Grifflin

9 minutes ago, Craney said:

Could be a satellite flare.

This is where a panel on an artificial satellite catches the Sun as the satellite rotates. 

It looks a bit too symmetrical for a meteor.

Thanks Craney....ok....yeah, that kind of makes sense.  I guess if it was in a high orbit you probably would not see the usual satellite trial and it does look like a light flare.  Good call!

Hi All

Has anyone seen this type of light streak on their subs?  Doesn't look like either a satellite or a plane.  This frame was taken at about 0326am about 15mins after meridian flip.  I've also inspected the frames on either 'side' and there is nothing there.

I've attached a view of the complete frame and another zoomed in on the streak.  Neither have been processed.

Any ideas?

Neil

Edit:  This was a 300s sub

8 minutes ago, peter shah said:

great job on that....I like your framing

Thanks Peter......to be completely honest, I did crop it a bit.  🙂

Hi All

First time putting my head above the parapet in this topic and thought I would do it with this attempt on the Cygnus Wall.

Conditions:  98% Moon.  High cloud/haze developing throughout the session. Bortle 4/5

Equipment:  SW 80ED, ZWO294MC, iOptron CEM70

Image:  73 x 300s (L-Extreme) (total integration - 6hrs 5mins)  plus 30 x 60s (UV/IR cut).  All done in one night

Processing:  All done in PixInsight.  Processed in an SHO style (shout out to @Luke Newbould for his YT tutorial...slightly adapted for this version)

This was my first time with the L-Extreme filter and have to say was very impressed even for my Bortel 4/5 location.  Also first time with autofocus!  Decided to take some 'natural' RGB subs with just a UV/IR cut and then I replaced the L-Extreme stars with the 'natural' stars in the final image.

Challenge I have is that I have a lot of artefacts around the brighter stars and some weird stuff going on elsewhere.  Might be something to do with how Starnet works.

Comment/critique welcome and interested what you feel about replacing the stars with the 'natural' version.

Neil

Hi All

Just a quick update.  Ended up going down the "screw extractor" route.  Plenty of options out there and some useful youtube videos.  Found the process straightforward and not as scary as I thought.  Offending grub screw removed and autofocuser fitted.  Not used it yet but that is for another day.

@Philip R   @Laurieast  @skybadger  Thank you for your comments and advice.

Neil

34 minutes ago, skybadger said:

Heating and tightening might help before going for the loosening. 

Thank you.....I'll give that a go.

1 hour ago, Laurieast said:

If any of the thread is visible try the tiniest drop of WD40 on the end of a tooth pick and apply it to the thread, avoiding getting it in the grub screw head, leave to soak for an hour.
Are you using the best fit allen key you have, they do vary.

Mine was tight, and the key was starting to bend, but it did let go with a bit of a click, but it was not so tight I thought it would shred the grub screw head.
 

There were no traces of glue in mine, although FLO do mention that might be the case on their page for the kit.

Good luck!

Thanks Laurence....I have tried the WD40 option although to no avail so far.

20 minutes ago, Philip R said:

Hi Neil... a left handed drill bit is turning anti-clockwise. They look the same as your 'typical' right hand drill bits, apart from direction of the flutes when you look at them side-by-side.

Theoretically the drill bit 'bites' the metal of the grub screw anti-clockwise to undo it and if it has enough 'bite', it should follow the screw thread and come out.   

Ahh...ok...yep, makes sense.

4 minutes ago, Philip R said:

Yes! 

I am going to have to drill out the offending grub screw on my ETX105 focus knob with a left-handed drill bit.
I got my drill bit from the well known auction site within a few days of ordering.

Thanks Phillip....Yeah, I had a growing sense of dread that this was where I was going to have to go.  Probably a dumb question but what is a left handed drill bit and why would i need it for this?

Neil

Hi All

In the process of fitting an autofocuser to my SW 80ED.  Trouble I have is that the grub screw holding the coarse focus knob refuses to budge and I feel that there is a risk that I might be starting to shred the allen key head. 

Before I go any further, has anyone else had a similar experience?  Any advice?

Neil

36 minutes ago, Lee_P said:

+1 for L-eXtreme. I've got lots of examples here, all from Bortle 8: http://urbanastrophotography.com/index.php/gallery/

This is my fave so far:

Ok....yep...that'll do  😉.  How much time did you have yo put into this?

Checking out your website now!

Thank you and sorry for the delay in replying.

@Budgie1 Cracking images and a really good comparison.  This is a target I have on my list for the Winter.  Got to say the L-Extreme definitely pulls out more detail.  I have heard that it can create halos and I can see this but is this only for really bright stars and how much can be fixed in post?

@Stuf1978 Love this and I took this target the other week.  Clearly pulling out a lot more detail than I did.  What was your integration time on that?

@tomato  Ok...wow...was that like 1 x 3min sub with the RASA? So Im imaging between f5.6 and f10.  Would the slower scopes create issues here?

Also, thank you for confirming my approach to what to use when.

So far it looks like the L-Extreme might have it but still interested in the L-Enhance as my light pollution isn't too bad.  Also is there any value in looking at tri or even quad band filters?

Neil

Hi All

So I'm on a journey with AP and, for the moment, have chosen to go down the OSC route (for now 😃).  I currently have a ZWO 294MC and have really enjoyed the images I get from it.  I think that the next step for me is to invest in a NB multi band filter.  I already have a L Pro and a UV/IR cut so a NB multi band feels like a logical step.  This is my thinking....and please feel free to put me right, I am fairly new to this:

- Galaxies / reflection nebula:  UV/IR cut or L-Pro depending where in the sky they are (Bortle 4/5 but with noticeable light "domes" in some areas)

- Emission nebula: UV/IR cut if high otherwise NB filter....or would a NB filter be better for both....or neither?

- How effective is a NB multi band against moonlight?

I have two questions:  a) am I diving down the wrong route here (mono is in the future but OSC for now 😔) and  b) if money was not a particular object then which NB multi band filter would you go for?

Really grateful for your thoughts and experiences and please feel free to put me right if I'm off track.  Like I said...its a journey.

Neil

For what it is worth, I started with an Alt-Az mount (Celestron Nexstar 6SE) and used a cheap (isa) laptop Core i3 with 128Gb SSD, 4Gb Ram, 2 x USB3.0.  Since upgrade equipment to a GoTo EQ mount, dedicated astro camera etc etc. and the laptop is now running NINA, PHD2, SharpCap and it does all the magic stuff like plate solving.  I also added an external SSD drive to make it easier to transfer data to my iMac where I do all the processing using PixInsight.

Might look at the Raspberry route in the future but this is working fine for me so far.

Neil

@Richard_ Really like the image and thank you for outlining your processing steps.  Coincidently, I imaged NGC 7000 the other night before seeing your thread but I haven't processed it yet so going to give your workflow a go.  I'm using a SW 80ED and ZWO 294MC so I'm more zoomed in on the Cygnus Wall.  I only got about 5 1/2 hours and I don't have a filter.  Thinking of getting an L-Enhance but interested in your thoughts of the L-Extreme.

Neil

Thank you....I'm probably suffering from a beginners urge to target hop  

With the prospect of a clear night tonight and no moon, I want to image the Crescent Nebula.  My question is, should I spend the entire night on this one target or could I also go for another one (NGC 7000 is close).

I'll be using a SW 80ED with 0.85 FF/FR and a ZWO 294MC Pro with no filters and plan on taking 4 min subs.  So with potentially 6 hours of astro dark this would be about 90 subs.

Grateful for your thoughts

Neil

Glad you found them.....happy processing  

9 minutes ago, paul mc c said:

Yes Neil i have,my flats and darks are there which i saved by clicking on the save tab in the sequence section,the folder tab at top right of screen,obviously i am doing something wrong.I am new to NINA so still learning my way.

OK...just fired up NINA to have a look.  I think the "Save" button you are pressing is used to save a target sequence so you can set it up in advance.  The file path for this is set up under Options>Imaging and then set in the "Sequence" section.  The image data location is set up in the "File Settings" location under "Image File Path" (second one down on the left)

Apologies if you've already looked at this.   

Neil

9 minutes ago, paul mc c said:

Thet are saved om my c drive,but when the session is finished i had to manually save then by clicking on a tab in the NINA file i made.

That seems really odd.  For my set up, as long as I have a File Path set in Options>Imaging then it will automatically save data to it.  No manual intervention required.  In fact it comes up with an error warning if it can't find the location.

Apologies for asking the question but I'm guessing that you have checked the location on your C drive that is being pointed to by NINA?

Neil

Yep....Just had a look on NINA and it is in the Options>Imaging tab.  Hope you can find something.  Gutting if you have lost the data!

Neil

Hi Paul

I use NINA and, although I have changed where it saves the files (external SSD) I seem to recall that it did have a default location set up.  Might be worth looking at the NINA Options tab...I think that has a default folder set up.  I think it is called "NINA Captures".

Neil

Hi All

Thought I would share some of my dumb mistakes with the Pocket PowerBox Advanced in one night.....and a lucky escape!

Set up the rig in the twilight, connected everything up and completed polar alignment.  Went through the focus routine with a Bahtinov Mask, set up imaging sequence in NINA and away I went. (Oh yes...forgot to take the BM mask off so first sub was lost).  Imaged for about 90mins and then switched to my main target for the night.  Everything was working fine although the PPBA lost its connection a couple of times but reconnected without any problem.

Once I had slewed to the new target, everything started to go wrong, imaging camera kept dropping in and out and lost connection to the guide camera.  Checked all the settings restarted software etc.  Then went out to the rig to make sure that all the cables were still connected and nothing had been pulled out.  Everything was ok.  However, whilst checking cables I trod on the USB cable from the PPB to the laptop and stripped the cable out of the connector.  Decided to give up for the night and pack up.  At this point I discovered that I had plugged the 12v power supply into the Adjustable Power Outlet rather than the 12v DC In port.

When I reread the PPB Manual, it says in big red letters that if you do this AND you draw more than 3 Amps you will fry the box.  The following day I set everything up again (correctly) and, to my immense relief, everything worked correctly.  I also discovered that I had the main ZWO imaging camera plugged into Port 1 on the box which is USB3 only whereas the other three ports are USB 2/3 (apparently ZWO cameras need to initialise on a USB 2 port first). 

Once I had corrected these issues everything worked correctly and it looks like there is no damage to any of the equipment.  I suspect if I had other equipment connected (EAF, EFW etc) I might not have been so lucky.

I have now put some tape over the sockets.

Moral of the story for me is to read the manual and double check what I am plugging cables into.  Hope my near-miss will help others in the future.

Neil

Might find some tips in this video from Joe's Astrophoto.  Explains how to set it up during the day.

This might help to visualise what has been said