michaelmorris

On 19/10/2019 at 23:02, lulu57 said:

They don't make 'em like that any more! 😉

Thank god!

On 15/10/2019 at 22:29, lulu57 said:

I think there should be an astronomical-karaoke round.

I nominate The Ians to perform "I lost my heart to a Starship Trooper" in spangly body suits....(I'd pay good money to see that!).

I'd pay good money NOT to see that!

Amongst other things, I'll be selling a 5kg Skywatcher counterweight and a very heavy duty pier levelling plate/eyepiece holder.

On 17/10/2019 at 08:14, Merlin66 said:

Changing over to groups.IO now attract a ransom fee of $110/ year, they say this is the cost of procrastination.....change over prior to April 2019 would have been free......

Wow, I didn't realise they were now charging.  Luckily we migrated our local astronomical society's Yahoo group over to groups.io a couple of years ago. 

I have a new (to me) SW EQ6-GT mount.  On it I have mounted a SW 80ED with a standard SW 9 x 50 finder converted into a guide scope using the SW  finder to C-mount adaptor.  I use a SX Lodestar 2x guide camera screwed directly on the C-mount adaptor.

I've always found that my mount calibration seems to take ages when using a finder/guider (up to 10 minutes).  However, with the new mount it takes so many steps to calibrate that PHD2 runs out of time and calibration fails.  If I try it using PHD version 1, calibration is successful, but still takes ages to complete.  I am using 3 second exposures and the calibration step size set to the maximum value that the software will allow.  I have checked and PHD2 is definitely moving the mount on each step, just not enough.

What am I doing wrong?

Two organisations come to mind.  The BAA and the Society for the History of Astronomy.

https://britastro.org/

https://societyforthehistoryofastronomy.com/

The delrin T2 spacers sold by FLO are also good at reducing the risk of them getting 'cold welded'.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/adapters/baader-t2-delrin-spacer-ring-set.html

37 minutes ago, Tubby Bear said:

Maybe, i can get a fellow astro nutter to travel down with me, but usually i'm 'billy no mates' at these things.

I know the feeling. 

42 minutes ago, michaelmorris said:

I'm probably going, probably on the Saturday. - (decisive aren't I?!)

Okay, your post has prompted me to look at the website.  I've now booked for general entry + the talks by Patrick Gilliland and by Prof Hilary Downes.  

I'm probably going, probably on the Saturday. - (decisive aren't I?!)

Unless you intend to keep moving it in and out of your van every night, a good waterproof cover for your scope is an essential.  Many people cover them with a toilet/utility tent.

On 30/09/2019 at 20:51, Knighty2112 said:

... I’ll just prop the bar up and watch all those great minds ticking over searching for the right answer!  

Not so much 'great minds ticking over searching' as 'drunk befuddled minds groping hopelessly in the dark'  

On 29/09/2019 at 08:58, apophisOAS said:

Anyone got first images from Kelling..

This is my try at NGC6888...Ha and Oiii

 

Nice image.

8 hours ago, Nigella Bryant said:

That's my thought exactly, seems a bit of a con. 

I wouldn't go that far.  The old EQ8 was the more or less on it's own at the circa £2000 price point in having such a high weight capacity.

My guess is that they've decided to aim the mount a higher spec market, hence the belt driven Dec axis and all the built in power and USB features.  Perhaps there just isn't a big enough market for a high capacity mount at this price point to make it worth making them.

However, personally I think it's a shame that this option of a (relatively) inexpensive high capacity mount will now have disappeared.  

Perhaps there is a new low cost, high weight capacity mount in the pipeline (EQ7)?

Looks great, but that is quite a price difference from the old EQ8.

This is the sort of thing I use

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F352464212909

On 09/09/2019 at 15:29, Nyctimene said:

The "Red Eyes Cling Xtra Dark" is excellent, long lasting and, IME, worth every penny you spend on it. I've posted an update to a review of it a few days ago in the "Member Equipment Reviews" subforum on here. Don't skimp on the light shield - it will fulfill the needs.

Stephan

Thanks Stephan.

23 hours ago, PEMS said:

A local craft shop will have sheets of red acatate or acrylic that you can use. One I visited recently had a few colours in stock, they did have a red. As a easy to remove cover I would say try taping one side with something like sellotape, I have a roll of tape that is notated as Invisible. Seems a nice flexible strip of tape. Tape one side or the top and fold or flip the sheet as required.

Would acetate work on a touch screen?

23 hours ago, KevS said:

Bit off the wall, but how about a pair of these; goodness only knows where you would get a set though. Could also be utilised for nipping into the kitchen to make a cuppa mid session without loosing dark adaptation. 

I already have some red safety specs that I use for the very same purpose.  However, unless I issue pairs to 100 people they aren't going to help at a star party! 😀

1 hour ago, vlaiv said:

Don't be tempted to add additional filters when doing flats - it will mess up your flat calibration, and there certainly is no need to do it.

The idea was to put the filter on the light box to correct the colour imbalance of the light source.

Whilst I can use software to make the screen of my Windows Tablet and Android phone red, in neither instance does this work all the time.  What I'm really after is a red film that can be taken on and off the touch sensitive screen of the phone or tablet so that I can ensure that neither will ruin my night vision.

The only products I've found so far are Xtra Dark Cling by Sirius Products.

https://www.siriusastroproducts.com/products---red-eyes-computeriphonedslr-light-shield.html?m

and a red screen protector by Astrogizmo

http://www.astrogizmos.com/TransPVC.htm

However, both of these products are quite expensive for what are just basically plastic screen protectors + you have to add shipping costs from the USA.  Does anyone know of any cheaper alternatives that can be used with a touch sensitive screen?

Thanks

Late last year I bought a ZWO 294 MC Pro cooled camera.  It's a great camera.  However, I am a little concerned about the flats I am getting with my light box.  I'm aiming to get and ADU value that sits right in the middle of the histogram.  However, peaks on the histogram for R G and B are a long distance apart, meaning it is impossible to get all three colours near the centre of the histogram.

So here are my questions

1 - Does this matter?

2 - Should I be looking to introduce a coloured filter in to my light box to even out these differences a bit?

23 minutes ago, david_taurus83 said:

5/6 hours. My PSU that I use now has an ammeter and it doesn't go over 2 amps usage so for a 12ah pack 5/6 hours was about right.

Thanks

On 21/08/2019 at 17:36, david_taurus83 said:

Great little battery packs but you need a large one if powering mount, dew straps, USB hub and tec cooled camera. I had a 12ah one and it would just last me a good nights session.

What length of time would you describe as "a good nights session"?

On 02/09/2019 at 06:32, AngryDonkey said:

Has this not been discussed before? 🤣

ad nauseum.