Ags

I also thought nylon might be a better choice as the obstruction is supported by relatively thin vanes.

I looked at the heat characteristics and selected Carbon Fiber FDM Nylon as the cheapest and most heat resistant option.

My first print arrived today. It is a counterintuitive aperture mask for a SolarScout 60. One of the criticisms of this scope is that at f15 it is far too fast for its built in Quark. Only the middle 30 mm of the aperture would be on band. But what if Daystar cleverly shifted the SS60 Quark so it's optimised for the light coming in at the f18 angle? Then most of the aperture except for the middle would be on band. This mask tests that theory. The mask was too small to fit on the scope (of course) but after a little sandpaper it just about fits. @vlaiv previously tried to explain why this mask idea wouldn't work, but it seems like an easy experiment to try, so we'll see on the next sunny day 😀

The first rule of cleaning mirrors is Don't Clean the Mirror

I have some trepidations about the collimation - I got it at a nice discount as a customer return from FLO so perhaps the previous owner hit a collimation wall?

Lots of RC goodness there! Both images are good but I find the new version more aesthetically pleasing, somewhat more understated and Ha more blended in. I was imaging M101 with my ZS66, reduced for f4.3, I managed only an hour and a half before the battery died, which more or less coincided with the skies turning excellent! Looking at the background noise from the Amsterdam light pollution, I think I will need another 8 hours before I can start to separate the outer regions of the galaxy from the noise. But long before then my RC6 will have arrived and the ZS66 will be forgotten about for a few months!

It should arrive on Monday! I hope this scope will also work well for spectroscopy - I have a grating flying over with a relative later in the spring.

Congrats on 5k posts! Polar aligning... I still can't do it after all these years, but my AsiAir can. I follow its instructions without question or understanding. The computer overlord issues commands and the lowly humans turns the gears. Then it tells me "well done" after having done little more than screw a cap on a toothpaste tube 😀

No I don't want to hear that! But I can get the GSO tilt adjuster which should resolve the issue. Also I am not hanging anything heavy off the focuser - just an uncooled camera, a reducer and no filter wheel etc. Say more things like this

I have been thinking about a scope acquisition for my HEM15 mount, as a replacement for my C6. I thought about a planetary specialist scope like a Classical Cassegrain 8", or a small photo newt at the other end of the scale, but in the end I went for a Ritchey Chretien 6"... It seems like the ideal scope to go after galaxies and planetary nebulae. I only have moderately small chip (ASI485) so I haven't purchased a tilt adjuster for the focuser - I will probably add that later. I know RC collimation is a famously fiddly thing. I hope to get close enough with a cheshire and finish the process with star testing. I may end up buying more collimation mcguffins before I'm through! I thought I would pick up the RC6 for galaxy season. I'm curious to see if the scope produces better stars than the C6 did, and if the scope is less vulnerable to wind than the C6 and it's obligatory dew shield. Interestingly, the scope gives one degree FOV with my ES60 20 mm eyepiece, so I hope it will also work a DSO scope. Not too sure it will work on planets, but I hear RCs perform OK on the Moon at least.

Yes, thinking a lot about buying a printer. Maybe next year after we move house.

I think the 10" classical Cassegrain would look great in an observatory.

That sounds like borderline illegal product design! You can't factory reset it? After 4 phones it is a dead parrot? I am going to get the EU to ban this ludicrous e-waste (after I have bought one).

Well, I'm sure the optics are fine, but I have my doubts about the focuser and the mount, but most importantly there is a StarSense module attached to the Celestron AZ70. Is StarSense really that great?

Welcome back Louise! It might not be what you are looking for exactly, but I recently invested in an ultra portable setup based on the HEM15 and AsiAir Mini. Both are really impressive and the Air would be my recommendation for armchair imaging. Coupled with a small scope and guidescope and a lightweight tripod, the setup is an easy lift. The Air can do all sky polar aligning so you may not need Polaris.

Interesting.... isn't that however the same as saying "we are developing a new stacking algorithm"?

I hear there are some AMAZING telescopes coming out in anno 2243 😃

Really superb!

I find the volcanic activity fascinating but I feel bad this eruption is close to people's homes. Apparently the errupting may continue for centuries in sporadic outbursts throughout the Reykjavik region. I would like a good clear look at the lava seas on Io...

Yes, the CC8 is EUR 300 cheaper, and importantly I can fit a carry handle to the losmandy bar. The Skymax comes with a finderscope which I don't need and a couple of worthless eyepieces. What be these mods of which you speak?

I have a 90 mm refractor with 500 mm focal length, so the 130 PDS would just be an evolution on that, with a bit more speed, a bit more resolution and bit better stars (in theory).

Yes, it is very important to cap your finderscope too

I just have the feeling the C6 doesn't do anything particularly well. The newt would do DSOs better, and the Skymax/CC8 would do planets better.

Thinking once more of selling my C6, assuming I can get a fair price for it. I'd replace it with a 130PDS, it would work better as for DSO photography, and it would be a nice little widefield visual sweeper on an alt-az mount. The remaining cash would go towards either a Classical Cassegraine 8" or a Skymax 180. The Mak is a bit lighter, easier to balance, with easier collimation and a sealed tube, which might be good as I am moving to a coastal area. The CC8 has a little more aperture and possibly a visual edge...

Ugly? Ugly? I think they are beautiful and well made, particularly in comparison to the earlier LVs and NLVs. Morpheus - now that's what I call ugly (except for the eye lens which is gorgeous).