Endolf

Yup, not looking at anything that isn't cooled

Currently using an 8" f5 (TS Optics Photon), I'm also thinking for nebula season of getting an Esprit 100, maybe with a .75 reducer for really large nebula. Currently looking to replace my unmodified Canon 600D with an astro camera. In theory I'm in Bortle 6 skies, but 2 of my aspects look over cities.... I'm torn between the ASI294MC Pro and the ASI1600MM Pro, with both cameras one scope or the other falls out of the ideal range of pixel scale, but I can't afford both, so need to compromise. With the ASI1600 I was thinking one of the bundles with ZWO filter wheel and LRGB + Ha/SII/OIII filters, so narrow and broadband covered. For the ASI294 I'd need a filter drawer and then probably the IDAS LPS D2 (currently have the EOS version) for broadband and the IDAS LPS NB1 for narrowband. I like the idea of the ASI1600, being able to process each channel, faster per image and full res per filter. Given the UK weather, I'm drawn to OSC and being able to get a complete image in a night or 2. So far I have done a bunch of googling and looking at specifications, does anyone who have 1 or both of these cameras have any useful input?, e.g. does using the 294 for multi band narrow band filter mean the exposures need to be so long you have to use multiple nights anyway, or that the shorter exposure times on the 1600 means you can get 4 filters shot in a few hours?, or alternatives to look at given my site/scopes? Thanks

For anyone who finds this in future, I found the issue. The lug on the bottom of the head is 0.6mm smaller than the hole, so the whole head was not held rigid. I've now put some self adhesive felt in the hole it fits in to to take up the side play. All rigid again, for now. Not sure how long it will last, it's a tight fit

Hi, I'm having a spot of bother with my EQ6-r-pro, I've only had it a few months but it seems a new problem has appeared. After screwing the head down to the tripod, I tighten the nut on the bottom of the thread to tighten the tool shelf/leg spreader. With the 2 bolts on the side of the head I make sure the 2 bolts are roughly equally threaded in and lightly tightened. At this point, I can still wobble the mount head, only side to side, but it does rotate a few mm. I suspect that the blob in the middle of the undersite of the head is moving in the resese it engages in to. It makes it difficult to PA as when adjusting the rotation of the head, it doesn't rotate smoothly as it seems to slide the mount head before rotating it. Anyone had this issue?, how did you resolve it? Thanks

There is some detail on this tool about it, it also shows that the "ideal" pixel scale changes with the sky conditions. Worth having a play. Given my camera (and a couple of the ones I'm looking at as future upgrades) I used to to judge the approximate maximum useful focal length for my skies when I was looking for a new scope for galaxies.

I've got the ASI 120mm mini too, to get enough back focus I had to screw the extension on the front. Mine is attached to the Skywatcher Evoguide 50ED. I'm not using the ST4 connection as I've got Stellarmate. You should be fine to power the laptop off it's battery as long as it will last long enough for your imaging session. The ASI 120 will draw it's power from the laptop, so it won't last as long as without, but it's not a huge current draw.

I opted for an IDAS LPS D2 filter, it's supposed to leave the colours reasonably balanced whilst also cutting out the light pollution including the new LED street lights. I've just finished 30x300s subs on M101 as one of the first targets since I got it, I also shot C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS) earlier in the week, which I think turned out ok. I'm looking forward to seeing how M101 turns out.....

Looks about right, I used this one, but I needed it for an 8" Newtonian. Mine also came with the inverter needed to drive the panel. This one is in the UK and offers appropriate inverters.

I use ELP from ebay, 250mm square.

Yup, Astroberry and Stellarmate are both built on the same software (Linux, Ekos, KStars). One is free (Astroberry), one as has a dedicated mobile app (Stellarmate). As the comms are open standards I can't see a reason why someone couldn't develop a mobile app for Astroberry at some point in the future. If you're using a tablet rather than a phone, then the web based VNC might be ok to use. I chose Stellarmate based on it having the mobile app to make life easy on myself.

I use Stellarmate OS, I use a combination of laptop and the app. If you are using a tablet rather than a mobile phone (I just use my mobile), then Stellarmate includes a web based remote desktop like page, so you can get in to a desktop like view of the OS running and do the full set of features. The things that I've found missing on the app v.s. the desktop is mostly 1 time configuration type items for the gear you are using. Once out in the field I can run a session from the mobile phone quite happily. The Stellarmate will also work with a huge variety of cameras, where as the ASIAir is designed for ZWO cameras. My rig is quite heavy and I have no where to store it complete, so I also have to tear it down and rebuild it for each session including levelling, PA and balancing. I've yet to use the PA tool in Stellarmate (there is one), I normally do a PA using the scope in the mount and then autoguiding takes care of the rest. I intend to try it at some point, but ever time the sky is clear enough to image I do that instead By adding some connectors and other voltage regulators, I've got a setup that runs off a single 12v feed and powers everything, no batteries needed, other than an 12v one for the main power (or in this case, the mains with a 12v power supply connected).

Another Linux user here, have you tried astro pixel processor? seems to turn my subs in to something to be not too embarrassed by

I managed an hours worth of out of focus data last night....

Rather than the ASIAir, take a look at Stellarmate, I've been using it since taking up the hobby in Feb, love it. Initial setup was done via VNC from my sofa, then I can use the app from my phone. I tend to do a mix of some sessions from my phone, some on the laptop. It gives me the flexibility to take the setup somewhere remote without a laptop if I wish, or to do a session from home and to tweak some config if I want.

Ok, by quick try I mean 2 hours of data. Having filtered out some frames with poor star shapes I got down to about 80 minutes of data. Here I've exported 2 sets of data as they fell out of APP, the first one is from March 25th, and was 2640s integrated exposure the second is from last night and is 4920s integrated exposure. Flats, darks and darkflats were present for both images. The first one used APP to remove the light polution, the second used the filter. The subs were so dark I had issues framing the images up. I took some single subs of M101, M81 and C/2019 Y4, just to compare to single subs from previous sessions, C/2019 Y4 seems to be better with the filter, although the original was taken on the 26th March, so the object is brighter so not a fair comparison. M101 and M81 were more difficult. Both 120s subs Maybe it was just due to the moon. The fact that other people have had good success with this filter on galaxies is good to note. I'll try and gather some more data (weather allowing) and see how it goes. Thanks.

Hi I got myself an IDAS LPS D2 to try and combat some of the light pollution in my area, I got the D2 because we have some LED street lighting. I'm hoping on some of the nebulae this will help with the backgrounds. I gave it a quick try on Markarian's Chain last night, just as an experiment, and unsurprisingly it filtered out too much of the useful data too. Does anyone have any suggests for a OSC LP filter, preferable that is available in EOS clip format, that doesn't affect galaxies? Thanks

Another 600D user here, it's supposed to have a good SNR for astro work, which is why I picked it. Sure, there are higher resolution sensors out there, but not at the price. I paid a bit more than @Johns22 did, but not much. I've not modded mine either, I'm tempted to hold off and just get a dedicated camera later in the year instead, I've got some reasonable shots of DSOs (for a nOOb), I know I'm missing the Hydrogen, but with a filter wheel and some dedicated frames I could possibly pull that back a bit.

I finally made a decisions, the skywatcher 200 pds, then skywatcher shutdown their uk warehouse. So I did some more digging and ended up ordering a TS Optics 200/1000 OTA. I've also ordered myself the baader MPCC mkIII and a bahtinov mask for it. Should all be here for Monday. My IDAS LP D2 EOS filter should arrive tomorrow too. I'm sure it will be cloudy for a few weeks now. Sorry. Hopefully still be able to order the Esprit 100 for nebula season

I really hope we get some clear nights soon, these rubbish nights get expensive looking at new gear..... 😂

Yeah, not been out much, but I've also had to learn how to process as well, so I've been busy. I've also been looking at upgrades...... 😂

It's amazing how much you can hide when you scale an image down to 960x540 😆

Just under 2 months in to this fantastic hobby and I think I'm making some progress. A quick montage of 4 of the images I'm not too ashamed of Loads to learn still of course

Doing more research again, this time looking at the focal length and pixel sizes (using https://astronomy.tools/calculators/ccd_suitability). My skies are not always good seeing, and I can see from that tool that 0.67"/pixel is the minimum for good seeing, but 1.33"/pixel for poor seeing. So going back to the average of 1"/pixel, I end up with a maximum FL of just over 1000mm, the GSO RC 8 has a FL of 1624, so I'd need a reducer, which whilst giving me a reasonable pixel ratio, means I'd need longer exposures to gather the same number of photons at the camera. Looking at other ~1000mm scopes, the explorer 200pds with the baader corrector seems to fit the bill. I wonder how long this thought will last..... 🤣

I couldn't help myself, been looking at scopes again 🤣, I'm thinking something like the Esprit 100 for the winter season for wide field, but for now, for galaxy season, something with a much longer FL is the order. I came across the Omegon RC, either the 154/1370 or the 203/1624, I like the look of the FL for both of these. I've not read much about Omegon, I know Tim from AstroAddict has a couple of their APOs. I've done the maths as with a Canon 600D the pixel size is a little large, but binning should help that?. Anyone got anything good or bad to say about Omegon and their RCs, or RCs in general? Thanks

Nice, I'll have to take a look at FITSwork.