Space Oddities

I'm using this one from WO. It's pricey, but it works better IMO than opaque masks, and the size is compatible with most of my scopes. So I see it as a useful investment for the future! There are of course cheaper options, so far I was using this one: https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p6373_TS-Optics-Bahtinov-Maske-fuer-Astrofotografie---D--65mm-bis-100mm.html It works fine, but being opaque, the spikes are much smaller.

I often buy from Astroshop, but I live just a few km away from them, so take it with a grain of salt Overall they have provided good service, with fast & secure shipping. I recently bought a refractor from their brand Omegon, that had a problem with the focuser (arising after I try to add an EAF). They provided good and fast service to check and repair it. The only thing I don't like is that the descriptions on their websites could be a bit more detailed and helpful... I think Teleskop Services provides better information overall. But if you know what you buy and have the specs somewhere else, it's not an issue. Just a note, this scope uses FPL51 glass. I'm not sure that's an issue for you, but I know this is important for many people, so just in case you missed this information buried in the specs! Especially if you come from a FPL53 scope. I would contact TS directly regarding the reducer, they can tell you if it will work fine with this scope! Expect a delayed answer though, like other dealers they receive many requests from customers. You can also look at the recommended accessories below the description, they usually list their compatible reducers/flatteners, and recommend some in the description. By the way, you might also want to consider this model, which looks identical to me: https://www.altairastro.com/altair-wave-series-115-f7-ed-triplet-apo-453-p.asp Not sure it's in stock, but being a UK dealer, that might be easier for you!

Hello Des! Sorry I haven't had a change to answer your PM, I'll do it here just in case it helps someone else - Yes the Astro Essentials adapter is a standard M48 thread, so I think it will work fine with this rotator. For the record I have the T2-T2 rotator, that I use together with a 5mm M48-T2 reducer from TS. - It will be 19mm +/- a fraction of a mm, due to the filter itself. People usually say you need to account for an extra 1/3 of the glass thickness. They're generally 2-3mm thick, so if you add 1/3, that would make your total back focus somewhere between 19mm and ~20mm, I believe? - Yes that's correct, although you have to account for the filter too, so you might be slightly off. Perhaps it is safer to go for a 5mm spacer, and add spacer rings (0.5-1 mm thick) to reach 44mm in total. This being said, since it's a camera lens providing a flat field, you might not even need 44mm... Maybe it's already fine at 42mm or something. I'll let more advanced users comment on this, I'm not really sure! The rotator isn't necessary at all, indeed, but IMO the main advantage is comfort and security. You don't have to touch the lens itself, just the camera. Loosening the ring is really not the most convenient thing to do, especially when the lens is pointing close to the zenith for instance. Unlike the RedCat 51, that has some kind of 'trench' in which the ring can rotate securely, the Samyang doesn't, and the ring just grabs the lens by the aperture ring, so to speak. Which means, it's much less secure, and you can also rotate inadvertently the aperture ring in the process... Of course this can be mitigated by adding some adhesive tape. But still, I find rotating the lens very awkward. Also keep in mind that there's not much space left to "grab the lens". The back is covered by the ring, the middle is the focus ring, and the front might be occupied by a dew heater... Which is why I prefer a rotator on the back of the lens, I find it much easier and safer. Since you already have the drawer, perhaps you can start without the rotator, and see if that works for you That rotator isn't cheap, so perhaps it's wiser to try without first. Hope that helps!

I confirm Uranium's adapter is only compatible with the Canon EOS version of the lens. The Nikon one has 4 screws, and mirrorless versions won't fit at all, because it's really not the same construction (that big spacer at the back of the lens). I owned the Fujifilm version before getting the Canon one, and I believe it's identical to the Sony version. Your best bet is to browse forums and 2nd hand shops for a Canon version. You can also lookup alternative names, because Samyang used to sell its lenses under 3 names: Rokinon (USA), Bower (Germany) and Samyang (rest of the world). My lens is actually a Bower one And it's 100% the same company and products, just a different branding for some obscure reason... Luckily for us, manual Samyang lenses are usually not impossible to find on the used market. A lot of DSLR users purchase one, and realize it's difficult to focus it in daytime with a DSLR... and end up selling it. Sometimes it pops up on Astronomy forums as well, but you need to be lucky, this lens is a keeper!

Apparently the Askar 180 will soon have a little brother!

Thanks Adam, that's very helpful!

A lot of work for a superb result, bravo!

I'd be curious to know! My rig runs at 12V and I'm way too lazy to destroy the cable management I did with the current power supply Would be so much easier to just plug the NUC to my Pocket PowerBox...

I believe Windows RDP is only available with Pro versions of Windows; so that depends on what OS licenses is installed. I'm using RealVNC as well, it works pretty well. I can even access my computer from another network, which was handy a couple times when I needed to access some files while travelling.

I believe this model has the option to replace the blue by orange, in the BIOS, as well as dim the light. But I'm not sure that's true for activity indicator... Anyway, there's nothing gaffer tape doesn't solve...

If it helps, my NUC (same model as yours) is attached vertically to the back of my monitor's arm. I'm using a couple bands of 3M Dual Lock bands, which is truly amazing! It's similar to velcro, but much, much stronger So far the adhesive has proven very good too, unlike cheap velcro that tend to peel off after some time. That NUC is really going nowhere! I use it to attach things to my tripod, like the power supply or the small Raspberry PI computers. But also to stick for example multiple power strips below my furniture, so it stays hidden and not on the ground. I definitely recommend it if you want to attach stuff to your pier and be able to remove them from time to time, over traditional velcro. There are some of the Dual Lock bands that are specifically designed for outdoor and/or metal supports apparently: https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/dual-lock-reclosable-fasteners-us/ And good point mentioned by Nicolàs, you can indeed change the color and intensity of the LED indicators in the BIOS, very handy to hunt down annoying lights Although the 8i5BEK doesn't seem to have this luminous rectangle, only the power button and a couple indicators are lit.

Great setup Happy to see more fellow AZ-GTi users!

A lot of people use a little mount on the side, like a Star Adventurer or AZ-GTi. A cheap way to maximize the cloud-free time indeed!

I use the 8i5BEK for Photoshop, Lightroom, PixInsight, DeepSkyStacker and even some gaming So yes, it will do just fine, and it's even overkill for just controlling your rig. The i3 is also sufficient I believe. But since it's now a couple generation behind, you can find both for a good price, I believe. Celeron and Pentium aren't necessarily old, Intel still uses this name for brand new processors. Atom, Celeron, Pentium, Xeon... are different product families for different usage: mobile, IOT, servers, laptops... As explained here. I believe some of these low-end processors can work OK, but like everything in IT, they might not be future-proof, and won't give you the smoothness of a regular processor. But you know, you get what you pay for Also if low power is a requirement, they can be a good alternative to higher end models. In terms of ventilation, my NUC is well ventilated, with spaces on the side. You can adjust the settings in the BIOS. For normal usage, especially if it's outside, the ventilation should be minimum. It only gets hot when running heavy 3D thing, when the CPU is at 100% (e.g. when stacking) or when writing to the disk a lot (NVME SSD can be very warm). Please note the fan can be very loud when running at full power! I got used to it, but it can be surprising the first time.

Good thing with the NUC is that you can select its components. I actually use an 8th generation i5 (NUC8i5BEK) as a desktop computer, for processing my images. Some models are more powerful than they look! I loaded mine with 32 GB of memory (for PixInsight), a 512 GB M.2 NVME SSD from Samsung (Evo 970 I think), and boy it is fast! The integrated graphics of the 8th generation NUC (Iris Plus Grafik 655) are actually better than the 9th generation NUC, for some reason. But I'm not sure the graphics are very important for your usage, as it is with mine (Photoshop uses graphics accelerator for instance). Anyway, that build is overkill for what you will do, but here are some thoughts: I think an i3 is sufficient for remote control, but i5/i7 are of course more robust and future proof. Intel also make some NUC with Celeron/Atom processors. They're less powerful than i3, but they're cheaper and use less power. In any case, checking the Geekbench score of the processor might give you an idea. Make sure you get a good SSD (M.2 NVME, if the NUC is compatible) for hosting Windows. Western Digital and Samsung make very good SSD, that don't cost an arm. If weight isn't an issue, take the "high" version. It allows you to fit a 2nd disk in the NUC with a 2.5" factor. Here you can put any SSD with a high capacity, to store your images during the session. Unless you prefer having an external USB drive, to transfer photos more easily to another computer? In that case, having a 2nd disk inside your NUC isn't necessary. I think 2x4GB of RAM or more is recommended for Windows 10. Get the fastest RAM you can for your NUC model (mine is 2333 MHz, just check the specs). RAM also costs nothing nowadays, and you can easily find it used for a lower price. People often upgrade their computers, so RAM is very easy to find! I would recommend that your build the NUC yourself; it's very easy, just plug and play the RAM and the SSD. It took me 5 minutes. And you can optimize the price/performance better than a "ready to boot" computer. Check out this Wikipedia page, it has a nice table showing you all models avaiable: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Next_Unit_of_Computing Hope that helps a bit!

That's a great result Lee! This lens and this camera seem to be the perfect companions for quick grab & go imaging I'm super jealous, as I haven't been able to image since October. Nothing but clouds here in Bavaria, and a curfew is in place since mid-December, which means I can't go out anyway at night... My Samyang is looking at me and I can feel the despair in his big, bulbous front element!

Forgot to mention: since you're just starting, you might as well use an all-in-one software to do polar alignment, capturing, plate solving, etc. There are free software out there, like NINA, that can do everything you need. And it's free and open source PHD2, SharpCap are nice pieces of software too, but I find their user interfaces a bit outdated and cannot do everything.

Hey pal! Well, the latitude base is mandatory to convert the mount from AZ to EQ. Most people use the one from Sky-Watcher, but you can also find one made by iOptron (for SkyGuider & alike), or a most expensive (but better) one made by William Optics. I believe the latitude base from SW is sold with a small dovetail plate, that connects to the bottom of the AZ-GTi. If not, you'll need to purchase it separately! Counterweight isn't mandatory, however I would recommend it if you have a payload > 1kg. For the camera/lens combo you have, I think you'll be fine! Just note that the counterweight shown above (for the Star Adventurer) cannot be directly attached to the AZ-GTi. You need a thread adapter (M12 to M8 I believe), since the mount is M12 and the bar is M8 Alternatively to this specific counterweight, I heard that the counterweight bar from EQ1/EQ2 mounts are compatible with the AZ-GTi. You will also need something to attach the camera to the mount. It needs to be a Vixen dovetail with a 1/4" screw, like this one: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/dovetails-saddles-clamps/astro-essentials-vixen-type-photo-dovetail-bar.html To use the mount in equatorial mode, you will need to polar align it. It can be done either by a software (SharpCap can do it, however I think you need to purchase the license - £10/year I believe). Please note that I don't know if SharpCap can polar align using your Canon camera. I never used it with a DSLR, so I'm not sure... Perhaps another user can share his experience, or the SharpCap website might have some additional info. Alternatively to software polar alignment, you can mount somewhere a polar scope, and do it manually like a normal EQ mount. But you need a polar scope and a way to attach it to your mount, so that's more expensive than using SharpCap. Still, if you want to do it, the easiest way in my opinion is to use this little blue plate and this polar scope. To connect your laptop to the mount, you can use either the Wi-Fi, or an EQDIR cable like this one. If you use Wi-Fi, you have 2 options: 1) connecting your laptop to the Wi-Fi of the AZ-GTi, or 2) connecting the AZ-GTi to your home Wi-Fi network. Of course if you're out in the field or far from your home Wi-Fi, option 1) is the only available. Just check the manual of the AZ-GTi, these connection modes are explained and can be configured via the SynScan smartphone app. You will also need to install some drivers/software to control the mount via your laptop in Wi-Fi (SynScan App). Check out Sky-Watcher's website: http://www.skywatcher.com/download/product/software/az-gti-mount/ And of course one way to connect the camera to the laptop, if you want to take pictures from the laptop. And perhaps polar align with SharpCap via the Canon (although I don't know if that's possible). Hope that helps

It's possible but you will need some kind of L bracket for the AZ-GTi, and something to fix your binos to that L bracket. Sky-Watcher sells a cheap one, although I'm not sure it's large and solid enough to carry these specific binoculars: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/celestron-mounts/skywatcher-l-bracket-dovetail.html If you need something more sturdy, perhaps the one sold by TS is a better match, you can even add a counterweight: https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/language/en/info/p10777_TS-Optics--Adapterplatte-fuer-azimutale-Montierungen-mit-perfektem-Gewichtsausgleich.html Another kind: https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p7917_TS-Optics-L-Halter-fuer-Fernglaeser-und-Spektive.html HTH!

Hmm strange, there are new posts every day... If you want, PM me your username, maybe I can add you from inside?

The specs don't list the image circle and sensor sizes that are compatible, however the title does say: This useful 0.8x Reducer / Field Flattener enables DSLR astrophotography So I think with an APS-C sensor, you should be fine APS-C is generally either the upper limit of the image circle, or well within this limit (a lot of flatteners/reducers are designed for full frame cameras)!

There is also a reducer/flattener from William Optics for the ZS73: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/reducersflatteners/william-optics-x08-adjustable-reducer-flattener-for-zs73.html It's a bit more expensive, but I don't think you can go wrong with it, as it's designed specifically for this scope. Perhaps that optically it's the same as some other reducers, but at least mechanically, it seems unique to WO. The StellaMira is a generic flattener, you can find many brands selling it and recommending it for similar 70-72mm scopes. So, like all generic products, there's a small risk that it isn't a perfect fit for your scope... But all those telescope aren't radically different, so it might work very well Perhaps some users can share their experiences! Alternatively, TS Optics in Germany proposes this 0.8x reducer, that is listed as compatible with their 72mm f/6 scope, which I believe is optically identical to the ZS73... as well as 3 other scopes with similar specs. Regarding the guide scope, I think a ~30mm is enough at this focal length and amateur usage I'm using one and it's all I need. There's also ZWO's 32mm scope that's even a bit cheaper at £89, all metal and very solid. I'm using a similar one that is even cheaper, but it's not in stock at the moment... https://www.firstlightoptics.com/zwo-accessories/zwo-mini-guide-scope.html

Also a couple videos with interesting examples and real world comparisons Charts are nice, but nothing beats a real image!

Well it depends what you want to photograph! I'd say there are 5 kinds of filters to consider for a color camera: 1. Light pollution filters (L-Pro, IDAS LPS...) They remove some of the light pollution (usually, older kinds of street lamps, that emit light in a specific wavelength). These filters are broadband, so they only remove some of the light. The overall effects are light: contrast will increase slightly, some of the light pollution will be reduced. 2. CLS/CLS-CCD filters (many brands, they're all named CLS or CLS-CCD) These filters are stronger than standard light pollution filter. They basically cut off the middle of the spectrum completely. They are mostly meant for visual use, but there are some "CLS-CCD" versions that also cut off the infrared. This is what you need if you have an unfiltered camera. 3. UHC filters UHC filters are similar to CLS filters; but they let a bit more light on both side. They're initially meant for visual use only. They will filter less light pollution, and provide less contrast than CLS filters. Also, they generally don't cut off the infrared, but I think Baader makes a UHC-S filter that reduces or filters out the IR. 4. Dual/Tri/Quad narrowband filters (L-eNhance, L-eXtreme, STC Duo, IDAS NB1/2/3...) These dual-narrowband filters are even more restrictive than UHC and CLS filters. They're designed for photographing emission nebulae, and have narrow 2 bandpass usually centered around OIII and Ha wavelengths. Here you have many brands and filters, they're quite popular these days. Depending on what brand you get, you'll have a more or less narrow bandpass. Check out this thread for more info! You can also find some higher end models, that have 3 or 4 peaks, like the Triad filters from OPT. But they're very, very pricey! 5. Narrowband filters Narrowband filters only filter a specific wavelength, like Ha or OIII or SII only. They're more or less narrow, and better suited to mono cameras. But it's still possible to use for example an Ha filter, with a DSLR, and use it as a red channel to create an HaRGB image. Conclusion There isn't really 1 filter to rule them all... it really depends what you want to photograph and your light pollution. For emission nebulae, emitting in 2-3 very specific wavelengths, duo narrowband filters are a good match to a color camera (or standard narrowband filters for a mono one). However, they are too restrictive for targets that emit in all wavelengths. For other targets emitting in all wavelengths (galaxies, reflection nebulae), other filters can help to various degrees: light pollution filters are the weakest, CLS-CCD the strongest, UHC in between). Things to keep in mind: These filters cut light, and the more they cut, the longer you need to expose You'll always be limited by the filter placed on the sensor of your DSLR. A standard DSLR is meant to be used in daylight, and filters UV and infrared light. Sometimes, they also drastically reduce the transmission of wavelength 656nm, which is the wavelength of hydrogen alpha, that is very common in deep sky objects. In other words, your DSLR might be filtering the light you're trying to photograph. That's why people "mod" their cameras, by removing that UV/IR filter, to unlock the full potential of the sensor. If your camera is modded or unlocked, always use a filter that gets rid of infrared light (> 700nm). Digital sensors can see IR light, and it can mess with your image ultimately Some filters like CLS-CCD can mess with your color balance, it can be hard to correct in post Hope that helps

I think it would safer to remove taxes from any price comparison between countries 2895 € includes 19% of German VAT. 20% for the UK. As for US prices, they generally do not display any sales tax at all, so not comparable to EU prices!