billhinge

Cool, thanks for the tips, I can manually rotate the images no problem. The issue was that I had about 200 image files and I was adding more, I didn't want to keep going through the whole realignment every time I added half a dozen new files The following is new 10 min Ha, got a new set of RGB to do yet

Several years ago I took a large number of images on itelescope, I have aligned and integrated them etc Now I want to add more data from the same telescope but the camera has changed slightly or at least the image is inverted. Do I have to go through the whole alignment process again with every single image file or is there an easy way to do it. In general, if it were more data from the same camera would the answer be the same, eg if I were just adding 2 or 3 image files taken a week apart for example?

I have a recent 2.9 ghz i9 macbook pro with 32gb of Ram (Radeon Pro 560X 4 GB graphics) , I also have an AMD Threadripper 32 core system that has 2xVega Frontier gpu, fully watercooled (plus 2 spare watercooled vegas if required - each vega being 25Tflops) 96GB Ram, with £1k monitor running windows 10 Pro I did a large PI integration on the macbook in a few minutes no problem and had no inclination to use the windows box, macbook is more convenient. Maybe if I were doing something heavy with a large video I would use the windows box but for PI/PS i9 is fine

Thank you to all that replied, it seems there several choices such as Starlight or Atik but no major issues or differentiators between brands other than cost or capacity

Is that the midi or mini, I presume the only difference would be number of filters. So for LRGB/narrowband the choice is 7 filter wheel or swap between two filter types - is that really a big deal. I mean that could be done during the day, is scratching/fingerprints a big deal?. I was also considering SXpress. I previously considered the loadstar but was of the opinion there would not be a huge difference from the GPCAM2 290C, is that so?

Hi I have now got most of the parts for my home robotic telescope project, all I need is to determine which external filter wheel to get for my shopping list. (buying bits every few months) - equipment list in sig Mount is EQ6-R with darkframe stellar hypertune, principal telescope is Altair 80mm APO but I have a C11 as well I propose to purchase a KAF8300 CCD solution in the next week before they disappear so I'm looking for Narrowband plus LRGB. I previously purchased a 2" Quad narrowband filter which I thought may suffice as an alternative L filter. Sky is bortle 5-4, 20-21 SQM according to iphone app (they turn street lights off toward midnight and I live in a small Suffolk town by the sea - humidity can be high). In the event of there being no KAF8300 left then plan B was the QHY268C (OSC) but they are out of stock everywhere (which is one reason I bought the quad filter just in case - get it while I could) My equipment would not be observatory housed for the immediate future I believe my best options would be 31mm to 2", guiding would be off axis, focuser is 3" with 2" x1 flattener, 55mm backfocus In terms of budget, whatever it takes within reason, I'm spacing my purchases out over the months and paying them off. I'd rather skip the intermediate buy cheap and upgrade phase, I hope to retire in a couple of years and spend more time on hobbies etc Previously I have used DSLR's and readymade remote robotics with fancy scopes and cameras but they are obviously not practical at home (I was an early PI adopter so get free upgrades and have PS 2020) I have a good range of text books eg Wodaski, Hubbel, Keller etc and have a degree in Astrophysics so I'm OK with technical stuff (and DIY) Within external wheels are all fittings standard? Any gotchas to consider, build quality? Any suggestions wrt to wheel make? eg Moravian, Atik thanks

I have a Uni for an eq6-r and I picked up a report 8023 cheap when it seems to have been discontinued. Looks to be of same size as your report but doesn't have a geared column just pull and lock. https://www.ephotozine.com/article/berlebach-mulda-report-8023-wooden-tripod-review-16255 Its good for cameras eg heavy nikon f6 film camera, 80x20 binocs but I extended the legs rather than the centre column - see pic in review above. I don't really use it much but I never paid anything like full price for it. I last used it for my Hotech laser sct collimator some years back How would you measure shakiness? 🙂

I ordered a new top plate for my Berlebach from Germany, just arrived this afternoon. Very nice as you would expect Fitted to the bottom of the EQ6-r. No swivel with just bottom bolt tightened Much easier to fasten as well

Thanks for this, it's made my mind up re the tripod. I'm going to get a new EQ6-R top plate for my Berlebach, that way I can use my existing tray spreader and chains to brace the legs rigid. Had a look for a commercial option for the Skywatcher steel legs but doesn't seem to be one.

Hi I just received a second hand EQ6-R that I bought last week, it was originally purchased Sep 2019 but the previous owner is buying a bigger mount so I got a good deal I know its no consolation but I just checked mine and thankfully it doesn't wobble like yours, seems quite solid although I would prefer it on my Berlebach tripod to the metal one (the metal eyepiece holder seems pretty useless and more of an annoyance)

Turns out the seller was after the new CEM70 instead, I had thought of a CEM60 myself but it would have been a vanity buy, don't think I need it. I just need a decent camera now. I have the full set of Primaluce Eagle bits and pieces. No more freezing hands and feet in winter!

A second hand entry here, I picked up a pre-owned EQ6-R on ebay yesterday, should be here in the next week. Only a few months old and its just had the £700 darkframe tune up. I had planned to buy one new anyway so I thought it was a good price for a tuned and fettled one. Finally I can use my C11 for planetary again 🙂

Great idea John, yes I love DIY 😉 I like my Berlebach since its mine and I ordered it from Germany years ago

Cheers all, looking forward to giving it a whirl when it arrives! I'll decide what to do with the Berlebach then

Hi a very very very heavily modified CG5-ASGT (it can move a C11 with a x2 televue and dslr) but its ugly,noisy and a pain when windy. I wanted something less hassle

Hi I have a number of things on my 2020 shopping list inc a new NEQ6R mount so when I just saw a straight from factory NEQ6R stellerdrive tuned mount on ebay I bought on impulse. I had planned to buy one this year and tune it myself so it saves me the trouble and expense So my question, I currently have a large Berlebach tripod (UNI 24/28) for my old mount, should I buy a skywatcher mounting plate for the Berlebach or are the standard NEQ6R legs good enough - I currently have the celestron mounting plate and the photography plate, guess skywatcher use a different fit? Mount is for an Altair Wave 80mm with mounted Eagle and accessories or Celestron 11" Just need the camera now and I'll be fully robotised for the winter months

I'm not an expert but I believe the male thread is on the outside of my OTA , the female is on this adapter id http://starlightinstruments.com/store/index.php?route=product/product&path=38_62&product_id=186 (see other adapters for pics, its missing with this one) I don't have a tool to determine pitch, I measured the ota with a mitutoyo digital calliper adapter is for a 3" R&P feather-touch focuser. OTA appears to be aluminium

I have an OTA that has a thread of 104.07mm on it. I want to fit a standard Starlight adapter which has a thread of 104.75mm (it lives in the US hence not easy to try unless reasonably sure) Will they fit?

I previously re-greased my RA bearings with ws2 in oil some years ago, it sticks to anything and bonds to the surface material. I just spent £80 (cheap old stock Fag branded bearings from ebay) on 2 x Abec-7 7007 angular contact bearings to replace the large 6007 for my RA drive plus new needle bearings. I had already replaced the worm bearings with ceramic abec 7's (which I greased with ws2 as well) But having a think recently while buffing a worm wheel, the question is why? (I like you read most of the previous hypertune articles online and just followed them) Surely if the clutch is locked then the only bearings moving are on the worm and the motor? Wouldn't they be the only bearings affecting PE? Secondly, several academic essays I read say a mount should be smooth to turn but stiff enough not to be prone to vibration and external factors like wind etc, so maybe thicker grease is a benefit there? http://www.mesu-optics.nl/mesu200_en.html https://www.eso.org/sci/facilities/eelt/owl/Blue_Book/9_Telescope_structure_and_kinematics.pdf as examples but there others if you google, sounds logical though not saying everything is a waste, just thinking. I've paid for new bearings anyway so will replace them and call it an improvement (they may be abec 7 but they are stiffer than my ws2 lubed up old bearings, I may leave them alone)

You can DIY and get the belt quality you want, there are different types of belt , prices and strengths I ordered the parts from here https://www.beltingonline.com/belt-tension-meter-1266/?zenid=2fhn20f4c3vlbf7054use3s2c7

Thanks, I had read of microlensing as an artefact of the KAF8300, I was using the panny micro 4/3 back in 2012 which is the same chip as the 1600. Not that I noticed noticeable microlensing but I've seen some examples posted on the interweb I believe the KAF8300 was an original 4/3 chip (predecessor of micro 4/3) , I hadn't heard of a direct comparison saying the 1600 (micro 4/3) was worse in this respect. Amp glow and banding was my issue with the panny chip if you took arbitrary more shorter exposures with the QHY268 would they become comparable? The QSI and Morovian seem to have better cooling, maybe that helps? Just a pity there isn't a side by side comparison. I ended up comparing downloading images from Astrobin in comparing and tweaking similarly in Pixinsight, QHY268 didn't look bad to me which is what got me thinking (actually I wanted to go with CCD but the CMOS examples look really good)

Are you saying a new QSI683 or Moravian is better than a QHY268 ? I was saving for a KAF8300 but read some fud on another US site which put me off and was looking at the QHY268 instead. My rationale being that it would equate to a modern 6.5Mp - 8Mp Mono camera taking into account the bayer filter but the QHY268 would have better sensor characteristics and circuitry and longer support Money wise the Moravian is similar price to the QHY (then I was thinking if I went with the Moravian why not spend a bit more for the QSI)

I did my CG5-AGT which preceded this mount and converted it to belt drive some years back. When I tuned mine I just left the original bearings apart from cleaning them and re-greasing with WS2. I did replace the worm gear bearings with ABEC7's though. Recently I started planing a new phase which was to replace the RA JESA v2 6007 bearing, so I bought a FAG ABEC-7 7007 bearing (got 2 old stock at £80 on ebay for much less than a single new one) and a needle roller bearing to replace the ball race. I had a spare pair of worms and their wheels from a previous purchase several years ago and I decided to buff them with WS2 powder and alcohol, in theory this should allow them to run without grease, metal on metal. Then it occurred to me, surely when you put the clutch on to track or goto, the only moving part is the motor and worm which is just walking around the wheel. The bearing inside the mount wont be moving will it? So surely if thats true the only PE effect would be due to worm, wheel, motor and drive gears/belt? Is my logic correct or am I missing something? Anyway, already got the new bearings and am just waiting on some new IF-WS2 nano lube (Inorganic Fullerene-Like Tungsten Disulfide (IF-WS2) - self coating) to arrive from Europe Once the bearings are changed not sure what else I can do to the CG5? (other than buy a new bigger Skywatcher mount 😂)

Lol, this is hardcore. I like tinkering. I've built mirrors and junk part telescopes, de-bayered cameras, stripped down mounts, bearings and belt drives, flocked the inside of my C11 SCT but never dared take the SCT optical assembly apart it just seems wrong 🤣 Now someone has, I may be tempted I like your comment "People call catadioptric collimation a "dark art", and one of the reasons I think is that the various internal designs are often very different, and collimation is doing different things "inside". And they never tell you what's inside, so you are effectively adjusting something by blind trial and error hoping that whatever it is lines up." Very true. I have the Hotech advanced 3 laser system from when it first came out but haven't used it for years since I went over to a refractor, C11 just been sitting in storage Thanks for the info

I contacted Altair and got a quick response back, apparently starlight may have an adapter so emailed them