Rustang

My very nice Pentax-A 28mm lens turned up today, there was a very short window tonight before the clouds rolled in so I gave it a whirl. My L-Enhance clip in filter doesnt fit with this lens but actually I'm not that bothered as I really like the natural colour's with out the filter. I'm Very happy with it, £70 well spent! Modified Canon 600D on a Star Adventurer- 38 x 60 sec subs at f4 stacked with dark's

I left it at 3.5 as the stars aren't any better at f4.

300 sec 😊

Well I havent really had the clear skies good enough for my main set up so Ive been playing with the Star Adventurer again and my Modified 600D with the Pentax Takumar 135mm lens. Please ignore the ugly stars, there's not much I could do with them!

Came across this mount by accident today Bresser Polar Wedge Tripod - Rother Valley Optics Ltd and it got me thinking that it could be used as a decent star Adventurer mount and you get an upgraded wedge!. All I can see that you will need is a clamp with the correct bolt hole spacing that will bolt onto the mounting plate on top of the mounts wedge then you can clamp the main Star Adventurer body to the wedge and job done! May give it ago.

Lovely 👏

Stunning 👏

Some len's do vignette unfortunately, even my very expensive Nikon 24-70mm f2.8 vignetted!!

Very nice 👏

Thanks again for your help, it looks like the subs were out from the Start so once I can get out again and achieve good focus, I will keep an eye on the subs during the session to hopefully rule out temp issues. I'm really hoping its just finding the knack to achieving focus with this scope, and away that continues to work so I can keep things the way they are then il be happy. I'm sure I can get there, I stress alot through life and have many mental demons I have to battle with so things can get frustrating very quickly but I always keep fighting on, the hobby hasnt got the better of me yet.

Sadly I dont have an auto focuser and really dont wont to be adding anything to the set up or extra to think about right now. The scope could well be temperature fussy, it will be a shame if so, kinda wish I stuck with the SW80! I really wish the precious nights could just be with out issue, I fully appreciate I'm not the only one though, its been so mentally challenging to get to where I'am with this hobby and was just about settled with everything to just enjoy it but there are so, so many things that can seem to play up just when you have the hang of it all.

So normally I would go to a bright Star, so the Image that worked with the new scope (Crescent nebula) I went to Sadr to focus then to the Crescent neb so they are close to each other. I did the same the other night using Sadr but the Lobster is futhur away, would that really make a difference and why? What if there isant a bright enough star close by to use? I use the WO adjustable flattener that's to my calculation is where it should be and the whole connection is now a threaded, locked connection so I believe its not an issue that end but I guess I cant rule that out the way its going.

Cheers guys 👍

Yeah definitely re testing once locked as I know it moves when tightened. It is strange how out it is and the spikes and reading looking really good, I just hope its not the scope but then what could it be if it were so! Its really annoying having to deal with something like this but I guess if your not hardened to deal with the fact this hobby is just very frustrating then its best to take up another I'm pretty sure there's no slippage. I know a few people have mentioned that there are lots of factors that can alter focuser but I had simple no issues that I was aware of with the other scope, I never even re focused after a filter change!! so this scope is definitely fussy for some reason! at least the stars are nice and round though

I wont to tighten the tension on my draw tube a little to help hold the heavy camera gear more securely. I have found a manual online that states that the tension screws are the pair that sit in the middle, directly on top of the focuser unit. is this correct? There are also a few grub screws underneath so its a little confusing! My source of info, see page 6 投影片 1 (williamoptics.com)

Cheers, its similar advice Ive had before, I try to take one step at a time though. I was informed about using APT's b mask tool so first I did this and it worked on my last image so that's why i went back to using that again which has now failed!! I will now try what you and others have stated in regards to the FWHM value but I'm new to really understanding this, all I know is that I need a small value but how small is best?. I've been told about temperature changes etc etc changing focus but its something I've never suffered with before, ever with the SW80 and always just crudely used the B mask by eye so why this scope is so fussy I don't know, never mind, Il try and find a new routine that works. I will now definitely check each sub, I was lazy the other night and assumed wrong due to the good APT b mask result that everything was ok, so thats my own fault for not checking the subs.

Yeah I'm using the built in mask so it could be that, I used the sharpstar one with the SW80 so may order another. Yeah the draw tube locking screw was tightened.

I'm starting to get a little annoyed with how finicky the WOZ73 is to get focused correctly, I never had any issues with the SW80 what so ever and just used to eye ball it with my B mask every time. Having initially had issues from the start, the next night out I used the B mask function in APT to correct it, I did the same last night and got it even better so why do my stars look out of focus yet again? Because the B mask reading was even better than the first, I was to lazy to fully check the subs, well that was a mistake! Its another case of worked fine now doesn't again! 🙄 A really crude stretch below of last nights image

It appears I'm the only one that's happy with these filters albeit the ultra narrow HA and OIII, not the fast ones! Admittedly though I have tried them on a really bright star yet but besides that I'm pleased so far with the noticeable extra contrast. I should have mentioned before Adam but cracking image by the way 👍

Very nice 👏👏

Well done guys, great images 👏

How would you say the Canon M200 would hold up against capturing Ha or would you just get it modified!?

Thats a lovely image. I was looking at a second set up and the Star adventurer definitely suits that for now, obviously that limits me a little but I recon I can definitely get better images with some equipment upgrades. I've been pondering the Samyang 135mm for a while and will probably treat myself once I've upgraded the camera. I have also thought about using a OSC but I just really like the simplicity of a DSLR and lens and I've seen some super images with just that so will continue down that road for now.

Yeah it's really cool seeing lots of targets in one image, and the simplicity of the set up is refreshing. I just need to look at improving the camera and len's over time to improve on the quality of the image but I'm really happy with the start of this setup and the Star adventurer has been great and I'm impressed with being able to do 5min long subs with it.

Yeah they can be hit and miss, my Pentax Takumar 135 f3.5 is the best one I've brought so far, probably should have brought 28mm version of that lens instead of the Hoya but they are cheap enough to swop about.