Pixies

I use Skysafari on a phone. At a really dark site, I use it on a tablet with red film covering the screen. 

@Ratlet - do you have a RACI finder? A telrad/quikfinder along with a RACI make star-hopping so easy.

OK. I can read the specs and understand what they mean. But I have no experience when it comes to making real-world interpretation. So, when they say:

ASI-678MC

• sensor size: 7.7 x 4.3mm
• Resolution: 3840 x 2160 
• Pixel size: 2μm
• ADC: 12bit
• Peak QE: ~83%
• Read Noise: 0.6e
• Full Well: 11270e

ASI-585MC

• sensor size: 11.2 x 6.3mm
• Resolution: 3840 x 2160 
• Pixel size: 2.9μm
• ADC: 12bit
• Peak QE: 91%
• Read Noise: 0.8e
• Full Well: 47000e

So the 678 has higher resolution, better read noise (at  whatever gain), is slightly more efficient; but 585 has bigger pixels and 'fuller' wells (no idea how best to put that). But what does this mean when it comes to the real-world use of them.

I've been following @Chris's topic with interest, and @PeterC65's posts regarding getting started with the IMX585 for EEVA. But here's the question....

When it comes to using these cameras with a small (400mm fl) scope for EEVA-type imaging. Which is the most suitable? I get the feeling that the 585 might lend itself better to long-exposure imaging and the 678 to planetary?

Cheers

Up here in Edinburgh, the latitude is about 56° North. That's touch-and-go with the Vixen AP:

I assume that as the lower end of the RA body comes down, the adjuster bolt screws in enough to miss it. But it's pretty close!

45 minutes ago, PeterC65 said:

From Starfield Optics. Assuming I pay the tax, which I think is the right thing to do, the extra cost is worth the reduced hassle. Having said that, the camera is still in Canada according to UPS, despite Starfield Optics saying they dispatched it over a week ago!

My experience with getting stuff from the states is that the tracking gets stuck then suddenly it arrives at your door!

Like many last night, I spent the early hours watching the start of the shadow transit of Io. It was great to see the shadow and the actual moon so close together. I recon the distance between the 2 was about 2x the diameter of Io. My favourite view was with the shadow and the moon equally distanced either side of the limb edge.

Followed Io as it crossed the Jovian disk and could see it easily at first but slowly it became harder to observe and then only visible at moments of clearer seeing. I didn't hang around for better seeing as the wind picked up and the temperature dropped around 2am and I packed up.

2 minutes ago, Froeng said:

The seeing isn’t too bad on Jupiter now. Although not a lot of detail visible. Will perhaps try again around 3am…

Shadow transit of Io starts at 1am

I was setting up a new RACI on the scope tonight and was using Altair as the target. As I looked through the finder, I saw a tiny light fly past. "Satellite", I said to myself.

Then another,

and another,

and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another ...

Starlink passing by at 20:30. I counted around 30, roughly.

1 hour ago, Froeng said:

So far… I can see the JETSTREAM!!!

Whoosh

I was using the new 105mm frac tonight and could split Epsilon Lyrae at x83! It was straight up, mind. The gas giants will be a bit poorer, I imagine!

1 hour ago, Ratlet said:

In what is a surprise to me the wife has been militant about us absolutely needing to get a 3D printer.  I've tried saying no, but she's put her foot down lol.

Thinking a perusa mini

I got a Facebook astro friend to print it for me. Getting a 3D printer will greatly increase the total cost of the binos!  

Ah - I see. It's not a case of point and track at anything, it need to know what you are already pointed at. So it's effectively a one-star-alignment.

36 minutes ago, Stu1smartcookie said:

I think most of us forget this is available , but , its a fantastic feature of this mount . A quick set up and go .

Does it not require alignment of some kind?

20 hours ago, Ratlet said:

TC-E2 2xTeleconverter.  Wanting to build myself a set of constellation binoculars (aka bionic eyes).  I... uh might have made a mistake when I ordered this and thought it said there was 2 of them rather than it was 2xpower lol.

Also, the M54 adapter is a dud.  I don't feel it is useable with the scope.  It doesn't thread enough on before it jams for me to be happy hanging eyepieces off.  I guess I get to find out how good AliExpress's refund procedure is.

Ditto: 

Trying out a new mount tonight. The clouds are clearing  but the seeing is poor.

Have been observing a shadow transit of Ganymede. Jupiter has gone behind a roof just now, but I'll pop out again later. The transit ends at midnight.

New toy out tonight. @Franklin was a little concerned the scope might be a bit too big for the AP mount, but it is working fine, even when it's a little breezy. Vibrations damp down in under 2 seconds if I knock it. The bigger tripod helps, I'm sure. 

The tracking and slewing are something else, compared with the old Super Polaris. So quiet.

I'll get a better picture in the daylight.

Yep - negative tip. That's why so many blown DMD3 controllers. I put in a 9v voltage converter into the body of a SW battery pack with hard-wired cable with correct polarity.

I've found that the MT1 motors are noisy when using 13v+ (i.e. lead-acid battery pack) via a more modern DD3 controller, but not so when using a proper 12v supply.

7 minutes ago, Pixies said:

I was observing Saturn with an  SLV 25mm last night. In a little F11 80M Vixen achromat (driven) it gave fantastic (if small) views. The 20mm was even better. Any more magnification gave poorer views.

I'll get a line-up pic

the 20mm is the smallest one, though.

2 hours ago, Davesellars said:

25mm Vixen SLV bought from ABS - absolutely pristine!   I've not seen or used an SLV before - can't believe how small these things are!

I was observing Saturn with an  SLV 25mm last night. In a little F11 80M Vixen achromat (driven) it gave fantastic (if small) views. The 20mm was even better. Any more magnification gave poorer views.

I'll get a line-up pic

The rainfall in the UK tends to coincide with the dark skies:

(from http://www.statsmapsnpix.com/2020/08/rain-shadow-maps.html)

Mind you, even if it's not raining in Cwmdu, there's still a high chance you might get washed away in the dew!

On 08/06/2022 at 16:18, Louis D said:

Never heard it called a G-clamp.  Everyone in the US refers to them as C-clamps.  I guess we just ignore the threaded rod part and focus on the casting part.

Do you Brits call the curved drain pipe under a sink a P-trap or a U-trap or maybe a J-trap or something else entirely?  I'm not talking about an S-trap either.  See below:

Just seen this. As far as I am aware, we use the same names. Plus the bottle trap.

@cajen2 Jupiter opposition is during AstroCamp. I'll remind you!

I did the same and found the 3-d printed eyecups were too hard to fit.

However, I found a pair of eyecups from an old junk pair of binoculars that fitted. This also means I have some caps to keep the dust out.

Hey @wookie1965 - have a look at this:

https://dewheater.com/?product=usb-power-supply-cable

36 minutes ago, Ludd said:

Vixen tripod doing jellymaking duty

That'll help with stability, too!

Ah apologies. Looks like I've put down times in UTC. 🤪

I used S&T. However, I was certain I converted it to BST. Perhaps I found an old text file where I had put 'BST' but not converted the actual times. 

On Sun 25 Sept (the day before opposition), there's a transit of Io - where the moon itself is only 2 minutes behind the shadow.

Sun 25th
21:24 BST, Io's shadow begins to cross Jupiter.
21:26 BST, Io begins transit of Jupiter.
23:38 BST, Io's shadow leaves Jupiter's disk.
23:40 BST, Io ends transit of Jupiter.

I'm not sure how close they will appear at that separation, though.

NOTE: I'VE EDITED MY ORIGINAL POST WITH CORRECT TIMES (SEE BELOW)