Enceladus Dan
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Everything posted by Enceladus Dan
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Did you manage to make a power box? I'm in the process of making one and my next project is the cooler like you made for my 600D. My idea is a box with a 12v 95ah agm leisure battery, my output requirements were: Hp elitedesk 800 g2 Mini PC- 19.5v 3.3A Old laptop screen 12v 2A Dew heaters and camera 12v 5A Tracking motors 6v <1A Once finished I'm hoping to have an all in 1 box with a harness inside that I only have connect to the telescope. I have access to a bortle 4 site with SQM 21.3 but it's 3km away from any power, also good that nearest street lights are also 3km away. The led ones at the back of my garden cause me so much hassle. I just need to finish the lower part of the lid with some black perspex and mount the battery monitor, buck converter 12-6v, dual USB charger and a mouse mat. With the left over I will block in the back of the lcd panel as it let's out lots of light. The harness will have 3x usb 3 (dslr, guiding with the asi120mm and planetary with asi462) Tracking power, dew heaters and camera. All wrapped in a cable tidy. Hopefully I will leave the RA, Dec and ST4 cables in the harness too. So far with an old 68ah car battery I had in the shed it ran for 5 hours as it is, just the PC running PHD2 and APT and the screen. The battery monitor showed 12v 90% when I packed up. Regards Danny.
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From the album: By Enceladus Dan
Same data but a second attempt at processing. -
From the album: By Enceladus Dan
A new try at M57, which was one of my first images I took when I started this journey in June 2021. Using my new modified 600D I took: 20 x 120s exposures with L-pro 10 x 120s Darks 30 x Flats 50 x Bias Stacked in DSS and processed in Gimp. -
From the album: By Enceladus Dan
A quick test to see what my newly modified 600D can do. Taken from my back garden in Bortle 5 skies with a 50% moon. I found it hard to find the target, at 30 seconds I could see some red but not distinguish where I was around the NA / Pelican nebula region. My camera and telescope only gives me a small field of view only just managing to get the pelican in the frame. In the end at 180 seconds I could make out some of the beak and mainly identified the target by looking at the stars in relation to images on telescopious. Once framed I took 9x 300s subs, but in hind sight I should stick with 180s. The images were good but the darks show a lot of dark noise glowing in the bottom left. I tried to process as best as I could with 3x darks and the same flats and bias as I usedbin M13. I'm happy for a quick 45 min check of the camera, but waiting for a longer session with the target higher in the sky and no moon where I can try and get better data with less dark noise. -
From the album: By Enceladus Dan
Taken from my back garden in bortle 5 skies. The moon was 50% This is the first image with my 600D, I chose to image M13 as a comparison to my first ever DSO when I stared this hobby in June 2021. 19x 180s subs with the l-pro to help with the moon. Although I wish I didn't as I seem to have lost the different colours of the starts. Darks, flats and bias taken after imaging the pelican nebula which was just rising over the trees. -
From the album: DIY Projects
Storage under the OTA. -
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From the album: DIY Projects
Storage box for my 150PDS and other equipment. -
Using a canon ef lens with faulty appature blades.
Enceladus Dan replied to Enceladus Dan's topic in Discussions - Cameras
Thanks for both replies, good to know it should work. After Google search was worried I would get error message and not e able to use the camera. But there was no specific answer for manual mode, I was hoping it would work just as if was an old m42 lens or telescope which don't have the electric functions for the camera to communicate with. I may dabble with attempting a fix, maybe after seeing what results I get first. I have heard of stopping down to increase sharpness, but no real experience with lens astrophotography as I only have the 18-55 kit lens. Thanks again. Danny -
Hello, I have found an EF 50mm f/1.8 ii lens cheap because its appature blades are stuck at f/1.8. It states the Optics are good and clear, the focus works only the blades are stuck so it's sold as spares or repair for £29 which if working would come to around £70. My question is, will my canon 600d accept the lens and allow me to use it in manual mode, or will it give me errors and not let me operate my camera. I'm hoping this will be a cheap widefield lens as I will only use it at f1.8 and in manual mode. Thanks for any responses Danny
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From the album: DIY Projects
The finished straps with nylon outer strap and velcro. -
From the album: DIY Projects
From the front. the fan is mounted on rubber anti vibration plugs, the small box houses the RCA for the rear and LED indicator for the heater. Under the fan is 2 switches so I can use the fan and heater independently or together. -
From the album: DIY Projects
My 6th DIY project was heater straps, I made 3 using nichrome wire inside heat shrink. One for the secondary mirror was wrapped round the mirror stem then taped in place. The other 2 were turned into straps for the guide scope and a spare for Telrad or camera if needed. -
From the album: DIY Projects
I originally wasn’t planning on heating the primary mirror as I read it’s less vulnerable to dew and a fan is sufficient to keep it at bay, but as I got a pack of these 5ohm ceramic resistors for the secondary mirror (they were larger than I thought) I used them on the primary. They are stuck onto the mirror with some thermal silicone just on the sides so they can be removed easy. -
From the album: DIY Projects
Wiring on the rear. RCA is for the heater on the primary mirror. The heater and fan work from the same PWM output. -
From the album: DIY Projects
After drilling the holes and cutting out the centre hole. I put a sticker on to make it look nice. -
From the album: DIY Projects
My 7th DIY project is the fan for the OTA, I read as well as cooling the mirror quicker ( not an issue for me as I take forever to get set up) it can keep Dew away just by moving ambient temp air around the mirror. The 3mm circle Perspex was bought on eBay cut to size for a few quid, easier than trying to cut out a circle. -
From the album: DIY Projects
Some stickers to make it look nice. -
From the album: DIY Projects
Some stickers to make it look nice. -
From the album: DIY Projects
Assembled and running. -
From the album: DIY Projects
My 5th project was the Dew Heater controller, this was the 2nd enclosure as I wasn’t happy with how the first one went. Using a PWM Led dimmer and some simple components. -
From the album: DIY Projects
12v in, Camera out with capacitor to hopefully stop and potential noise, fuses for the PWM board and Camera out. -
From the album: DIY Projects
Outputs and Led indicators. -
From the album: DIY Projects
All stitched up ready for nylon strap and Velcro. -
From the album: DIY Projects
Small layer of fibre fill to hopefully make the inside hotter. with the fill, second cotton layer and a nylon outer strap I hope more heat passes out the inside so the strap can get to the same level of heat with less power.
