michaelmorris

Sadly I've no longer got an observatory and my future observing is going to involve setting up my imaging rig outside away from my new house. So, I'm going to need a battery pack capable of running an equatorial mount, two dew bands, a cooled camera, and a powered usb hub for an whole night. Inexpensive, relatively portable suggestions please.

I reckon on a good observing chair adding the equivalent of around 20% extra aperture to the view.

Given how this interweb thingy seems to becoming quite popular with young people, you could also mention the plethora of newsgroups, forums (fora?), facebook groups and the like that they can 'surf'.

This thread might be of use

Thanks for sharing. I think this is very much a case of - Today the school orchestra played Richard Strauss - Richard Strauss lost!

The 2019 quiz is now finished and ready to go. So make sure that you pack your best quizzing trousers and start genning up on all those obscure astro-facts.

Due to a recent house move, I no longer have an observatory and there is little prospect of a replacement in the next couple of years. As a result my beloved EQ8 mount is going to have to be replaced with something a bit lighter. I presently use an HEQ5 Pro as my star party mount and it works great with my 80ED. However, I want something a bit more beefy for mounting my C9.25, so I was thinking of trading them both in and buying an EQ6. I would definitely want a belt driven system. But which to go for (budget is a real issue.)? As I see it I have three choices: Rowan Engineering modded NEQ6 - cheap, and reasonably good availability of good secondhand examples for >£750 AZ-EQ6 GT Pro GEQ - better alt adjustment, belt driven (2nd hand around £900 with low availability) EQ6-R - as above, carrying handle but surprisingly the heaviest of the three (never seen one 2nd hand but would guess people will ask around £800?) What are your thoughts?

I thought it was a great programme too.

I'm really disappointed that I had to pull out of this event, I'm pleased to hear it went so well.

I have the same camera. It certainly does seem to take quite a while to get down to temperature (much slower than my Atik 460EX). Try just extending the time allowed for it to reach temperature. I have APT configured in the settings so that it the cooling aid automatically launches when APT is opened. I immediately start the cooling, then get on with the alignment plate solve, get it on to the target and framed, then start the guiding calibration. It's usually down to -20oC well before all that is complete.

Have you tried just using a Bhatinov mask?

Another vote for this excellent series. However, listening to all the episodes is one for the hardcore spaceflight fan.

You can get done real bargains on "the bay", but some stinkers too! The real pain is going to be reinstalling all the software and reconfiguring it all - a right spherical objects ache.

The desktop PC in the observatory has finally blown up and is completely kaput so I've had to replace it. 😭😭😭😭😭 Just ordered a refurbished desktop PC with Windows 10 professional 8 gig of RAM and 640 gig hard drive for only £55 delivered off fleabay.

For the majority of secondhand jewellery is only worth the scrap value of the metal and stones. Unless it is a particularly desirable piece, it is unlikely to be a good investment. Even 2nd hand astro gear will likely lose money over time, particularly anything electronic. Therefore it is highly unlikely that the 'investment' argument holds much water on either side. Ultimately, you simply have to weigh up the total net 'cost' of a purchase in terms of happiness and contentment, not only of the purchase itself, but also it's net cost on the wellbeing of your relationships.

Do you know if there any plans for Android versions of the camera drivers and software?

The only regret you may have about building an observatory is, if you have a restricted field of view, it means you don't have the flexibility to move around the garden to get the best views of your target.

I too live under light polluted skies. When at home, my astronomy is most commonly - Double star observing ( Sissy Haas's book is great) Observing and imaging the Moon Narrow band imaging of nebulae. I hope this helps.

Thanks

Hi Steve Have you got a picture of it in place?

Thanks

I'm a little confused. When using with an HEQ5 Pro, does the iPolar replace the polarscope? Does anyone have a picture of how it fits on an HEQ5Pro?

Not all UHC filters are equal. If you can afford it, I have found the Astronomik UHC filter to be very good with a nice tight band pass and good transmission. This means it is highly selective and for that part of the spectrum it does let through it lets through a high percentage of it.

I'll second the advice on not scrimping on the quality of usb hub. Poor quality USB leads and USB hubs are probably the most common root cause of connection problems. Startech units tend to be very good. (Lindy make good USB leads). If you can, go for a powered hub. Unless you really need it, I would go for USB 2 in preference to USB 3, it's more reliable.

We're on our last night of over two weeks touring SW Scotland in our motorhome. Tonight we have clear pretty cloudless horizons to both east and west. The result is that you can see the Belt of Venus (the shadow of the Earth projected on its atmosphere) really clearly. Here's a quick panorama shot taken with my phone. East is on the left, South is on the right.