Jasonb

Thanks a lot John! I just looked at the Sky-watcher 1.72" Steel tripod that FLO sell with the Sky Tee 2, and it is clear in the pics of it that the "well" on that tripod is much deeper than 7mm. I assume this is because it can take other mounts with bigger protrusions.

In other words, in the recommended setup (SkyTee 2 and 1.75" Sky-watcher Steel Tripod), the bottom of the protrusion does not hit the tripod, only the outside ring sits on the tripod.

All of which means, as long as my washer is more than 7mm, so that the protrusion base doesn't hit the tripod, then I have the same setup as the recommended one. A 8mm washer, or even a 10mm or 12mm washer, would be just fine, and there would be a small gap between the bottom of the protrusion and the top of the tripod, just like there is when using the actual recommended tripod. 

So I can get an 8mm Washer from Lasermaster for about €30 give or take, and I will see what I can get in Ireland and if it will be cheaper!

12 hours ago, Ratlet said:

How close to 7mm does it need to be?

If you stack a 50,20,2 and 1p you'll get a stack 6.9mm high.  4 of these will be 6.9mm.

If you want to go the other way 2*1p, 1*2p and 1*10p will be about 7.2mm.

You'll need 4 of the stacks but it'll balance the outer ring and it's a lot cheaper than a tripod.

I'd have to figure that out in Euro!  But I think I prefer getting a solid washer that makes a connection all the way around, just a much more permanent solution.
 

12 hours ago, John said:

The Skytee II base projection is pretty close to 7mm. Other mounts have slightly longer or shorter projections. 

Stacking coins or washers and putting them at 3 equally spaced points around the projection would be workable, maybe as a temporary approach ?

 

I'm guessing the protrusion is 7mm or less, as if it were more than 7mm then there would be a very slight gap between the washer and your mount, as it would be standing proud a little bit, right John?

LaserMaster offer 6mm and 8mm, I can always email them to see if they do 7mm. I reckon it would cost about €30 in total for me to get the disk made from them, including shipping and customs duty etc.

I am gonna contact a company I found here in Ireland to see if they do a similar service, and how much it would cost, just to compare...

I'm actually seeing if there are any similar services in Ireland, as that might save me money on shipping/customs etc. But at least I have the correct measurements now from @John, so that's great.

Clearly I am not the only person who has faced this issue! A quick question about your washer Omo, do you know what material it's made of? I am no expert but I am guessing aluminium would be fine for a job like this, or should it be steel? I see you have yours permanently attached with bolts, I think I would be happy with mine just sitting in place, as the mount would hold it against the tripod.

I had a quick look at Lasermaster, £15 to get a 100/60 disk made from Aluminium. They only do 6mm or 8mm thickness though, I might see if they can do 7mm if I email them, as @John's disk is 7mm in depth.

Wow, that looks perfect! Nice one John, just seeing that really helps me see what I am trying to get done...

6 minutes ago, John said:

I have an alloy adapter disk that does exactly this. It fits onto the base of my Skytee II creating a flat, wide bottom to the mount.

The dimensions of the disk are 100mm diameter, the hole in the centre is 60mm and the disk is 7mm thick. Mine came with a mount so I don't know who made it I'm afraid.

I use the thing, otherwise I'd pass it on to you !

 

 

 

 

It's good to know it's a possible solution then! Any chance you could show me a pic of it in place, if that's not too awkward? Do you know if the 7mm is a perfect height, or does the bottom of the protrusion on the Skytee 2 not reach down all the way to the bottom of the disk, and doesn't touch the tripod?

Good ideas, thanks Harry! I definitely need to get the exact dimensions so I know what I am looking for. My local telescope shop is waiting for some Sky Tee 2 mounts to come in, so I can't measure until I get my hands on one (or some kind soul on here measures theirs! )

Hi there,

I currently have an Sky-watcher AZ5 mount and a Meade Field 2" Steel Tripod. The top of the Tripod is perfectly flat (ignore the three bolts, they can come out) with a hole in the middle for the bolt from below (the hole is about 20mm diameter).

The base of the AZ5 is also flat, and fits together perfectly with my tripod. However, I am hoping/planning to buy a Sky Tee 2 mount, and the base of the Sky Tee 2 isn't flat...

You can see the protrusion coming out of the base of the mount, it's 60mm in diameter but I don't know yet how high/deep it is, and I don't know yet the total diameter of the whole base of the mount itself. The protrusion is designed to slip into the "well" at the top of some Sky-watcher tripods.

So, for my current set up (150P Reflector) I think just attaching the mount onto my tripod (and using an M10 bolt to tighten it in place) will probably be fine, it will be sturdy enough. However, I plan to upgrade with a heavier scope/counterweights etc., so ideally I want full contact between all of the bottom of the mount and the tripod. In other words, not just the base of the protrusion.

I have searched online for some adaptors, like this one from Berlebach...

but this particular example is too "deep" a well, and also the "walls" of the adaptor are too thin, so really I would have less mount in contact with the tripod/adaptor than I would have without any adaptor at all.

I have also tried searching for basically a large metal washer to act as a collar or gasket around the mount's protrusion, something like this...

One (or more) of those, with the correct dimensions, effectively supporting the outer edge of the mount, with the protrusion sitting in the middle. So far though, I have only been able to find the correct inner diameter (60mm or slightly more) on parts that you have to buy in bulk, and cost hundreds of euro!

So, I am opening this up to the hive mind here. Any suggestions? I know I could "just" get a different tripod and that would solve this problem, but I love my tripod, it's solid as a rock, and I wasn't planning to replace it, and my funds don't go that far. Does anyone have a Sky Tee 2, could they let me know how tall/deep that protrusion is, and the diameter of the full base of the mount, just so I have those figures? Any ideas how to buy/create a collar/gasket for this setup? Preferably one that doesn't cost the same as a new tripod!

All suggestions welcome, thanks!

Thanks for all your comments. I'm not actually in the market for a tripod, I have enough other plans, but it's good to hear the advantages of the wooden tripod!

Thanks...

Hi there,

Just looking for people's experiences comparing Steel v Wood tripods. I have a Meade Field Steel Tripod, the legs are 5cm in diameter. It a heavy beast but can take lots of weight and has done me well so far. 

I have heard that the best tripods for vibration dampening are wooden ones, but I don't know how they compare for load bearing as well. Would a wooden tripod handle as much weight as a 5cm diameter steel one? And does it definitely dampen vibrations more? 

Just curious really, I have no plans to upgrade my tripod yet, I'm too busy upgrading other things!

5 minutes ago, Elp said:

Do not ignore this, this is by far more important and worth investing into a good one to begin with. A decent affordable one is the Skywatcher thick steel leg tripod. Going up the price range good (excellent) tripods can cost significantly more.

So to answer the topic, no, do not start with the mount, start with the tripod.

Yep, as Elp says, a steel tripod is immediately more steady then an aluminium one, and it makes a noticeable difference!

Binoculars are an excellent tool, and sometimes under used/valued! Have fun choosing your first setup, the possibilities and research is almost as fun as getting to see things through them!

I would be selling the AZ5 on its own, as I'll be keeping the heavy duty tripod I have. Will probably be selling it in the next few weeks, all going well, but it's not up for sale yet. I have found that Astronomy tends to have upgrade steps, where you get the best you can afford at that time, and then in a year or two you might look at upgrading again. That's definitely the path I have followed!

Something like the AZ5, or the BST Starguider EPs, are good investments 'cos they aren't *that* expensive (relatively speaking), are good quality and they can last you for quite a while. The only reason I'm thinking of moving on from the AZ5 is 'cos I hope to get an 8" Reflector, and that would just be too heavy for the AZ5. 

If you're starting out and planning for the future, this Forum is a great place to start, you'll get lots of great advice on here and the people are very friendly! And a lot of the second hand gear is very good as the people here take good care of it, so you can buy second hand with confidence!

I have used the AZ5 mount for a while now (I have a 150 Reflector on it) and am very happy with it, especially with a steel tripod. So I would heartedly recommend it. Quick and simple to set up, can handle up to 5Kg on an aluminium tripod and up to 9Kg on a steel one, and the slow motions controls are really handy.

I might also be selling my AZ5 soon, as I am looking to move to a bigger mount to handle a bigger Reflector, just in case a 2nd hand mount might tempt you to save some money!

Ah, but then how do you choose which one Nicola? Like picking a favourite child! 😊

A great report of a great night, thanks Nicola! So much fun seeing so many targets and comparing them in the different scopes and EPs.

8 minutes ago, Nicola Fletcher said:

Nooooo! I would never do such a thing 😂😂😂😂😂

Maybe not deliberately Nicola, but, bit by bit... scope by scope... Until suddenly you are actually working for Takahashi as their Ireland Sales Rep! 🤣

Looks like it would be a really interesting night!

Unfortunately it looks like it's only in the UK, the tour details are here...

https://timpeake.com/speaking/events/

Thanks for getting back to me. It's not a big deal, clearly, but it would be handy if it could stay in Full Screen mode. It still has Full Screen selected, so I have to deselect it and reselect it. The Small UI option does stay selected when I leave the App and come back in, for example. Anyhow, I appreciate you getting back to me and looking into it, it really is a great App for those of us who don't have GoTo mounts etc.!

Hi @Artik I have been doing some tests with AstroHopper and I find it works really well, thanks for developing it! I do have a quick question though, you might be able to help me.

I am running it on Android 14, and I am running version 1.0.11 of AstroHopper. I like choosing Full Screen in settings, as that basically makes everything bigger and easier to see. I also like turning on Small UI, as that removes some of the options from the screen.

However, I have noticed that if I leave the App (just switching to another App, but leaving it running in the background) and then go back into AstroHopper again, it's no longer in Full Screen mode. Full Screen is still selected, but I have to de-select it and select it again to get it to go back to Full Screen. Is there a way to stop this from happening?

Thanks a lot...

J.

On 10/10/2023 at 17:21, Ricochet said:

Before you fit the flocking paper run a sticky lint roller over it to pick off any loose fibres. If you don't have a roller you can make a loop of sellotape with the sticky side on outside, and large enough to go around a few fingers, then roll it over the flocking. 

Yep, that's what I did, just to get rid of excess. It's not like it's falling off all over the place or anything like that, some stuff just comes loose as you're moving the material around. Once it's in place, it's no longer being manipulated, so I haven't had any issues with excess lint.

Thanks for your replies... Sounds like I don't need to be going higher with ISO, and in fact could be going lower. And it also sounds like that a lot more shots are needed! I'll have a look at GIMP and Siril when I get a chance!

Hi there,

I'm dipping my toe into AP, basically trying to see if I can capture what I see through the EP. I have a basic setup, and I'm not planning to spending any money to change it or improve it, and to be quite blunt, I'm not looking for any advice regarding equipment to buy etc.! I'm purely trying to maximise what I'm getting out of what I have, and a lot of that seems to come down to Camera settings, Deep Sky Stacker settings, and further Processing! I'm mainly interesting in Clusters and DSOs, like Galaxies etc. But I'm not expecting miracles here. I can't *see* beautiful, colourful, spiral-armed Galaxies through my EP, so I don't expect to capture them via this setup either.

So, to start, I have a Skywatcher 150P Newtonian on an Alt-Az mount. I have a loan of a Canon M50 Mirrorless camera, and I have a T-Ring. So the camera is directly attached to the Telescope focuser, and I'm able to get focus. 

I've done a fair bit of reading about camera settings, and I'm shooting in RAW, I've turned off all the Camera Noise Reduction settings, and have White Balance on the Camera set to Day. I've tried ISO at 3200 and 6400 and am not sure which is better, or if I should go higher still. Using a calculator I found online (https://www.lonelyspeck.com/advanced-astrophotography-shutter-time-calculator/) I am shooting at 0.3s shutter speeds, as this means I'm not getting any Star Trails with my non-tracking mount. The aperture is basically set to Zero as once the lens is off the camera my Telescope becomes the lens. 

What I'm currently doing is I use an EP to find what I want (say the Leo Triplet) and then I connect the camera to the Scope. I use the Camera screen to position the stars I can see on it, zoom in on the screen to focus (my scope has a dual-speed focus) and then I zoom out again. I note where a couple of stars are on the screen, and then I press the shutter. I have the shutter set up to wait for a few seconds after I press it, and then take 10 frames. At 0.3s shutter, this doesn't take long! I then use the slow motion controls to slightly adjust the positions of the stars on the camera screen back to their starting point, and I press the shutter again. Recently I've been getting 80 frames this way, so basically 24 seconds of exposure in total, but clearly that can very easily be increased!

When that's done, I put the telescope cover on, and take another 20 frames with the exact same settings for dark frames, and then I change the Shutter speed to the fastest speed possible (1/4000) and leave everything else the same and take 50 frames for Bias. I reuse these Bias frames, having taken note of the ISO first.

So, that's the actual taking pictures part! Any advice around that? It seems obvious, but should I take more, like hundreds more, light frames, just to up that total exposure time? Any advice about ISO, should I go higher?

Next is DSS. Following a few posts online, here's what I do. I change the RAW Brightness setting to 2.0000 and then I add all the Lights, and register them. I always check the "Star Detection Threshold" and try to get as high as possible (like in the low hundreds if that is possible, but at least getting close to 100), without it being obviously artificially too high. Once the Lights are registered, I have a look at the list of them, choose the one with the best score, and mark that as the reference file. I then change the RAW brightness back to 1.0000 and I add the Darks and Bias, and register them, telling it *not* to register already registered frames (thereby ignoring the already registered Lights). Then I stack them, going with Intersection Mode, and any other recommended settings (which tend to be Kappa Sigma Clipping with my short exposures.). It's set to use the best 95% of the frames for stacking, but the best I've managed is 72 out of 80, with around 50 being more usual.

So, that's DSS and stacking, Any advice around that? Any settings/steps I'm missing, or stuff I shouldn't be doing that I am?

Finally, probably my biggest issue, processing after stacking. I say it's my biggest issue because I don't know what I'm doing here, and therefore haven't really done anything. I have played with the basic processing in DSS (again, following a tutorial) which basically sets a Luminance Curve and then I move the R/G/B levels around. Yes, that *does* make everything brighter, so I can see more stars, and even smudges of a couple of the Leo Triplet Galaxies, but the sky is also brighter too. I have had Photoshop, GIMP and Rawtherapee recommended to me by friends on here, but haven't tried them yet. A friend on here put one of my stacked images through Photoshop but she basically said that the image is too dark, and doesn't have enough light (the Histogram is a thin spike on the left hand side, with no real room to the left of it to stretch it that way for example). So, that suggests that I need to fix something earlier in the process (taking pictures or DSS) before I get to the processing stage. Again I wonder, what are my best options here. Is the answer to getting more light/data into my picture just to take a lot more light frames? 

That's about it, I'd appreciate any advice that's out there. As I said at the start, I *know* this a very basic AP setup, and I'm realistic about my results from it. I'm not looking to change my scope/mount/camera etc. I'm just trying to get to a point where the final picture I get is *good* for the setup I have. In other words, to wring the most out of this setup.

Any questions, please ask away, and if it would help at all for me to upload any of my light frames, or one of the DSS autosaved stacked files, let me know. Thanks..
 

12 hours ago, Spile said:

If I need to raise my 8” Dobsonian (a rare event) , I use a Sankey water butt stand purchased from B&Q for a few pounds. Picture here:

If I was going for a larger aperture, the Dob mount is the one I would consider.

The water butt is a good solution alright!

15 hours ago, Graham Darke said:

My Orion 12 inch f5.3 on its dob mount and my az-eq6. Best of both worlds here. Up and running in seconds on the dob mount for quick visual sessions and I’ve used it for planetary imaging with the driven mount. It just clears the tripod legs when pointed near the zenith. 

Thanks for that, that's an impressive set up you have there!