M40

9 hours ago, ArmyAirForce said:

Unfortunately, that lamp is over a speed control chicane, so they are unlikely to dim or move it. All I can hope for is that there are better shields available. Otherwise, I'm back to a large board on a pole to block the light.

I think you are right there in that it's there forever now. Have you considered asking the council for info on the light and seeing if there is an alternative shade available? It's very likely that they will choose the shade they always use rather than one that's fit for purpose. The money and effort that you are putting into your build, it may be possible to supply an alternative for them to fit. Wouldn't it be boring if it was easy...... 🤔

Having started out with a Dob, I soon realised just how fast things moved and in particular when you used more powerful eyepieces. That's when I switched to the Baader zoom. A zoom is a great move for a Dob as the speed that you can change magnification is far better than switching eyepieces and as such it's far easier to keep the target in view. I have never used any other zoom so cannot offer a comparison, but for visual it's definitely my goto every time. 

Looking at your list of bits Scubayork, you have everything to get you off and running at EAA. Forget the Sony camera for a while and just use your asi120 camera with the asistudio and asi live software that came with the camera. 

Also, have you heard of backyard eos? That's for a canon camera, I know you can get one for a nikon, no idea if you can get it for a Sony but worth a search, you can do live view with that.

Hello tuduk and welcome to the site 👍 any questions just ask away, there are some very clever people on here.

When I manage to get a picture, I tend to share them with family; Today this surprise turned up from the sister-in-law.....

M81, looks better on the cushion than on the laptop 

Hello Miguel and welcome to the site 👍

Hello and welcome to the site 👍 so it begins...... enjoy your journey👌

Thanks for the info Curtis, great film, I shall be looking at your website soon to pinch some more info off of you. At home I currently use a usb over cat5 device at about 20M but I have often thought about the mini pc route, it's good to see it in action. 

It looks like a TS Optics device, I have a similar 0.8x reducer.

If that's the sort of thing you had in mind Ash, we can give it a try. I had a quick look on zoom and it may be too expensive but I am sure we can sort something using whatsup and a video call. Don't expect to learn anything though, you probably know more about the sky than me as I tend to be very much poke and hope 😜

So for arguments sake, if I was setting up and then started carrying out an eea session, I could share my screen with another person and they would see the picture unfold at the same time as me?

On 25/05/2022 at 17:15, AstroMuni said:

remotely view through their scope from within the comfort of the home.

That's an interesting idea, can that be carried over zoom for example?

Adding my setup to the thread: Stellamira 85mm, HEQ5, ZWO ASI385MC, no reducer, no filter, no guiding. So far just using the synscan handset and zwo asi live software that came with the camera. I have had limited opportunities recently but I am now getting to the stage where I hope that will change, so....

I have been learning in baby steps and churning out double stars (Thanks Agnes Clarke - discovering double stars) and have just started to look at galaxies, first effort with the above setup....

5 frames at 10 seconds each using only asi live.

I did one picture some months ago with a different camera which turned out very blocky, I feel this is much better, ignore the light top right (my laptop doh)

If this is the best I will get without doing all sorts of processing I will be more than happy, any pointers would be most welcome.

Wonder if they will cover my travel expenses 🤔

echo scotty38, I have no experience of the team you mention but some on here do, well worth a quick search on here.

Also have a google for garden observatories it may bring a few to the surface.

As an aside, I have recently stuck a pier into the ground, it saves a great deal of time; so unless you will be using a tripod, you will need a pier in your chosen position anyway, maybe use that as a first step.

All the best.

I'm not sure which is most impressive, your build or the amount of progress that you carry out each day 👌 Looking forward to the next update 

Come on darkness, let me at least see Polaris before the clouds roll in...

Thanks for all the info 👍 I was rather pleased to hear you say that you had no challenges with condensation inside your build with the air gap at the top; I have something in mind and knowing that there would be a likely temperature build up, I was thinking along the lines of an airgap at the top and bottom for ventilation. 

14 hours ago, FenlandPaul said:

I suspect I’ll start guiding before I upgrade camera, and I’m not sure I’ll ever be someone who has the patience to shoot mono and combine RGB etc.

With you on that, I am a few steps away yet but my plan is to have a go at platesolving then see if I actually need to guide.

All the best

13 hours ago, alienf0rm said:

Did you prepare your own cable?  How did you terminate the end at the mount? I am trying to avoid soldering if I can.

Personally, I have the Nevada mounted about 5M from the mount with a small junction box located close to the mount. Between the Nevada and the junction box I have used 2.5mm cable and terminated this in 5 way quick release connector blocks adjacent to the mount. Cut the plugs off the leads and then you can just connect in the bits and bobs as you need to, no soldering required. If you wanted to put the Nevada further away, just put in something like a 4.0mm to minimise volt drop. It's probably well over the top but you only want to do it once.

Hello Reds and welcome to the site 👍 Enjoy your telescope; you mention that you have some filters in the kit, does that include a moon filter? I am not sure how bright the moon will appear in your telescope but for not too many pennies it may be a worthwhile purchase. All the best.

After reading the above and not spotting it anywhere in any topic, I am clearly alone in being frustrated at being bitten/stung by nighttime biting flying things. No matter how much stuff I cover myself in, if they don't get me straight away, they get me later after having hitched a ride indoors on me. My family love me coming round at outdoor "events", they know they don't have to worry about being bitten, I am a biting flying thing magnet. I know that roughly 18hours after I get bitten, it starts itching...... and itching...

Did I mention being bitten? 

20 minutes ago, Mandy D said:

Competing by undercutting prices is a potentially dangerous tactic which can start a price war that leads to no-one making money. This is Economics 101. The better thing to do, as a manufacturer, is to keep your prices slightly above the competition and focus on quality and benefits to the customer.

Many moons ago, I used to work for a company called Satchwell, wholly owned by GEC. GEC applied a very strict regime of a minimum gross margin. Time goes by, a few GEC directors changed and with it the GEC policy. The GEC money mountain was consigned to history as was Satchwell. I think that you will see gross margins maintained or the businesses will go to the wall. Not good news for us, but I would rather save for my toys a little longer than see companies disappear.

Hello Radu and welcome to the site. Whichever mount you choose, it will need some sort of power pack, can I suggest a dummy battery for your camera and then power that from the mount power pack or alternatively it's own power pack? This will then get rid of a load of batteries bolted to the tripod. All the best.

11 hours ago, Paul_Sussex said:

Selected a couple of Messiers to view, but they were both below the horizon - must get a list showing locations for the future. So, lessons learned -

Just to make life a little less challenging when you're starting, have a look at the webpages ..... tonightssky.com (note the spelling)

You can set your horizon level and what you would like to see and it will pop up a list of objects for you.  

Enjoy your telescope 👌

I've often wondered whether the two weeks of clouds start when you place the order or when the device arrives 🤔 Be really interesting to get your and your wifes thoughts on it 👌