LaurenceT

I'll try that tomorrow, cheers

1 hour ago, Richard Wesson said:

With stellarmate, the Pi will save images to the appropriate subfolder on the SD card in the 'pictures' folder e.g. flats, lights, darks etc. I then then create folders on the flash drive which you can do in the file exporer in the Rpi when I copy over. Whilst I understand you want to have the images go directly to the flash drive, I am not sure what the advantage would be and creates another layer of potential error. 

The sd card with Stellarmate OS on is possibly not big enough to contain all the data, that's why I thought a USB drive just dedicated to data storage would be a neater solution.

Thanks for the reply, I've just found a 64Gb USB flash drive so I'll format it to Fat32 and stick it in the Pi. My only concern is creating a folder to save the images to.

I'm just getting to grips with Stellarmate OS on a Pi4, I've got to the stage where all my equipment is connected and all drivers installed, I can control the mount from my Windows laptop remotely. Rather than have the image data sent back over wifi to the Win10 machine during an imaging session I'd like to add a usb stick to the Pi but I have a couple of questions before I start and muck everything up!

My knowledge of Linux is restricted to being able to open a terminal window and type in exactly what I'm told to. I will simply connect the Pi to a mains power source and connect a monitor, keyboard and mouse for this process.

So,

1) what do I need to type into terminal to permanently mount the usb drive?

2) how do I create a directory on the usb drive to store the image files as they are created during an imaging session?

3) how will I be able to transfer these files back to my Windows machine for editing?

Sorry for all the noob questions and thanks for looking

A 130PDS for £60 is amazing! What mount did you use for this image?

Took my £60 Orion ST80 into the garden at about 23.30, lovely clear night in Surrey but you could hardly call the sky dark. Although this little scope was clearly at it's limits I easily found M42 and gazed in wonder. No colours but it's shape was clearly defined. I wish I'd started this years ago.

From what I've read here and elsewhere it seems that you get what you pay for in terms of the premium UHC filters but Astronomik have 2 UHC offerings, the UHC and the UHC-e. There is a considerable cost differential between the two, is this borne out in the observing effect?

Are these UHC and OIII filters discussed here confined to observing or can they be used for imaging too?

3 hours ago, banjaxed said:

I always thought the Skywatcher motor focuser was too slow which is why I used a higher rpm motor. If you are interested I bought a 4Tronix remote controller for the Skywatcher motor and it gives you 4 speeds, which when used with a 12v power supply gives a much better choice of speeds. They are on sale at FLO for about £36.00 and are well worth it IMO.

Speeding up the focusing on the Maksutov would be an advantage, I'll look into it, thanks for that.

I'm having a slight issue with a Skywatcher focus motor on the  Orion ST80 I bought for an excellent price recently. It came with the focus motor already installed, I wouldn't have chosen that combination but the price was simply too good.

The outward travel of the  focus tube is fine but the inward travel is prone to suddenly stop, the motor pausing. I can overcome it by reversing the direction slightly and then restarting the inward travel and it goes OK.

I think it's either some torsion of the bracket or something to do with backlash which is apparent.

The red dot finder on my 127Mak would have been perfect if I'd been 3ft tall but using it meant virtually lying down in the grass, not desirable at my advanced age. I did think about the Rigel but opted for the Telrad because of various height extension options.

It does look somewhat weird on my short Maksutov but no one is looking except me.

I bought the Skywatcher auto focus unit and also had some bits made up by a fellow in Portugal specifically to fit the 127Mak with the dovetail bay positioned for an alt az mount. Works very well but because of the long focus travel of the Mak I disengage the belt from the focus knob to get rough focus quickly and then just slide it back onto the knob.

As a complete novice in astronomy, only started last year, I bought a 127Mak purely for lunar and planetary observation and photography with an Altair planetary camera.

I've used the Baader zoom eyepiece on the moon with the Baader moon filter and the views were wonderful and exquisitely detailed.

For a wider view I have a 130pds Newtonian and my new little baby an Orion ST80.

6 hours ago, mikeDnight said:

It's a Takahashi illuminator, and it looks very much like a Takahashi finder as far as the focusing eyepiece goes. However I've never seen a Tak finder with the adjustable/focusing front cell, so perhaps it's a hybrid, though it could be a true Tak. The crosshairs on the Tak finder are very fine and engraved onto glass, so that would indicate if its a true Tak. Also, Tak finder tubes are smooth with no groove for a rubber O ring.The finder bracket is not Takahashi!

On closer examination it seems that the focusing is done with the rear cell.

7 minutes ago, Yubnub said:

Will be following with great interest. Looking to get a SW 127 with the GTi mount

Perfect match.

Thanks for all the information everyone.

Just now, johninderby said:

Can’t remember if they are M5 or M6 but look for nylon thumbscrews.

And why is the bracket mounted the wrong way around on the finder? 

Thanks John, I'll get some nylon thumbscrews. As for why it's mounted the wrong way..............I'm an idiot🤣

I've been gifted this rather ancient illuminated crosshair reticule finderscope and I quite fancy using it. Firstly can anyone identify it and secondly the retaining screws are missing and nothing in my collection of screws will fit so can anyone also give me an idea of the screw sizes I could try.

Thanks for looking.

Welcome Emlyn from Laurence in Camberley.

Thanks for that Lee.

Right, I get it. I've now simply re-imagined the mount as being my old Skyguider Pro so I can see how I've reversed it in my photo. So to put it in language I can understand, if a polar scope were to be fitted then it would have to be pointing in the same direction as the camera.............

So in that misleading second image I posted the correct position for the mount to be facing polaris  would be at right angles to that yellow arrow, ie the direction the camera is facing?

Sorry for the newbie "baby" language, must be infuriating!

10 minutes ago, adyj1 said:

@LaurenceT, I hope I've not misunderstood, but you've said mount pointing north and camera pointing south - which is the opposite way round. With your rig set up like that in the field you should be taking lovely photos of Polaris and the Ursa Minor region... in other words your camera should be pointing North. Everything else is set up correctly.

Ady

Yes Ady, I think I'm getting my planes confused. What ( I think ) I should have said is that the camera is positioned at right angles to the north/south axis, does that make more sense?

I was looking at this image on the web:

For powering my mount and dew heater I use this Talentcell:

TalentCell Rechargeable 36W 12V/6000mAh 5V/12000mAh DC Output Lithium Ion Battery Pack for LED Strip, Tape Light, CCTV Camera and More, Black : Amazon.co.uk: Electronics & Photo

for the rest, including a Raspberry Pi, a Sony camera and some other bits I use one of these:

Power Bank 26800mAh Portable Charger, Riapow Fast Charging 3.0A USB C High Capacity Phone Charger with LED Display Compact External Battery Pack 4 Outputs for iPhone Samsung Tablet and More : Amazon.co.uk: Electronics & Photo

but I don't know if they will meet your power requirements.

58 minutes ago, Elp said:

Looks like you're raring to go!

Absolutely, trouble is, every time someone buys a piece of kit the clouds pile up! 🤣

After me declaring that DSO astrophotography is on the back burner for me and selling my Skyguider Pro I weakened and bought a second Az GTi and have adapted it for EQ mode. My next step will be to connect everything to Stellarmate and see what happens. I'd just like some guidance on orientation.  I've set the declination on the WO wedge to 90 minus my latitude and in the photo I've set the camera/lens pointing south and the mount pointing north, does this orientation look correct?

All I'm waiting for now is a levelling base, and like all of us, some clear skies!

1 hour ago, AstroNebulee said:

I have considered the same to Laurence. Eventually I will buy another az gti setup with a 102 or 127 mak to use in az mode as for me I don't want to take my set up apart with all the wiring where I want it now. 

Then I can hopefully have 2 set ups my 72ed for eq astrophotography and my az mak for nice lunar and planetary imaging (when funds allow haha) 

From the replies here I got the impression that you wouldn't have to take anything apart if you wanted to use the mount in the way you want to.

If you have changed the firmware to the EQ mode option then the app gives you the option of selecting either AZ mode or EQ mode. So if you wanted to simply goto and track for observation or even lunar/planetary imaging then the alignment modes available in the standard alt az mode would be available if you select az mode in the app.

Of course it's entirely possible that I'm completely wrong 😅

I'm on the  verge of converting my AZ GTI to EQ mode but I want to know if it is still possible to use the mount in it's AZ alignment options such as Point and Track for quick observation and lunar and planetary imaging without having to go through the process of plate solving etc.

I've just released some funds and was considering buying a second AzGti purely in it's original AZ form with my 127 Maksutov and 130pds and use the EQ modded one for imaging. If I don't need to do this then I can use the money to upgrade my basic imaging gear.