Steve 1962

On 06/08/2023 at 21:21, neil phillips said:

Cheers Steve it was the 178mm. which isn't particularly sensitive. But slightly larger chip. If you mean how easy it is to get on a particulate area ? its the same really as any scope. yes it weighs a ton. But i am using the EQ6R. If you mean how well does it track. that's mostly polar alignment. And balancing. The better both are, the better the tracking will be 

Thanks Neil - that makes sense - I was only asking in case you were using it on the Dob mount. Does the EQ6R cope with the 12" ok?  (I sold all my AP a while ago and I'm missing it, so I'm looking at £££ efficient ways of getting back into Lunar.)

Hi Neil

That's a stunning image. Congratulations on getting in bang on (to my untrained eye anyway 🙂)

What camera did you use for it please...and, probably a daft question, but when you use your Stella Lyra 12" Dob - how easy do you find it in terms to the fine positioning for lunar imaging?

Cheers

Steve

Hi Linton

It had faded and gone patchy with white patches. Applying another coat over the top didn’t improve things apparently.

Hope this helps

Steve

Just by way of an update, I sold my dome back in June to @Jkulinand he struggled to remove the single coat of Polytrol that I applied last February.

In the end, he resorted to sanding the whole dome down and repainting it with two pack paint. 😧

This was expensive, hard work and very time consuming for John, so I really cannot recommend the use of Polytrol in these circumstances. 

Steve

Well, we’re going to have to agree to disagree there then John. 

As I said earlier, I hope you enjoy your new dome.

Steve

Wow - looking fantastic John! 

No problem at all John. Re the offsets - just remember that it doesn’t matter where the scope is pointing - if your offsets are correct, the dome should align itself so the scope sees through the middle of the slot.

You can simulate and tweak this to your heart’s content in broad daylight - and because you can run with the shutter closed, you can even do it when it’s raining! 

Looking great John - hope it goes well!!

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Thanks Steve, yep seems obvious now you mentioned it, what do you reckon, drop it to 15 secs?

No harm in trying that John.

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I want to experiment with the Ascom (rather than the Arduino) interface just to satisfy my curiosity.

Again - there's no harm in trying that but I would point out that whatever software you use (SGPro, ASCOM dome etc) interfaces with my Arduino ASCOM dome driver, which in turn just sends and receives codes to and from the Arduino. So whatever software you use should work equally well - having said that, I never tried the driver out with ASCOM Dome so I'll watch with interest!

For information, the software uses a series of standard methods and properties to communicate with the ASCOM driver and the driver converts these to the Arduino's "language" of 997 and 996 codes. Attached is the webpage showing the ASCOM methods and properties used.

https://ascom-standards.org/Help/Developer61/html/AllMembers_T_ASCOM_DriverAccess_Dome.htm

So as a simple example, if you press the Open Shutter Button in SGPro, SGPro sends an OpenShutter method to the ASCOM driver which translates this into 997,801,998 and sends it to the Arduino.

In just the same way, when the software needs an update, it sends a Get Property method to the ASCOM driver, which converts the query into a 996 string to the Arduino. The driver listens to the response from the Arduino and converts it back into an ASCOM property which it passes back to the software.

Simples!!!

Steve 

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The mount slews first and then after what feels like an eternity, but is probably only about 60 secs, the dome then moves to its position, I'll let you know how it gets on.

Hi John

That'll probably be because the update interval in the driver slave settings is set to 60secs. If you want it move sooner, try reducing this..

HTH

Steve

@Nigella Bryant

Please feel free to PM me if you need any help / advice.

ATB

Steve

Great progress John. Give me a call if you’re not sure about the string for the shutter.

Looking good John. Following progress with great interest. Wouldn’t the Polytrol sand off??

Looking good Andy - are you happy with the filters??

Steve

Hi @old_eyes

I've just read your post - and thought I might add my two penny worth.

I'm not sure about Voyager, but SGPro, which I ran with when I had my observatory just used an ASCOM Safety_Monitor device (e.g. the Aurora that I've just sold). 

The ASCOM Safety_Monitor feature only provides an Is_Safe (from memory) flag which is either true or false - depending on parameters which are set by the user through the ASCOM driver in the safety device itself. In the Aurora case (again from memory) this is a combination of cloud, rain and lightness and this is all that my driver does - safe or not? Yes or No!. The Aurora also has a set of relay contacts which I understand provide a "hardware alternative" to  the Is_Safe software flag.

The ASCOM Environmental Conditions feature could provide you with data such as sky temp, ambient temp, rain, lightness etc. but I never got around to writing a driver for this use of the Aurora. Sorry!

Again, I'm not sure how Voyager works but you might find this interesting....http://www.dehilster.info/astronomy/ascom-safetymonitor-hub.php

Hope that helps

Steve

I started off with Baader NB filters and had halos around bright stars. When I put this to the vendor, he replaced the filters....and I still suffered halos. A bit of research found that this is a common problem with the Baader filters.

I later replaced my whole filter set with Chroma filters (LRGB and 3nm Ha, Oiii and Sii) from Modern Astronomy - and the improvement was dramatic.

Here's Baader Ha of Alnatak

..and here's Chroma Ha 3nm

No halos, stars is smaller and the background is darker.

Also - here's a comparison post from just after my Chroma purchase: 

I use my Chroma's at f3.6 and when I bought them, they were optimised by Chroma for the f3.6 beam - I don't know if they still do this.

Bottom line - I've been delighted with my Chromas and would wholeheartedly recommend them

WTH

Steve

@George 47 - looks great!

@George 47 - they do look smart with a coat don't they ? I find mine lasts about a year.

@jeremys - haha! It's on my list too!!

Steve

Wow - that’s stunning ... and refreshingly different.

Great stuff.

Steve

When I powered up my observatory a couple of weeks ago, I was horrified to find that my trusty six-year old Atik 460ex mono was completely unresponsive - no fan noise, no connection to the PC - nothing.

The follow day, after a quick email and telephone exchange, I posted the camera off to Atik . I was pleasantly surprised by the cost of postage (£11.70 Royal Mail Special Delivery by 1PM with £2.5k insurance).

Andrew at Atik emailed the next day to let me know that the camera had arrived safely and to apologise that the repair would take longer than usual because they're doing some building work at their factory in Portugal.

A week later, an estimate arrived for £148 plus VAT and P&P , which I accepted (being less than 10% of the cost of a new camera I was very pleased  - apparently they do not make a profit from repairs - just cover costs).  Thankfully the chip was ok but the camera needed a complete new electronics board.

An invoice arrived on Monday for about £200, which I paid immediately and my old camera has just landed on my doormat looking as good as new.

Really great service from Atik - many thanks!

Now then - where are those clear skies...?

Steve

Thanks @Rocket Stars! That's really useful.

Steve

@JeremyS - mine's the same; it's gone dull on the xposed parts.  I'm just considering giving it another wipe over before the winter. I'll report back when done.

Great job by the way @jeremys! Amazing isn’t it??!

Thanks for the links to the products @Skipper Billy. 

I’m with @JeremyShere though. I’ve tried polishing the dome for years now with limited short term success - but now I think a quick coat of For Sale Juice every year is the way to go.

Most importantly, Mrs L is happier about this plan too !

Steve