Rustang

1 hour ago, Neil H said:

Same diagonal as the one i just got and that came off ed80 really nice diagonal 

Which ones that? Would you recommend it then? 

2 minutes ago, johninderby said:

An ED80 set up for visual with an eyepiece.

Cheers, that's what I thought might be the case but had to check before I brought the wrong things👍

2 minutes ago, Neil H said:

Hi i dont think a diagonal  on its own will do it my bresser has 2 extensions an easy way to try is get the centre roll from a loo roll fit the eyepiece  and slide this into focuser  and move it in and out till you focus this will tell you how big ab extension your need

Thanks, I will give it a try 👍

1 minute ago, NGC 1502 said:

You don’t say what diagonal you already may own, however -

Generally speaking most 2” diagonals need to be racked in closer towards the scope than most 1.25” diagonals.

Also - is your intention to visually use the scope for astronomy or daytime viewing like birdwatching ?  For astronomy use focus will be achieved with the focuser racked closer to the scope than nearby daytime views.

Ed.

 

I don't have a diagonal! I'm looking to get one 😊 I intend only for the occasional astronomy use 👍

None of my eye pieces seem to come into focus on my SW80 ED DS PRO so I'm guessing I need an extension, I would also like to get a diagonal so my question is, from anyone's experience, will the diagonal give me the extra distance to achieve focus across a range of eye pieces, 6mm up to 24mm with out the need for an extension tube. It's one of my imaging scopes mainly but I would still like to take a peak visually once in a while. I think I already know the answer but prefer to check 😊

Go big or go home! 😁 Newly acquired visual setup, thanks Steve for the scope and Craig for the mount 👍

Bring on the next clear night! 

Yeah I like that, nicely processed. I'm giving it another go over the weekend to try and tame the colours a bit. I've been using the Astro tools myself when editing Nebulas and found them really good, worth the money. Thanks for having ago, your doing very well in the time you've been doing it, it's certainly an art form in itself 👍

5 minutes ago, geeklee said:

Thanks @Rustang.  Agree, it was difficult to decide on a route to take for the colour, saturation and brightness.  I really liked the more punchy version too.

 

I feel its ok to boost a little and add that punch, not going crazy though and its not like your really faking the color as such, its there your just boosting it. Everyone different in there approach but its your image at the end of the day 😊

Very nice, nice and natural looking which is where I spent a day struggling with. Its a difficult target in post but yours looks lovely 👍

Ive used both and both are great and very good for astrophotography. The 80 is not easy to balance, very camera heavy (depending on camera of course) so you will need a counter weight or longer dovetail, i found the 130pds easy to balance with a DSLR. Pleased with the results of both scopes. The 80 is easier to deal with in regards to not having to mess around with collocation, more practical size aswell. As said above, in regards to diffraction spikes on the 130pds, I liked them, some dont and refractors dont produce them. I now only use the 80mm as sold my 130pds, I also have the 72mm ED DS pro, another great little scope. I wouldn't worry to much on how much faster the 130 is, if your keen on astrophotography then I'm sure you will be going onto guiding etc at some point so longer subs achieved which will get you the detail you wont anyway.

Thanks guys, it may have to come down to cost, a second hand EQ5 will probably be more in my price range, the Sky Tee looks good but I feel maybe even second hand plus a tripod, it might be too much money for now ( I have spent way to much on my imaging set up recently, worth it though!) . Worse case is i will use my HEQ5 pro when not imaging until something comes up, it has no slow mo controls so will be awkward to use but will do while I'm looking.

7 minutes ago, Stu said:

Presumably this would be for visual use? I think the very minimum would be an EQ5, preferably HEQ5.

Or how about building a Dob base and EQ Platform? That’s how I use my 8” f8

Yes, purely visual. Maybe one day I can look to build one of those bases but for now a simple AZ/EQ mount that can take the size and weight will probably do 👍

If all goes well today I will be collecting a 8inch 1100mm long reflector. My current little AZ mount that holds my SW130p will not suffice and if its a clear night then my SW HEQ5 pro will more than likely be imaging. So I need to know my options for the 8inch, I will look for second hand to keep costs down but what would be my bare minimum but capable options?. I fully understand that load capacity will play the biggest part. One thing I would like to keep is the slow motion controls like my current AZ mount. If anyone has any recommendations so i can keep an eye out on the second hand market. Would something like an SW EQ3 suffice?. In the meantime I'm investigating myself.

Be careful at 2.8, it may have the same negative effect as a high ISO in regards to over saturating parts of your Target, not all targets though but also from memory your best sticking to around f4-f5. Data for astrophotography most importantly comes from long exposures, longer the better so see if you can get set up correctly for 2min exposures if that's still going to be ok for your mount, ISO 800 and around f4-5 then take lots and lots of those subs. 

You did a fair bit then, I will have to look into what's going on with the flats. Your process is something I can look into, I have no idea about binning etc, one step at a time though! 😊

22 minutes ago, vlaiv said:

Oh, I had a blast processing this data ...

This is not how I would normally process the data, but I wanted to recreate as much as possible that "popular" look that most people go for - boosted saturation, too much blue and dark red and so on ...

Nicely stretched 👍 Its hard to stay away from boosting colours etc, especially after shooting nebs. Hopefully I haven't gone to over processed, it was a bloody fight to get any colour!. How did you find the data? Did you play around with the original stack or the second one? 

Right, I'm leaving it there, Ive been going round in circles all day! Its not crap and its not fantastic but its ended up being better than my first attempt last year, the colours may still be a little out but I like it the way it is!

I think I may stick with the Neb's! 😊

13 minutes ago, Stuf1978 said:

I also had a shot at M31 last night but haven't had a chance to look at the data yet. I can tell you that every time I've tried it in the past I've given up as I find it a really difficult target to process and my images just look terrible 😂

Ive been on it all day and got no where!! lol

New file above!

Nostretchtest.tiff

2 minutes ago, vlaiv said:

I don't use APP so I can't tell. I think that @ollypenrice uses it quite a bit. Olly could you shed some light on this?

Maybe it is Gamma setting or something like that?

Stretch was ticked lol, i didnt see that the box was ticked when saving! 😄

There's something set in Astro pixel processor i didnt know about then, any ideas where that could be in the settings!?

Edit, just found it- stretch was ticked so ive un-ticked it and will try and upload the new file!

5 minutes ago, vlaiv said:

Usually that would mean linear data without any manipulation, but let's work with what we have:

There you go, yellow cast removed and colors closer to what you would find in a galaxy of that type.

This should really be done while the data is still linear - color calibration / balancing and gradient removal, but it can be done.

What do you mean by linear data, this is straight out of Astro pixel processor, i havent done anything to it!?

4 minutes ago, gaz81 said:

I recommend this guy for processing guides

https://www.youtube.com/c/AstroBackyard

Currently going through his Andromeda processing video 👍

1 hour ago, vlaiv said:

I just usually attach it here in thread, but for very large files, I've seen people use drop box or google drive or possibly we transfer or similar.

In "My profile" section, there is "My attachments" part - you can see how much space you've used up here on SGL. There is 50GB limit I think - which is plenty I suppose.

Stack attached 👍