LaurenceT

What would be the total weight of the equipment you are loading onto the Az GTi?

I've worked out what happened, I followed on @tomato other suggestion about historic data and discovered other data for that target from different dates in the Lights directory on the Asiair usb drive, no idea how that happened. I should have realised something was amiss when I was culling the images in AsiStudio and saw an image of the Globular Cluster in Hercules!

9 minutes ago, tomato said:

I’m assuming you are referring to the odd overlay of some of the frames?

This is because some of the frames were taken with different rotation orientation and APP has had to rotate them to align the stars with the others. Something has changed on your set up at some point to produce this effect, I see it a lot if I combine historic data, as I’m afraid I am not disciplined enough about the camera position each time I set up.

Thanks, so essentially something rotated during the session?

Last night I took a series of 2 minute guided subs of the Elephants Trunk Nebula. After culling I was left with 72 subs which I stacked in APP and finished up with this weird image I've never come across before, no post processing has been done. Explanations gratefully received.

Askar FMA180, Az GTi Asiair Pro.

10 minutes ago, AstroNebulee said:

Thanks Paul but I've not the money for a seestar and not convinced on the device image quality from what I had. 

After going out tonight with my little st80 I really enjoyed it seeing things like M81&82, M42 clusters and doubles with my eyes and no pain. It's where I started and where I see myself now. 

Cheers 

Lee 

You don't need the added expense of a Seestar for lightweight EAA if you already have a n Az GTI and an Asiair, you're 2/3 of the way there.

I've just added a used Evoguide 50ED to the mix and it's a brilliant light grab and go for EAA.

I agree with the previous comments, excellent images. Can you briefly outline your processing method?

1 hour ago, Beardy30 said:

I’ve gone for a hard flight case for the 102 , just need something for the breaded 127 Mak now that doesn’t break the bank

A breaded 127 Mak, sounds delicious........

On 03/01/2024 at 22:22, Beardy30 said:

What do you use for your startravel 102? As i have that as well as the 127 Mak

For my Startravel 102 I bought this Oklop bag:

Oklop Padded Bag for 120/600 Refractors | First Light Optics

I have a Startravel 102 as my "grab and go " scope kept under cover in the kitchen! I can be outside in the garden within a couple of minutes for some quick observing. As @Cosmic Geoff points out there can be significant fringing around the bright moon which may be off putting to some but I can just about bear it, but it still shows the moons surface features beautifully. Personally I wouldn't really bother too much with planets with this scope other than enabling you to say "ooh look, Jupiter", the features may not be as pleasantly observable as other scopes. The ST102 is very nice for general widefield viewing of the night sky.

I see people are suggesting Dobsonians, I have one and it's very nice but it's quite heavy and bulky and not always easy to set up. You also have to do something called collimation which as a beginner I regarded as a dark art and if it had been my first scope it would have put me off, but it's a fine instrument nonetheless.

As pointed out you will need a tripod and mount. As an avid photographer I already had a selection of tripods available and with the Startravel 102 I use a lightweight carbon fibre tripod. They are not cheap and not entirely free of vibration. I also have one of these which are very popular:

Sky-Watcher Stainless Steel 1.75" Tripod with 3/8" thread | First Light Optics

The mount I have used and still possess is this one:

Sky-Watcher AZ5 Deluxe Alt-Azimuth Astronomy Mount | First Light Optics

also popular.

You will also need an eyepiece, the Startravel 102 comes with 2 of them in the package.

1 hour ago, Beardy30 said:

Does anyone have any hard case or box storage they have come across for the Mak 127? 

I bought one of these:

MAX505H280 Tough IP67 Rated Case - Trifibre

It's big and heavy and not cheap and I probably could have found a lighter cheaper case but it's the one I've got and I'm happy with it.

12 minutes ago, Mandy D said:

@LaurenceT Permanently? Have you over-written everything? If not, the files should be recoverable.

When I tried to transfer the files from my laptop to a usb stick I couldn't because the HDD was too full, in fact almost bursting, so there was no swap file usage available. It was full because my Sharpcap files were saved to my desktop which automatically was copied to OneDrive. That was the problem, my OneDrtive was full, I should have paid more attention to it earlier. The only remedy, so I thought, was to delete files from OneDrive but by not paying attention not only deleted everything but emptied the OneDrive Recycle Bin which is permanent. I've now unlinked my PC and laptop from OneDrive!

Two nights ago I stepped out into the garden and although there were thick clouds to the west the moon was showing beautifully to the east.

I'd already been playing with the Evoguide 50ED earlier so I was set up outside in 10 minutes. Az GTI pointing the little scope to the moon and tracking enabled. Sharpcap on, focused and stabilized.

I got 9 lovely videos in an hour, took everything indoors and in a moment of inattentive madness deleted everything...... permanently 🤣.

When's the next clear night......?

You've confirmed what I want to know, that I'd need the Pro version to use the planet/disk stabilisation feature, excellent, thanks.

I use a Baader Neodymium Moon and SkyGlow filter with my asi224mc for EAA, seems to work OK.

I currently use Sharpcap Pro only for planetary and lunar photography. My license is about to expire and I'm unsure whether to renew.

The feature I like is the image stabilisation and centering but I don't know whether this is available in the basic version.

1 hour ago, Elp said:

Likely, not buffering as such but skipped frames as the bandwidth isn't there to transfer and write to the SD card.

Why aren't you saving to the internal memory, or are you using a gen 1 (video isn't possible with the 1) or 2 (pro)?

Have you also decreased the resolution or region of interest (ROI) before recording, it'll give slightly better FPS.

When I tried usb 3 connection between the camera and air the plus and mini (mini doesn't have usb 3 ports, the plus does) it didn't make any difference to the FPS, using usb 3 does make a difference on astroberry however and I assume on pc too.

Perhaps I haven't read this right but my Asiair Pro has video mode.

Made with PETG

I've found what I think is the best solution. It's a 3D printed design and it came all the way from Illinois! Found a young chap on Facebook who makes a number of items related to astro, he possesses a Samyang 135 and the US equivalent of the Askar FMA180 so he is able to get the precise dimensions and has made products for both scopes/lenses. He goes by the name of Chris and his company is called Thinkable Creations, to order you have to go onto Etsy of all places. There appear to be two areas, one devoted to astro and the other to random bits. It looks a bit unusual and it wasn't cheap but it now means I can mount the Askar together with a guidescope and Asiair in a normal fashion without risking everything revolving like a windmill eventually!

Just a different view of children and telescopes. Our granddaughter is 6 and has shown a great interest in the universe, when she was 5 she could recite the planets and their relationship with the sun.

A couple of weeks ago I set up my Startravel 102 for her to look at the moon and the Pleiades which were showing nicely. Something about her comments made me doubt what she was actually seeing so I crouched down next to her and realised that her viewing eye was shut firmly tight! I was absolutely unable to get her to open that eye, it either remained firmly shut at the eyepiece or when open she was looking up along the length of the scope tube!

I realised that I still had a mobile phone adapter in the cupboard so I quickly set it up with an eyepiece and a phone and she was absolutely amazed to see the targets.

1 hour ago, Elp said:

Been umming and arring myself to the same end...

Go on, it's Christmas..,

Getting to grips with guiding was not helped by my RVO guide scope. Admittedly it was getting on in years like its owner but after tightening the locking ring it would magically loosen itself just by lying there. After hours of pleasant research I decided on this William Optics offering. Can't test the optics yet but the engineering quality is superb and it's a colour match for my ZS61II.

3 hours ago, 900SL said:

That guidescope is likely to cause issues with flexure when guiding. Don't do it. 

You are also quite high, with the FMA180 mounted up and the ASI and Guidescope even higher. This increases both the moment, the inertia and the counterweight. Rethink it. 

A quick google image search should throw up some ideas

@Chris-h I'll certainly check that out.

@Elp I'm sure I've got a similar plate from my photography days, I'll have a search.

@900SLYou're quite right, the whole thing looks absurd, it would never fly! I'm abandoning the ZWO holder ring and I've found a way to mount the Asiair on top of the dovetail under the front of the scope. I'll have to be content with taking shorter unguided exposures which shouldn't be a problem with this widefield scope. If I was desperate to guide there is a way to mount a guidescope with this. I tried it the other day with this bar, it was OK, but clunky and a bit of a faff balancing it:

I've been breaking my head for months about how to use my FMA180 on a mount using a guidescope/camera and my Asiair. The only method that "looks" remotely feasible is the one in my photos. The problem is of course the added weight to the camera. The total weight with both the guidescope/camera and the Asiair is 915g (32oz). If I decided not to guide and just use short exposures with the Asiair by itself the total weight is 622g (22oz). The Asi122mm mini camera is not in the photos as it's currently on my 50ED.

I haven't yet used this in anger so I can't say anything about tilt but I'm concerned about the strain on the whole imaging train.

Be grateful for any comments.

32 minutes ago, M40 said:

My story is that I built a pier and put the mount on it, threw a plastic builders bucket over the mount and covered it with a large tg365. Because I was covering the mount and bucket the tg365 needed to be large. Time goes by and the mount now still lives beneath the same, but now trimmed down tg365. The bucket is history and the whole sits within a sentry box type enclosure that allows a lot of air movement. Why the bucket? It kept the tg365 from touching the mount and allowed a level of air movement reducing the chances of condensation which seems to have worked as two years later all seems good.

If you get a smaller cover, you are then limited to what you can cover. Personally, I would go for the largest you can that keeps well clear of the floor. All the best. 

Building a pier is not possible, it wouldn't pass the scrutiny of the Domestic Management. Budgetary constraints rule out the 365 covers so I'll probably get the ordinary Telegizmos cover and then cover that with suitable bbq cover.

I'll hold this in place with a couple of bungees which works well for the cover I already have on my Skywatcher stainless steel tripod kept in the garden and still allows for circulation of air.

Absolutely superb images Lee.