KP82

https://www.365astronomy.com/astronomical-telescopes/apochromatic-refractors/primaluce-lab-apo-refractors/primaluce-lab-plus-20mm-spacers

Not sure if these work with non Primaluce tube rings. You may want to take some measurements of your existing tube rings before ordering.

Lots of choices for 80mm f/6 triplet on the market.

The cheapest one is the Altair Starwave 80EDT-R. It uses FCD100 as opposed to FPL53/55 as its ED element. The build quality is very good. Lots of value for money. I've got one myself.

Tecknosky, WO and TS Optics 80mm f/6 are all essentially the same scope but with different branding and styles. I second John that Rupert from Astrograph is very knowledgeable/friendly and offers great service. So getting the technosky from him should be trouble free.

Then it's the Esprit 80 (this one is f/5). FLO bench test these before shipping so quality is pretty much guaranteed.

17 hours ago, Simon Pepper said:

@KP82 ok this is awesome info so that’s sort of what I had but I actually had the 55mm spacing going into the eyepiece shown below. So basically if I use without a flattener this config I remove the zwo spacers and use the camera nosepiece. But adding a flattener (turns up tomorrow) that goes into the eyepiece compression and then I add the zwo spacers. Just one other question if I may is there an adapter from the ES extensions to the flattener that’s threaded? I have not used compression rings before can they be trusted? Thanks 

As said by Ricochet the thread size of the hexafoc extension tube is M68x0.75. If you're getting the dedicated ES flattener for the ED127, chances are it should thread into the extension tube without any adapters. Otherwise you will need an inverter to convert the 0.75mm thread pitch to the more common 1mm. And from there you can find all sort of adapters (Baader, TS Optics and Astro Essentials by FLO) that convert M68 to one of the popular thread sizes used on the scope end of flatteners/reducers (M63, M54, M82, etc.). Threaded connection is usually preferred to avoid any tilting or de-centering issues.

For the camera end of your flattener, check the specs to see if you need a M48 to M42 step down adapter (I believe some ZWO cameras come with one by default).

For imaging as long as the guide setup is pointing roughly at the same vicinity as the main scope that will be enough. Unlike for visual there is no need for precise alignment between the main scope and guide scope.

Those extension tubes that come with ES scopes are focuser drawtube extenions meant for helping reach focus as the travel distance of the ES hexafoc focuser is very short (about 45mm only as opposed to 95 - 115mm found on many 2.5 - 3.5" R&P focusers). Install them between the drawtube and the 2" eyepiece clamp first. Then attach the zwo camera by using the included 1.25 or 2" nosepiece (like inserting an eyepiece). The spacers that come with your zwo camera are for back spacing between flattener/reducer and the camera.

Based on my experiences between Morpheus 6.5mm and BST 5mm, I'd say the former offers more eye-relief, much wider fov, darker backgrounds and most importantly no ghosting on bright targets such as Mars and Jupiter. I also had the 12mm before I sold all my BSTs. It was the best of the bunch. If the Morpheus 12.5mm performed similarly to the 6.5mm, the only benefits I could see would be eye-relief and wider fov. Whether these are worth the extra cost is up to you.

5 minutes ago, YogSothoth said:

Thanks a lot for all your replies. Some great info there and I’m a lot clearer now about what I need. I guess using refractors for years, I’ve been kind of anxious about the collimating process but doesn’t seem too bad. The Stellalyra 8” looks good but I can’t find any reviews. Does anyone know how it compares with the SW. in terms of the optical quality?

The Stellarlyra Dobs are made by GSO, so if you search up GSO dobs (e.g. GSD 200C), you should be able to find some info on them. AFAIK the optics are about the same between GSO and SW dobs, but the mechanically the GSO is slightly more superior. You could also have a look at the Bresser Dobs. They are pretty decent.

I've got the essential laser collimator from FLO along with a collimation cap for my 200P. I used the cap to center the secondary through the focuser, then the laser to aim the secondary at the centre of the primary and finally align the primary. The laser collimator arrived slightly out of collimation itself so I had to use the method found on youtube to collimate that first.

Have a look at:

https://tftcentral.co.uk

https://www.rtings.com/

https://pcmonitors.info

then make up your own mind. For photo editing, the key parameters are colour space coverage and colour accuracy. For very serious work, look for one that has hardware LUT and get a colorimeter to go with it.

3 hours ago, Mark99 said:

Thanks so much guys, looks like AD then.

I can't bring the 'scope to focus straight through. I do need to check the diagonal as that is a new (secondhand) acquisition.

KP, can you give me some pointers on the type of lenses I should be looking for?

These imaging oriented fracs require extension tubes to reach focus without a diagonal.

Your ES70s afaik are pretty much the same as many other 70 afov eyepieces based on the 5-element Erfle design. (e.g. WO SWAN). These kind of eyepieces aren't going to give you the best views with scopes faster than f/6. If you're on a tight budget and ok to sacrifice a bit of fov, BST starguiders are worth a look. They are supposed to be good down to f/5. More expensive options include ES68, ES82, Baader Morpheus and APM UFF (Altair also sell the same range under their own name). Or for top of the line ES92/100, Televue, Pentax XW or Nikon NAV.

You need to make sure you've got CIFS client 1.0 support installed in the Windows features. Win10 by default has CIFS 1.0 support disabled.

Agreed with what have been said above. Also have you tried with straight-thru view? This is just to eliminate the diagonal from the optical path in case it's broken. And f/5.5 is pretty fast, probably too fast for your ES70 eyepieces.

Jupiter isn't at its best altitude yet, but with sufficient cooldown and observing near the meridian under above average seeing there shouldn't be any visible CA in a well collimated triplet. That's what I saw with my APM 107 last week which is also a sharpstar scope.

The 130PDS is a very capable scope once you've got over all the hurdles of imaging with a newt. Unless you want something that can't be done with the 130PDS (e.g. very wide field imaging, or portable visual setup), I'd say stick to what you've got and save the money.

10 minutes ago, StuartT said:

ok, now I restarted NINA and it can't even see the camera!

I then tried opening the PB software and I got this

Might well be a defective UPB. Maybe return it and exchange for a PPBA if you have no use of the stepper motor or 20A.

1 minute ago, StuartT said:

I have a new EQ6 with a USB port in it and I use that.

@KP82 - yes, the laptop can connect directly to the mount from the laptop. to be honest, I had just about got the hang of connecting to my mount with NINA (once I figured out all the ASCOM port nonsense and constantly changing numbers). But now I am putting the PB in between them seems to have just upset everything again. (it's certainly upset me!).

I did email the Pegasus guy and he told me that if you are using NINA you shouldn't use the powerbox's own software too because they conflict with each other.

At this rate, it's looking like I've made a rather expensive mistake buying a UPB. I might end up just going back to a direct connection and cable hell! 😭

I could be wrong, but I think the embedded stepper motor is conflicting with the mount when you have your EQ6-R connected via the UPB. This configuration means two FTDI chips are trying to negotiate their own COM ports via the same physical USB port on the UPB. This might not be technically possible.

If you can have everything else bar the mount connected via the UPB, I wouldn't think that as "cable hell".

6 minutes ago, StuartT said:

Yikes! You were right. A lot of old COM ports by the look of it. I must admit, I don't understand all this COM port stuff. Normally devices work with windows just using the USB port and you never have to worry about what number anything is!

Before I got the powerbox when connecting my mount, I used to always first have to look in Device Manager see what COM port it was assigned (always a different number!) and then open up EQMOD or ASCOM or whatever it's called and make sure that COM port was set to the right number. A right pain. I don't really understand why that keeps changing every time you plug something in!  

I'm running ASCOM 6.5.

I'm not sure what an EQDIR cable is, but I am connecting the powerbox directly to the mount yes. I never use the handset for anything as I always plate solve and sync.

 

Have you tried connecting the mount directly to the PC? If you aren't using an EQDIR cable, your EQ6-R must be a later model with the built-in USB port (my AZ-EQ6 also has this port, but I still stick to the EQDIR cable). That USB port has a FTDI chip embedded. Maybe this has problem going through the USB hub on the UPB.

26 minutes ago, Budgie1 said:

I had my camera already connected via the USB3 hub on the PB and then fired up the PB software and connected.

Which version of ASCOM are you using? The PB V2 info page says ASCOM6 is supported, which comes up as ASCOM Platform 6 in the Windows Start Menu.

Also, are you using the EQDIR cable between the PB & the mount, with the handset removed? I'm just wondering what the Prolific USB to Serial COM port is running because my EQDIR cable is showing a FTDI device. I'm not seeing the Prolific drivers in the list of ports on my laptop.

I believe that Prolific USB COM port is installed by the embedded stepper motor in the UPB. Since our PPBA doesn't have that feature, we would only see the COM port from the FTDI chip in the EQDIR cable.

+1 for TSA120. It's also the one most likely in stock if you want one urgently. TOA130 is out of your price range. APM-LZOS 130 f/9.2, TEC 140FL, CFF 135 and 140 are all out of your range plus there is substantial amount of waiting time for all of them.

5 minutes ago, StuartT said:

yes. The software is seeing the Powerbox - that is just connected direct to the laptop's USB (and as far as I know it does not require COM port emulation).

NINA can connect through the powerbox to the ZWO camera (also not using COM port/ASCOM)

But NINA cannot connect to the mount (which does use ASCOM and so needs to have a COM port set in ASCOM which matches the one the laptop is creating)

And NINA cannot see the Powerbox (which is weird because that should also be a direct USB connection from the laptop).

I suspect the problem is with the prehistoric nature of ASCOM which still uses the concept of COM ports! 

Try one step at a time. First see if NINA can connect to the UPB before physically plug in your camera and mount. Follow this with the camera and finally the mount. Also try different USB ports on your PC. Is the mount plugged into the PC directly or via the USB hub on the UPB?

Does the Pegasus own software see your UPB? Check the device manager to make sure you're connecting to the correct COM port.

I've only used my PPBA alongside EQMOD once with NINA before switching to Ekos/INDI. I didn't recall any connection issues.

11 minutes ago, StuartT said:

good grief! You are right! I just uncrewed the reducer to reveal... guess what? A 2" filter thread!

I'd better cancel that order for a filter drawer!!

My bad. Apparently SW already includes this filter drawer/adaptor with the .77x reducer. It sits between the actual reducer optics and the M71 to M48 spacer.

My first reaction when I saw this was that it was produced by a stock DSLR. Most emission nebulae are Ha heavy, so to make the most out of your limited exposure time you will need to astro mod your 800D.

When stacking always reject those subframes with irregular star shapes if you want perfect result. Keeping them in will only deteriorate the overall quality of your image.

Do you dither while guiding? Dithering helps remove walking noise in the image. Also un-cooled DSLRs have higher read noise and dark current than TEC cooled astro cam, so the result is always going to be a bit more noisy. When processing make sure multiple curves are streched little at a time and don't oversharpen or else the end result may be grainy and contain banding.

1 hour ago, Stuf1978 said:

Can you not screw the 2" filter into your reducer? i.e. the end that you insert into the focusser draw tube? Most flatteners/reducers are designed to accept a 2" filter 

 

Only those designed with a 2" nosepiece for push-fit attachment (e.g. my TS Optics 2" 0.79x reducer). But the more common screw on type can't (e.g. my Riccardi 0.75x reducer).

For mono you would be using a filter wheel mounted between the reducer and the camera (closer to the camera to minimise possible reflection).

For osc a filter wheel is overkill, you could try one of these.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/zwo-accessories/zwo_fd_m42.html

https://www.altairastro.com/altair-2-inch-magnetic-filter-holder---m48-front-t2-back---version-2-6478-p.asp

They both accept standard 2" filters. The ZWO one from FLO is currently out of stock, so if you need one now, you will have to go with the Altair. You will need to rework your spacing factor in the filter drawer plus the roughly 0.5 - 0.7mm increase in spacing due to the filter slightly altering the light path.

On 05/09/2021 at 13:48, Ags said:

Explore Scientific 20mm 68°? I had the 24mm and it was really good, far, far, far better than the Hyperion 24 I used to own.

+1 for ES68 20mm. Very comfortable to use and well corrected views.