DaveL59

Not ready to throw this sort of money in for a filter, not yet at least, but IIRC powerlord has experimented using a L-Extreme on the S50 for some excellent results. So some here may be interested in this option

Currently just under USD160 on the long river place at the moment.

yeah I have my old childhood clock from Germany in a box somewhere in need of some repairs, one day...

That truly is a thing of beauty John, what a gem to have in your collection!

Just waiting for Jeremy to recommend a suitable handle now 😉 

Not having a pair to hand to cross-check, IIRC these may have prism tilt screws hidden under the textured paint/plastic. Unfortunately to chip the paint away does leave the finish a bit unsightly, but if you can see a trace where the screws are located then it may be possible to remove the surface finish just where the screw is for access. You could confirm if tilt screws are present and where by removing the eyepiece carriers and the top plates before attacking the paint.

Do bear in mind that over-adjusting can stress the prisms and spall them. Otherwise the prisms may be shimmed to set the tilt and that's a lot more 'fun' to resolve. I made shims from tin foil folded and trimmed and it can get disheartening having to dismantle/adjust and reassemble then check and go again, and again... I did succeed tho on the one pair I've had to do that with 🙂 

Best you'll get is an alignment that suits you and likely be a little (lot) out for others, but at least they'd be usable again. They do look in nice condition from the one shot posted so perhaps worth a fiddle so they get a second lease of life.

Thanks Ryan. It's all too easy to forget the journey both visual and astrophotography and other forms have been on over a long period of time. We take for granted what our modern era tech gives us. I'm sure few would regret having bought one of those 50-60s era 40-60mm scopes and eyepiece kits in younger years and got their first views of the planets, for example. Many of those now have very much more expensive gear I'm sure and far better views as a result, but would they have gotten the bug and that expensive gear had they not at some point early on bit the bullet?

Likewise the argument of learning the sky, star-hopping etc. Sure if you've the time and patience but when decent goto gear is available you can short that loop and have a chance to enjoy that time instead spent looking at stuff. I fall into that category, goto and starsense explorer means the little time I do get to spend gets me to target rather then frustratingly failing to find it. My eyes tend to be tired at the end of a day working at a computer screen which doesn't help and lately I note that my right which I tend to observe with is perhaps not quite as bright and sharp as my left (hence the S50 for EEVA). Perhaps time to go for another 10+ yearly eye test 😉 

Same with the smartscope vs build-yer-own. I probably could do the latter but would it be worthwhile for the time I can spend when there's no possibility of a permanent setup? For me, no, but the S50 does what I want/need so that was an easy decision. Would I upgrade, maybe if something that's a major step up comes along, or maybe not, time will tell.

Now if anyone wants to take the above as 'someone with little experience yet thinks they're an expert', feel free. I'm not and don't claim to be, know my limitations but enjoy what I do get to do/try when time and weather permits. isn't that a major part of the point of why we spend all those £/$ on all this gear we 'collect'? 🙂 

It's also a matter of perspective, when you look back at early images I'd bet folk thought those were 'astounding' too

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrophotography#:~:text=The first photograph of a,s 15 inch Great refractor.

Of course modern gear has advanced what is achievable compared to the film era and with lots of time and effort we've seen some great images from others here. The fact that something like the S50 is now available to make it easier for those of us who don't have that time or budget (or inclination) has opened up new areas for those who've bought one to explore that was perhaps beyond their abilities/facilities.

In part I got mine as a cheap/easy EEVA which could also capture images to share with family. Does exactly what I'd wanted and adds the bonus of solar if I ever get the time and clear days to try that out. I'd never have done so otherwise given my potential for migraines looking at bright objects.

Perhaps leave the assembly open in the fridge for a couple hours and then quickly seal it up while still in there but with the door open for access? That'd be dry and cold air filling it I'd think.

8 minutes ago, Elp said:

I think you're forgetting that the sensor the SS uses is also used in astro cameras.

It's the total imaging time which makes a difference. If you spend 10 minutes doing EAA with a traditional scope setup you'll get similar results to the SS (if aperture, FL and camera sensor were equal). It's the post processing in software which makes all the difference, to which all "good" AP images have been through, I typically spend 3-4 hours post processing mine, and it's guaranteed a noise reduction process is applied to all images, something the software in a SS is not designed to do as a primarily EAA device. It doesn't mean it's not capable of similar to an AP image. If you take the subs, say ten hours on a target, put them through Siril or PI pre process, calibration, registration and stacking then run through post I'm sure you'll get a similar AP result.

Well in theory you can run for longer capture periods, either using a wedge to reduce the field rotation or by shooting for a shorter duration repeated multiple nights around the same time. Then collate and process the subs it captures and do the other magic etc. If inclined, of course. I think some have shown how on the tube and produced decent results, tho I'm no expert nor inclined to invest that amount of time.

I remember our dear departed Gina also had issues with her all-sky and moisture ingress, tho hers were 3D printed casings.

I wonder if it's a difference in thermal properties causing the plastics and seals to open gaps with the internal heating?

It is perhaps worth looking at taking a decent image/clone of the system once you have it set up and working properly again. DiskGenius (free) and an external USB drive would let you be able to boot it back up off the USB drive and clone it back to the internal and be back where you were. I've used it to good effect when migrating from my older PC's to new ones to save having to reinstall everything again, saved me countless hours of faffing about 🙂 

Backup-wise I use UrBackup to take regular differential backups and periodic full images and that works well and is free, with the ability to do bare-metal restores should I need to.. 

Not observing as such, more having a smoke out back and surprised to see some stars, Orion low in the sky from where I am (trees). Next thing I see a bright white streak passing Orion headed East-West leaving a fair trail as it went by. Wonder if that'll provide someone further west with more of a display or even some fragments 🙂 

2 hours ago, Stuart1971 said:

And here is what the unit looks like, the lid screws are outside of the lid seal.

 

Now for me, I'd have assembled that with the box the other way up so there's no chance of water pooling in those case screw areas and potentially seeping in. I also put clear RTV into the holes thru the dome lip to prevent ingress, tho in my case I used a CCTV metal bell housing inverted. You only need the tiniest gap for water to wick into the housing which will defeat the dessicant very quickly.

For a dew heater I just have a few ceramic resistors in series where you have the fancier circuit board and it doesn't fog up unless temps get really low and snow settles. Then again I'm not using a Pi but a USB camera so far less heat involved.

I'd suggest using a local account and avoiding using the MS one too or at least having a local one in case the MS one ever becomes unavailable. I don't use my PC's for imaging but none of them or the VM's I have use an MS account, esp for admin level access, local all the way.

What is your boot drive on this mini-PC tho? Could it be having an issue?

I'd say its unusual for the OS to need to be reinstalled because of one-drive or much else other than accidental deletion of chunks of the OS or disks going corrupt. I never use one-drive myself, always configure it off as soon as I install or once an update turns the annoying thing back on.

3 hours ago, Elp said:

Perhaps some people are apprehensive about doing it themselves but I agree. You can put together a camera lens EQ setup for around 1000-1500 or so.

What I don't understand is that together with a traditional telescope setup they own, people are happy to spend 500 to "dabble or explore" but not put a little more investment into their current setup to achieve the same or better which will likely be used for longer. You don't necessarily need driven axis, just add a flip mirror to a scope, planetary camera, link to a computer and keep to short exposures you can do similar (goto you'd have to do yourself), if you've already got a goto mount well you're in a better position.

 

For me it was simple. I do have a EQ5 goto and also an EQ5 with dual axis motors but my scopes are F10. The S50 lets me have a dabble, see what I can't with my visual gear and makes it easy to share views with daughter and grandkids. Plus they could borrow it if they're away somewhere dark since its compact and an easy plonk and view setup.

I've no real desire to buy yet another (and faster) scope, camera etc just to image occasionally, esp as I can't leave it set up so have the hassle of doing setup, alignment and take-down each session and then post processing etc. Don't really fancy using my DSLR for the purpose either, why clock up the shutter count when the S50 can do it all for around the same price as replacing the DSLR body? I do have a flip mirror so I could use the DSLR for moon/planets if I feel the desire to however.

So the premise that just adding a couple bits to your existing gear makes a big assumption - is what you have up to the job, if not that's a lot more expense than a £500 S50 would cost 🙂 

I have mine set up in station mode, so while the phone/tablet are connected on WiFi to the same home WiFi SSID the app can still access the internet. This way it'll just auto-connect to the S50 once its powered up too, no need to hit the <connect> button as it just vanishes when things connect up.

One PITA with this setup tho is that firmware updates fail, needing the S50 to be reset and then the app directly connected. Then of course I have to reconfigure station mode etc.

hmm, tbh I'd agree, misses the point of the product and its niche. I'd rather spend 500 and have an easy plonk and view like the S50 than spend a few K and spend ages setting up, frustrations we read about all the time getting it working, time post processing etc., and then running out to get it all back inside quick cuz it started raining. I don't have space to put up an obsy nor the inclination if I did so something easy like the S50 is perfect for me, esp as it's easy to show the kids/grandkids what its seeing without taking turns at the eyepiece and having to keep the scope on track.

I'm sure there will be 'better' down the road, most likely more £££ etc, but bang for buck it's a good buy IMHO. I wonder how upgradable any of the more expensive ones are for example, likely not at all either and perhaps that'll always be the case unless the manufacturer decides to offer 'approved' upgrade steps for the camera etc., at a 'fair' price of course. They won't want to remove the potential market for their next, better one after all.

In case you missed these:

and

wonders what the batteries are made of, hopefully low contamination risk of them burning in the atmosphere. Also wonders if they'll ever start some eco-centric processes to recycle stuff like this as so far space shots have been anything but.

On 20/02/2024 at 05:52, GasGiant said:

I see a few mods popping up as well as 3D printed filter holders, dew shield etc etc  Nice 🤙

https://www.thingiverse.com/search?q=seestar+s50&page=1

 

Guys on YouTube have made equatorial mounts for the scope. Though thats probably not something I would do as its not worth the hassle ?  Apart from that, maybe the angle would put undue strain on the motor, gears and bearings?  However, this guy has posted some lovely images! 

 

here you go

6 hours ago, LaurenceT said:

I've been getting this a bit wrong, surprise surprise! It wasn't a single exposure at all but 2hrs 35mins of 369 stacked images but even so I would expect considerable field rotation seeing that reviewers have suggested less than 1 hour on any single subject to avoid rotation. Have I got the concept of Seestar field rotation wrong?

 

A search back on the thread would find posts about mounting the S50 on a wedge arrangement and using the advanced features to handle star alignment. This would reduce/eliminate field rotation tho at the expense of some loss to how low you can target IIRC. Not tried it myself yet but others here have.

2 hours ago, M40 said:

I use a galaxy tab s8+ and all good on that. I don't tend to use it for the seestar as portrait mode I find becomes unwieldy so I stick with the phone.

Yeah I find portrait works better on the Lenovo P11 too even tho they've improved its handling of landscape mode (or PC mode as the Lenovo setup calls it). On a large tablet that does make it a bit of a pain to use tho I do appreciate the increased realestate overall.

2 hours ago, GasGiant said:

I refuse to buy any apple product.🫣

 

 dougee T20? Never heard of em. Will take a look 😀

I can't imagine any problems with newer Samsung tablets,  but a confirmation would be great before buying one.

At present I'm using my s23 ultra and although its good, I want a bigger screen.

Know what you mean re the fruity one. I use a Lenovo P11 Gen2 tablet and it works fine, came with the keyboard cover and stylus for a nice price. Otherwise I use the Note-10 plus. I'd expect most recent samsung tablets would work fine, almost got one but decided on the Lenovo instead.

The fact that they're still developing the product and app to add features is reassuring too, so its only gotten better over the past few months since release. Given the price point that makes it incredible value for money IMHO.

The trick Johninderby promoted was to use a piece of plastic/acrylic sheet that could be cut to fit the OTA as a liner, then flock that and re-insert into the OTA, job done and no adhesion problems. That's what I also did on my little Tal-M, much easier than trying to install self-adhesive material down an 80mm tube, esp since on the TAL adhesion can be a real problem. Upside too is its easy to remove should you need to, just slide out the liner after removing the spider etc 🙂