0keqia0sq2brdrt6scrqj71vqbeiqag5bj0_0a8riyds62qevzi3nxl8j6futa4-bpbtgu8krxo2uaaiv78p8haq

    • Like 1
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