michaelmorris

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.

Just booked Thursday - Monday. I've also opted for the extra 'fine weather' premium to make sure the weather on our pitch is good.

I had a similar fledgling wasps nest in my garden shed a couple of years ago. I simply broke it up with a stick. The queen kept trying to rebuild it and once a week I destroyed it. After a 5 or 6 weeks she didn’t come back.

My recollection is that the ‘bulb’ was a rubber ballon that, when compressed in your hand, sent air down a tube and pushed a small piston rod down on to the shutter release, activating the shutter. When you released your grip on the bulb, the shutter closed.

I had real issues getting my 120mc to work properly with all sky eye. Now it is working great. Here are my top three tips for using a 120MC/MM camera with Allskeye software. Use new, high quality USB cables Experiment with using the ASCOM rather than the native ZWO driver Create a bad pixel map. I hope this helps

If you're after a very fast lens with a controllable iris, you could have a look at discontinued Computar CCTV lens such as the 2.6mm HG2610AFCS or 2.0mm TG2010AFCS or TG2010FCS-L. These quality f1.0 lenses are amazing, but nowadays rarer than a rare thing on EBay.

I have a (rather noisy) ZWO ASi 120MC. The new 'Bad Pixel Map'' feature on the latest version of Allskeye software has very successfully cleaned up the images. As long as there are ASCOM drivers available for your camera, it should work with Allskeye? www.allskeye.com

The immediate fix seems to be to use the ASCOM drivers for the ZWO ASi120MC. Dark frame subtraction now working. ?