Nigella Bryant

Back to the build, life got in the way, but life slowing down with now self isolation and social distancing. Got back to fitting the heater ring in place and decided to change out the previous zwo120mm for the zwo asi 224mc I had.

Hi all just posting an image pointing towards three galaxies in the Leo Major constellation. Image taken with a Canon modded 1000d and a 75mm-300mm telephoto lens working at 135mm. Exposure 7x60s stacked in deepsky stacker. D2 light pollution filter used. Only just pic out the three galaxies in the centre of the image.

Hi all, I'd bought the D2 LED light pollution filter a while ago and never used it due to a house move so the other night I got just my canon camera and clock drive and used the filter. I am really impressed with the filter. Just added two images, one with the filter showing light pollution and the other with the D2 filter showing its suppression. I live in a bottle 4 sky region but have three LED lights near the home and one right behind where I observe in the garden. First image without the D2 filter, the second image with the D2 filter. 80% of the town is LED lighting.

Hope so Altocumulus, we certainly need some kind of intervention these days.

Hi all, Weather was kind yesterday and with corona distancing I was given the time to do some solar imaging. I used my Lunt 60mm DS with a Zwo Asi 178mm camera. Still a few more avi files to process but this is one I'd processed today. False colour added in Photoshop CS2. Just added what I've called the angel prom, lol.

Welcome Nicola, you'll love the neq6 my goto mount as well, I did do a belt drive upgrade and upgraded the weight shaft. Much smoother. Have fun with it.

I love my Neq6 equatorial mount and 12inch orion optics UK Newtonian f4 Newtonian. Best scope I've owned. Yes, there is a learning curve but once learnt the sky's the limit, lol. All bought second hand, £1000 the lot. I have done some diy upgrades but at the price who can argue. I've had sct, 8, 10 and 12inch. Not a patch on this current setup.

Added some more pic, image of sun attached taken with the new dovetail added. Awful weather so image not great, just one frame.

Hi all, best I could do today with just one frame image, clouds and wind affecting imaging and observations. Gave up in the end. Lunt 60mm Double Stack and Zwo Asi 178mm used to acquire the image. False colour added in CS2.

best i could get ,clouds and wind, only one frame each. uneven light on frame due to clouds going across sun, lunt 60mm ds

I've one, but not used it yet, yeah, place it b4 the ff is the way so I've read. Not between the ff and camera. If you think about it the light path will be more natural if it's put before the ff rather than between. All the filtered light will then be focused through the ff onto the camera sensor. That's my take on it anyway, lol.

I just retrograded a skywatcher electric focuser using some cogs. This I attached to the tube as in my pic of the moonlite focuser. I use that with the USB interface to computer to control focus.

Thanks Neil, my newt the best scope I've had, love it. Modded quite a bit over time.

Yeah I have to use an eyepiece extender but I've modded mine with a low profile focuser for imaging. Mines a 12inch f4 Newtonian orion optics UK.

Welcome from sunny Devon, England, lol.

I use the zwo Asi 178mm. Very pleased with it. Using it with my lunt 60mm double stack. Was using a zwo Asi 120mm. 178mm seems to have more resolution.

Great Davey, something to do in the wet weather ready for those fleeting moments of clear sun light, lol. You won't be disappointed.

Two more pics added for clarity. Tried mount out and works flawlessly. Please note second bolt has been changed to go through to the back plate securing nut allowing alignment with the photo diode and accurate tracking and positioning. Hope this post is useful to those who wish to use the upgrade ADM saddle plate on the Skywatcher Solarquest Mount.

Hi, took a couple of quick shots of the Moon with Venus using a Huwawei P10 in Pro mode. Just I was leaving for music practice, lol.

Sounds like power issue, also look at the inside wiring if the power cables have become lose, etc. Could also be a motor stall which again happens if there's a power issue.

Hiya, yeah, that's it in a nut shell. Easy fix. You must however get the backplate holes vertical to begin with. Hope the revised post makes sense.

The new saddle plate wasn't that much out of sync from the original position. So hopefully it'll only need a little adjustment Gav. Just using my eye the saddle plate looks central to the centre of the light diode. A little edit, I centred the new saddle plate with the diode with only the centre bolt first which took the saddle plate to one of the screws that attaches the back plate. If you then get a slightly longer bolt than the reused ones (I happened to have one) you can then tighten both the secondary bolt through the back plate and into the mount hub thus securing the second bolt hole on the saddle plate. I hope that makes sense Gav.

You'll have to realigh your mount by recentering via the dial and press to set the new alignment, we'll that's my take on it. Not tried it yet to see if that's what you have to do. It does say in the manual to do that if it's not centered. Watch this space, lol.

It was the dovetail plate and only one point of contact via the nob/bolt that didn't inspire confidence in me. Hence completely changing the saddle plate with the ADM.

Great this post helped, you'll not be disappointed. Should I ask for commission, lol.