Andy R

Camera bag and tripod waiting at door, clear skies at the moment. Come on AuroraWatch, give me a sign🤞🤞🤞

4 hours ago, alacant said:

Hi

If you don't want to shorten either the focuser or the main telescope tube then perhaps best to go with the GSO. Specify Europoean shipping at the checkout.

Cheers

Having slept on it overnight I’ll ask the former owner if it’s been modified, I’ve had a look and Im not quite sure as I have no comparison. 
 

thanks

Andy

2 hours ago, barbulo said:

What about the Sky-Watcher CC? Designed for same brand newts.

I went for the MPCC though, mainly for its slightly lower price. I read a lot of analysis and comparisons and those two were the candidates for a reasonable price. 

Ive read a few mixed reviews about them and having to shorten the focuser tube due to misshaped stars, sort of put me off them. 

26 minutes ago, alacant said:

Hi

It's the GSO. The only issue is that of its focus position, which is around 5cm further away from the tube as compared to the position without a cc. Great for the 150p, quite a turning force on a 150pds. 

HTH

What do you use on the 130pds al?

50 minutes ago, ONIKKINEN said:

I have this one: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/coma-correctors/ts-95x-maxfield-coma-corrector.html

This one does not quite fully correct coma/curvature on my F4.5, but i would be lying if i said it bothers me. From what i can tell most people would recommend the TSGPU, Explore scientific HR or the skywatcher aplanatic for well corrected fields. The stellalyra 2 inch is quite a bit cheaper than all of these, but i know nothing of the product (nor could i find much really) so not really able to comment on that.

Another thing you should think about is the length of the corrector. If it is long enough to obstruct your focuser you will have an extra diffraction spike, or at least some extra diffraction artifacts. The 0.95 maxfield (sold as both TS and sharpstar, same product) is shorter than most so it probably doesn't obstruct as much, if at all. The stellalyra looks pretty short too, so probably not an issue here.

indeed there is very little info on the Stella CC, even FLO said it hasn’t been tested on the 150pds. 
Yes the Ts option, it does tick the boxes, and keeps close to native focal length of scope, x0.8 is too much reduction tbh. I wasn’t keen on spending £250 or so on a CC but £189 seems reasonable plus only 10-15 day wait.

Thanks very much for your input. 
Andy

40 minutes ago, ONIKKINEN said:

Depends on how much you tolerate coma, which there will be a noticeable amount even quite close to the center at F5. I would definitely look into it, but take a few shots and decide whether or not it bothers you?  For very small targets where you crop most of the image away, like planetary will be mostly unaffected.

 

The full frame camera will have extreme vignetting with the 50mm secondary mirror of the 150PDS at F5 to the point of probably not being worth the effort. The APS-C will have vignetting too, but taking flats will deal with this quite well.

Oh yes it would definitely bother me, Ive just read through reviews on different cc’s and they seemed to be varied in opinion (like most things). I will no doubt take the plunge but the baader mk3 is out of stock so was thinking stellalyra 2”.  

Hi

just recently acquired a used 150pds and just researching Coma Correctors for it, just a quick question if a CC is essential for imaging with a micro 4/3 sensor size. I’ll be using FF and APS-C Sensors too but mostly 4/3. Just curious from reviews I’ve been reading on certain CC’s

Andy

3 hours ago, 900SL said:

It could be the worm drive, there is an adjustment screw underneath to the front from memory to adjust meshing.

 

 

It worked a treat thanks again👍

Ah ok thank you, that’ll give me something to go on. 

Hi,

Decided to give the grab and run for cover setup a go tonight due of the possibility of rain showers. When mounting the scope and balancing I noticed a bit of play In the gears with the clutch tightened (please see video). It’s been a while since I’ve used it with a scope and can’t recall if it did it before. 
 

So my question to other users of this tracking mount, is this normal?

Any comments gratefully appreciated 

Andy

49 minutes ago, davew said:

I keep coming back to look at that moon shot. One of my favourites this year.

Dave.

Thank you Dave, glad you like it. 

@JeremyS

 Google earth images of skyline

1 hour ago, JeremyS said:

Did you park in the main car park, with the toilets and next to the beach? Did you happen to notice if the car park itself is suitable for observing or are there too many cars and lights?

Yes the main car park with the loo’s. I checked with the parking attendant if it was ok that I would be late in leaving. She thought I meant overnight camping,which is a no no, but after explaining I was there for night photography she was fine with me leaving late. There are pines trees either side but if you park nearer to the beach it has a more open horizon and tarmac floor. When I arrived just after 6pm people were leaving, and When I got back to the car just after 1am there was no sign of another car or lighting so I guess there isn’t any, it was very dark reminded me of the Aussie Outback. It’s a gated entrance which reads your number plate on entry and exit and charges you for your stay, so i guess it would keep the ‘undesirables’ away. Maximum charge is capped at £7.00 but we’ll worth the reassurance, having done a bit of imaging from local car parks before it felt safe. I’m hoping to return soon with my portable setup.  Ah yes if you have Google Earth and hover over the car park and tap the street view, then the blue line, you can see what horizon you have. 

1 hour ago, JeremyS said:

Super pics @Andy R

One of my regular haunts.

Thanks Jeremy, yes i shall return too for a bit of DSO imaging as the carpark seemed very secure and worth the fee.

Finally managed to drag myself over to Anglesey on a snap decision between there and the Llyn Peninsular, as it was getting late I went for  Twr Mawr lighthouse on the south western side of the island. The moon didn't set until after 10pm but when it did it was worth the 4 hour wait. I was expecting bortle 4 skies and I got bortle 3 (according to Clear Outside). I'm use to bortle 4 but the difference is well, like night and day!

had a mile an a half walk along the soft sandy beach with a heavy large kit bag. I keep all my camera equipment in it and didnt empty out what i didn't need. None the less my glasses for a good focus, light painting torch and a few other bits and bobs where left in the car by accident, and only discovered when i got to the lighthouse.

Luckily I had my phone with the Google Earth APP otherwise i probably wouldn't of found my car until day light such was the darkness. Another stroke of luck was someone turning up just after 10 who had a head torch and I managed to get one image with the lighthouse illuminated.

first image is 20 x 6 second iso2000 F2

second image single shot of the setting Moon with a bit of the Milky Way appearing.

Canon 6Dmk2 Sigma 24mm F1.4

I had lost/misplaced my passport for a couple of years (not that I needed it for travel) and only it found a couple of months ago when I finally organised my Astro corner of the dinning room with some new cupboards. 
How it got there is still a mystery, then again things do tend to go bump in the middle of the night there lol. 

Lovely rendition I captured M31 Llast week too with Ha LRGB filters alas I can’t make the Ha pop out like yours as it’s only an hours worth of Ha I guess. Very similar colour in the stars thou. 

2 hours each per channel O3 S2 Ha Zwo filters total 6 hours. 
Sharpstar 94 x0.8 reducer ASI1600mm. 
3rd time of imaging this target since autumn 2019. 
 

Thanks for looking. 
 

I sent my 2nd hand Heq5 to them last Nov/Dec and rms as low of .3-.4 is quite common during the imaging session. 

End of September last year to the end of March this year before I had a suitable nights imaging, patient is very much a virtue sometimes in this hobby. 

19 minutes ago, tooth_dr said:

Thats a shame, but I dont think the stars at all detract from your image, it's fantastic and eye catching.  I also bought the 94 0.8x FF, and was told the level of astigmatism etc was to be expect with the design of the scope and flattener, and that I will need to use post-processing to correct the star shapes.

Thanks Adam, You’re right I can live with it and with a bit of processing it has come out alright. I’ll just add a few more hours of Ha to it. 

41 minutes ago, tooth_dr said:

Thats a lovely example.  Interested to see how you get on with the stars.  Mine had astigmatism that couldnt be resolved

Lol Yes I do suffer from star anxiety with it, I’m hoping it’s the back focus. So far I’m not too happy with the scope. I bought the starsharp dedicated field flattener with a recommendation of  100+mm back focus and at that length I can only focus on objects 20yards away. I reduced the back focus and managed to reach focus but the stars are a bit ovate around the edges. This image, I used the .8 reducer.
 

Unfortunately I purchased the scope Dec/Jan time and didn’t get it out the box for 6 months to test due to the weather, otherwise I would be putting it back in the box and returning it. 

First DSO target posted for a while
 

45 mins Ha x 3min

96 mins O3 x 3 mins

Sharpstar 94 with 0.8 reducer ASI1600mm

Its cropped a little but looking at the stars in the corners I still need to add a bit of spacing. 
 

4 hours ago, Gerr said:

Like your image. I've still yet to photo the Milky Way despite a couple of attempts! Is that the North America and Pelican nebula I see in the top left?

What time did you stay up to and was this taken on a new moon if you don't mind me asking?

Gerr.

Hi yes it’s the North America Nebula at the top. The images were captured between 11.30 - 0100 before the moon rose and was quite low, just a couple of nights ago. 

The Summer Triangle Deneb, Vega, Altair and a few Globular Clusters, M10 and M12.

90 1min exposures, Star Adventurer Canon 6D mk2 ISO250 Sigma 24mm lens F2