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todd8137

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Blog Entries posted by todd8137

  2. todd8137

    drawings

    By todd8137,

    heres the latest stuff hand drawn the links for here on sgl
    http://stargazerslounge.com/imaging-sketches-unconventional/171785-3-weeks-drawing.html#post2113317
  4. todd8137

    Dumbbell neb

    By todd8137,

    HI all
    well put MO1 out to cool and gave up the pics for tonight has i have not really had a good night with just the scope for ages the darkside keeps pulling me in and is such a pain .so why looking at brocchis cluster which did not fail to get the juices flowing ,after ticking of M71 as well , the old dumbbell neb was on the cards ive not seen it before till tonight after a few scans and pass in it by about five times ,i put the 0lll filter on the 32mm ep and ding ding there she was it looked a bit like a apple core a cartoon one as if some one had eaten the sides of i pushed it to the 17mm + 0lll filter and it looked great thats one to show my friends when they pop round to have a look .
    lyra was next that little dohnut always grabs me and m56 is a nice glob tried for the veil neb but it just would not be so tonight,had a quick look at m13 m92 they where not so bright tonight ,hercules as lots to look at loads of doubles,
    with take in the wide field shots over the last couple of weeks well about a month i had forgot about all the things i wanted to tick of my list my meisser list is go in great with about 30 now ticked of ,another look at the dumbbell and i was done
    i am so glad i brought the 12" reflector every one was telling me not to get "a scope like that" because the size ect but MO1 gives me so much joy ,i feel like a explorer. i no how drake felt now when he was of do in is thing around the world,it humbles me to see these things in the night skies and can not explain in words ,how it makes me feel when i see some thing for the first time i may go on about this but you all no that feeling and it keep me going out every night to see them
    a very happy pat :)

  5. todd8137
    hi all had a great night last night got the 12" reflector out and spc900 ,ir/uv filter and st to work it was about 01:30 when i started i got great focus the x 1.5 teleneg barlow worked a treat the crayford dual speed focusser i got from FLO is mega nearly 6 months since a brought this and worth every single pence
    hope you take a look at the video i was fighting with the bright moon so the gain ect was needing to be tweaked all the time ,i was going to get the goto and track but the views with the 12" last night wee great i never even got any thing with Jupiter the moon took over again i pray to the tree god that it stays clear tonight so i can push to a x2 barlow or may be three but dreams are just dreams cheers

    my best video todate ! :evil6:
  6. todd8137

    Evening 11 May

    By todd8137,

    Evening 11/13th May

    Hi all was out last night for a quick play started around 10 o clock already to go for about 22:30,the 90mm frac goto and webcam phillips i stayed out for about 30 mins and that was that heres one of many the link is for 2 albums one for the 11th and one for the 13th,photo bucket please leave coments here after looking if you wisha cheers pat
    clear skies always
    http://s473.photobucket.com/albums/rr93/todd8137/11may%20evening/
    http://s473.photobucket.com/albums/rr93/todd8137/13%20may/

  7. todd8137

    Filters what to buy

    By todd8137,

    hi all
    well most of last night i spent reading and looking at filters my main area of interest is dso`s and most of the time will be spent at home in the back garden ,street light may be a problem but there's only one that's about 50m from the house any way "filters" i want to look at nebulas and galaxies ect and the odd planet now what would be a good choice a few suggestion would be great is this a trial and error thing with filters i read so much stuff last night i switched the pc of and felt no wiser and more in a fuddle that when a started
    baader filters, ect what light they block the mind boggles what is a general one if one exists at all do i just try and look at what a want to and then decide what part of the spectrum a WANT to cancel out HELP a can see my self buy in the lot and waste in a lot of cash any advice on a few general ones that most people would have as a matter of course would be great and may be one that may cut out the street light but not impair my view of what a look at at thanks pat
    "once again another question you have heard"
  8. todd8137

    first light optics

    By todd8137,

    just like to thank flo for there great service and e mails ,baader 0lll filter ordered 31st dec to beat the vat came today got covering e mails great services from them again 1st rate
  9. todd8137

    first try at moon pics

    By todd8137,

    hi every one thought a would have a go with registax and some video it did not turn out that good this is my first go so be gentle any tips on what went wrong please thanks pat
    http://stargazerslounge.com/members/todd8137-albums-sketchs-picture8462-not-good-i-no-first-go.html
    http://stargazerslounge.com/members/todd8137-albums-sketchs-picture8463-second-go-not-goos-no.html
  10. todd8137
    Hi all just a quick rant,well a set the scope and web cam up last night spc 900 and 12" and just wanted to give it a quick test.the moon was my test subject but a soon found the thermals and windy conditions were against me. but still a wanted a play with the settings sharpcap kept crashing so a had to use v lounge and a quick play about with the gain ect got it going a had just the cam in the eye piece a took a few vids and they were not bad a better tweak next time,would be better with the settings.
    the moon looked like it was boiling so a scrapped it in the end a must remember to save the settings next time because it kept jumping back to 15 fps and not ten when a put them in v dub to convert the vids to avi a kept get in a long list of errors .but a will work through them today and try and resolve this
    all in all it works ok and a better steady night may give me better results but the gain settings ect take a bit of mastering
    will re download sharp cap as that saves as avi as ya no
    thanks pat
  11. todd8137
    Hi all ,its clearing nice here gonna post this up and stick the SW 300p out side, for a couple of hours its gave clear skies for the east tonight,the laptop batt as died and will only run of the power supply and can not have power on in the shed at the min.
    i have a few in mind for tonight i have never seen the sun flower galaxy i hear its a urban myth we shall see . Orion will get a work out as well and not just the neb all stars and all the other goodies that's on offer , Cassiopeia is still good and i love have in a blast round it tonight i will be there at some point. i will run the fan as well tonight am glad the batt as died on the laptop as i may now get back to visual 2011 was filled with wasted clear good seeing nights try in to get things on the spc900 webcam .
    a mistake i will not repeat this year (he says again) if any body else is galaxy hunting tonight please give me your reports and your out side temperature if pos update to follow :D
    UPDATE PENDING
    well the galaxy hunt was killed of by the moon i did see m81/82,no sunflower or any thing else
    m35
    well this is easy to find very big fits just about in 2"32mm ep very dense at the center just to the left just out the fov is a tiny tight cluster not sure what that was
    ngc 2129
    very small about 12 stars of dif sizes in the center and a few round the outside very hard to find
    ngc2266
    very hard again i used mebsuta in Gemini to hop to it,tight core about 5/6 bright stars below the main bunch theirs a lot of wide stars not sure if they was part of the cluster
    nc2420
    small again the center is full ofsmall dots there was around five bright ones around the left side nice to find
    cone neb ngc 2224
    another nice cluster a few orange red and blue stars tonight the center is not dense has you go to the top of the cluster the line of stars go of to the left
    ngc2244
    theres a great group of 4 in the center and another above it great group and cluster
    i did have a good look round Orion again but around midnight dew was every where except the mirrors the fan was on all night and the dew shield was on the out side of the tube was dripping so was my coat and hat
    i spent 25 mins wipe in the tube down and the dob mount stuck the tube at 45 degrees put a saucer in the tube with 5 x20gm bags of silca that sucks all the damp out
    great night more the same tonight i hope

  12. todd8137
    Hi all me and my daughter who`s 12 was just looking at some pics of Lyra we had taken the other night and out the blue, she sais "dad if god is true why can`t we see were he lives ?" me be in a non beleaver in any religion said am not sure because i did not want to push my view on to her, but it does bring to mind if religion was true and god created the universe .why would are planets out of zillions be chosen the other thing she said was that ,how did we start to worship a man when we had worshipped trees the sun and the moon again,i said am not sure but it does to me beg the thought that after looking up all religion is based on a person did we create the image of god on man ,or did god create his image on us ,in the end i spoke to elle about evolution and all that ,she said the next time we out side with the scopes she will have a look and why does the meade auto star handset does not show god this is tough because after looking at the andromeda galaxy.a wonder if they if life lives there worries about such things as this
  13. todd8137
    hi all to those in derbyshire heres a online form to fill in to lower and dim street lights in derbyshire please fill in the form to help the cause
    http://forms.derbyshirepartnership.gov.uk/tempdocs/000001305/Part%20Night%20Lighting%20Questionnaire.HTM
    do not forget we pay3.2 million a year dimming the lights would save 700,000 a year and lower DC COUNCILS CARBON EMISSIONS BY 3%
    up to 75 % of the country as done this
    crime and anti socail probs have not gone up or down
    please fill the form in before 31st of july
    please
    Derbyshire County Council is responsible for over 88,500 street lights, costing an estimated £2,713,214 in electricity last year and producing 18,000 tonnes of CO2 every year. That accounts for nearly 20% of the County Council's annual emissions of 92,000 tonnes of CO2.
    also all councils have got to lower there carbon emissions by 25,000 tons per year they will get a fine of 12 pound per tonne for every one they over which will filter down to us via the council tax bill
  14. todd8137
    hi all the most common private msg i get on sgl is,"how many seconds should i take ?" well basic wide field shots just on a tripod with no motors, piggy back or just stuck on a camera tripod its easy lets say you have a 28mm lens on the camera and lets say you want to do a basic wide field shot of ursa major.
    so you shoot for 45secs and stars trail doh!
    try this, the magic number is 600 :)
    so i no my camera as a 28mm lense attached but not sure how long to keep the shutter open before trails apear
    divide 600 by the lense of 28mm
    600 divided by 28 = 21.4 seconds
    so lets round that of to say 21 secs and there you go
    no i hear you say i can not set to 21 secs most dslrs will shoot at 20 secs so use that always go lower, never higher
    a was in my local one night and a old drunk bloke told me that a took it with a pinch a salt tried it the next night worked a treat every time we see the old boy in the pub i always buy him a pint
    so divide 600 with the lens size now if you have say a 70mm lens, 600 divided by 70 = 8.5,you will get a time before trails of 8.5 secs so the bigger the lens the less time to keep the shutter open,the smaller the lens the longer you can keep the shutter open more time
    cheers pat
    clear skies always
  16. todd8137

    Jupiter 3rd aug 2011

    By todd8137,

    Hi all waited up for jupiter so i could try Castrator software out as with have in the dob and it fly in all over the placeon the screen,this sofware sorts that out and makes registax catch all the frames i dropped one as i shot this all in 60 fps which was rubbish ,with the spc900,any way heres a link for it have a look
    http://www.astrokraai.nl/castrator.php
    it works ok theres no point me going any more into it ,as am not up to speed with it my self but its fool proof and very easy to use
    cloud came out just after a set up last night what a pain but any way
    http://www.youtube.com/user/todd8137?feature=mhee


  17. todd8137
    hi wanted to vid the moon positions ,this morning try in to get a video every day for the month if you watched the 3rd august video this one is a must as the 3 moons, io,gan,euro form a lil triangle tonight was brill was hope in,for the same tonight.but a think we all have the wet stuff today for a change
    http://www.youtube.com/user/todd8137?feature=mhee#p/a/u/0/uZUsMX0z5lI
    heres the link try and sit a few feet away from the monitor for better view in and watch in HD thanks pat
  18. todd8137
    hi all was out last night after play in about with the mirrors for days i did another star test all was fine great concentric circles got some jupiter about 10x 10secs as the base is a dob ,and flys through the fov any way heres the pics
    http://s473.photobucket.com/albums/rr93/todd8137/Jupiter%2014%20oct%202011/
    they on photo bucket
    thanks
    heres the video on youtube

  19. todd8137
    Hi to all well my order came from the states (usa)this morning after 18 days and its not the make every one is after,,and a think i ordered to much the roll is 5 meters by 650mm i did not understand there crazy website but any way it worked out at around 98 pound a was gobb smacked any way.let the panic begin the only thing i am scared to do is take in the spider out just incase a do noy get it back in the same place as it was before,s a may just flock of the tube and to the left of the ep and 2nd mirror and may baffle the foccuser as well ,i will ost the pics and my results in a bout well for as long as it takes which could be a while .........
    23:16 update
    well just come back in from the frost and packed every thing away a brought a new 20mm uw ep and never tried forgot it was in the old box,the flocking does make things better a can say that ,lat night a had a look with out it done and noted thatthings were a lot dimmer in the ep .now tonight was dif it could all be in the mind but things did look brighter a had to tweak the main mirror a litlle after a few star tests arcturus is a great target rising early now was waiting for saturn but got a bit to cold for me and was worried a bout the glue a used not setting it was 12 pound and the tube was sooooooooo small but it said let it cure for 24 hoursbut it does say -50 to +150c the hight tac floc is great a love it.i baffled the focuser as well the stuff was tricky am glad the dob was a 12" i could nrealy crawl inside which helped,after a few sheets which my daughter expertly cut the night before and they was all square as a die is straight.that along with the dew shield which is yet to arrive from FLO should be a great help i would say that the improved black tube as worked am over the moon with it and my pal said it looked great heres a few pics below well the link any way,cheers now
    pat
    http://stargazerslounge.com/album.php?albumid=940&addgroup=1#page1
  20. todd8137

    let the prep begin

    By todd8137,

    LET THE PREP BEGIN
    Hi every one just a update have cut the roof of the shed in the snow which was a little wild tried to attach the metal runners there but to no avail the snow beet me to it ,the other down side was "feet in first again" i never took the length and turning circle of the scope in to consideration befor hand this may be a prob some were a long the way when try in to to point in different ways we shall see,still no joy with the delivery dates of yet but have had a phone call daily to update me about the progress of the order which is quite good of them,the other thing on my mind is they told me that the mirror comes in a separate box due to the size and posible break if it was attached to the scope this scares me a bit because just getting it set up is going to be crazy never mind try in to get it set up ect all aligned and every thing (grrrrrr) the mind boggles with ithave been reading in books for months and weeks try in find every thing in the skies but due to clouds this as stopped me once again but a can look up and see a few constellation a now recognize that side is going well erm no go to gadget either this will be hard a see declination agles ect time and secs a understand how it works but have no way to measure this may be buy a compass and some sort of gadget to measure the north south bit out the bigest thing a think will be the colamination of the thing this is the biggest probs a have todate a think a can read about it till am blue in the face but untill its in front of me a think that theres no point watching videos ect on how to do thisany way this is the first of many of how am getting on so far
    thanks pat
    time and patient s

  21. todd8137

    looks good for me

    By todd8137,

    well looked at a few sites today to see if i get a chance with the reducer 0.5x that a sgl mate as gave me to try for a few sessionshope this wether site as got it right
    update 02:10 28th
    well went with a freind to do some wide field shots finished about 01:00,nice and clear ,milky way nice and clear put reflector out go back out,cloud

  22. todd8137

    lyra and M57

    By todd8137,

    Hi all after waiting for a few months now lyra as shown her self,and what a thrill she was wow weeeeeeeeee ,i ran in side once a seen vega pop in up above the forest at the back of my house the tingle on the back of my neck was unreal.tea in hand and the daggers of the mrs i shown her what all the fuss was about in my books ,her lifted eyebrows said it all.an hour or so later there lyra was in all her glory,hands shake in a leveledb both the gemreds,spun the base round lifted the icy tube up to 23 degrees and held my breath scanning between sulafat and sheliak i checked sterluruim, for the numbers ,spun the base and a tweak of the tube and there it was the best dohnut i have ever seen.
    m57 the ring neb,if any one rembers the old he man cartoon,by the power of grey skull and the big bolt of lightning,let me tell ya i felt the tingle of that flash people have told me its just a round smudge, its not it does have a a hole in it plain as the hole a once had in my shoe ,that a side the doubles of lyra are great to at and there`s, a double double a gap of course but they was easy they form part of the little triangle of stars around vega easy to see tonight with the old eye balls,the gemred with the sensor works a treat the angle one for the tube works well similar to the wixey ,ive seen one and they are a bit naff looking the gemred just feels abit more solid and heavy ,well to sum tonight up the ole ring neb wow its really set my passion on fire for the stars above for any one thats never seen it make a note to have a look next time it will surely turn grown men to tears we are truly blessed us on earth to see these things and a feel it humbles me to think were just a tiny litle blue ball whizzing through space,we get caught up some times with life and forget about where we at in the grand scheme of things . if there a sgl award for the biggest smile its got to be my award tonight rember tonight the 4th saturn is gonna be out and on show all night it is on oppssition
    thanks still smilling pat :D
  23. todd8137

    M1 CRAB

    By todd8137,

    M1 CRAB NEBULA
    HI all and as you no tonight the 16 jan,i started a new messier list on 12- 28-11,i had started the list so many times ,
    now i could burn a load of in one night,but then i would not able to bath in its light on my eye ball,that said i put the scopes out at 18:30 and came in for tea fed and watered i printed of all 110 sheets for free i will post one up later ,and i decided i will start with M1 and work my way from there,now is it pos to see all from the UK,i see lots of sigs state in that so ?.
    i got out side and with m1 in mind Orion was high up and i wanted to check the telrad and 9x60 was all in order and all pointing me in the right way ,i had colaminated the scope early out side(well truth be told i did it in the porch about 3 o clock, i gave the neb in orion a good pan around,32mm in and the OIII filter in my pocket i took a look,for the first time in 3 years i have actually seen orion in all its glory tonight it really was standing out ,i did not need the filter i am sure i saw some green purple and dark red,it was not a trick of the eye or mind either.
    that out the way and still glowing ,i spun the scope to the Crab to be honest in the 32 mm ep i passed it about 5 times and the OIII filter let me see a smudge ,i popped the filter of and put the 20mm skywatcher uw,i used to hate this ep but that was not the eps fault colamination and the summer heat gave me a sour taste with this ep,scope sorted aligned the 20mm sw uw 68,its became my best friend no field curvature ,or stretched stars around the edges i got back tothe crab and it takes power rather well tonight with the 300p also i found it with the 90mm goto with a 17mm gso plos and it was more detailed with the 300p ,but the little 90mm f8 did not fail to impress yet again !theres a lot to be said for 90mm fracs .
    with the 300p tho it was rather out line was really standing out,and towards the center it was more darker it shape was just like it should have been in the past i ve had a go for it but the first time in years there it was,i spent 20 mins on and of tap in the scope lightly did not reveal much more detail,it totally worked on the great Orion neb,for the next time i intend to head straight for M1 and spend a bit more time with it not just the neb bt the stars as well around it because once you have studied them you will never have probs finding it again thats me done
    thanks for reading
    clear skies
    todd8137



  24. todd8137

    M101 Yes+dened pics

    By todd8137,

    at last its has been seen by me last night i could not be leave it ,but there it was the first time from my own back garden have seen it so many times ,but never from the back garden .
    i also did a bit a video of Jupiter i think i have pushed the none tracking 12" dob to its limits and may now have to be happy with what i have ,ive tried to barlow the 90mm on the goto mount but the planets are still small even at x2,3, 5i`ll post the link for the pics on photo bucket ,and later will put the videos on youtube so ya may have to come back if you interested in that cheers as always
    todd8137
    pics
    http://s473.photobucket.com/albums/rr93/todd8137/19th%20Oct%20jupiter/
    video

    clear skies always
  25. todd8137

    M13

    By todd8137,

    HI ALL last night i took 50, 4 sec subs of m13 on the camera every thing was great lots of stars in the glob,zoomed the 10d in look great no joy with the stack with darks ect. when i looked on the pc at the raws (iso 800) there was nothing there could not work this out heres just 2 of the pics which are single frames i deleted the other 48 next time a will take a few and check them out straight away
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