Doversole

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...

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!

I used a PI tool to get a map of the star size. Confirms it's not fully collimated!

Thanks, that was helpful.

I measured the size of the stars across the photo and stars are bigger on the top of the image (close to 6 pixels) compared to the centre and bottom of the image (closer to 4 pixels).

I will try your collimation method @vlaiv for the Primary.

Cheers!

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!

Has anyone find out whether it would be possible to reuse the WO wedge designed for the SkyguiderPro?

It's a much better wedge for PA.

Thanks!

2 hours ago, vineyard said:

Huh, its not priced on the FLO website yet.  Crikey - I'd better get in there.  Did they give a lead time?  You're right on the SGPros.

It's priced. Not the version with iPolar but the AZ and the EQ versions. Time lead is 40-60 days 🙄

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/ioptron-mounts/ioptron-skyhunter-az-goto-mount-package.html

I may need a small dovetail to adapt between the WO wedge and the AZ Skyhunter mount.

Probably something like that:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/ioptron-mount-accessories/ioptron-top-plate-for-alt-azimuth-adjustable-base.html

Would love confirmation though....

Just ordered mine today @FLO  AZ version for £489 hoping I can reuse the WO wedge.

There will be a few SkyGuider Pro on the second hand market!

20 hours ago, vineyard said:

Agreed @Doversole, the US bundles & pricing are v interesting - also v good to see that they're offering an AZ bundle only (ie, without either the wedge or the iPolar).  Hopefully same will apply here - @FLO any idea of UK pricing & timetables that you can share?

Actually I hadn't thought about the AZ bundle. I already have a WO wedge I am using the with Skyguider Pro, I might actually reuse it on this new iOptron mount!

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!!

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.

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!

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!

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

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.

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!

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.

Hi, 

Have you seen this thread on Astrobin about a GSO RC8 design flaw ? 

https://www.astrobin.com/forum/c/astrophotography/equipment/rc-product-design-deficiency/

I wonder if the Stellalyra version is also affected? 

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...

Focal Reducer question to the owners of an RC8 scope.

Has anyone tried the Astro Essentials 0.75x Reducer for StellaLyra / GSO Ritchey Chretien OTA?

or would you recommend to stay with the TS 0.67 reducer CCD47?

Cheers

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!

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 !

3 hours ago, vlaiv said:

First thing to try out would be to rotate the camera by 180° and see what happens.

If there is tilt in camera / camera adapter - it can be revealed that way as aberrations will rotate with camera. If they stay the same - then it is collimation issue.

 

Thanks, I didn't think about that. I will try on the next occasion.