johngm

Hi dd999,

The Clutch should only be loosened when you need to manually move the mount, as when balancing the mount, or polar aligning. It should then be locked for use. The AZ-GTI, is however, quite stiff to move, even when the clutch is loose, but by getting a feel for it, gets you in the ball park of balance. 

Before we can answer you other questions on PA etc, what is your setup on this mount, camera, scope. And, do you have a Guidescope attached ?

John

Hi Simon, And welcome to SGL.

Regarding your Mak, you could measure the diameter and purchase some tube rings and Dovetail, then you will be able to mount it on you NEQ6

John 

44 minutes ago, Merlin66 said:

The adaptor for an 50mm FD to EOS body looks problematic....

http://www.bobatkins.com/photography/reviews/canon_fd_eos_adapters.html

the second option with glass seems to be the better option. Note the limitations stated.

Totally agree with Merlin. What you have to remember with adaptors like the first one you purchased, they act like macro extension tubes, shifting the focal point further away. Great for close up photography!!. The second option, has a lens which will correct the focal point, very similar to people who cannot reach focus on a standard Newtonian, until they insert a Barlow. There's always a trade off though, and you'll probably find it introduces Vignetting.

John

Hi All,

As some of you maybe aware, there has been supply issues trying to obtain Baader Narrowband Filters. I have been in touch with David Hinds, who has already contacted Baader in Germany and has received this reply;

Many of you have been waiting for many weeks for some of our most popular filter models and other products to become available again.

Unfortunately COVID has also caused problems for us. Nevertheless, the production of many articles had to be stopped temporarily because supply chains are interrupted again and again at various points. Unfortunately, this affects especially high-tech suppliers such as our filters.

We ask for your understanding for this situation and would like to assure you that we ourselves are working everywhere to solve the supply problems for the components of our products and especially for the filter production and to bring our delivery capacity back to a normal level. Especially for the filters the delays are due to a very costly product development. The appearance of more and more sensitive CMOS cameras with smaller and smaller pixel sizes forces us to bring the filters, which have proven themselves up to now, to a new technical level. In the future, too, our filters should continue to be the reference - with real measurement curves over the entire spectral sensitivity range of modern CMOS cameras, against which cheap copies from China must be measured.

The development of filter sheet systems, however, requires complex test series, prototype production in each case - and ultimately intensive testing in the night sky. We are very close to producing our filters with further improved properties, but "one does not talk about unlaid eggs". You can be assured that we will provide detailed information about the improvements achieved. As soon as the first regularly produced filters are finally tested here, we would like to present you the real transmission curves. Therefore we ask for your understanding that we are currently unable to give binding answers to inquiries about delivery dates for products that are not available."

I just thought i would forward this on to everyone to keep them in the loop

John

Hi Steve,

I to have a cgem, and recently my USB/232 adaptor gave up on me, so I took a punt on one of these of flee bay;

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/5m-USB-PC-control-cable-for-Celestron-Nexstar-telescopes-4-pin-plug-FTDI-chip/192871671185?hash=item2ce80c2591:g:WOsAAOSwImRYb9UP

5M length with built in FTDI chip, works a treat

John

5 hours ago, si717 said:

hi thanks all i was polar aligned iam setting up as instructed ,yet on all attempts the scopes slewing to allign in the wrong direction ,ive updated the firmware just now still the same ive tried getting it to slew to the moon and its telling me its not above the horizon  yet and its clearly in the sky and i will have a look at synscaninit not heard of that all new to me but never seen anything like this before ? confused with it thanks for your replys

I would most definitely say, if its saying the moon is not above the horizon yet, and it clearly is, you have input the wrong time/date. Make sure also, you set you time zone UST and daylight saving, because, don't forget, we are in British summer time which is one hour ahead of GMT.

John

3 hours ago, SlimPaling said:

Hi John ...

 

If I remember correctly there are two versions of Starnet++ that can be downloaded for Win10 computers ....  " StarNet_Win"  and also "StarNet_PI ".

The "Win" version is a standalone version .... and the "Pi" version works as a module inside PixInsight.

I got Starnet to work inside PixInsight without much hassle .... there was a "read Me " file in the zipped download folder giving instructions how to install it into Pix 🙂

Mike

Yes, i followed the instructions to a Tee, and installled the Starnet++ PI window module  but to no avail, followed the readme file 😩 

yes mate, even rebooted, no joy

John

Hi All,

Has anyone successfully installed Starnet + +Pixinsight module for windows 10 ?. I am having issues with Pixinsight  not seeing the module. First, a run down on my laptop.

It Has an intel 4000 series Dual core processor, 8GB  ram, (shared Graphics) and 512GB SSD dirive. From the readme doc, it meets the requirements. Its a Windows 10 64 Bit OS, and my PI is version 1.8.8.5 the most up to date.

Installation procedure. 

I am following the instructions in the readme file. Downloading the Starnet_PI_Windows.zip file, Unzipping this file. Then i open the unzipped folder and copy and then paste the files into the PI Bin folder, as per instruction. Next i open PI, and navigate to Process > Modules > Install Modules. Then when the dialog opens, i hit the search tab, but i then get the message "0 new modules found"

Has anyone else come across this problem ?

Regards in advance

John

23 hours ago, Chris Wright said:

At last the elusive Baader OIII to compete the collection.

Tell me about it. I'm still waiting for the 36mm Baader narrowband set, seems an even longer wait. Not ordered yet, but FLO say 40 - 60 Day lead time. No one else has them in stock either. I'm not pre ordering, because if I am having to wait this long, some used ones may pop up in the classifieds.

John 

Yes Anthony, More data will definitely help with OSC 👍.  I'm no expert with OSC, only my Canon DSLR, but you could also try imaging with an Ha filter, doubling your Sub length time and increasing the gain (someone with more experience with OSC may give you some pointers) and adding the Ha to the red channel I believe.

John

Hi Have convert your image to Jpeg for comparision with the image I took a couple of weeks ago with my SX 694 mono with 12nm Ha filter. This was only 1 hour 15mins of 5 min subs from my bortle 6 back garden. As Miguel says, mono is better for "fainter" DSO's

hi Anthony,

This is a quick stretch in Pixinsight, and levels tweek in PS. Like Miguel said though, 2 hrs is not a lot with OSC Camera. But you have captured some detail there

John

Autosave_ABE.tif

1 minute ago, tooth_dr said:

Still use the ED80 myself 😎 no need to change a good thing 

Fantastic scope.👍 I wouldn't let mine go either. 

Fingers crossed Adam. I also have the same scope, the Skywatcher ED80 and dedicated flattener/reducer.

John

On 04/07/2018 at 10:03, tooth_dr said:

So here it is! @Craney

After a very smooth transaction and plenty of 'after-sales' advice from @Jkulin (cheers John), I started acquiring darks and bia, then finally got first light this week.

 

Firstly my spacers havent arrived yet, so ignore the star shapes.

Secondly I dont have any filters per se but I did manage to Blu-Tac a 12nm H-alpha EOS clip filter to the inside of the M48-T2 adapter.

 

Details of image:

6 hours of data in 300s subs at -15oC, taken over two nights 2nd/3rd/4th July; darks, flats and bias used for calibration; stacked in DSS, processed in PS using some NC actions.

 

Pointers and comments welcome.  Early doors yet but a promising start.

 

 

Best wishes

Adam

 

 

 

 

 

Hi Adam,

This is an old thread, but i am in exactly the same position as you. Iv'e just taken delivery of my SX 694 Pro Mono, and i also purchased the 36mm 7 pos filter wheel along with a set of Baader LRGB filters, but unfortunately, they haven't any Narrowband filters in stock, and speaking with FLO, it don't look like they are having a delivery anytime soon, and all vendors appear to be out of stock. However, like you, i do have A couple of astronomik Clip filters, the 12nm Ha, and 12nm OIII. I have Just tried them in my M42 - M48 adaptor, and with a bit of ingenuity (thanks to you  ) they should work, good ole blue tack !!. .Its amazing, as i was also planning the Crescent nebula, because from my garden, around midnight It will be in a perfect position. Hopefully, the forecast is for 4 clear days, so i'm hopping i can do 2 hours a night. 4 hours Ha, and 4 Hours OIII. I'll keep you posted how i get on.

Cheers again for the Tip

John

13 hours ago, Carbon Brush said:

Well just for interest/fun I have asked a couple of questions.
First about the missing tripod spreader plate. Then the electrically wired finder scope?

I will be surprised if the seller responds.

The odd thing is that this is an expensive scope, not well presented for sale.
If it was 'stolen' photos (as Ian2 above) they would be better pictures.

Puzzled and curious. But defintely not reaching for my wallet.

Did you hear anything back ?. Others have stated he may be genuine, but, i for one, wouldn't chance my arm with something around a Grand.

John 

5 hours ago, tooth_dr said:

It doesn't immediately shout scam to me either.  He is selling a drumkit also, and the description is equally short.   Maybe he doesnt want COC due to CV-19?  Also the postage is a mistake on the ad too.  What proof is there that this is a scam?

£3.70 for postage as well seems a bit iffy

John

As another clue, he does not have any history, although it say hes been a member since 2011 !!

John

Iv'e Just this second reported it Pixies👍

John

Just to let you all know, if you see this add on EBAY, Avoid at all costs

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/used-celestron-telescopes/224046265973?hash=item342a32b675:g:AWcAAOSwsnpe52tN.

The Guy is a scammer. It was first brought to my attention on UK Astronomy Group on FB. So, people started asking him questions about the scope, which he couldn't answer. I then asked the ultimate question, can i pay Cash on collection, in which he responded, he would only accept Bank Transfer prior to collection. Dead give away to me. Plus the postage £3.70 !!! 😂😂

Please Pass this on if you know anyone interested in this. You have been warned

John

29 minutes ago, dd999 said:

Ahh yes you're right - thanks! Hadn't seen this. Partly achievable apparently with the right Barlow, but not ideal. Will still be good to use with the 130p with the AZ GTe but looks like I'll have to wait for the ED80 before hooking up to a dslr - or look for small refractor in the meantime.

 

I have researched this already. Having it in EQ mode is really important. I couldn't find anything official about the firmware update - only one post from someone on here who apparently managed to update the firmware, and turn in to an EQ, on the AZ GTe. Don't like taking the risk though. May be a factor right there.

 

Also, remember you will need the EQ wedge if you want to use it in EQ mode, and a counter weight Bar and Counter weight 👍

John

6 hours ago, Gina said:

I was rather surprised you used RGB, Carole.  I have only imaged this in NB using 3nm filters.  What is the advantage of adding RGB?  I would have thought it would just add to the stars though I guess if you used star removal on the NB and just added the RGB lightly, you'd get nice coloured stars.  I'm not criticising - I'm always happy to learn from fellow imagers particularly the more experienced.

I'm in agreement Gina. I'm no expert by all means, but i think this would be better purely NB.

@Carol, I've just joined your club and bought the Starlight Xpress version of your camera. Looking forward to using it, and yes, blame me for the bad weather today lol

John 

51 minutes ago, Adam J said:

I have never really gotten the appeal of these 5 position wheels.

I would actually go so fars as to say I find them annoying as in some cases you are litterally talking about the same electronics with a minor firmware change yet they are massively cheaper. Or looking at it the other way, whats to justify the price hike for a bigger wheel beyond a tiny bit of extra machining.

I cant imagine ever wanting anything less than a 8-position wheel for 31mm / 1.25 inch filters at anyrate but at the same time resent the price difference.

Adam

 

Totally Agree mate, that sums up pretty much anything we buy. Unfortunately from my perspective, i cant afford the 7/8 position FW with Parfocal OAG. The price difference will almost buy me a set of NB filters.

John

29 minutes ago, SyedT said:

No problem! It's up to you, but to save £39 you could return the 5x1.25 FW, order a 5x36 FW and an extra carousel. The 5x36 FW is shipped in 4-6 days though, so depends on how impatient you are (I'd probably be impatient enough to get the 2 carousels if I'm honest!). In terms of the larger filter wheel, I've had experience of using two 5x2" carousels, and I found it annoying to have to exchange them whenever I needed to change from BB/NB, especially if it was in the middle of an imaging session in the winter!

I just spotted that, same price to. I'll message FLO tomorrow. Don't mind waiting, looks like iv'e put a Jinx on the weather with my new toy 😔 lol