bosun21

I only had to paint the threads once when I also bought black ones with steel threads. I just placed a bit of masking tape over the ends of the threads when painting.

The correct back focus is the distance between the reducer/flattener and the camera sensor. This is totally independent of the focal point of the telescope which is reached by racking the focuser in and out. If you don't have a reducer/flattener in the optical train then you can totally forget about it. The reason they are almost universally used is to flatten the field and reduce the focal ratio of the telescope providing a larger FOV.

Interesting new addition. I wonder how they actually perform in relation to standard plossl's.

Hi and welcome to SGL. You will most definitely find like minded individuals among us. Lovely images by the way 👍.

I bought mine from eBay of which there is a huge selection. I chose the black ones as this will prevent any stray light reflections. I have also fitted the washers to all the dobs I've owned past and present. The indentations on the Stella Lyra dobsonians I've owned have prevented the secondary mirror being rotated correctly. I have just carried out the same mod to my Skywatcher 10" Flextube dobsonian. I also spray paint the washers matt black before fitting.

A very nice and productive night of EAA. I also found your post very inspirational. You must have your work flow pretty polished now Peter. All those previous nights of trial and error are really paying dividends now.

Very nice Dave. It's great when a plan or a set comes together.

There are actually two types of Starsense units now. The one costing approx £400 is the basic one which automatically does the star alignment for you and a newer release which actually does the alignment as well as guiding or plate solving I believe. The cost of the newer version was in the region of £700-800. Personally they are not for me but I can wholly understand why people use and like them. I would put the money towards your scope.

Thanks Kostas. It was actually pneumonia which really laid me low. Thankfully 10 days of strong antibiotics and corticosteroids seems to have done the trick. I'm eager to get back out there.

Very nice Kostas. A period of poor health has put the brakes on any astro for me at the moment, however your images give me inspiration. I would have never thought about trying to image a moon so young. Now added to my list. Thanks.

Planetary capture is better on Sharpcap, Firecapture etc as the ASIAIR isn't as refined for planetary imaging as it is for AP.

Sharpcap can be used to integrate with all the other software via ASCOM like mount, camera control etc as well as plate solving Stellarium etc. For planetary imaging there are basically two that are mainly used. Those being Sharpcap and Firecapture. They are both similar however I chose to use Sharpcap as i found that i could attain a higher frame rate using that for the same ROI and settings. I also have set up Sharpcap with ASCOM for doing EAA.

Welcome to SGL Chris. There's always plenty of advice going around when it comes to helping folk spend money on astro gear 😂.

Interesting video. Thanks for uploading it John.

The ASI585MC does require the addition of an UV/IR cut filter both for planetary as well as AP. Best to check the specs of the camera you intend to buy or use beforehand.

I have lost count the number of times your statement has applied to the end of many of my observing sessions. I also tip my hat to your short list of possible targets with redeeming qualities.

I have always powered the mount off after setting it in the home position. My routine is to polar align the mount then send it to the home position. Once the mount stops moving I loosen the clutches and set the home position manually. Power the mount off and back on again and select start from parked. Carry out the star alignment and that's it. The mount then works perfectly and the go to is accurate. At the end of the session I send it to park scope and it always returns perfectly to counterweights down and Dec pointing to the celestial pole. Then switch off. The mount then remembers the park position.

Yes I also check collimation before every session now that I think about it. I can then be sure that it's the seeing conditions that are the limiting factor on a particular night.

Having owned both the 8" and 12" solid tube Stella Lyra dobsonians I can also attest to the quality of the mirror(s) in both these scopes.

I am also a fan of the Concentre(Concenter) for an accurate alignment of the secondary mirror. Once properly aligned it shouldn't need to be adjusted again unless the telescope has been roughly handled. I also rate my 2" Hotech laser highly as it eliminates any movement of the laser inside the focuser. I can also position the laser on the primary mirror spot in the dark without having to use a torch as when the laser is on the centre spot it becomes a clear cross making the process both quick and accurate. The primary mirror reflection also becomes a cross ensuring accuracy. The most important aspect to me is that it is repeatable. I can collimate then remove and replace the laser and still be collimated. For peace of mind I also check against a cap and cheshire which always correspond with each other. I find that when planetary imaging I check the collimation every session as its vitally important.

I would also go for the Bresser unless when you mentioned being travel friendly you meant aeroplane or backpack friendly. The Bresser is easily transported in a car but not a backpack or aeroplane.

Hi Panos, welcome to SGL.

I started planetary imaging last year in earnest and I'll contribute my two pennies worth. I started out with a 150mm Maksutov on an EQ5 pro mount which I chose for its refractor like images. There's so much to learn and so many aspects that need to be fine tuned, usually on the night of capture itself. I will stick to the equipment i used. I used the Mak with EQ5 pro for months, imaging every clear sky i could get. I was pleased with the modest results I attained. I then moved to a 10" go to dobsonian which I bought primarily for planetary imaging but also some visual observing. The increase of 4" extra aperture didn't immediately produce drastically better images and is now a work in progress waiting for the planets return and better seeing conditions. I also bought a AZ-EQ6 but I have no intention of putting a larger Newtonian on it as the 10" is more than adequate. I want the AZ-EQ6 for an apo and a 180 Mak. The learning curve for planetary imaging is a steep one, but it's a journey I'm pleased to have started. I consciously left out any mention of the image processing which is a topic for another day. Planetary imaging whether captured on an EQ rig or ALT/AZ will have no bearing on the results of the final image. A coma corrector is not required for planetary imaging. You should ask yourself what is it you want to do. Is it planetary imaging, astrophotography or visual? You seem to be changing your aims between them. This will have a huge effect on what recommendations you receive.

You don't need the control panel. Just plug the hand controller into the Virtuoso mount via the dedicated HC port. The hand controller should be able to detect that it's now operating in ALT/AZ mode.

Having owned both the 8" and 12" solid tube Stella Lyra (GSO) dobsonians, both of which were optically very good. I found that moving them around the garden, and even to and fro from the house to the garden was relatively easy using a sack barrow @Ratlet has mentioned this fact in a previous post. I now have the 10" Flextube go to dobsonian which is also easily manoeuvred using the sack barrow despite the much heavier base. I never use the trusses to move the scope and this is clearly stated in literature. To me it's all about the bulk and not so much the weight that makes them problematic. This problem is taken care of with the addition of wheelbarrow handles or the use of a sack barrow.