Ian McCallum

@denodanwhy the huge gaps between sentences and paragraphs?☹️

Nothing too special, other than my first time imaging Uranus, yesterday evening (no Methane filter or full moon either).😂

13 minutes ago, rnobleeddy said:

I've tried the same, but it means I need to have a door slightly ajar to run a cable. I use an outside plug to power my gear, and I haven't been able to get the powerline ethernet adapters to work through an RCD. 

So I just store stuff on the Pi, then the next day, transfer it over WiFi. Hopefully everyone is aware, but Astroberry sets up a share as \\astroberry.local\ and whilst transferring a large set of images this way isn't fast, I just leave it running in the backgroud.

I tend to run mine through a bedroom window, as well as an extension mains cable.

4 minutes ago, rnobleeddy said:

Didn't read the whole thread, but wanted to add an extra plug for a Raspberry Pi + https://www.astroberry.io/ 

It's cheaper, works with almost anything, and has an easy to use, grown  up interface that (for me) is way ahead of NINA or anything else I've seen on Windows. 

The downsides are that because it's open source + linux, you occasionally need to fix something that doesn't work. And the Raspberry Pi WiFi isn't the strongest, so I'd either get a range extender near your garden or use an external USB wifi adapter with an aerial.

It's not for everyone, but IMHO, it's way ahead of a Windows mini-PC (which I have tried).

 

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.

11 minutes ago, Tom62e said:

I hate and love my AA+ 

Pros 

super easy and intuitive interface (until last 2.0 update)

much less to think about

small, light, and clean (power and usb all in one)

All-in-one software - only one software to worry about keeping updated

 

cons

limited functionality (also a Pro - less to think about)

inferior guiding and focusing - the two most important functions!

can be glitchy (loss signal, slow upload/download speeds)

stuck with ZWO platform (their EAF is horrendous although there are work-around). Fan of their cameras.

worst customer service in the entire universe!  I can’t stress this point enough.

 

in summary, I highly recommend AA+ for rank newbies to learn on and not at all for experienced imagers with diversified equipment who desire more control and better functionality.

I'm glad that I didn't buy one and just kept persevering with my RPi 4B with Astroberry OS.

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 minutes ago, Mr Spock said:

Just come in for a break and coffee. Next door's dog is out yapping 😡

Jupiter's a but fuzzy for me, snapping in and out of focus. Got some belt detail at x217.

Things are better higher up, still a bit of fuzz, but steadier. It allowed me to get up to x380 on a couple of tight doubles - HU1036 at 0.5" and HU807 at 0.6". Got both of them in steadier moments.
Ʃ229, 9.21 and 10.29, 2.5", looks lovely in the 12". Spectral class says A but the primary looks blue to me. Having a 2.5" double look bright and wide with pin prick stars at x217 is what we have large scopes for 

I hate yapping dogs. 🤬

Release the beast!😅

1 hour ago, Padraic M said:

Definitely check on focus. I find that adequate focus is hard to achieve without an electronic focuser (others disagree) but either way, sharp focus makes a big difference. Cloud tends to reduce overall contrast, rather than sharpness.

Do you need those filters at all? Less glass between you and the target tends to be better, unless you have a specific reason. And, of course, once you have your setup dialled in, many times more subs will be required!

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.

19 minutes ago, Phillyo said:

Possibly, but you should have removed those frames from the set before stacking the data no?

I'll recheck the subs later. The stacking was done in DSS. 

23 hours ago, Phillyo said:

It looks like your focus is slightly off, I'd work on getting accurate focus first. Leave gain and offset to defaults, not much to be gained by changing them really.

There were some passing clouds during the exposure, could that have caused the problem? 

This was done in Unity gain, would it be better in zero gain, therefore better dynamic range? 

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...😕

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. 

6 minutes ago, SteveNickolls said:

Collinder 70.

Cheers,

Steve

70 of these?😂

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. 

2 hours ago, Stu said:

Well done Steve. Always a nervous feeling doing this but well worth it I reckon.

Regarding smears, I’ve found that using a brand new Baader Microfibre cloth is about the only way to avoid smears. Not too much of an investment given the cost of these scopes.

The biggest ‘danger’ is leaving grit on the lens and it then scratching the coatings. Someone asked what method I use, so for what it’s worth I’ll put it here:

I bought a new brush attachment for our Dyson which I keep for just this job. Without touching the objective, I run it round the edge of the cell to pull any grit away. I then use a bulb blower around the same area, and a soft brush afterwards. Depending how things look, I’ll likely repeat the same cycle again, and end up with the vacuum to be as sure as I can that everything is gone.

I then use a new micro fibre cloth, spraying the Wonderfluid onto the cloth and giving it a good soaking. I then apply this to the objective with no movement, just kind of gentle dabbing to moisten the whole surface, aiming to loosen any stubborn dirt. Then it’s just a case of keeping the cloth moist and gently cleaning with minimal pressure and movement. Any movement should not be circular supposedly, but I’m not sure I always manage that.

I find with a new cloth, stealing is minimal, but ultimately a bit of breath at the end can help just remove any streaks.

Not saying that’s anything official or recommended but it’s how I do it, based on various input from others and watching it being done. I guess if I’m doubt, take it to someone who knows what they are doing!

I’ll be interested to see whether the periodic flaring I was seeing on Mars has gone away now the Tak is clean.

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...

Aren't some of these thinner Allen keys made out of a type of steel wire?

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.

23 minutes ago, fwm891 said:

The USB 3 cable is direct camera to laptop the usb 2 is via the mounts hub to a different laptop port

Forgive me for asking, but is the laptop's USB port a USB 3 (blue colour)?

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! ☁️🌧️🌨️☔

25 minutes ago, scitmon said:

By uncooked do you mean the non cooled one?  If so I would rethink that, save a little longer for the pro version, or shop around for a second hand one.

As for CA on the Startravel... not sure on broadband images, but if you go down the narrowband route you can certainly get decent results.  Example: https://www.astrobin.com/dlrjp8/0/ 

I think the big question mark is your mount, have you experimented already on how long an exposure you can get before star trailing starts?  

 

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. 

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? 

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? 

This came courtesy of @bilbo...