AstroMuni

On 30/11/2022 at 18:19, bosun21 said:

Junk is a rather strong adjective to use. The mount as is can be roughly polar aligned to allow you to track your targets in the eyepiece by using the slow motion cables. It would also benefit from adding some additional weight to the tripod. You could place the weight(s) on the eyepiece tray or fit a hook on the underside of the tripod and hang the weight(s). If you decide after a while that you want to upgrade your equipment then the mount should be one of the first things to upgrade. Good luck   

   Ian 

+1 from me.....I had a similar mount from Celestron and used to hang milk bottles filled with water from the central part of the mount. The plastic tray is quite flimsy on mine, so didnt want to risk breaking it.

11 hours ago, cloudnine said:

Your image is really nice. Nought wrong with that. Have you increased saturation on the colours a little?

So the recipe seems to be a mix of Bortle 4, higher gain and exposure. I will have a try with higher gain & exposure to see what I get.

The 130/f5 should in theory get more photons as compared to a 120/f7 all else being equal.

18 hours ago, cloudnine said:

But thought I'd share two unprocessed subs of 600 seconds each.

For just 600s that IS awesome !

Using my guided 130pds with ASI533mc pro + UV/IR filter on HEQ5 pro mount, after taking around 1.5hrs worth (60s subs at 240 gain, -10deg) from a Bortle 6 garden, all I managed to get was this. So whats your secret recipe please 🙂

2 hours ago, vlaiv said:

It will create double image when out of focus, but single image when in focus.

Thanks. Sounds like it would need to be badly out of focus to create 2 distinct images is my guess. And it would help if there was only 1 star in the FOV.

As you approach closer it would create close overlap and diffraction spikes?

You have piqued my curiosity and I have to now try it out and see what it looks like vlaiv. 🙂

And thinking a bit more, the number of openings should NOT create multiple images (in theory). I am just theorising here and someone with more knowledge of optics will probably prove me wrong.

EDIT: They might create diffraction lines

2 minutes ago, Knighty2112 said:

The other one as far as I can tell is just to assist in taking off the whole large cap off the scope when in use.

Atleast thats what I use it for 🙂

10 minutes ago, fwm891 said:

As you rack the EP in and out two images of a star will move together/apart when together you are in focus

I learn something new everyday 👍 So this could do the trick without need for a Bahtinov mask? I have always wondered about the 2nd opening which seems to be sealed.

49 minutes ago, imakebeer said:

Welcome @GeorgeP, I'm just down the road from you in Wokingham so most likely we are sharing the same permanently cloudy skies! 😖🤣

I have friends in Shinfield area who seem to enjoy clear skies when the rest of us are clouded 🙂

@GeorgeP welcome to SGL. I live just south of you in North Hampshire. As far as Astro societies go Basingstoke also has an active one.

4 hours ago, lukebl said:

I can only get a frame rate of around 90fps. Surely I should get at least 200?

I am sure that folk can help with getting the frame rate up, But could you explain the reasons why you want that higher frame rate?

I recall Firecapture has an option to tune the USB rate and it will automatically reduce it if there are dropped packets. Are you noticing dropped packets?

This post might help

On 21/10/2022 at 21:44, Rallemikken said:

A good estimate of what this combo can do. Scope is right out of the box, no mods except a black stringbag around the bottom to keep my dew heater.

I was keen on buying this and then I saw posts about how much the drawtube needs to stick out in order to get focus etc. How far out is it in reality? Pictures would also help please.

I keep seeing posts about the turbulence caused by setting up scopes inside the house and here you are taking images from a balcony in the UK. Wow. Can I have more details of your setup please

On 26/11/2022 at 11:33, mightymonoped said:

Captured last night from the balcony.

Thats amazing. Love it

On 27/11/2022 at 08:26, Space Oddities said:

Sadly the camera and filter wheel don't fit, so I have to take them apart,

Everytime I refit the camera the tilt and other aspects are ruined, hence until I get a compression ring or find some other way to get repeatability I prefer storing with camera attached.

43 minutes ago, Carbon Brush said:

Have you thought about using any box, or case, or cupbard that is big enough to take the complete assembly.
Then buy a cheap dovetail clamp and fasten it to your box.

Thats a great idea. Food for thought

I am still playing around with optimum position for camera vs guidescope. I like the idea of each being diametrically opposite each other to help balance the scope, but too scared to have camera hanging down.

50 minutes ago, han59 said:

My HEQ5 performance also depends a lot of the azimuth altitude position. In some positions it it performs good and in other position less good.

I have the same mount and noticed that too 🙂

52 minutes ago, han59 said:

I did that to compare the CCDCiel internal guider with PHD2 using my Sky simulator for Ascom & Alpaca. I never tried Ekos.

Thats a great idea to build a simulator for ASCOM. Ekos comes with its own Simulator for all the standard devices and this has helped me a lot in learning the tool as well as plan & try out things during daytime.

1 hour ago, han59 said:

Personally I don't have any experience with EKOS guiding but noted the PI or PID control algorithms do not work for pulse guiding except for the P action.

Thanks Han. I am not familiar with how these work at all so its a good prompt for me to read up. 🙂

All I know is in Ekos there is the Guiding module and it has option to enable GPG (Gaussian process guider) RA guider too.

On 22/11/2022 at 18:59, AstroVagabond said:

Another perspective I would like to bring forward is information on how one can be successful using modest kit such as DSLR / mirrorless cameras with lenses and lightweight mount. It's our view a beginner does not need to, nor should they, empty their wallets when beginning.

Thats a great idea. I am of the same view.

In our local astro group we have setup a little group for exactly this purpose and we have been conducting practical sessions for a while now. We started with Zoom sessions during Covid and soon  realised that beginners also need that hands on assistance and that is what we are encouraging. This way they get to see and work with different equipment and try out bits before they make a purchase. And then they get to bring their kit to the sessions where experts can assist.

Would be good to see a comparison of this vs Ekos internal guider too

Hi all,

I had posted this in the 130pds topic but didnt get any response, hence posting here as this sort of issue must be faced by other scope users too.

I have acquired a 130PDS recently and need some advice. I use an ASI533 pro and 30mm guidescope+ASI120mini attached to it. As I setup and takedown the scope every night, I need a space-saving way to store the OTA with cameras attached. On my 130 Astromaster it stands up on its base but with the 130pds I find it impossible and that means I have to place it on the floor/carpet along its side making sure that it doesnt roll and cause the main camera to hit the floor.

How do others store their scope?

1 minute ago, Elp said:

The 120 will be better for planetary than your DSLR as it's framerate will be faster so you can capture more frames over time, hence when you stack you'll have more data which is likely to have frozen the seeing.

And I suspect its read noise will be lower too as compared to DSLR.

3 minutes ago, Ratlet said:

Did you use a coma corrector?

Thanks. I have used the Baader MPCC for this but needs  a bit of backfocus adjusting to remove small coma in corners

Here is my first image taken with the 130pds, ASI533MC Pro on a HEQ5 Pro. This is 30mins worth data. EDIT: Forgot the Baader MPCC. Comments welcome.

I have acquired a 130PDS recently and need some advice. I use an ASI533 pro and 30mm guidescope+ASI120mini attached to it. As I setup and takedown the scope every night, I need a space-saving way to store the OTA with cameras attached. On my 130 Astromaster it stands up on its base but with the 130pds I find it impossible and that means I have to store it along its side making sure that it doesnt roll and cause the main camera to hit the floor.

How do others store their scope?

46 minutes ago, LaurenceT said:

What I'm really after is a way to see all the available targets of a particular type in my area for that night on a single screen while indoors planning my session.

I use Kstars and it has the feature to show all the objects of interest for that night on a single screen. Here is a screenshot. I am assuming that similar feature should be available in Stellarium.

Even though the ASIAir runs the INDI server that Kstars can use, ZWO have made it a closed system so you cant access it from external devices 😞

12 hours ago, cadoran said:

When in use, after a while pressing buttons just does nothing although after a several minutes it comes back to life, sometimes slewing for a while and once I had to switch it off as the OTA was going to hit the tripod!

I did lots of internet research and as I had been using a battery pack I changed to power the mount from the mains, but it still happened.

Have you tried this in daytime inside your house? Does it still misbehave? That will help rule out if its because of dew or cold.