Jonny_H

21 minutes ago, Jiggy 67 said:

You are well future proofed,  I have the EQ6 R Pro version, fantastic mount 

I am hoping to try it out soon. We are having our back patio done at the moment so my garden looks like a building site.  When the works are done and the weather improves....... I will give it a test drive.

Hi all,

I treated myself to a new toy which arrived today (thank you FLO).

It is a beast compared with my HEQ5 Pro. I wanted a larger payload to comfortably handle another toy that I am waiting for - also to future proof the option of visual which I plan to do a little later in life.

Apologies in advance to those residing in the Essex area for the hideous weather that I have just summond! 👹

Regards,

Jonny

19 hours ago, BrendanC said:

As we come to the end of another astro season, and the light nights mean no astro darkness from end of May until end of July (in the UK at least), I thought I'd post some of my shots taken over the past year since I got a second-hand NEQ6 and sold my 130P AZ. It was a huge step-up and I had to improve my technique because the improved accuracy of the mount really showed up all the things I was doing wrong. Anyway, now I've learned about guiding, calibrating, dithering, polar alignment and whatever else, I love my little 130PDS. The only thing I wish I could change is those iddy-biddy little bitemarks the focuser tube takes out of stars. All photos taken with an EOS1000D with IR filter removed, some are guided, others not, captured with APT, stacked in DSS, post-processed in Affinity and Topaz AI Denoise. They're all pretty much 'the usual suspects', they won't win awards, but I've really enjoyed taking them (as well as being very, very frustrated a lot of the time!). I hope it's OK to share so many in one post...

Absolutely cracking images.

What sort of integration time do you typically aim for with your images?

17 hours ago, John said:

There are far graver things in this world currently to feel insecure about than telescopes for goodness sake

I knew that I'd regret posting in this thread again.

 

17 hours ago, johninderby said:

Why does this thread remind me of this? 🤔😁😁😁

I am starting to regret creating this thread........

I'll get my coat 🙃

I can't speak on behalf of everybody but I feel that there is a general 'fear of collimating. I know I certainly was at first but once you do it a few times it becomes a second nature.

I would go as far as saying that I actually find it quite therapeutic now......🤔

2 hours ago, Commanderfish said:

Are you looking at astrophotography use or just visual?

Comparing to triplet apos, I'd say the FC-76 DCU is worth the money at £1,250 because it is the sharpest scope I've ever owned and never fails to give razor sharp, crisp views. Both the FC76 and FC100 have very high contrast with darker sky backgrounds than other scopes of their size. I think the FC100 is harder to justify at £2000+, but it is very capable and shows many objects very well. Both are a lot more portable than an equivalent sized triplet.

Thanks all for the comments. Some interesting views so far.

I am primarily in to AP at present hence why I used the FSQ and Esprit models in the examples.

As some of you have probably seen in other posts - I do have an Esprit 100ed on order, so my post isn't based on a pending decision etc... it is purely out of curiosity..... or perhaps I am subconsciously lining up my next future purchase...🤔

Hi all,

As above - I am curious to get views on Taks and whether the additional premium over other brands that are highly regarded is 'worth it'.

Appreciate that it is up to the buyer as to what they spend their money on - as with most premium/quality products, and for them to judge whether they are worth the premium or not.

But take the FSQ-85 for example at circa £3.5k+ once accessories have been added. For 1/2 the price you can get a very well respected esprit 100ed. I know that's not a true 1-2-1 comparison but the point being you can get a very good quality and highly regarded triplet, larger aperture and focal length scope at 1/2 the price. The Esprit 80ed is almost 3 times less.

I just wondered if the extra cost of the Tak in the example above gives you twice the quality and performance?

On 23/04/2021 at 15:48, cfinn said:

Hi all, just thought I would share an update on this. The replacement unit arrived this week. All in excellent working order, except for the focuser which couldn't hold any weight. I found the four grub screws underneath the body of the focuser that control the focuser tension and a couple of them had become a little loose from shipping. I tightened them up gently and all is now completely fine. The dew shield assembly on this unit is also better than my last. It slides along the tube much better and does not sag as much as the previous one, so that is a bonus. Those blue shock absorbing balls in the case also stay in place a lot better!

I had clear skies and temperatures of 4C ambient last night, so I took the opportunity to do a quick test on a bright star (Capella). A visual star test at high magnification looked good - collimation spot on and nice even energy in the diffraction pattern either side of focus. I also used this as first light for my new QHY 268M with a single 30s exposure in luminance. The stellar halo is not free of artefacts, but I think that is to be expected for a star of this magnitude. It looks reasonably well controlled, and the stars across the rest of the field appear perfectly round with nice clean halos. So, for the time being I am satisfied. The real test of course will be next Winter season, but right now I am just pleased to have a telescope back to enjoy using once again. I purchased a Herschel wedge as well, so I can get some good use of it during the summer with some solar observing.

Charles

That is good to know, Charles. I am glad the replacement has worked out alright.

I have to admit, I placed an order for an Esprit 100ED back in Feb which I initially cancelled pending the outcome of this amongst other related topics elsewhere. Having said that after a few email conversations with the wonderful FLO team I reinstated the order last month and very much looking forward to receiving it..... it might be a long wait though 😩

3 hours ago, Paul M said:

Don't forget guesswork! Most of my processing is a mixture of luck and... guesswork!!

I liken it to walking round in a dark room and constantly bumping into things and not knowing what they are

I am envious of people who actually know what they are doing in processing. I more often than not randomly click on things and hope for the best! 🙂

Just did a bit of googling and found the following. Note that I haven't had any dealings with any of the following but it may be worth picking up the phone or sending them an email to see if they can help:

https://www.edmundoptics.co.uk/

https://www.galvoptics.co.uk/

https://www.orionoptics.co.uk/OPTICS/telescopemirrors.html

3 hours ago, geeklee said:

Well done @Jonny_H I think that's on the way to a more detailed and balanced image in the second one.  Tighter stars, more varied colour, still got the detail with more potential.

You can try creating a range mask or even extract the Luminance and use that as a mask to brighten up the areas with lots of signal - this would of course impact the stars too without more masking!  You can also work with curves to brighten up above the background level.

If you used some noise reduction, it could maybe be eased off on the galaxy (with an inverted Luminance mask for example).

I had a quick go at the attached PNG and the faint arms are still there and ready to be pulled out a little more.

Thank you for this.

I haven't used masks yet in PI (I am relatively new to it still) but will have a go later on.

I can't promise it will be any better though! 😁

So........ I finally had a play in PI although as previously mentioned i'm not convinced that my phone hasn't done a better job than me!  I will let the audience decide! 

I'm not very good at making the background darker without impacting the galaxy.......in PI at least.  Any pointers?

Hi all,

I thought I would give NGC2403 a go last night. I didn't get as long as I would have liked. 20 x 300s lights, 25 x 300s darks, 60 flats and 60 bias stacked in APP.

My only confession is I haven't strictly processed this yet other than using my phones default editing functions.

I'll have a go in PI later in the week. Although to be honest my phone probably does a better job of it than me! 😩

18 hours ago, The Lazy Astronomer said:

I too am waiting for my Esprit 100 (ordered back in early Feb, hopefully arriving in the next few weeks). Sounds like we will have very similar setups, except I've got the eq6r pro, so we could trade guiding performance figures in a few months to see if it's worth you upgrading.

Mine was initally ordered early Feb but then I postponed the decision until early March. Although I noticed a few days after I placed the order that the expected wait time jumped from 15-20 working days to 40-60. Not sure whether that means I just made the shorter timeframe or whether it is a blanket 40-60 across the board!

Anyhow....back to the topic, yes it would be good to share guiding figures.

1 hour ago, vlaiv said:

Don't think that you'll be close to what the mount can handle in terms of weight.

OTA weighs about 6.5Kg - and camera is not very heavy. Guide scope + guide camera are not really heavy either - that is about 3Kg extra weight tops. Overall - you are at 10Kg and that is fine with HEQ5 given that scope is relatively compact (not large OTA).

You'll be probably a bit oversampling with 1.41"/px most of the time (2" FWHM seeing) - but in good seeing, you'll be quite close to optimum sampling rate (which would be around 1.55"/px - for your guiding and 1.5" FWHM seeing).

It can easily happen that you get consistently good guiding results with this ota as it is smaller and less prone to flex from wind.

I do think that something like CEM60 (unfortunately discontinued) is step up from HEQ5 - but I don't think that you need it right away. Just give HEQ5 a go with what you have once your scope arrives and I think that you'll find that it is working rather well as a combination.

Yes that is absolutely what I intend to do....just see how it goes.

I was just looking for initial thoughts just in case I need to make the decision in the future. Hoping that the heq5 will do me proud though.

40 minutes ago, vlaiv said:

Why is that?

What sort of guide RMS are you getting at the moment? What resolution do you expect to work with once you get your Esprit 100?

Hi vlaiv,

To be honest my only rationale is that I will be very close to or even just over the recommended maximum payload, so I have just assumed that I won't achieve the best results. Not to say that they won't be good.

My current rms error is between 0.7 - 1.0. However I have recently achieved a 0.44 which I was very impressed with. I think that was a fluke though! 😁

I believe with my 533 and the soon to own 100ed I am looking at 1.41"/pixel resolution.

I'm not really sure how to calculate the appropriate rms error from this?

3 minutes ago, maxchess said:

I have a belt modded HEQ-5pro with an Explore Scientific 102 and it performs great. Total RMS is usually around 0.5.  It is on a steel pier bolted to a concrete block in my roll off shed.  The belt and bearings upgrade was done by Dave at Darkframe, which had its challenges but it's good now. I also added an ADM dual saddle.  I also use a 8" SCT with a ST80 guidescope, focuser etc which comes to 10Kg and it works well too.   My view if it works, leave well alone.  Except that I am thinking about a heavier scope maybe a WO 132 or a C9.25  in which case I would look at the CEM70.  But unless I do the scope upgrade,  I'm sticking with the trusty HEQ5.  

Thank you for this.

I have been eyeing up the CEM70 also. Nothing like a bit of night time window browsing! 

Absolutely agree though - I'm not going to do anything for the sake of it. I'm going to wait and see how it performs and then make a decision from there. I do really like the HEQ5 Pro so hoping I can stick with it.

27 minutes ago, teoria_del_big_bang said:

Apart from the 100ED what else is going on the mount ?

I upgraded to the same scope and with what I had in addition (guidescope, SX filter wheel, ASI 1600M  camera, USB hub)
I originally could not get balanced on my belt modded HEQ5 without either an extra counterweight or using an extension to the counterweight bar, neither of which are ideal.

In the end I removed a dual saddle and the SW adjustable gudescope saddle which both weighed a fair bit and then just achieved balance.
So I actually had a bit of cash then and did upgrade to a IOptron CEM60.

I think there are many with this scope and still using a HEQ5 but it is about on its limits and I think money spent on new bearings and grease will not make it any different.
Before this I did buy good quality bearings and grease and fitted them but the old ones were perfectly okay and it made virtually no difference to tracking.

Steve

Thanks Steve,

This is useful to know. How do you rate the CEM60? I have been browsing the 45 and 70.

Re: other equipment - I have a evoguide 50ed with ADM rings. A 120MM mini guide camera and 533MCPro imaging camera. All powered by an ASIAir Pro. Going by the weights specified on various shops it seems the total weight will be circa 9.5 - 10.5kg (depending on which site/sites you look at). So very close to the max recommended payload for imaging.

Again I may be absolutely fine and if push comes to shove I can swap bits over to to make the setup lighter and/or remove things.

Hi all,

I am currently waiting patiently for my Esprit 100ED to arrive albeit it could take a while. However whilst waiting it has got me thinking about my mount situation.

I currently have a belt modded HEQ5 Pro which I am fairly confident will cope with the 100ED and my other AP gear, however i don't believe I am going to get the best out of the scope with this setup.

So what are my options? Spend circa £80-£90 on upgraded bearings, quality grease and a few hours of my time to fine tune the mount. Or just upgrade to a better mount at significantly more cost? Something like a eq6-r or equivalent?

Of course I am not going to rush into it and will wait and see how it all performs. I might be pleasantly surprised and needn't do anything.

Interested to hear thoughts.

Clear skies

Jonny

I remember seeing this on the BBC weather site and thought it summed-up the beautiful British weather rather nicely.....

It was as if they were trying to squeeze in as many weather systems as possible! 😁

4 minutes ago, niallk said:

Ah-ha!  Like a Bond villain's lair

I've been expecting you Mr.....Astronomer.

I would certainly welcome any comments. Being fairly new to the hobby I, probably like most newbies, may not necessarily spot an issue or if something is wrong assuming it os down to lack of experience etc... perhaps private message the individuals in question. I am sure they will welcome the pointers.

I've never seen trails that bad before. I took 10 x 10 minute subs last week and 50% of them had 1 or 2 trails in. That's on another level though.

I guess this is what we have coming in the not so distant future.....potentialy worse! 😩

Thanks all for your responses.

So perhaps some of the posts I have seen where the 'single' dark image example is a nice uniform dark grey/black - I assume they are referring to the single master dark as opposed to a single dark frame in the literal sense.

Hi all,

As above - what should they look like?  The reason I ask is that i have seen a few people post up dark frame examples that they say are stretched and look like a smooth grey colour with no noise whatsoever.  Mine however are a rather different story.  I have attached a FITS example from my latest set which were 600s @ 150 gain and cooled to minus 10.  Camera is a 533MC Pro.

Unstretched the image is totally black however when i apply a stretch, whether it is in PixInsight or via ASIStudio - the image becomes incredibly noisy and tons of hot and cold pixels everywhere.

So what are they supposed to look like?  Like the smooth grey images I have seen or like mine?  If the former.....what am i doing wrong!?

Thanks,

Jonny

Dark_600.0s_Bin1_gain150_20210331-205503_-10C_0001.fit