JB80

18 hours ago, Droogie 2001 said:

A friend of mine has been trying to sell a property in Spain for a while now.

The thing is in Spain, it can be an absolute minefield to buy any property and even more so a nice rural one. In the end we chose not to buy a rural property in Spain even though we found many we liked simply because of the legal situation surrounding the land and such. There is so much that needs to be considered and the market is already flooded with cheap properties so it is going to be difficult even before you start. That said any extra selling point can and will help so definitely worth adding the extra info.

Short of taking an ad out in an astromag or maybe even ABS I don't know what else you can do. 

In the end I got a few opportunities early on but the clouds dominated. Still what I could see on screen was stunning, I saw the Venus transit but not through a scope and this well and truly made up for it.

Tomorrow I will process the few avis I grabbed \nd see but early results seem okish.

Well I have seen it through haze and have 2 avis taken of practically the same shot, looks as though it's a cloud dodger day today which is a vast improvement on earlier.

Well....

Same here Gina.

Wow, it's been a grim year looking back but it's good to be posting some images again.

Not a great deal of output compared to previous years but still a tough choice.

All the Ha stuff taken with a PST stage 1 mod with either a ASI120mm or DMK41.

The white light taken with a skywatcher 150PL and ASI120mm.

I think I finally started to come to terms with mosaics, one of my better ones.

This one shows the evolution of a prom, from memory it was 45 minutes or so. It lifted off completely after I stopped imaging. lol

If I can find the data I may reprocess this one eventually.

Loops

AR2367

AR2339

Wow, I can't believe I missed the showcase threads until now.

Lets see what I can dig up.

Actually it was my best year so far in terms of getting better planetary results which I put down mainly to the ASI120mm being a better performer than my other cams.

Shame though I don't have a lot to choose from but here goes......

All imaged with a Skywatcher 150PL and ASI120mm, possibly a DMK41 for one of the images, maybe.

Possibly my best ever Jupiter, not sure.

Sorry about the cropping.

Obligatory Saturn, tougher than I remember.

So here is a double moon transit in 3 channels, I think it was probably taken on January 2.

This one is not the best pic but it's of the triple transit last year, conditions were not optimal.

Yeah I saw this last night too and thought the last lot they did were hard to get hold of so I want in on this.

Just trying to look now for delivery to Spain.

http://www.build-solar-system.com/solar-system.php

Edit:

Looks like they don't do mainland Europe, shame that. I may have a solution though.

I just downloaded everything after not having it for a few years. At least my old account is still there but if I'm honest I'm a bit confused by everything, it seems to be running SETI at least and I'm still in the SGL team.

Is the SGL team part of other projects or just SETI@home?

Another twist on the SW auto-focus theme ... I busted mine again last night.  The wires that connect the battery lead to the circuit board are so flimsy that any heavy handedness changing the battery can dislodge one or both wires from the circuit board ... which is what happened to me last night.  I think it is a combination of a very tight battery compartment and flimsy wires.

This is the second time this fault has happened.  I don't know why a small clamp can't be used to hold the wires firmly on the circuit board as the glue that is used isn't up to the trick.  

I feel a bit of soldering and fixing coming on ... again

Pete

This has happened to me numerous times now, I went out and brought a soldering iron to fix it which I have done about 3 times. In fact I ordered a new controller because the last time I thought it was fatal but managed to fix it while it was in transit so at least I have a spare now.

That is outstanding Olly!

Congratulations to Tom and yourself.

And for everybody else do check out the larger image in the link, it's well worth it.

I feel I should share my appreciation over the excellent service we(my wife and I) have received from Telescope Service in Germany during the last month and a bit with orders we have placed to be sent to our place in Spain.

Due to my own clumsiness and impending birthdays we have made 3 separate orders over the last 5 weeks which have included a telescope, a CDD and a glass filter amongst other things all of which have arrived safely and very well packaged.

As mentioned given the distance from Germany to Spain for the sometimes delicate orders to travel I am wholeheartedly impressed with level of care that was taken to ensure they arrived safely and in working order.

Ordering and payment online is a breeze via their website which is not only easy to use but well laid out and they stock a huge variety of astro gear. Something else that should be noted is the display that tells you whether an item is in stock or not seems to be accurate which I know can be an important factor with a purchase.

All orders were processed and ready for dispatch either immediately or the next working morning depending on what time of day the order was placed and I was alerted via email of each step and given the tracking number once out for delivery.

Time taken for delivery was 2 working days at the shortest and 4days at the longest which I consider to be excellent, certainly faster than some local retailers.

Another point that is important to me is you get the option to choose which carrier you want to deliver your packages which means I can always choose UPS who  without a doubt offer the most reliable, no fuss and professional service I have experienced in Spain and they seem to treat the packages with care as all boxes arrived in perfect order, no cuts, bumps or folds in the cardboard.

The standard free Haribo is also a lovely touch.

All in all I am an extremely happy customer with Telescope Service and can highly recommend them to anybody.

For EU wide delivery they are very good and I will gladly use them again and again.

Another + vote for me, this is a nifty site.

Cheers guys.

http://www.astronomik.com/en/clip-filter-system.html

Astronomik have a clip in filter system that will work with any EF Canon lens but not the EF-S series.

I have an OIII filter but never used it as not sure how useful this would be on wide field targets.

There are plenty of options available to that sort of imaging, check the widefield section of the forum.
Really the only limiting factor are the qauality lenses you use and just how long a focal length you are after, I think there comes a point when instead of spending loads on large telephoto lenses a telescope makes more sense unless you already have the lenses that is.
I tend to go up to a 300mm lens at most but it's not the sharpest of tools, there are some stunning pictures shot with just a 50mm lens too.

I have some pics with a dslr and lens here http://astropaz.weebly.com/pictures.html

Now in the right hands with someone who knows what they are doing the pictures could be a lot better.

Also as Brantuk mentioned above search terms like Astrotrac, Vixen Polarie and ioptron startracker which are dedicated mounts for this type of photography. Basically they are glorified barn door trackers but all a very good pieces of kit.

I think it might be a Jason Comet Chaser.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Jason+Comet+Chaser&sa=X&hl=en&sout=0&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&ei=gJd7UtScFMr30gW864GoAQ&ved=0CC8QsAQ&biw=1347&bih=871

I would vote for telescope service/express out of Germany for an online store. The service is always excellent, very speedy and they have a wide range of products that are sometimes not available elsewhere. They are also very competitive price wise and with delivery costs are excellent. Plus they know their stuff.

Excellent write up, thanks for taking the time to do so.

I really need to try out PIPP as I haven't had much success stacking dslr lunar pics.

I don't think it came with a battery, can't be certain though. I haven't had to change it yet but it's been a rough 12 months for observing.

The clutch unlock is useful but again it's nothing you can't do with the Allen keys, I can't find much info on it really.

I keep an allen key in my pocket(a few actually as I'm forever tightening things) and only tighten the screws once you get close to the focus you want and then have the motor focuser work. I can say for certain that on the wobbly EQ3-2 with the 150PL it is an extremely useful addition to my set up.

The legacy Sir Patrick leaves behind is the greatest testimony that he has achieved.

An inspirational astronomer, a legendary broadcaster.

RIP Sir Patrick

I couldn't agree more with this and in a way we are all somewhat part of that legacy and I think a great way to honour that legacy is to continue to try and inspire, educate and introduce newcomers young and old to the simple joys of looking up to the sky at night.

We already do it now which is why we have such a great community here, once again thank you Sir Patrick you will be with us always.

Rest in Peace Sir Patrick and thank you!

I ordered a Hyperion zoom over the weekend and it arrived today safe and sound and no problems. It was odd I couldn't pay via paypal but that's probably a blessing.

More thumbs up from me.

I would like to add another allbeit belated big thumbs up to the guys at FLO. I was looking into getting a PST and although I knew at the time they were not listed on the website I thought I would send an email and ask just incase. As it turns out my timing was pretty good, I got a quick response saying they were planning on adding them in a couple of days.

This was good news as past experience has shown me dealing with FLO is a worthwhile experience and I would be more than happy to this time. Over the next couple of days I was kept updated by Martin and once they arrived in stock I placed the order for a PST and hard case.

Given that the shipment was to be to Belgium I think the 5 day's it took to arrive once the order was place was super fast, especially as there was a weekend amongst those day's. And the other big point is that even with the cost of shipping added to Belgium the price was still cheaper than any other competitors retail price.

The product arrived safe, fast and in working order so no complaints there at all.

All in all another big thumbs up:hello2:

Big thanks to all the guys and girls at FLO