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Ian McCallum

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Everything posted by Ian McCallum

  1. @denodanwhy the huge gaps between sentences and paragraphs?☚ī¸
  2. Nothing too special, other than my first time imaging Uranus, yesterday evening (no Methane filter or full moon either).😂
  3. I tend to run mine through a bedroom window, as well as an extension mains cable.
  4. I used to use the RPi Wi-Fi, but nowadays I just use a wired Cat 6 Ethernet cable out to it instead. As I store the FITS files on an external USB 3 thumb drive, the Wi-Fi used to crash and cause problems, etc. Now that I use the cable instead, I can have a stable and fast connection, also utilising the USB 3 thumb drive.
  5. I'm glad that I didn't buy one and just kept persevering with my RPi 4B with Astroberry OS.
  6. I had another go at part of M42, last night. The setup was the usual SW ST120 achro, with a ZWO ASI224MC camera (fitted with Baader Contrast Booster and IR/UV cut filters). I took 20 x 30sec subs and the same number of darks, at the same exposure and gain settings, etc. I used Unity gain with an offset of 140, with a 2 second pause between exposures. I used a Bahtinov mask to get a sharp focus on Betelgeuse.
  7. Release the beast!😅
  8. I didn't get a nice bright star to use the Bahtinov mask on, that night. I need the Contrast Booster filter, due to the chromatic aberration of the achromat.
  9. I'll recheck the subs later. The stacking was done in DSS.
  10. There were some passing clouds during the exposure, could that have caused the problem?
  11. This was done in Unity gain, would it be better in zero gain, therefore better dynamic range?
  12. I did some imaging of part of M42, this evening. The setup was the usual SW ST120 achro, with a ZWO ASI224MC camera (fitted with Baader Contrast Booster and IR/UV cut filters). I took 20 x 10sec subs and the same number of darks, at the same exposure and gain settings, etc. There is more detail in the image, but I'm not great with teasing out the best details...😕
  13. I was imaging part of M42, this evening. This gave me the first opportunity to try out some new dew heater straps and a second hand dew controller.
  14. With all this objective lens cleaning (started by @Stu) , I bit the bullet and decided the clean mine, as the dew spots seemed to be getting bigger. I used a brand new Baader microfibre cloth with Baader Wonder Fluid, but kept getting smears. After about a dozen times, I managed to get it cleaner. My hands were clean before doing this. The cloth with fluid on it managed to pick up some of the blackening from inside the OTA.
  15. I did use a brand new Baader cloth, but couldn't figure out why it was leaving smears. I spoke to @Chrisfrom FLO, but he was at a loss. My hands were thoroughly clean and I didn't touch the lens. If I ever have to clean it again, I'll try to get something like those white cotton gloves or latex ones...
  16. I cleaned the inside of the objective lens on my SW ST120 achromat. I was a bit of a nerve wracking experience as the telescope is only a few months old. It was to remove some dew spots that seemed to be growing. Using Baader Wonder Fluid and a Baader microfibre, I managed to remove the spots, but ended up with smears that were had to get rid of. After about eight times cleaning it, the smears have mostly vanished. I didn't touch the glass with my fingers, but just sprayed a little of the fluid onto the cloth and use that. It did remove a little of the blacking inside the assembly, but this was due to the solvent in the fluid touching the blackening.
  17. Forgive me for asking, but is the laptop's USB port a USB 3 (blue colour)?
  18. I've decided to stay with what I have at the moment. I need more experience before I upgrade anything. The only thing that stops me is the garbage Scottish weather! ☁ī¸đŸŒ§ī¸đŸŒ¨ī¸â˜”
  19. I use the Raspberry Pi loaded with Astroberry OS on it, for the brains of the mount I can quite easily track DSO's for a few hours using the internal guider in Ekos or PHD2. I use a ZWO ASI 120MM mini attached to a guidescope for tracking. I use a Baader Contrast Booster to help reduce chromatic aberration.
  20. Having the Sky-Watcher Startravel 120 achromatic refractor on a EQ5 Pro SynScan mount, I've dabbled in a bit of astrophotography. This has been mainly with a ZWO ASI 224MC planetary camera, but I'd like to get something with a larger sensor. I was thinking of the ZWO ASI 533MC uncooked version, due to my budget. I know the limitations of the telescope due to CA, but do you think I'm throwing good money after bad?
  21. I'm just wondering if anyone on the forum has any experience using either the Svbony SV405CC or SV605CC one shot colour cameras, at all?
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