Ags

I had a great first evening with the HEM15 and AIR. The setup was highly portable. Polar aligning was very easy, both from a hardware and software point of view. Plate solving is addictive and a great help in severe light pollution. Selecting targets from a planetarium view was great. The mount is silent and easily capable of handling my scope. Guiding required a little focussing and then just worked. Quick question about adjusting the alt axis when polar aligning. I had to loosen a couple of bolts with allen key before making adjustments. Do I need to do this every time or am I over-tightening the bolts? Regarding the battery, thinking about this: https://www.amazon.nl/Grideto-Oplaadbare-Lithium-Battery-Draagbare/dp/B0B3WRFDWP/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?crid=16ZVWC9X1JH9P&keywords=battery%2B24%2B%2F%2B12v&qid=1707779876&sprefix=battery%2B24%2B%2F%2B12v%2Caps%2C78&sr=8-3&th=1&psc=1

Thanks, I tried 1s and 0.5s but didn't see much difference in the numbers, maybe there were fewer extreme excursions at the shorter guiding exposures. I will need a higher capacity battery with a regulated 12V output. The battery ws pretty drained after 2 hours and the Air was only getting 10.7V.

I am using 2 seconds, I will go to 1 second next time.

My 'rig' is currently snapping M36 as per the plan. I am getting 0.69 total error guiding, don't know if that's good or bad... Less than 1 sounds good anyway. Polar alignment with the AsiAir was super easy, although the Air had the temerity to say I was slow! I didn't try set up dithering this time, although my uncooled camera really needs it. Really happy I got the Air and HEM15.

I think this is the time where I would consider a saddle upgrade. This is the first clamp that leaves me feeling slightly concerned.

No sign of the predicted clear skies. Does anyone else have doubts about the rather flyweight HEM15 dovetail clamp? It seems more suitable for holding a finder scope in place rather than a 12 kg load?

Only Astro items count! My Astronomik L3 has been missing for ages, but today I realized my ZWO Duo filter has also gone. I think perhaps there is an interdimensional rift in my astronomy corner, and it is sucking small items into the seventh dimension? Let me know if you see the Duo, it was last seen in the company of an SCT - T2 adapter which I would like to bring in for questioning 😀

All set up for tonight (except for adding the IR cut filter. Whole thing is still an easy lift. Battery charged. I think I will shoot M36.

I will see tonight, but it will be my first time guiding so I will just trust the ASIAIR defaults… Anything I say must be taken with a large pinch of stardust.

It was nice and stable with my ST80 and was what I could afford at the time. However I hiked around Nepal with it, which might explain my antipathy.

I had an AZ3 once. I was glad to see it gone.

My weather forecast says clearish tonight and clear tomorrow night, so first light beckons! Not entirely sure what I want to point the scope at though...

Whew! Adjusting the mount to 52 degrees latitude was more fiddle than expected. I didn’t expect the doodad to disassemble into 5 pieces, and the tiny washers hiding behind the whatsit took me by surprise. There was a dark moment when I thought it wasn’t going back together!

That was the problem! Zero position is now sorted out. I will check but I don't think the C6 will cause a problem.

Looking at all the stuff I've bought lately, I can say I'm no stargazer... I'm a storegazer!

I did park the mount using the handset - that put the 'scope' to the right of the mount and horizontal to the ground. I had expected the scope up top pointing north.

I promised to post my thoughts about the HEM15 when it finally got here, and it happily arrived tonight on a Friday evening, rather than the Monday next week the courier promised. First off, FLO knows how to pack a box and everything was quite secure in masses of eco-friendly packaging stuffing. Careful excavation, ably assisted by astronomy dog Wurzel, revealed the HEM15 with its accomplices, an ASI120MM and AsiAir Mini. The plan is to primarily use the HEM15 with the AsiAir for visual, imaging and spectroscopy activities, with plate solving to make sure things get found. However, for planetary imaging and viewing, I think I might just set up with the HEM15's hand control. I don't have a telescope that will really tax the mount - the heaviest thing I have is a C6 weighing in at 3.5 kgs. I may sell some things later in the year to buy a Classical Cassegrain 8" - at 8.5 kilos it would certainly be more of a test. I am coming from an AZ-GTi and before that a 4SE mount. That makes this the first mount I have owned with a metal skin, and it seems in a different class . Everything feels very solid with no play and seems well-machined and precise. The DEC clutch is very small but cleanly loosens or completely tightens the DEC axis with a singe twist. There is no wiggle in the power input. The cables don't move when the mount moves. The handset is small but in my opinion the right size, not fiddly at all. By default it beeps loudly on each button press - an absurd default. Slewing without load at maximum speed shows smooth and almost inaudible motion, although Wurzle made it clear there is some noise in the hypersonic frequencies dogs can hear. Maybe someone younger than me would hear more of a whine. I also tested the setup with power fed through from the AsiAir Mini. It is annoying that the Air must be daisy-chained to the mount via the handset, I presume the brains of the mount are all in the handset. It all seemed to work fine and the ASI120MM took a few pictures of my living room. However I didn't see how to control the mount via the Air - I had connected to it using the HEM27 option as the latest firmware still doesn't feature the HEM15 as an option.

A huge astroday for me. FLO's courier brought me a HEM15, ASI120MM and an AsiAir Mini - so tiny!

Would this still be true if the stars were spinning. As they approach would tidal effects cause the spin to be transferred to into orbital motion?

Yes, that was my thinking too, a camera that was raved about only a few years ago and which produced great images doesn't suddenly stop being good... The sensor is 3x times larger than my main camera (ASI485MC), which does have advantages, although I guess I will have to be more careful about spacing between the bigger sensor and any flattener.

I guess with set point cooling I just shoot the darks and bias once. What temperature should I aim for? As low as possible, or low enough to reach the set point on any given night, but not lower?

Due to the great generosity of an SGL member, I am getting an FLI ML8300 Mono camera. I will be using the camera for a variety of things, including spectroscopy and photometry, but will also try to make pretty pictures (but don't hold your breath...).I have never had a cooled camera, a CCD, an astro camera with a physical shutter or one which needs a substantial power supply. I recall that these KAF 8300 chip cameras were quite desirable back in the day, one of the last hurrahs of CCDs? I am just wondering if any former 8300 owners have any tips to share? I have a vague idea that CCDs like fewer longer exposures in contrast of CMOS which work better with shorter, more numerous exposures?

The HEM15 should come on Monday 😊 Excited!

I thought the Hyperion 24 was great in my f13 Mak, but when I tried it in an ST80 and in a 150PDS (both f5) I thought it was appalling, completely unusable (to my eyes).