billhinge

I previously had a CG5-ASGT and I purchased a Celestron Starsense the Christmas before last, but I have now have upgraded to a EQ6-R. I could buy the skywatcher bridge but do I need to? I also have the primaluce Eagle with Sharpcap etc for polar alignment. Unfortunately I haven't had time test it yet So would the starsense add anything to my set up or am I better off selling the starsense? (I read on cloudynights that starsense improves goto slewing accuracy vs tracking accuracy)

Started my shopping in spring, anticipated this. Got everything I ever need now, bought European items pre brexit 😀 (building my retirement kit). Don't be afraid of used kit either

I had a big Aurora several years ago but it was really flimsy looking for what it cost To replace it I just picked up a nearly half price 'bargain' from ebay for a virtually new one (12" square one to cover my 11" SCT and refractor) - couldn't resist, still cheaper than a dedicated astro panel that size Artograph's are expensive but supposedly top of the market, should be here at the weekend, even if no good for astro I'm sure it will come in handy https://www.artograph.com/lightpadpro/ Adjustable color temperature from 3000K-6200K, warm to cool white Variable brightness from 500 to 5500 lux with color temperature adjustment MAX brightness a blazing 11,000 lux at a fixed color temperature of 4600K Tempered glass cutting surface Edge designed for T-square use UV-free light safe for eyes and archival photos and documents Settings memory saves brightness and color temp Shines through 300 pound cold-pressed watercolor paper Square shape to fit any size or orientation Curved-edged frame for ergonomic ease Smooth base for lap comfort Capacitive touch controls Thin, sturdy design Long-life 50,000 hour LEDs I like the idea of adjustable colour temp and low bottom range brightness. (should also work well for its intended purpose as a bonus) I presume 3000-4000k is optimal for night sky?

I had a CG5 - I replaced the worm bearings with ABEC-7's (skateboard bearings) and replaced the RA bearing with a FAG HSS7007 (ABEC 7) https://www.247industries.com/s/en/bearings/HSS7007-C-T-P4S-UL-FAG/651477?currency=GBP - fits like a glove. I believe the AVX uses the same parts. Still got the old RA bearing. Also DIY belt modded it with highest quality parts I had to buy a new motor, I broke the original encoder doing a full motor tear down (I wanted to see what was inside 😉 - everything was lubed with WS2) I was going to rewire the motor housings to reduce noise (the plastic housing is like a sound box) but then someone was selling a commercially tuned new EQ6-R so I bought that instead and the CG5 is just sitting around for a future project

I used a 30A nevada clone switch mode supply with out issue but have just replaced it with a nevada 30A linear supply. (from nevada web site) I use one of those orange camping leads with commando sockets (plus heavy 2.5mm thick cable version, not the cheaper 1.5mm). I just put the psu in an IP66 box, quite a lot of dew where I live. I use an external rcd on the house side

I don't mind the adverts in https://astronomytechnologytoday.com and https://www.amateurastrophotography.com/ , you never know when you may find some new gizmo, both are cheap enough so no worries S&T was something to look forward to as a youngster in the 70's and 80's, went back to it 10 years ago but it wasn't the same and it was just a quick skim read I may buy a mag from WH Smiths occasionally but usually only for a review or specific articles, sad but the internet has most of the info anyway and is interactive

Lol, seems funny seeing other cats around my old tripod and box, my second hand Scottish Fold has a thing about boxes

My red interpretation - all PI but min HDR and using Photoshop

Done in Pixinsight stars and nebula processed separately STTCR; Curves - saturation and hue; HDR wavelets & local histogram

Hi If i may ask a question, how does any one know what the correct colour is? Surely it depends on the sensitivity of the sensor? CCD/CMOS/eyes? Isn't this similar to how do you know I see the same red apple as you? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristotle's_theory_of_universals (we actually debated this at the ITU) Surely you would need to measure the full spectrum of a body and come up with an algorithm that proportioned the colours according to wavelength intensity? Also I find it interesting how people seem attracted to certain images, I like in your face detail but others seem to prefer pastel approaches, is either right or wrong if the detail exists in the real world?

I have one as well (from about 10-8 years ago) but it looks nothing like the one above, I have the right angle and the extended straight through focuser. I have never had a problem with it, I also have the illuminated eyepiece. I think it gives great views but it now has a guide camera in it

Added a red version for good measure This is 2 images using same data. Stars processed in SHO, nebula using Ha for red, SII for green. Both processed independently in PI then added in blend tool Tools used for both inc Linear Fit, EZ Softstretch and HDR, Starnet, SCNR green, Dynamic BackgroundExtraction, HDR wavelets, Curves Hue & Saturation, Advance Sharpen, Blend slightly redder to bring out the faint nebula Added tweaked LocalHistogram to emphasise nebula swirls

I bought my UNI 18 or 28 (forgot which) direct from Berlebach years ago before FLO sold them, now on its 3rd head. I've since upgraded to an EQ6-R plus added a load of extra heavy camera gear to my telescopes. As a result I bought a Planet from FLO to replace the UNI (just delivered this morning). When you extend the legs like all tripods you lose some rigidity so I decided to get the bigger thicker and heavier Planet to be certain to minimise any vibration (not saying there is anything wrong with the UNI, it had a 30lb C11 & CG5 on it ). Personally I think the tray helps a lot to brace the structure together As well as a C11 it will hold an APM 115m f8 plus heavy Moravian camera gear If you can afford it why not get the Planet to save future faffing about in case you upgrade, you know you want to, but the UNI will be fine I'm sure

One last try, I don't think my second was quite right, did it late at night. Anyone notice the freaky Donald Trump face in centre 😮 second upload colour corrected and toned down

Blue version of previous effort, PixInsight scnr , bit of deconvolution and tweak in PhotoshopSor sorry didn't like the blue image so replaced it with this toned down version, I prefer the green look. HDR transform, remove some of the colourcast

Great data, here's my first attempt in SHO

seems a risky way to run a deliberate scalping/price gouging business, in a small market of specialised products that you could easily end up holding indefinitely and low profit margins? Thats not to say the seller doesn't look to be a bit cheeky in their pricing I have bought stuff that I intended to use but have never got around to but if and when I sell I wouldn't charge more than new

I used to have one of those indestructible antarctic proof GreenWitch covers but it rotted away (I live near the sea), maybe they aren't as long lasting as advertised

Crikey, you got me looking up russian military watches on ebay!

I built it to do Ethereum crypto mining 3 years ago when ether was cheap < $30. Fully loaded with all 4 Vega's it runs at over 100TFlops, what I made from crypto more than covered its cost. If you recall that was people were buying top end gpu's as though they were going out of fashion. It does use a lot of electric though, over 1KW/h full tilt running 24/7! I just re-purposed it later with the addition of a BenQ SW271 27 Inch 4K Photography Monitor Its all running on an open air crypto mining rig frame so no thought of aesthetics 🙂

A few months ago I paid just over 3K for a second hand 20 year old 0.989 Strehl TMB LZOS, possibly more than it cost new, I may be daft but its much less a new replacement. If someone were selling a Starfire at more than 33% discount I may also be interested so it depends on availability and what you are selling Using a car analogy many classic cars may sell for more than the original price, a smaller market, you may have to wait but if you find the right buyer you could get a decent price I don't think people would buy a Questar on a whim. If someone can afford and wants it they will buy, try high, you can always reduce the price I'm not convinced the 50%/66% idea works for premium or scarce products (Rolex are mass produced but they still hold or increase in value due to limited supply)

Amazing the detail can be taken with an 11" if you compare it with a 1950 image from Mt Palomar https://sites.astro.caltech.edu/palomar/images/blog/CrabNebula1950sm.jpg

I haven't come across anything that requires more than a few seconds for most heavy things - multiple deconvolution examples, commercial photoshop actions, longest wait is pixinsight match and integration process which can takes minutes for a couple hundred images (full spec 2018 macbook pro i9 with 32gb ram and gpu). Using AI super resolution can take several seconds with a 300mb image I have a video /image/deep learning machine (my ex crypto rig) with 32 core threadripper and 2 AMD Vega (each 25Tflop in single precision mode) all water cooled (plus 2 spare gpu), 96GB RAM with a 1K high spec monitor but I rarely use it since I find the macbook more convenient to use I would get a decent cpu and plenty of RAM personally plus fast ssd card (as big as possible)

If you don't like FPL55 there is still LZOS OK-4 glass afaik

Sorry I didn't see your post, I was just flicking through a website before I posted straight away re the phone app, there was a discussion on CN a couple of years back, only cost a few quid for the ios app https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/597759-sqm-vs-dark-sky-meter-ios-app/ consensus was the app was pretty accurate for what it was