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Everything posted by Doversole
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NEW Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer GTi
Doversole replied to FLO's topic in Sponsor Announcements and Offers
Nice to see some good competition between iOptron and Skywatcher on these light mounts. Adding the GoTo function and guiding in Dec is a really benefit compared to the SkyGuider and former Sky Adventurer! -
There is another Youtube video showing that the WO wedge won't fit. This is because the wedge is mounted the other way around at a 90 deg angle, and the travel course of the WO wedge doesn't allow that.....😒 I am not entirely sure it couldn't work in the UK though. It may be mainly an issue if you were using the low latitude version of the WO wedge (7-34 Deg -> which would be transformed in a 56-83 deg now), not so much with the high latitude wedge (32-59 deg). I would love a clear confirmation. If I need to add another £110 to get the dodgy iOptron base or wait and pay another £200 for an updated WO base, it may be a killer for me...
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Seems like a great plan. I use a similar guiding equipment and software. It works very well. You will need a bit of cable management though. You will have to connect your 120mini to your main camera using a USB cable (data transfer and power). The 120mini is sufficient for your setup. You will also have a USB cable from your mount to the laptop and the USB cable from your main camera also to the laptop. No need to use an ST4 cable from the guide camera to the mount. As said above EQMOD will be needed to control your EQ6r-pro mount from the laptop through the APT interface as well as the guiding via PHD2. Good luck and clear skies!
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Hi All, I got a question for you. This my equipment: RC8 scope from StellaLyra, ASI071MC-cool camera, EQ6R Pro mount. This photo of M13 was actually the first light of my new (second hand) ASI071MC camera, better suited to the RC8 scope than my previous one, the ASI533MC (larger sensor, bigger pixels). You may notice the stars are a bit elongated in the corners. I checked before taking this picture a defocused star in the middle and was quite happy with the shape of the donut. I got a few assumptions on the issue here but would welcome your views: - The RC is suppose to have no coma. Well that's the theory. Maybe given the large sensor (28mm diagonal) you still get some coma and I just need to accept it? - Distance between the mirrors: in theory the FL should be 1625mm. Plate-solving indicates it is 1635mm. Should I do something about it? - The nice donut star shape indicates (I think) that the secondary is well collimated. I never dared checking the Primary. Are the elongated stars a sign of bad Primary collimation? Thanks and clear skies!
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Interestingly the iOptron site in the US offers the mount (without iPolar) at a price of $558 (see https://www.ioptron.com/product-p/sheq.htm) Whereas the Star adventurer GTi is offered on the Sky-Watcher US website at $740 (see https://www.skywatcherusa.com/collections/star-adventurer-gti/products/star-adventurer-gti-mount-kit) That would be a no brainer!!
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The OCAL manufacturer has issued a specific video to collimate the RC scopes. I was just a bit concerned by starting to tweak the primary mirror before lookimg at the secondary. I always believed you should first tweak the secondary and most of the time never touch anything on the primary.
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How does focus and collimation affect your star size?
Doversole replied to Doversole's topic in Imaging - Deep Sky
I tried last night ditching the bahtinov mask and using instead the focus tool on the ASIAIR. The curve was a bit all over the place, not really sure of what I was doing but I was surprised this morning to discover that I decreased the FWHM by about 30%. So thanks for the advice! -
How does focus and collimation affect your star size?
Doversole replied to Doversole's topic in Imaging - Deep Sky
Thanks for the advice. I will try the focus tool included with the ASIAIR. I agree it may also be the local seeing! Fortunately we got a few clear nights in front of us! -
How does focus and collimation affect your star size?
Doversole replied to Doversole's topic in Imaging - Deep Sky
Thanks @vlaiv. Here you are! I did use deconvolution to reduce the star size in the processed image above. Light_NGC2903_300.0s_Bin2_533_gain100_20220322-221854_0022.fit -
SGL 2022 Challenge 3 - Galaxy Clusters
Doversole replied to MartinB's topic in SGL Challenges and Competitions
Another attempt at the Hickson Group 44. This image was taken from West Sussex in the UK, on a full moon (but who would disregard some clear sky in England??) with my RC8 on a EQ6-R mount, ASI533MC color camera. 69 subframes of 180s each, Gain 100, Bin2. 19th March.- 50 replies
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How does focus and collimation affect your star size?
Doversole posted a topic in Imaging - Deep Sky
Hi folks! I pointed my RC8 scope yesterday on a nice Spiral Galaxy NGC2903 in Leo. My equipment: StellaLyra RC8, EQ6-R mount, ASI533MC color camera. I selected 44 subframes of 300s each, Gain 100, Bin2. PixInsight gives me a FWHM close to 4" which I found a bit disappointing. My seeing conditions in West Sussex yesterday were around 1.88" (according to MeteoBlue), my guiding RMS was 0.85. Giving these conditions & guiding, I believe I could get a better FWHM. So my question is: Can this be due to collimation? Or average focus (I use a bahtinov mask)? Would an EAF improve this dramatically? Or am I missing something? Thanks! -
Starnet++ v2
Doversole replied to The Lazy Astronomer's topic in Imaging - Image Processing, Help and Techniques
It seems Starnet++ version 2 is really good at removing stars on a stretched image (is that what we call non linear?). But ideally you would want to separate the stars from the DSO early on to process both images differently. Trying to strech the result of a starless image I see some star artifcats appearing, not sure that is the case with StarXterminator. -
After a bit of research, the Astro Essentials 0.75 reducer is limited to an image circle of 15mm which is too small for my ASI1600MM camera. The CCD47 from TS can be used with a bigger image around 29mm if used with a backfocus of 85mm. Not sure what is the difference with the Astro Physics CCDT67, they seem to share the same characteristics. Although it seems hard to find the Astrophysics model currently. I honestly find the Riccardi reducer a bit expensive compared to the RC8...
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New RC8 StellaLyra - Collimation needed?
Doversole replied to Doversole's topic in Getting Started Equipment Help and Advice
Thanks @vlaiv, I tweaked the secondary with a bright star in the centre of the frame, then took another picture of M27. Much better indeed and not that difficult. Thanks again for your help! -
New RC8 StellaLyra - Collimation needed?
Doversole replied to Doversole's topic in Getting Started Equipment Help and Advice
I took this image, slightly defocused and centered on M57 to test the collimation. I still need to rotate the image train to make sure it is not the image train that is misaligned... Objective for the next clear sky opportunity! From the image, would you believe this is an off axis coma issue linked with the secondary mirror? I agree @vlaivthe primary is unlikely to have moved during transportation. Just wanted to share here before I try to follow the DSI methodology ! -
New RC8 StellaLyra - Collimation needed?
Doversole replied to Doversole's topic in Getting Started Equipment Help and Advice
Thanks, I didn't think about that. I will try on the next occasion.