wesdon1

@Stu1smartcookie Nice! I love those reassuringly chunky alloy knobs on those plates, it just feels so much more secure! That diagonal looks ace too!

@Alan White Alan, if I may, what is the empty filter frame used for? I've seen this before my friend?

@LaurenceT Hi Laurence! No honestly thank you for the constructive feedback my friend! I really would prefer people were totally honest with me so I can recognise my mistakes and improve my astro-images! So in relation to the micro-sd and dongle issue, you're 100% correct, all it was, was I forgot to change the settings in my Air to save files to Dongle instead of sd card! lol. I ended up finally working out how to transfer all the files direct from my Air's sd card to my home computer via WiFI. It was literally my first ever night gathering data using my Air in place of my Laptop. So i'm still learning but i'm fairly pleased with my progress thus far! Kind Regards, Wes.

@Dragon_Sky Awesome images mate! Regards, Wes

@jp1977 @Tiny Clanger Indeed! It won't be long before you catch those most virulent of astro viruses, known as "Gear and Aperture fever!" 😱😂

Hi all. The other night my already faulty intervalometer stopped working altogether so I saved the precious clear night sky time by taking some short vids of our Moon for later processing. I'm not really happy with them but atleast I got something to show for my night! Both images from exact same data, just processed slightly differently. *1 x 8 minute video @30fps *1200 x best frames stacked after PIPP. used Autostakkert and Registax 1st image simply 1200 best frames stacked in Autostakkert. Slight wavelets adjustment for sharpness. *2nd image had - wavelets, colour adjustment ( RGB ) and colour enhancement. *Mount - SW HEQ5 Pro *Telescope - SW 200P *Canon T1i DSLR "unmodded" I also took some close up videos of Lunar surface with ASI 224MC and ASI Air Pro but haven't managed to get data transferred from the tiny 32GB Air memory card onto the 64GB Dongle, so those processed images will be coming in a few days. If they're half decent I'll enter them into SGL's Lunar surface competition.

@DirkSteele I had a feeling you'd already own TLAO! That's why I qualified my question by saying sorry if I sound silly! lol. Yes it's great book indeed! I think it's such a shame that many people now read "Books" on electronic devices?? Why?? You just cannot beat the feel, the joy, even the smell of a real book in your hands! ( Not to mention a real book doesn't need recharging! lol )

@DirkSteele Hi, what a great selection to add to your astronomy related collection! This might sound silly, but do you yet own "Turn Left At Orion"? It's great book!

@Flame Nebula yes I totally see your reasoning my friend. I look forward to seeing how you get on with AP in coming months! I'm only 15'ish months into AP so I still have lots to learn. I have done visual astro for some 7-8 years I think. I absolutely love the hobby! I just wish our UK weather would be kinder to us all! LOL

@Flame Nebula I honestly think you wont be disappointed by getting the cheaper Newtonian first! Then definitely when funds allow get a Skywatcher 120ED, they're brilliant refractors, my best friend Colin owns one and they're such great 'scopes! I recall earlier seeing you ask another member was it worth buying used? My personal opinion is nearly always buy used! I'll explain. This hobby, as you know, can get very expensive indeed! So buying used is practically a must for most people! You can get save so much money plus the majority of expensive astronomy gear will have been well taken care of by their respective owners for the very reasons i'm telling you to buy used in the first place! lol. Why spend £1000 on something when you can spend £500-£700 and get an instrument that will do EXACTLY the same thing as a brand new one, save for a few scratches on it's paintwork, or some dust here and there?? Telescopes, atlleast the decent ones, are built to endure, tthey have to deal with the elements, with cold/heat etc so they're generally very hardy and with proper care and maintenance will last a lifetime! If i tell you nothing else, please consider buying quality used telescope/gear! Obviously be diligent when buying from a stranger but that's common sense for buying anything as you well know my friend!

@Mr Spock Oohh my goodness yes!! I always wondered what exactly those capped holes in my newts' front plastic covers were for! Thank You for educating me Mr Spock! ☺️👍

@F15Rules Awww that's a lovely post! And very wise! 🙂👏

@Flame Nebula Just a heads up, I don't know how quickly or not you seen my reply but i've just written a bit more to it, bits I forgot to mention!

@Flame Nebula Assuming your question relates to the 5inch refractor vs 8inch newtonian? Oh yes definitely. Impo the views of planets like Jup. and Sat. and others is much better through my 8inch newt than my "almost" 5 inch refractor. One thing to note, your local seeing conditions can have a big effect your views, so when it's really bad seeing, I have found the views to be slightly better through the refractor/120mm. I believe the reason is when seeing is bad, the ability to resolve fine details in planets is limited, and larger aperture 'scopes simply help you "see" more of the bad seeing, if that makes sense? ( I don't know if you know already, but just incase, seeing refers to the atmospheres "steadiness". When its bad, the views of planets, particularly at higher mags, are not very pleasing. A good analogy is looking at pebbles in a stream, where they appear all wobbly n blurred ) My personal advice would be get an 8inch newtonian, they're relatively cheap, the ratio of pounds spent per mm of aperture is as good as you'll get in astronomy! They pack a heck of a punch for the money! Other members may have different opinions but this is my own personal experience! Hope this helps!

@Flame Nebula Hi again. I've used a variable polariser many many times of 7-8 years doing visual and in my experience they aren't much use for Sat. and Jup. in terms of reducing brightness because brightness of those planets has never been an issue for me. One planet that I would argue the VP is essential for viewing though, is Venus! It is stupendously bright! You definitely need a VP to view Venus, and you get to resolve it's phase! It's very pretty! I must also qualify the statement, by saying I've only ever used the VP with an aperture of up to 8 inches, so it's entirely possible larger aperture 'scopes might benefit from it when viewing Jup. and Sat? I'm other much more experienced members can advise you on that!

@Mr Spock Hi, may I ask, what is that "offset sub aperture mask"? Also, and please forgive me if I sound stupid, but how is it possible to avoid a Newtonians central obstruction? Or have I misunderstood what you meant? Again please don't laugh at me if I sound dumb! 🤦‍♂️😂 Many Thanks, Wes.

@Astronomist Hi, I'm surprised DPD let you down Harry, I've always actually favoured them because I've always had really reliable service from them. I'm just very happy for you that you finally got your new toy! I've been mulling over Altair Astro camera for months now, so I'd be interested to see how you get on with it in the coming months. Is it the cooled version or just fan cooled? Thanks, Wes.

@AstralFields Is that an 8" or a 10" incher mate? I must agree that bigger is normally better, particularly for visual astro!

@Cornelius Varley Hi Peter. If this post relates to me personally then I apologise for going off topic. I will do my best to make sure I don't get side tracked again my friend... Kindest Regards, Wes.

LOL I concur! This hobby has a high rate of gear and aperture fever, and it's more contagious than covid! 😱😂

@Elp Definitely mate. Some would call us mad...I'd say we're simply passionate about the hobby! You're not alone there my friend, my data data turned out usable ( just ) but in no way is it adequate recompense for the grueling effort I made! LOL ( but then I say to myself...my recompense is the wonderful unique hobby itself, not just how good my data is at the end of the night! ☺️ )

@900SL Wow I didn't know this so thank you for telling me. I was blown away with the IOpton IPolar, just easy to use and super accurate. Now I know there also the features and functions of my new Air also, I'm really excited to try them out during my next night!

@Adreneline LOL. I actually feel a bit dumb here because I have no idea about triple checking with ASI Air? I actually only bought my Air about a week ago so have no experience using it yet! LOL. I did do some indoor shots using my new Air connected to my DSLR, just to learn it functions etc but then was stopped dead in my tracks when I realised I need a FTDI EQMOD cable to get my HEQ5 Pro mount and Air to talk to each other! LOL

Hi all, last night everything was going perfectly, I'd setup before sunset, then did the usual PA ( with my new IOptron IPolar, which I've already posted about. Incredible ) 3 star alignment, got PHD2 running with sub 1 arc sec. tracking. Slewed to M101, plugged into my DSLR my shutter release cable. Dials in my number of subs/duration for each sub etc, presses start...and nothing happened!!?? To save you the tedious bits of everything I tried in vain to resolve the issue, I eventually found a way to get the SRC to start commanding my camera. Only issue, I had to sit there all night manually pressing the SRC after every single sub!! ALL NIGHT!! A total of 2 hours 19 minutes/60 sec subs, so 139 nine times in total I had to wait for each exposure to end, then press button manually again, for two hours and forty minutes ( adding in the time it took me to hear camera stop, grab the SRC again and press button ) It was gruelling! My goodness I was furious! LOL. Despite that nightmare, I still loved getting outside for first time in months! I just pray all the tedious brain numbing effort was worth it when I process my data in couple days! LOL As a side note, I think if you're not prepared to accept that this hobby can be a nightmare some nights, that you will have nights that are simply cruel to you, then you're in the wrong hobby! That is something I've learned during my circa 16 months doing astro! Happy hunting and clear skies!

@Flame Nebula I think this Q should be reversed, but in my experience I've seen more DSO's in my 8" Newt. Reflector than my 5 inch Refractor ( well, 120mm Refractor, so not quite 127mm, but the difference is negligible ) You also have to bear in mind than the two different optical systems have strengths and weaknesses on both sides, it all depends what you're looking at, for example SSO or DSO. Hope this sort of helps you understand my friend. Regards, Wes.