Xsubmariner

Great image and nice presentation.

Martin

Hi Ed welcome to SGL a great source for knowledge.

Martin

Thanks John, this will likely be my first print job. I plan to build an all sky camera and interestingly have a spare Qhy 5L- that needs reassigning. I was thinking I might try one of the all sky lenses that came with my ZWO 120 cameras. Yet another project for the schedule.

Hi John,

Congratulations with your first printing experience and successful outcome. May I enquire if your STF file is available for others?  

I also recently acquired a 3D printer but sadly have not yet set it up.  The recent good weather resulted in Astro payback and my wife generated a substantial list of building and maintenance work that I am progressing.

I look at the printer repeatedly but must resist. Soon my precious you and I will build a new world. 😳

Martin

I love the way vlaiv simplify things 🤥.  As he suggests just buy the flattener or comma corrector it’s easier on my mind. 🤪

Hi Gary,  welcome to SGL a great source of astronomy wisdom.

Martin 

A thoroughly enjoyable article and great learning project that draws on simple engineering principles to explore the art of tracking celestial bodies, whilst creating a working mount. I am sure it will  generate much conversation at any star party.

Made my day, thanks.

Hi Sam, welcome to SGL and enjoy your new hobby.

When I collected my pulsar dome I used a long serrated, flexible kitchen knife to slice through the silicon, it worked well. Later I removed the old silicon with a can of silicon remover. Take care when reassembling the dome quadrants to ensure the bottom mating surface that runs on the side sections is level. My first attempt at rebuilding the dome had to be disassembled and redone. The second time round I used short pieces of wood to bridge the 4 dome quadrant joints. Clamping the wood to the dome across each joint ensured they remained aligned as the bolts were tightened. Good luck with your build.

Hi John, 

Good luck with your build, will you be isolating your surrounding concrete base from the pier base to prevent vibrations when you walk around inside. I used flooring screed expansion foam. Looking forward to reading about further progress.

Hi Dafydd,

Hi and welcome to SGL, enjoy your new scope and clear skies.

 If the seller is not playing fair, then you must decide what price you are prepared to commit to get personal satisfaction. If the value is small compared to potential legal costs, then what price for the moral principle. Don’t underestimate the frustration and anxiety any legal action will generate.

Hi and have a great time searching the forum.

Great idea, may I ask if these events be hosted on a viewing platform for people to watch later should they be unavailable for the Zoom event?

Superb image Adam, your new kit is working well for you.

Hi Tom and welcome to SGL. There’s a lot of information and support for beginners, enjoy.

Hi Mike welcome.  Might I suggest you acquire the best mount you can afford, it will improve your imaging and is cheaper long term.

Love the can do attitude and ingenuity. Nice image, now watch your wallet closely  otherwise the AP bug will take all your money.

Hi and welcome.

Martin

I currently use, SGPro and Sky X (which I notice is not in the list). Now I have a dual imaging rig, I am disappointed SGP still hasn’t provided multiple camera synchronisation and dither. While the Inclusion has been discussed since 2006 the language now suggest it might appear in version 4, when might that be? In the mean time I plan to investigate APT. I occasionally use Artemis with my Atik cameras (another not on the list) and Nebulosity.

Hi and welcome, enjoy your new scope.

Hi Scoobs767,

Here is a picture of my redundant shed with both doors open. The door opening is 870mm maximum, and inside space is 1680mm.

It isn’t the 1M you were hoping for.

The site shows my location as Bortle 4, so not too bad. Unfortunately imaging does suffer from Wye valley mist on some of the scarce clear nights.

Hi and welcome to SGL. You will always remember your first DSO image, be careful though imaging is addictive and will strain your wallet.

Hi Alan,

I agree with Saganite and would cast the concrete base then fit a steel pier.

For consideration;

I built a concrete pier with rebar support and it worked fine, but the size and construction will depend on what weight you are loading it with. As people have already stated It is surprising what impact a small amount of ringing/flex will cause on a long focal length imaging setup.

When my needs changed and I installed a heavy duty mount/system I had to cut off the concrete pier and fit a steel unit. When you move home you will probably have to cut off any concrete pier, if that is the way you decide to go. With steel you can unbolt and take it with you.

Steel piers do appear in classifieds at a substantial saving so this may be an option,  both of my steel piers were acquired used. Have you tried a wanted ad.

If you decide to go for steel, don’t forget to shutter the top of your hole with suitable packing that you can remove when it sets. This will allow you decouple the pier base from the surrounding concrete base. I would then use a can of expanding foam to fill the gap.

PM me if you wish to discuss in further detail my experience . 

Martin