LaurenceT

The Stellarmate app continues to frustrate, had to stop and start several times and some images showing weird star artefacts as seen in the Andromeda image. Possibly because I was experimenting with power sources for the Pi and discovered I was under powering it for about 30 minutes so may have corrupted the app, re-installed it today. Also forgot to put a uv/ir filter in front of the camera 😢.

These images taken with the Askar FMA180, ASI533MCPro this time. All are single six second exposures with no post processing. Didn't appreciate the satellite streak on Andromeda 😄.

Andromeda galaxy, crescent nebula and a nebula whose name I've forgotten! 

1 hour ago, PeterC65 said:

EAA is quite a revelation after doing visual astronomy. Many objects show up quite well with just a single frame, although some certainly need several stacked frames before you can see anything sensible. What I was able to see with EAA blew my socks off when I first started after doing just visual astronomy. I mostly use a 72mm refractor for EAA, so not much aperture, and I've recently bought the FMA135 with only 30mm aperture but a nice wide field of view. I've heard good things about the FMA180.

 

I'm looking forward to using the FMA180 but I've had to do some lateral thinking in connecting it to my 224mc planetary camera, extension rings to get back focus. What app/system do you use for the stacking? 

I think it's the third frame in the sequence, I was using 10 second exposures.

Thanks for the comment, I was really surprised at how quickly such bright images showed on the iPad.

After a pretty frustrating first attempt at Stellarmate EAA with Live Stacking some months ago following Cuiv's YT video I decided to have another go. So last night I set up and was surprised that everything worked most of the time. I wasn't able to download a stacked image so this is just one of frames:

Skywatcher Evoguide 50ED, ASI224mc, Az GTi in alt az mode.

I was pretty astonished at how quickly the images showed up on the Ipad and how bright they were. I need to do more work of the focussing obviously but this little scope has a bit of history with me, I'm going to try it next with my Askar FMA180. No post processing has been done.

IC 342, a spiral galaxy in  Camelopardalis

I've been imaging for a couple of years so have a great deal to learn. I have an Askar FMA180 scope and although I'm quite happy with the few images I've taken there is the problem of blue star bloat. I know that the Astronomik L3 filter will address this problem and I have bought one but I'd also like to capture the colours of emission nebulae. Is it feasible to use an EFW with the L3 filter and also my Optolong L-Enhance? I will be using my ASI533mc pro camera.

3 minutes ago, LDW1 said:

I am sure you noted we weren't talking EQ mode ?

I've apologized for the confusion already, is that ok?

As you can see when in alt az mode the levelling base is not visible so the mounts bubble must be used but when in eq mode the bases bubble is visible, sorry for the confusion.

19 minutes ago, LDW1 said:

Yes but as I asked does it easily attach to the gti mount / tripod if one decided to buy one and use it as you mention its better performance ? Can you attach a photo or two ?

Yes indeed you did. It does attach easily but you can't then have sight of the bubble on the levelling base as it's smaller than the mount so then have to rely on the mounts bubble. It's only when used when the mount is in eq mode that the based bubble is visible. I'll try and provide some photos later.

5 minutes ago, LDW1 said:

It easily attached to the gti mount / base ?

I've realised that I use it with the bubble on the mount as reference but it seems more accurate and much easier than levelling with the tripod legs, apologies🙄.

I found when I relied on the mount levelling bubble I had persistent errors so I used a levelling base that I already had from my landscape photography, that seemed to clear up the problems for me.

ARTCISE LH6 Leveling Base,Ergonomics Locking Knob +/-15° Tilt Horizontal Adjustment Tripod Head Monopod Head for Canon Nikon Sony DSLR Camera,Max Load 20kg: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics & Photo

As has been said the Classified section here is the first choice but I have extensively used Facebook marketplace. There are 2 groups that are exclusively UK based and you can find them easily enough, both seem well moderated.

Of course if you don't/won't use Facebook which is perfectly understandable then the other options can be explored. eBay is a dogs dinner and IMHO best avoided.

The BBC weather app shows a completely clear night, no clouds at all, however the ClearOutside app shows heavy cloud cover.

Bit of a dilemma so what to do? Simples, I deleted ClearOutside and kept the BBC app so it's going to be clear. Just set up to do a whole nights astrophotography, what could go wrong?

I've wanted one of these for some time to avoid the snaking cables across the lawn when using my larger rig or the collection of power bricks when using my Az GTi when visiting family but I could never justify the expense to my Domestic Financial Supervisor. Of course I could easily justify it! Quite randomly I hit upon the Jackery website a couple of days ago while researching something else and was intrigued by the 40% Summer Sale price reduction. Because of the cut off date being the next day I hastily arranged a meeting with the DFS and received approval. The normal price is £260 and I got it for £158. It's the baby of their range but quite adequate for my needs.

10 minutes ago, 900SL said:

Sad to see about the Narrowband channel presenter. He does a great show. I was thinking he looked a bit gaunt recently.

Wishing him all the best. He'll of a position to be in, with three kids at that age. 

It's awful news especially for such a young man with a young family but he has a wonderful attitude.

Well done Lee.

Really excellent image.

8 minutes ago, Mark2022 said:

Cheers Fozzy. I think I'll just purchase the SVBony 80ED version at £45.99. As the guy said, it works perfectly well.

Where have you seen that one?

42 minutes ago, AstroNebulee said:

It will be my 50th birthday on Sunday so I couldn't resist purchasing another az gti along with a pillar for myself. Purely for use on my visual setup with my ST80 and SM90. Also to use on some planetary and lunar imaging, all in az mode. 

Just love this little mount so much. 

 

Lee

I had two AzGti some time ago and used them in exactly the way you intend. I sold one thinking it was superfluous and have regretted it ever since.

PS you don't look 50, must be the air in Cornwall, happy birthday.

2 hours ago, bosun21 said:

How did you fit the Skywatcher electric focuser? I had to buy a 3D printed kit for the focuser motor. I’ve since sold the telescope. It does make a considerable difference in focusing though.

I bought a 3d printed kit from a chap in Portugal, works very well and possibly the same as yours.

My upgrades for that kit:

Skywatcher electronic focuser, zoom eyepiece, in my case the Baader but cheaper ones will do the job. A dew shield, a Telrad with heater element and a Trifibre case, it weighs a ton but it holds everything. Last but not least is the battery pack/brick mentioned by @AstroNebulee, I use the smaller Talentcell from Amazon and it lasts for ages.

We're going to France next week in our motorhome for 4 weeks and I'm looking to travel to dark(ish) sites in the Western half of France ie to the west of the River Rhone. Be grateful for any recommendations.

On 04/05/2023 at 11:15, Ratlet said:

@LaurenceT did you save any of the images you got?  I'd be interested to see what you are getting with your setup.

Haven't been able to do much recently but spent the last week struggling to get anything using my Startravel 102/ASI224mc combination with the Stellarmate. Can't seem to get any image but it works with Sharpcap. Anyway, last night reverted to the original Evoguide 50ED setup and got a simple screen grab of the Globular Cluster.

It seems that I've finally almost tamed the very unruly Stellarmate app. The first few times it was extremely slow to show the different targets available, so slow in fact that I'd thought it had frozen but it hadn't. Someone had suggested that I tried a USB SSD for the Stellarmate OS so I bought one but that was just as buggy. Reverting to the micro SD card as if by magic the bugginess had gone and it worked almost perfectly.

Last night I had about 45 minutes of clear skies and I was able to observe the Iris nebula, Bodes Galaxy, both very small and faint, but spent a long time looking at the Hercules Globular cluster. The Hercules seems to be the best target from my garden at the moment and it's beautiful. At the moment I'm not taking images for processing, the observing is satisfying enough but I will perhaps try and get a screen grab on my Ipad.

16 minutes ago, bosun21 said:

I think he is talking about the filter thickness changing the back focus slightly. At least that’s what I read into it.

Yep, that's it.

17 minutes ago, Ratlet said:

@LaurenceT did you save any of the images you got?  I'd be interested to see what you are getting with your setup.

I'll have a look later.