Stuart1971

13 hours ago, steppenwolf said:

It is quite amazing just how many people with an interest in astronomy also have a passion for creating music in one form or another.

That is such a neat installation - sadly, because I am into old school analogue modular, my studio is a little bit more sprawling 😱

Need some cable management there….😮😂

1 hour ago, AstroMuni said:

Thats cool. Wonder how ChatGPT interpreted the phrase "visible after dark" 🙂 

Well it know it’s northern hemisphere, so not sure really….🤔 I assume it would know sunset and sunrise times for the time of year…

1 minute ago, Pat Curran said:

Thanks Stuart,

Do you have the 'G' variant with the WiFi?

I have seen somebody on CN modifying the G Mount's default WiFi mode so the control PC in the shed (in my case) can control the mount via the mini PC without that last cable being used at all.

That's the route I want to explore firstly...if it fails, I'll go with your method.

Thanks again,

Pat

No Wi-Fi, mine is the G model….☹️

Just asked ChatGP this question..saved so much time looking it all up, just gave me a decent list to start with for the summer…so simple…

“Can you show me a list of nebula and galaxy targets visible from the 52nd parallel, and visible after dark, and all above 45 degrees from the horizon, and visible between May and September from the northern hemisphere, and show there approx direction in the night sky”

And the answer was:

Certainly! Here’s a list of nebula and galaxy targets visible from the 52nd parallel north, observable after dark, above 45 degrees from the horizon, and visible between May and September. I've included their approximate directions in the night sky.

### Nebulae

1. **Dumbbell Nebula (M27)**
   - **Constellation:** Vulpecula
   - **Best Viewing Time:** Mid-summer to early autumn
   - **Direction:** High in the southeastern sky in the evening, moving to the south by midnight

2. **North America Nebula (NGC 7000)**
   - **Constellation:** Cygnus
   - **Best Viewing Time:** Mid-summer to early autumn
   - **Direction:** High in the eastern sky in the evening, moving towards the zenith by midnight

3. **Veil Nebula (NGC 6960, NGC 6992, NGC 6995)**
   - **Constellation:** Cygnus
   - **Best Viewing Time:** Mid-summer to early autumn
   - **Direction:** High in the eastern sky in the evening, moving towards the zenith by midnight

4. **Pelican Nebula (IC 5070)**
   - **Constellation:** Cygnus
   - **Best Viewing Time:** Mid-summer to early autumn
   - **Direction:** High in the eastern sky in the evening, moving towards the zenith by midnight

### Galaxies

1. **Andromeda Galaxy (M31)**
   - **Constellation:** Andromeda
   - **Best Viewing Time:** Late summer to autumn (rises late in summer)
   - **Direction:** Northeast in the late evening, moving higher in the northeastern sky by midnight

2. **Pinwheel Galaxy (M101)**
   - **Constellation:** Ursa Major
   - **Best Viewing Time:** Spring to early summer
   - **Direction:** High in the northwestern sky after dark, setting in the northwest by midnight

3. **Bode's Galaxy (M81)**
   - **Constellation:** Ursa Major
   - **Best Viewing Time:** Spring to early summer
   - **Direction:** High in the northwestern sky after dark, setting in the northwest by midnight

4. **Cigar Galaxy (M82)**
   - **Constellation:** Ursa Major
   - **Best Viewing Time:** Spring to early summer
   - **Direction:** High in the northwestern sky after dark, setting in the northwest by midnight

5. **Whirlpool Galaxy (M51)**
   - **Constellation:** Canes Venatici
   - **Best Viewing Time:** Spring to early summer
   - **Direction:** High in the west-northwestern sky after dark, setting in the northwest by midnight

6. **Sombrero Galaxy (M104)**
   - **Constellation:** Virgo
   - **Best Viewing Time:** Late spring to early summer
   - **Direction:** Low in the western sky after dark, setting in the west by midnight

### Approximate Directions Summary
- **Northwest:** M101, M81, M82, M51
- **West:** M104
- **East/Northeast:** NGC 7000, NGC 6960, IC 5070, M31
- **Southeast:** M27

Using a star chart or an astronomy app will help you locate these objects more precisely and understand their movement across the night sky throughout the evening.

I have a similar set up with no cables trailing at all, and I ran a USB 3 cable through the mount as you have, for the Pegasus UPB, but I power the UPB from the left hand power port on the saddle, that in turn is fed by a second power port on the back of the mount on a non moving part of the mount, and works perfectly..👍🏻

6 minutes ago, Xiga said:

It was most definitely very strange. The only reason I wanted to roll back the firmware, was simply because the darks still didn't look right, they were way too noisy. The new firmware and drivers didn't fix the problem, so I wanted to try and get the camera back to its original firmware and drivers, as I knew that the camera was working fine with them at one point. 

The ticket I raised with Dr Qui was simply about rolling back the firmware, and he didn't object so I can only guess he must have thought it would work ok. If the usb board was in the process of failing, I can see how the flashing could have been the tipping point that caused it to die, but I agree the timing was very suspicious. You also make a good point that I could have rightly said that it was him the effectively broke it, so I shouldn't have had to pay, but I didn't think about that. He just said the camera needed repairing and I went along with it. 

For anyone else who needs to send a Qhy camera off for repair, and you're out of warranty, basically you have to pay for the technician's time plus the parts. So they've told me that my new usb board is covered for 2 years, but if the board were to break again within that time, I'd still have to pay for the technician's time which would be about half the repair costs, which tbh doesn't seem very fair to me. Qhy should really be paying the technician for his time and the customer should only foot the bill for replacement parts, but anyway, here's hoping the camera works within issue now for many years to come. 

These are some of the reasons I am moving away from QHY

Anyway glad it’s now sorted…👍🏻

8 hours ago, Xiga said:

Hi guys

Thought i'd post an update on my camera, and the strange issue i was having with subs that randomly looked as though the cooler wasn't working. 

I figured maybe the issue was down to me using old drivers, and by old, i mean dating back to when i got the camera in March 2020! So i went looking for new drivers and saw that there was also a new firmware available too. So in my wisdom, i decided to flash that as well. Everything installed fine but the subs still looked too noisy, so i wanted to go back to the original firmware, but the Qhy software doesn't allow this. So Dr Qiu kindly agreed to remote onto my machine and try downgrading it for me. However, he couldn't manage it either, and worse still, in the process something went really wrong and i could no longer connect to the camera. He said it needed repaired, so last month i sent it off to Jan in the Czech Republic, and sure enough, the USB board was faulty. He fixed it up for me (total cost was €220) and i had the camera back within a week. Ran off a few quick Darks and they now look just as they always did, so i'm hoping that's the last of the problems i have with it. The camera is only 3 years old, so it's a bit disappointing that something went wrong so early in it's life. Especially when i do so little imaging, (1 image in the last 18 months!) and the camera lives inside the house, so it's not like it's being overly worked or being kept outside in the cold. 

Anyways, at least i'm back up and running again. And i got the camera back just in time to finish off a data set i started back in Feb 🙂 

I’m glad it’s all sorted now..👍🏻

‘But can I ask, first of all why did you want to put the firmware back to the older one, ??  and why did Dr Qui agree with this and try to do it, does he not even trust his newer firmware, that was a strange thing for him to try and do…sees, to me that he caused some issues trying to do that, and so could have caused more issues, that you had to pay for

There was an issue with the coolers on these cameras around that time and they brought out a new firmware fix to correct it, sounds like you had that issue, in which case it should have been an easy fix really…

All very confusing…

13 minutes ago, Backyardscope said:

Triplets are much more prone to curvature then doublets, I agree with @Stuart1971 if the stars are not round in the centre of the image it minuses the issue of spacing regarding the flattener.

Did you need to have a dew band on while using the scope while imaging? what was the temperature outside?

It does look like a case of pinched optics. Another thing to check which is often ignored, is the retaining ring in the flattener , the one which rests on the optics. Is it screwed on ok, not loose or anything? 

You could just try imaging without the flattener to see how the centre stars look.

He has posted this image at the start of the thread without the flattener, and the centre stars do look ok, although it’s a bit too compressed to see to well…

6 hours ago, Megawatt said:

You're right, the image without the flattener looks a lot more normal. Would be nice if the flattener is the culprit. The only thing which makes me question this theory is this shot taken the same night with the flattener in place, which also has mostly normal-looking stars (though the corners are still quite messy).

I don't often use filters, though I did in this case. I'll try to borrow a different flattener somewhere and see if it helps at all. 

Hmmm, yes this image is a lot better, in fact better all round really, so this tells me then that the culprit is something that can be altered between images and nights, while using the exact same kit, so for me that is focus and pinching of the optics, the stars on some pictures do look pinched as they are all across the images, this image all the stars are the same, and slightly misshapen,  and again pinching slightly could cause this, now you can get this from pinched main optics, OR pinched optics of the flattener…which may be the case…so a dew band around the flattener is worth a try next time out.

Also do you have any filters in the imaging train, if so remove those 

14 hours ago, malc-c said:

Thanks Stu for the recommendation.  Rob has dropped me a PM.

Your welcome, I hope you can help him…👍🏻

Looking again at the first 3 images you posted, I think it’s a bad flattener, as the last of the 3 images was without this flattener and the centre stars look very good, unlike the other images, yes the outside are elongated towards the middle but that would be expected, I would try another flattener iff possible 

Maybe @malc-c can help, I think he does this sort of thing…

oh, and welcom BTW….👍🏻

22 minutes ago, Rob_Jn said:

Just a thought, ZWO lists their optical window as IR rejecting D60-2 IR cut, I’d always assumed the QHY268M was a plain window, specs indicate the same on their website, AR+AR High Quality Multi-Layer Anti-Reflection Coating but any reason to doubt this? I just had a nagging thought that I might have been using an IR reject filter for the past 2 years for no reason!

 

AFAIK, the QHY mono cameras have just an AR clear glass and NOT IR cut, mine does anyway, and with there OSC cameras you have the choice of either glass in the camera I have the colour version too, and got it with just clear AR glass and no IR cut, as I wanted to use my own..

54 minutes ago, Mumia said:

Do vibrations when the fan starts affect image stability in any way, or do they generate excessive vibrations?

No, I had it on my tube and no issues at all…👍🏻

6 minutes ago, Mumia said:

Hello, I am planning to buy a mini PC for the planetary imaging setup I am currently building. The first question is whether to go for a quieter 4c computer with passive cooling or something like a high-performance Beelink Ser but with active cooling. I wonder whether the working fan will not introduce excessive vibrations into the system.
The second issue is the mounting. I have az-eq6. What would you recommend, OTA or mount installation? Please let me know any possible ways to attach this computer.
I want the best possible performance so that I can remotely control the session and the highest possible number of fps.

Regards, Chris, I would be grateful for any suggestions.

Or go for one of these, best of both worlds, small and compact with fan cooling when needed….👍🏻

8 hours ago, Megawatt said:

Thanks for the reply. I've lost track of how many times I've tweaked the back spacing. I think my inability to get round stars in the centre of the frame makes it much harder to tell where I'm at with the spacing. 

I think if I had issues with guiding or polar alignment, I would notice my issues getting worse over longer exposures but this is not the case. 

For comparison, below is one of the few images I took with my old ED100. Unguided with no flattener, and the stars are most round. With a flattener and good guiding, the stars would be perfect. This is what I expected from my triplet. I just feel like I'm going in circles with this scope. 

I also attached another recent image where the stars in the centre of the frame are spiky-looking. Again, makes me think pinched optics. I normally use a dew heater around the objective but in this case I forgot it. 

I wonder if the flattener might be the culprit. Maybe I can borrow a replacement somewhere and find out...

If the stars are problematic in the centre of the image, then it’s not really the flattener spacing, unless you are miles out, and I don’t think you are.

In the first image there seems to be a little tilt which would contribute to your star shapes, and in the T5i image there is some astigmatism in the bottom right corner, as you can see the elongated star with a line through, almost like a bloated cross…but again tilt could magnify this issue…

1 hour ago, CedricTheBrave said:

Well that was easy! Once I found the sweetspot anyway! 

Thanks for your help @Stuart1971

No problem, 

If it was on the RA axis then sits not really a problem as that axis never changes directions, it’s the DEC that needs to be good, usually loosen the top screw, and tighten the other all the way in, then back off 1/4 turn, is normally all that’s needed….👍🏻

8 minutes ago, dark knight said:

Thanks Michael, i will make the adjustments, feel a bit deflated now lol. Stuart, in  PhD graph settings it is set to the arc seconds setting but will double check, so the arc minutes are the total error in the brackets? doh

Yes, it’s the arc seconds in brackets, you need to concentrate on, not the pixels, so 0.55 in that graph…which is still pretty good…..if it can average that then all good….👍🏻

If it’s moving when engaged then you need to adjust the worm engagement, it’s it moving when disengaged I don’t thing this is an issue…

That is the spring loaded worm assembly, which moves back and fourth with the clutch lever, so are you saying there is movement in the assembly when the worm is engaged or disengaged…?

Good choice, I have one and have been pretty happy with it…
The RMS guide figures are 0.55, and not 0.17, as you need to use the arc seconds and not the pixel metric, as that is not what should be used, because it means nothing as it’s just to do with the size of the pixel in the guide camera. these figures are fairly normal for this mount, I get 0.4 -0.8 depending on the seeing. Also you should lower the scale on the graph, down from 12x to 4x.

Enjoy…👍🏻

I have just received one of these focusers from AstrOasis for a full review, which I will be putting together in the next few weeks…but first impressions is that it’s a really nice bit of kit and seems to work really well…👍🏻

24 minutes ago, Elp said:

To make this a bit clearer, a monitor will switch on when supplied power from an off state and will show the connected pc feed as long as power save modes have been switched off on the pc (screensavers also need to be turned off so you can see the operating system UI). This means the pc is constantly on.

If power save mode is enabled on the pc, a newly powered monitor will switch on briefly, then also revert to a standby mode or no signal mode due to the pc being in standby or sleep mode and not transmitting a signal over the video connection.

But none of that makes a difference to what the OP asked for, he wants to be able to switch a monitor on and off via Alexa whether by voice command or an app when he is at the eyepiece, why..? Who knows…

So using a smart plug gives this option, the monitor is turned on at its switch, and left on, and then it can be turned on and off via the smart plug, it’s then up to him to sort out the PC and power saving functions and so on and so fourth…as that was not mentioned….but easy enough to configure…

59 minutes ago, fozzybear said:

when i plug my screen on it is in standbye  mode so awaiting a signal as scans all modes so no need to press a power button i have a Samsung and HP monitor ? So a Smart plug works as i tried it

 

Yes I tried it too, and would work just as the OP asked for….🤷🏼‍♂️🤷🏼‍♂️