Rocket Stars

Sir! That is high quality images. Old DSLR or not. Very good work. 😊👌

Having to little time, daytime to set up, try and sort things out. But after skipping work saturday evening. I decided to hav a go. Having had no luck getting focus att all, (rear end mounted cam in diagonal) I have some adapters to get somewhat correct backfocus with the hyperstar. After a bit of trying out. I achived a backfocus that its not perfect. But+0.7mm With a lps filter mounted. Carfully, bit nervous, i did remove the mirror and attached the hyperstar with camera. Carried it all out, plugged power, the ooold laptop. Could not for my life find the bartinow mask.. Anyway, Got dosent focus on some strars. Started aligning with the handkontroller. Bad and good news.. Alignment was way, way off as usual. Staring to get ”bit annoyed”.. After 5 stars.. It started to get close . Got cart du ciel to talk to the mount.. 😊 Moved to Andromeda, to see If I Atleast could capture something. A few frames with some dim light from the outskirts. As mount wasent well aligned. I had hard time to figure out what I was actually seeing. So, I mooved to a smaller obj. M33. Took several exporsure. Could not se it att all. Have some more adjustments to do. And work Sunday morning, decided to derig 01.30. Problem one. Is why alignment is way off, from first star. Probably hours.. When trying to sleep. I realize that settings for daylight settings. Might be it! Next issue to solve. Is focus.Here I need some good advise and directions. I could get decent focus on a quarter of the image. Right lower corner. The rest is out of focus. Bloated with “collimating” dot in the middle. (Wich is fairly ok in the middle) I have just the hyperstar in neutral setting, with the adjustments screws. I will have to try to adjust the hyperstar optics. But input is very welcome! Tips with easy targets the following days. Are also more than welcome. 🙏 (looks like clear skies tonight) C8 with hyperstar. Camera altair gpcam3 178c

Stunning! 👌

Hi! I was thinking for the future set up, imaging this winter. What labeling solution is recommended? I need to run close to 20m of cables to when I want the mount to be located. Les trees, farthest away from streetlamp ect. I long 220v cord, ethernet is no problem. But how do you do it with USB connections? A mini pc rening NINA, or a Pi4 is a future solution (dedicated mount solution). But now I want to spend the budget on guiding equipment, filters and so on.

I know what ur talking about! Though, my kids are about the age of moving out. (more may left to astro gear the, lol)

Hmm.. Im about to redo the old plumming in my house shortly. If anyone is up for used casted pipes. Its free to collect If you take em out. Would be a ”cracking” good pier! Hmm.. Now Ive got plans!

Mild steel should be the best option for a permanent pier thingy. Absolutly best would be casted iron tube. But its a hassle to work with. And too expensive. If you are not going to move it around. Consider filling it with sand. It is easy to remove. If you need to move things around.

That is going to be a great setup! What a feeling doing deep sky, with a nice warming fire going along beside. Though, as a Swede. Id add a wood burning sauna!

I bought a Altair 178 recently. One of the decisions for me. Was the build quality. Both have the same sensor. But in my opinion, Altair has better build quality. That matters a lot to me. ZWO has many happy users. So I think you don't will be disappointed either.

Hi! I have worked on both gliders (sailplanes) and sailboats. Normal gelcoat is hydroscopic/is porous. And not very UV resistant, even when produced with topcoat. Over time it will be degraded. There is several solutions to get it back to close to new finish. But no one will last better than it was new. Just cleaning gelcoat. 1. Use something to wash it as clean as possible. If there is mold ect. Add som WC cleaner in the solution. 2. Use citric acid to clean it. Google. There is a lot of boaters that do this. Or buy wheel/rim cleaner that is based on citric acid. (always ty on a small area first. 3. If happy with the result. Use some good car wax to protect it. But it will only last for a season. 4. If non of the above is satisfactory. Elbow grease and wet sanding is what is the next thing.. Start with 800 paper. Work you're way up tp 2000 paper. Then polish with quality polish and wax to protect it. This is the way to do it. Because you remove the old pourus gelcoat and reveals some fresh. Ofcoarse. If you have sufficient gelcoat layer. 5. what I would do if I had an old composite dome with gelcoat. In need of a refinish. Id sand it down a bit. Clean it well. And apply a hard paint. That would survive and look better in the long run. Epoxi or acrylic paint of good quality. Today when producing, or refinishing gliders. Acrylic paint is a popular option. Its harder to wetsand and polish to a super finish. But will last much, much longer then gelcoat. Today, gelcoat is still popular in manufacturing. Because its fairly cheap and easy to work with. (easy to sand and touchup) Hope I could help. Even though it is in "swenglish" spelling. P.S! Oh I forgot! Classic crome polish, like autosol is a good polish for old gelcoat. It has some citric acid in it. So there is a 2 in one product. spray a bit of water on the surface. A dab of autosol, and a good polishing rug.. Then let the elbowgrease do its wonders.. I use a buffing machine on my sailboat. also did it on my glider. Though it needs some practice! But if there is a lot of surface area to work on. A polishing machine is the way to do it.

Wow! Very, very nice work! It just shows the you are a pro contractor. I hope you will enjoy this nice set up very soon!

Hi! Just saw this on YT. Havent seen anything about it. But apparently they have planewave collaboration on this. I have to try the out. Since it also works with their wifi dongle. Anyone elese who have seen this, or tryed it out? Edit.. seems that it isnt that new.. 😬 I curious why I havent noticed this software. Since I have avx and the wifi dongle? Celestron software page has some work to do.. Its not very explanitory. Or easy to find.

Thank you! I think I will place a order on a 32mm guidscope. Was hoping some one had hands on experience, and could say wich one is really good. Will place a order at one company with good reputation at least. Supplied with some direct questions first.

You are absolutely right! When, I upgrade in future. Maby a used one In good condition. Or new.. We will see. But for sure. I will keep the Celestron as I will not get much for it at the used market anyway. And I will compare it. I think one of the big reasons, is that I would like one with compression rings. The original kit diagonal lacks a secure way of holding. Unless you tighten uncomfortable hard. Often with cold hands. Cheers!

Thank you so much for the reply! That was an interesting white paper! 😮 It shows clearly, that you get what you pay for. And, seems to be a upper hand for prism. In long F numbers at least. Hm.. think a prism 1 1/2 should fit well. And, I have the celstron original pice that comes as a kit with the scope, works. But even docent gets on that list.. Thank for helping my knowledge forward! 😃👌

Continuing the noob blog like postings. Last night it was fairly clear again. So out with the rig. Don't have a polarscope. But aimed it carefully to the correct angles. Polaris was visible. But in my excitement to get going. Id started with a star alignment with the hand controller. The controller is almost unreadable with its lowrez. scrolling text. Was getting clearly frustrated after a while. Getting cold, scope was not getting close to get aligned. Sometimes the scope went 90´off, from a selected star. Backed and selected another star. And it got closer. But not close enough.. Standing in on the knees, freezing and looking in that original Celestron finderscope. Didn't add to the evenings experience. So I decided to just find a strong star and check collimation. Went well. Nice round star. Focus was more precise, and easier, with my "new" secondhand MicroTouch focus knob.. Hooked up the soggy old laptop with 2gig ram. Loaded cart du Ciel and got it connected to the scope. It moved around at the directions it got from cdc. Not aligned, but success to get it working! YES!! Fired up NINA, connected the camera. But couldn't find focus again. Fired up SharpCap, just to se if it was connecting to the cam. Yes, but no focus. Also started Altair cam software. But now I was getting to cold, tired and a bit frustrated. Instead I went for manual observing. Mounted all my eyepiece´s at once! (just owning one 40mm plössel at the moment ) Mercuris was up. But I realized it would be hard to find. But I tried. Moon was up, but was in half haze behind trees, houses ect. Looked at the clock.. hmm.. Hussled all the equipment back in the mancave. Went to bed 4am. Up to work and meet customers at 7am. Looks like there is going to be a fairly clear night again. I also decided that tiredness, is just a psychological phenomenon. So it will go away, if just ignored! Cheers! p.s Note to self 1.. I have to remember to run over the streetlight with the car, when the right opportunity shows up.. Note to self 2.. Astro equippment will never, ever be user-friendly! Get over it, and carry on! Note to self 3, Go shopping for a proper finderscope with a diagonal. Maby a polarscope? Oh yes!! And, or, maby a guidescope for polar finding ability? Not to self 4, be sneakier in the morning, don't wake the "government" aka, the wife. And absolutely not showing any astroshops on the Ipad!! Note to self 5. IM NOT TIRED!!! (just to be absolutely sure) Note to self 6. Remote operation from a warm mancave is a part of the future!

Hi! Having a edge 8hd and avx mount. Wich I learned is close to max weight, (if not too much) if you want to use guiding with that combo. To save weight, Im thinking if a small Guidescope could be of any benefit? Or is it to be avoidable? Drawback is less aperture than ex. a 50-60mm Im going to set up Hyperstar in near future. So it will be used at f2. Was thinking to start with unguided, short exposure. But I realizing that I really dislike the Celestron handcontroller. So with a camera and guide cam. Polaraligment, plate solving. Seems to be much easier. cheers!

Hi StevieO! I am a beginner, a noob, a popular expression today. Looking around for a guidescope. The same question poped up. Not sure what screws to use for a dovetail? So how did it work out for you?

Hi! I have a Celestron edge 8hd. It came with original diagonal end a plössel 40mm. I really don't like the diagonal. The screws docent hold well, small screws that makes cold fingers hurt. ect. So, I'm planning to replace the original with a decent one. Adding more eyepieces, and Barlows that also can be used for planetary imaging. New or good used ones. Regarding diagonals. Is there a real benefit with 2", compared to 1 1/2"? Also, should one go for prism or mirror? Ive read that prism is better, but seems like mirrors is the most popular? Baader click lock would be nice. But is pricy, and im probably mostly going to do astrophoto. So I believe comprssionrings is what I will get. Eyepeces and barlows. Its a djungle of types...I do get viewing angles. But what do I get that is good, but in resonable money? I have slight astaganism (English spelling on that one? lol) But wearing glasses only sometimes. I imagine that eyepieces with "bigger" aperture can be helpful? I do fit a bit to get my eyes in focus in the 40mm plössel. . Hope someone can help me to focus, the light in the end of the barrel!

I did install it the other night. Im a beginner, and trying to find my way around.. But I really like the layout and style, of the UI. Would be awesome if it could be OSX and linux support in the future!

Thank you for you're response! I was able to at least get the cam set up and running. With no intention to capture great images. It was a bit of a hassle. Realized that I needed a looong usb 3 cable. Due to not owning a laptop. Hm.. So, I went in to the house and "stole" my wife´s old hp laptop. With a big promise that I would get her a new.. So, haven't fiddled much in depth with pc´s for many years.. It was a bit of a challenge.. Learning about ASCOM. What software to install.. Did decide to get NINA. With a reasonable good UI and morden look and feel. Doesn't feel like 90´s windows... No banting on other softwares. Im going to try them out too. Kstars ect. But many software developers forgets user-friendly interfaces and looks. Anyway, I did get the camera connected and running via Altairs original software. (on the wife pc) Got it outside with the scope. Flopped the cam in the diagonal. Just to get to captures a few frames. Clouds made it difficult, of coarse.. not to mention house, trees and street lights, was pretty much on my street.. Didn't care.. I was going to succeed with taking a few frames, and get some knowledge of camera settings! I did! And it was fun!! My skyportal app didn't connect to the avx mount. So I had to use the hand controller to make star alignment (such a clunky device). Clods and poor seeng made it difficult, well impossible. I don't have a polarscope, so made a fairly rough alignment in the finder scope. Was able to find Vega between the clods. But eventually just aimed the scope to polaris, to try to focus on a star. After an hour I had to quit, du to battery was getting empty on the laptop. In hindsight, It was probably for the best. Due to a lot of working projects the day after. How ever, got a cpl of frames of a star. Unfocused, elongated. A few shots with too much gain. But in the purpose of testing the camera. Im really happy. So what are my intentions next? I need to get a new pc for my wife.. (at some point ) And something that I can have at the scope. Id like to have something at the scope that I can run remotely. Via Ipad and/or my desktop. I Like big screens, and not sitting on my knees too much.. human age is setting in.. Surrounding housing, trees, not having a Guidescope yet. I think setting up the Hyperstar, is the right thing to do. That would give me short exposures, that work good enough, with just the avx mount tracking. So finding some sort of software that have polar alignment/ plate solving, with the ability to track the mount. Wold be great!! (most seems to just have Guidescope tracking?) Any suggestions are more than welcome! So far, Altair cam is installed and tested, SharpCap is installed, not tested. NINA installed, have had it connected to the mount and cam. Came home this morning, after a "thank you party". For a colleague that is moving on to new working commitments. Looked at the sky that was cloud free, bright stars and calm skies.. Did pondering about to get it all set up. But realized my "condition" wasn't the best.. Hm.. I think I have to schedule such things after seeing conditions, hereafter... Cheers all!! p.s Going to a friends surprise birthday party in Edinburg, early September. Then we adriving to Manchester, to look at cricket. As a Swede, that looks like a peculiar sport... But it will be fun for sure! The question is of coarse.. If there is time, Id like to visit a good astro shop! Edinburg area. Or along the way to Manchester. (Have no clue to where and what in UK) If anyone can give me a few tips. It would be much appreciated!

Ok Now I have the cam in my hands! It has a longer adapter. But with that it hits the bottom of the diagonal. Seems to fit better with the short, that is remounted on delivery. What to determine the right back focus in the diagonal assembly? Cheers!

Hi! Happy as a kid, camera is arriving tomorrow before lunch! Set up is avx Mount with wi-fi dongle, edge 8hd, Altair GPCAM 3 178c. Also have hyperstar and MicroTouch Autofocuser, wired. Couldnt resist the good deal on those to parts. But will hook that up later. When i got the basics figured out... Have installed both stellaruim and Kstars on my Mac. Tried to Connect both Stellarium and Kstars win wi-fi. But no luck. So I probably have to go for ethernet to start with. Du to some timeconstraints. And the need to carry it all, a fair bit. Id like a portable solution that is wireless. So the longer aim is a pi4 with preferably Kstars. But it seems a bit.. to be fair. Not stramt forward. If you are not used to creating imagediscs ect. Hav don that a cpl of year a go on a pi3 for 3d printing. But have forgot most of it. 😬 Anyway. Hoping for som good advice. So I can ”play” with the camera as soon as possible! Cheers!

Hi all! Im a fairly new to this amazing hobby! Taking in as much information as possible. But this is not a very widespread hobby. So all those forums are invaluble. Other tips on hangouts are more then Welcome! I exist on CN under the same name. I was thinking about NEAF. Is there a similar event in Europe? Have a super day!