powerlord

I'm more thinking a sort of captive wheel beyond either edge. So as you (lets talk manual for now) push the roof off, it is free to tilt down as you push, till when it gets to the middle it is fully vertically lying next to outside of roof. Need to find a good source of wheel/rack sort of solutions so I can see what is available. At present I'm thinking something similar to what one of my 3d printers uses. is that a v slot wheel ? So they'd be some sort of guide/rack along the outside edges of the roof sections themselves, and on the shed, only 1 or maybe 2 v wheel sets. so as the middle clears the last one (which is maybe 1/4 way in, it is then free to 'fall' down the way. and with a bump stop at the end of the guide rack, that will rest on the final edge wheel, supporting the roof in it's dangling down mode ? does that make sense ? trying to learn about new stuff like this is interesting, but it is often a pain trying to find the right keywords to actually start finding the info you are looking for. I can see it all in my head clearly.. 😋

The thing I can't get my head around there is that your wife says stuff like that. is it opposite's attract ? 🤣 Anyway, its well known that it is only harmful to the information that you have stored in the water via it being hit with a magic mallet* stu *poor homeophathy joke.

I've been enjoying playing with it all this week. Ask it 'what was the name of the dog in the 1955 film dambusters'.. I mean yes, it was my purile attempt to get it to say a naughty word.. but the answer is not 'I'm not saying that'... On the other hand, it is still amazing - see here when I asked it for a poem about my dog.

Im going to do the same thing for a 3rd mount outside my observatory. what I'm gonna do - is I bought 3 block paving bricks. I'll position each of them to be just right, standing on their edge, then dig out a space bigger than them, fit them just under level of grass with some postcrete under and around them, and mark on the surface the tripod position or possible drill a small indent for tripod. I got black bricks to not stand out - other colours are available. This way they will be rock solid and unlikely to move much at all, minimising the need for much re-PAing whenever I use it. 90p a brick from B&Q. bad of postcrete is less than a tenner. stu

Here's my scale model 'Wendy observatory'. 1:15. Scope is my biggest 300pds. Shed is a 6x9 metal on on ebay.. I think this will work, but will need limit control for low east or west. Everything to scale. Basic eq mount made, so I can move it around and check.

Well, you can do that. But it also provides the drives as samba shares on the network as you'd expect, so you can access them over the network fine if you wish. I use faster 256gb USB3 sticks (Samsung bar plus) which get nearly 400MB/s.

an update - I found the print head had been assembled at the factory with wrong screws so out of alignment, fixed that and was feeling quite chuffed at my bargain, when I noticed the print bed was just continuing to heat.. so the mosfet on the main board for that is also gone. I imagine they shorted the heated bed or something while trying to fix it themselves. no matter - I thought I'd just replace mosfet - but was careless heating it up to remote from board (surface mounted) and broke a track. I thought that I'd had it, so ordered a replacement board for 70 quid (will still be 100+ quid saving on new.. only to then see looking at it under microscope that the track was a top layer and I could have just soldered new mosfet onto the component connected to the track (resistor) - hey ho. Anyway - these are about the best budget printers you can get at the mo - very highly rated in reviews. So if you are in the market - I would definately recommend giving the Kobra Neo a look.

all good points. I was thinking of lining the inside with foil insulation. I don't really have much I want to store out there - most stuff will be in the house except maybe the 300PDS. As I have now, I'd probably just move my metal shelving unit to it - which is both a storage unit, and power source (it has custom build 5v/12v PSU and aviation sockets to connect the mounts with eveything they need. I believe metal shed are really light - the actual sheet metal is very thin (0.3-0.5mm) so roof should weight nowt anyway. I will probably spray paint it white though as I learned with my plastic obsy - black roofs make it get very hot very quickly, even in the spring and with fans for ventilation. But you talking about plastic got me thinking rather than paint, it might be worth doing exactly same thing I did with plastic obsy -added a layer of white correx on the roof - not only does this reflect the heat, but it's corrugated internal structure means it acts as an insulator (from sun on summer, from frost in winter. Floor wise, yes something over the concrete - though metal sheds have a metal frame base that bolts to concrete, so easy to lay something like laminate over it and make it look nice ? Security wise, I reckon there's maybe nowt much in it - if someone wants it, they'll get in. I use wireless blink cameras just now for security and will continue to do so. I'll probably use an electric lock for the door, controlled by a wee esp32 I'll build so I don't need to faff with keys - I have an alexa dot in the obsy just now for similar reasons - it means I can control things by just asking it, rather than fannying around switching things. 'alexa turn dehumidifier on' 'alexa turn mount power off' 'alexa arm observatory' . the only thing you have to ensure is for stuff like opening doors, you can't give it a pin, so you have to have a secret way of doing it. For example, to open by garage door (since there is also an alexa in the garage and you don't want someone just being able to shout 'alexa open garage door' at my garage door), I have it saying (words changed here of course) - 'ALEXA FISHY SQUIRREL PICKLED BEETROOT' - and voila garage door opens. 🙂

re: opening all the way - that was what I was thinking. just now, but plastic obsy roof sits upside down on grass at night, and is often covered in dew or now frost - and yeh - also use a desiccant dehumidifier. I'm 3d printing out some sheds now at 1:15 scale so I can see in 3d as it were what size fits everything, and how to do roof. 🙂

very neat job. concrete or slab base ? and how high is your pier ? For me to get my two mounts setup though I'd need it to be a lot bigger. And I think that's where that method of flipping roof off might become an issue - yours two roof sections are only 2.5 feet x 5 (12.5sq ft) . for an 8x10, they'd be 5 x 8 feet(40 sq ft) so nearly 4 times the area, and likely weight a lot more that 4 times, since they'd have to have extra re-enforcing for the wider span. Can I ask why you made it so they flip out to only horizintal rather than just flipping them out the full 270 degrees to they lie vertically against the sides of the shed when open ? did you think it would be too much stress on the hinges or was their another reason ? I did consider for the larger size, making they flip out in two 'folds' - i.e. one side would flip/fold back on itself 2 feet, then that bit flips back the other 2 feet. But then you have 2 joints in the roof that need to be waterproof (prob via a rubber flange) plus its less convienient and impossible to really automate. cheers stu

Hi chaps, So coming up to a year with my plastic fantasic Correx obsy And it's absolutely served it's purpose - getting me out there every single imaging night, weather proof, etc, etc. But it was never intended as a long term fixture - just for a year or so to check this is something I want to keep doing. I think I'm ready to make something more permanent now. I've decided where it needs to go, and approx the size it needs to be to accomodate my 2 EQ6rs and allow for one of them to have my biggest scope on it (300pds) - around 7x10.. I think 6x8 might be enough, but need to do some more measuring.. 'course you don't get 7x10s in metal, so more like either 8x10 or 6x8. I am swaying very much towards metal sheds - I like the look (in a black or grey will go with garden, I think making the roof retract will be easier as much lighter, and it has to be a 2 part split retract - as I don't want another 10 feet of my garden with posts and supports on it. So if its a 10x8, the 10 is along the edge of my fence/bounday, with the apex running perpedicular, so I have 2 x 5 feet bits of roof that can roll off to each side, and hopefully pivot down so hang vertically to each side - kinda like @Skipper Billy here : but in metal I also like working with metal more - have my own welding gear, etc - so modifying, adding, etc. On the negative side of metal is condensation, but a good DPC on the concrete base, plus inner insulation (silver bubble type probably) will stop most of that I expect. Also, I suppose one might get away with a slab base for a wooden shed (other than for piers), whereas need concrete for metal ? I'm struggling to think of any other negatives though ? Wood wise - much more expensive, a LOT heavier roof makes the design and construction of roof mechanism far more complex. But no condensation issues. I'd like to check if I'm missing some angles ? I already have one 120cm metal pier ready in the garage - with EQ6r mounted and min elevation (if fully rotated west/east - that adds another 35cm, and that seems file to clear the fence. Unfortunately shed is going to be higher than that - unnessessarily, but that can't really be helped. Other than saying if I custom build a wood one, I could make it lower, whereas custom building a metal shed is a LOT more tricky (cutting thing sheet metal, etc). I need to get another similar pier before the build, which will mean either sourcing the metal and cutting/welding myself, or getting a firm to do it I suppose. I'd plan on automating the shed roof too - and again that is a lot easier if it weighs only a few kg vs .. I dunoo if wood- 100kg+ ? - for metal, a few basic stepper motors etc and I could have it all done. However, build wise there are a lot more people using wood - and I'm not pig headed and stupid enought to not ask myself why that is ? have I missed something ? Or is it just that generally most people are happier working with wood ? I mean - do some searches here, or on internet and you find hardly ANY sliding/removable/hinged/{whatever keywords you can think} observatories that have been made from metal sheds.. and that does make me question myself a lot. At the same time most folk though my correx observatory was a mad idea and it's been absolutely amazing to use. So let's just say, while not a contrarian, I don't have a problem walking my own way. Ideally I'll like to plan it all over the next month or so, and start work in the new year - as it's going in a different place from the plastic fantasic obsy - I can keep imaging in there for now. stu

I got a 3rd 3d printer last week - anycubic kobra neo. I liked it do much, they were also selling customer returns (as non working) for 70% off.. So I took a punt and bought a 4th - anycubic kobra.. Hoping I can get it working too. Here it is in box next to neo. Building now!

full build all here: still going strong, solid and weather proof.

it's a generalisation. Not sure how true it is. I write software for a living. I've just reverse engineered a ZWO EFW and build my own from scratch in my spare time. I've written software apps, drivers, etc. I'm about as techie as they get. I don't understand the animosity from some people about it tbh. I've never met an asiair user that doesn't see the merit in nina, etc. However there seems to be plenty on the other side that down rate the asiair. It's kind of sad. The work required to integrate and make it almost 100% reliable with such an easy to use UI on all mobile devices is non trivial. Nothing else comes close. Or frankly is even being seriously developed. If you prefer your mini PC (and if nina running windows - a nightmare in itself), then happy playing. Really I mean it. But to not see the power of the asiair is very blinkered and sad imho - they have pushed the hobby futher in the last 3 or 4 years than all the other (mostly badly designed) software has in the last 10. an asair is a pi, case, power module, software and updates. so alone you are talking 150-200 to build the same thing yourself (and it would look terrible). So sure - you pay a premium - that's what most products are - solutions build from a bunch of other things, integrated to work together in a seemless way with a premium price tag, built by people who know these things are important. It's the same reasons I have a house full of macs - as do most of my engineering friends - because they are built well, and 'just work' so we can get on and code. Almost all of us at work have macs for the same reasons - we can focus on running 4 VMs at once or building linux pipelines to AWS or whatever without having to wait while windows installs a driver just because you've moved a USB stick to a different port. Or having to wait every morning when windows reboots again to download more badly written junk updates for the day. rant over. {now cue the anti-apple mob which very often will be the same people} If you prefer to build it all yourself - with the sweat tears, problems, lack of support, but also the pleasure and flexibility you will get - more power to you. However, I can't say in all honestly I would ever recommend any of the alternatives to a beginner at present - every one of them is a nightmare of a mess. And as long as those who use them seem to be happy with the mess, or even don't see the problems, the mess will stay. Look at the 'serious' astronomer channels - often they have ignored it for ages too - turning their nose up at it - then they finally give in, try it and are amazed mostly - or they moan about trivial little things that you don't throw the baby out for (e.g. losing 10 mins at meridian flip). humpf. merry xmas.

What I mean is not very well - it's only 720/1080p type thing, its not raw either. so compared to grabbing 100s frames per second in raw off a usb3.0 camera on my mac, it's pretty useless.

Well, my vote is asiair. I have 3 of them. I've tried nina, I've tried astroberry, I've tried windows Kstars, etc. Yes it ties you to ZWO stuff - which is all good for me as far as I'm concerned - compatibility is king. Happy with that ? go for asiair - it is absolutely great imho. If you want it 'just to work' - and be easy to use via phone or tablet it is the only option whatever folk tell you about it being 'so easy to use remote desktop with asiair with a tablet' or some such nonsense. As a beginner, I'd say give it a try - get one second hand - if you don't like it, sell it for what you've bought it. That way, you won't spend countless hours trying to understand something like NINA (and it IS complex - even getting it installed since it's just a hub for all the other bits you need - drivers, plate solving, databases, guiding software, etc, etc). I'm not dissing NINA - it serves a purpose. But it's not 'better' than asiair or 'worse', it is what it is. I would not consider myself a casual APer - I have an observatory, 2 EQ6R mounts, asi2600s, tons of kit, and I'm imaging every single night I can. But there is literaly only ONE thing that asiair doesn't do now that I need to use a pc/mac for - planetary video imaging. There is not one other thing that I think to myself 'ooo I need X so bad and asiair doesn't have it, I might have to setup nina'. Yes, the big one you have to decided is 'am i ok with only buying zwo camera' - I mean lets face it its hardly a biggy to buy ZWO EFW and EAFs - there much of a muchness. frankly I'd say the same for cameras - the same chip is in the competition. Arguably the only reason to go elsewhere is cost which is where the competition competes really. Something I've never found an issue, since ZWO is the market leader, I tend to be able to pick up used or reconditioned (from FLO) cameras at less than the cheaper ones anyway. Again, each to their own, but it seemed the advice you were getting so far was a bit one sided, so thought I'd post my POV for a bit of balance. stu

After Cepheus (my mosaic I just posted) disappears I shot this for a few hours. So about 9 hours worth of data. 10 mins subs as usual. Shot at F5.6 with L-ultimate as I've not worked out the precise backfocus for the SY135 yet and the 3 stops are needed to control the outer edges. I reduced the stars a bit, as they are a bit in yer face in this one. Processed in APP and Affinity Photo as usual. I've done these targets many times now, but there's always something new in there. I fancy doing a close up of that wee blue bit in the upper right whatever it is.

wide open with no fitlers I can get crisp stars edge to edge with it. But with a filter (L-ultimate here), I am still struggling to finf the best back focus. So shutting down to f5.6 gets me decent stars at the edges. I did try step down rings, but I find thry give me a horrible darker spot in the image which is a real pain to remove. Using the regular aperture ring works fine for me with no side effects.

With asiair's new Mosaic modes it's become very easy to do mosaics - so here's my first Mosaic - 8 panels, cropped square of the Cepheus region shot over the last 2 evenings. Shot with asi2600 and SY135mm at F5.6 with an L-ultimate on my EQ6R-pro. About 2 1/2 hours per panel, 10 min subs. All shot under a near full moon and bright orange sky which did not help the process admittedly, but hey - you gotta take yer clear nights where you get em! Stacked in APP, and processed as usual in affinity photo and Siril. I tried more than usual to 'fake' my Sii so really bring out a range of SHO colours by blending my ha and oiii. Obviously with so limited exposure per panel, no chance of the squid making an appearance - I did consider compositing in a squid from my early 30 hours squid image, but though I'd leave it as plain SY135 subs in the end - so here u go. I'm uploading the full 85MP jpg! - so click on it for full res if u like, but it is 53MB 🙂

First light for eq6r-Pro no 2. After a brief affair with a zwo am5, we parted company, and a decided to go with old faithful. Not great forecast tonight, but just wanted to get it tried out! 2 eq6rs, 2 asi2600s. One tonight with a sy135, the other with a redcat

Dada and its done! Now to make a second one so each of my mounts has one.

I use solidworks which has threads as standard. I'd imagine others have similar ? As vlaiv says, print at 0.1 slow with PLA and should come out fine - be careful first few times you screw it into something to ensure it doesn't cross thread, and the aluminium will cut the 3d thread and make a clean thread which is easier to thread next time.

Hi, so firstly - I did not know about the reverse setting !! that makes a difference! And does somewhat make my filter holder a mute point. So thanks for that. And therefore, it was all for nothing. Hmm, I admit I was thinking camera lenses like the SY135 were immune to a particular backfocus similar to something like my redcat - petzval designs. Or, say my newts - where unless using a flattener there is no real concept of optimal back focus, provided it can reach focus. It sounds like I'm mistaken and most camera lenses are not petzal types then ? That does, I have to say tie in with my test tonight, when I found massive what looked like coma around the sharp centre when I tried it.. though as I've seen this before using my only L-extreme at correct back focus, I assumed it was something to do with fast lens vs filter and decided to image with the redcat tonight instead. I did find when I tried it a few weeks or so ago though that with the L-ultimate I really was right on the end stop. i.e. might have been better beyond it.. so not being able to reduce the BF a bit might still be an issue at least with my SY135 but in that case, I can try spacing out my attempt above to 43mm or so and try. thanks for the info - u live and learn. I will try the next night with the regular zwo adapter with L-ultimate and reverse enabled and see what it looks like. stu

Hi chaps, in case of use to others - I've found using my EFW with asiair and the 135 a bit hit and miss due to the focal point being so near the max end stop. The asiair starts autofocus by going beyond where you've placed it, then moving slowly back till in focus. If it hit the stop it can't do this and gives some 'abnormal focus' messsage and quits trying. This is aggrevated if using a NB filter as it pushes the focal point even closer to the max. This, by the way is with a standard ZWO M42 to EF lens adapter. However, if you use the shorter adapter (I've got the old one which was a separate adapter, but I think the v2 is one thing in 2 parts), which is supposed to be so that you can add a filter wheel into the mix (but we don't here), then you bring the focal point into the middle of the focus ring range - and EFW has no problems. However.. and again, this might not be the case with the V2 adapter - I don't have one to check - the short adapter does not have an internal thread for mounting 2" filters unlike the longer one. So - where to put a filter ? So - I designed and printed an adapter that clips into the inside M38ish hole in the short adapter and provides an M48 thread to screw your filter into. At the mo I've got the internal part as 1.5mm (so reducing the 38mm hole to 35mm.. not sure if that matters light gathering wise, but might try printing it at 1mm thickness to gain another 1mm circumference. Anyway, works a treat - shown here with just a clear UV filter as an example. Proof in the pudding will be trying it tonight as looking good weather. I'll be using with an L-ultimate.

Good to here. I noticed es making an appearance on astrobiscuits latest video. Nice to put a face to a name there. Hey - it's what we pay insurance for... Many years ago I came home to find the main stop cock had blown off the main water inlet under my kitchen sink. So the ground floor was flooded with water about a foot deep. The insurance (aviva) were absolute stars.. They had industrial dehumidifiers in place next day.. No issues replacing solid oak flooring in living room which was warping, etc. The real test was, being a techy geek I had had 4.. Yes 4.. Laptops all sitting on the floor in my study as I'd been upgrading stuff.. Of course all 4 were under water. I expected some hassle claiming there, but no bother either. When something nasty happens, u feel a bit better when at least insurance wise you know its in hand.👍