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todd8137

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  2. todd8137

    sharpcap

    By todd8137,

    hi all lots of people ask me what settings i use on sharpcap so here is a try at how to set it up be gentle its my first attempt at doing this and use in the software to do it 50 goes latter i got there not the best how to video in the world but its a start
    YouTube - ‪todd8137's Channel‬‏
    thanks for looking pat
  3. 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

  4. todd8137
    Hi all well the 26th was a great clear night my meisser score went up vastly,m81,m82,m101,m36,m37,m38,,m35 and many more which a did not write down heres the link to my test video and before ya say a no its not brill but am still learning the focus andsettings on sharp cap a will get there in the end and a 12"dob with no auto track is a tad hard

  5. todd8137
    VICTORY



    Hi all a victory for me after about 3 months of constant complaining to my local county council daily and to the local MP and to the governments environmental agency and the mp in the house of commons who deals with this .this morning a guy knocked on my door and announced that he would paint me 4 street lights out



    and to point the ones out that caused me hassle ,after make in him and is pal a cuppa tea and got the good biscuits out for them we had a walk to the bain of my hassle.



    about a hour later he came back and asked me to take a look I include the pics at the bottom of this post



    my point is this do not give up street lights are a form of pollution and local councils by LAW have to act on this ,it is treated the same as fosil fuels and fertilizers that infect water and streams its all the same ,constant pressure on your local council should get you a result it may have cost me around 20 pound in letters and phone calls and two or 3 emails a week to the local mp and the guy in the house of commons



    ring the local council and ask them to help mine where so so but your local mp should help I even went to the local parish council and put it to them who also helped



    it cost me a few pints in the pub but they was on the case I am over the moon with thi



    still this does not make things perrrrrrrrrrfect and dark sights are still 100 times better but for at least 95% of us can not do this every session



    STREET LIGHTS = 0 PAT 4



    GREAT RESULT KEEP THE PRESSURE ON THEM



    CLEAR SKIES ALWAYS


  6. todd8137
    Hi all
    well the telrad came today from rother valley optics i ordered it on the 31st dec to beat the extra vat ,back then it was £39.00 delivered they e mailed me the same day to say that it would not be back in stock till the 11 jan 2011 and did a want a refund i said no i will wait they rang me on the 10 jan to tell me my order would be sent out on the 11th jan and it arrived this morning the advantage to this for me will be the image the right way up, whist looking for targets has for as for a newcomer this can be hard to get to grips with imho lol thats still hard to get the brain round but this will sort that out a seen one a mate had and it made star hopping easy the sevice of rother valley optics was first class and would order with no probs again
    pat
  7. todd8137
    hi all well did a few shots last night but things where not ideal partly cloudy and dodge in the rest to get a few shots the skywatcher LPF filter was purchased of flo next day delivery as prompt as ever ,shot polaris because it’s a easy thing and that direction as the most sky glow sheffield is about 12 mile down the valley from me and its like a big open bowl spew in orange evil every were
    I will have another try tonight as these pics were taken on the 21st april ,so we will see as tonight is clear and the out look is clear we have that smog drifting in on saturday so best make the most of it heres the link for the pics
    http://s473.photobucket.com/albums/rr93/todd8137/skywatcher%20LPF%20filter%20RESULTS%2012%20DOB/
    this is just one of many tests but so far its made a dif here my light pol is not that bad may be 25% and most of that is towards my north any pics taken face in north get the orange glow to then paint shopable but would rather it not be there

  8. todd8137

    pulsar optics

    By todd8137,

    hi everone just want to had ny 2 pence worth about this company, i dealt with James who was great i had no probs every thing came on the date a was told a had e mails phone calls updates of them all the time they even rang me on the day of delivery to ask me if it came i did spend nearly a thousand pound and did get a couple of free things a brigtness filter and a color filter and a couple a books
    they did them selfs proud and a would say that they are a good group to deal with rant over
    pat
  9. todd8137

    What went wrong

    By todd8137,

    hi every one well a awake this morning to the neighbour knocking on the door with a smirk on is face and he said come round the back ?.when a got there the green house a converted to the obs was on is garden.it was very windy last night and it blew it on is garden i did secure it down ,but not good enough with the looks of thingsi took a few pics and today will have to get the drill and screws out she will rise again am sure just checked last nights winds and we had 45 mph gusts what a pain pics below what a job a wonder how a will get to o this on my own it should be fun and games it may force me to buy a new shed we will have to see
    pat
  10. todd8137
    hi all thought i would give this a try a new the clouds are out but a great way to show the motion of the stars and the clouds,25x30sec subs, the video is here
    mr tibbs gave me the idea after watch in is orion video wow i wanted to try my self i am going to try and take 500 x30secs at some point even more if a get time
    todd8137's Channel - YouTube
    there was a 20 second gap between each 30 sec sub can not wait to get to the dark site and catch a tree in the back ground
    cheers pat
  11. todd8137

    ANOTHER NIGHT OF 1st

    By todd8137,

    ANOTHER NIGHT OF 1st
    Well what a great night i have which started around 18:30, -1.5c and no wind clear skies .MO1 (the scope) had been out side for a good hour and was ready to go .my first thing of the night was
    Andromedae galaxy
    which until tonight i have never seen the telrad came into its own again and saved me this was better than expected because a was not expecting to see much had the 20mm ep and ding there it was a big grey smudge at last there she was, i looked at this for ages just looking in and around the grey smudge before me. what a sight this was great it blew me away and i will come back to this time and time again for any one who says its just a smudge then that's crazy
    Cassiopeia
    This beautiful constellation at the edge of the Milky Way has definitely the shape of a "W" and tonight was no exception, M52 can be found quite easily by extending the line from Alpha over Beta Cassiopeia by 6 1/2 degrees to the NW to 5th mag 4 Cassiopeiae; M52 is roughly 1 degree south and slightly west of this star. and what a great open cluster this was 32mm ep first then the 25mm it was a great sight and a first for me next came ngc663,654 .double clusters ngc 869,884 very big lots of stars and not just white yellows and what looked like light blue.just to the right of Caph is 2 great ones ngc 7790and 7788 they are both full and lots of brightly clumped stars
    i then had triangulum galaxy in and ,no joy there not not a thing ngc 752 was easy and a do like that one a did try for crab neb but can never seem to see this m34 was easy a always take a spin in and around this one,Auriga was next M36,37,38 east to find that telrad sure earns its keep so does the compass and spirit level .
    whilst looking to night half froze and spinning still from Andromeda galaxy i always look at each thing with a range of eps and like to try them all and note down which gave me the best view for reference next time.
    i also looked at Jupiter tonight and it was the first time i have seen this in great detail at least 4 bands could be seen a tried the light blue filter because it was real bright 3 bands were seen with this,i next put the moon filter in that killed it only the lower thick band could be seen .
    tonight was a great night for me and have got a few more things under my belt and am starting to feel a lot more confident finding them this is the best thousand pound have ever spent also on the market for a refractor as well i am gonna find a star party some were because a nee to see a few things my back garden will not let me on wards and upwards
    "CLEAR SKIES ALWAYS "
  12. todd8137

    Stellarium software

    By todd8137,

    Hi every one just came across this software ,as a noob a thought a would get more things to help me locate and find the targets am after,looking at flat sheets of paper with constellations was a bit hard (did i have it the right way up?) any way so this afternoon a found" stellarium "(google it a may include a link) it is a great bit of software it took a bit of working out setting it up and a downloaded a few more things in to it which is all accessible from the sofware its self.
    its very easy to understand a may even stick it on my daughters i pad if she will let me for outdoor use a can not say enough good things about this software for noobs the interface is so easy to use and the selection of stars nebs and all the rest are so easy to find on this if you are or was struggling to work the skies out this is invaluable imho because its so straight forwards and easy to use i`ll get the link so you can decide for ya self i rate this software a lot
    http://www.stellarium.org/
  14. todd8137

    sadr region drawn

    By todd8137,

    i posted this in the other section but for those that missed it
    http://stargazerslounge.com/imaging-sketches-unconventional/155595-sadr-area-drawn.html#post1946778
    cheers
  15. 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"
  16. todd8137

    moon 11 may

    By todd8137,

    11 MAY
    took a few pics last night ,did not notice the lpf filter was covered with dew ruined to many pics maybe got 25 out of 300 lol what a pain heres the link
    about 20 more pics to look at
    v
    http://s473.photobucket.com/albums/rr93/todd8137/11%20may/
    just a small one here
    v

  17. 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 :)

  19. todd8137
    hi everyone just thought a would add these so you can save and print out after weeks of try in find some on sgl to no avail i got these feel free to save and print i am keen on drawing what a see as wll as take in pictures ,but i love to keep a record this way
    clear skies always
    pat
  20. 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
  21. todd8137
    Oct 1st
    hi to all was out last night was play in with the web cam and 12" reflector ,i got a bit a vid of Jupiter but its was rubbish seeing smoggy is what it was .
    i tried for 10 mins and gave up got the camera out D10 and 18mm lens and a way a went ,these pics are raw and have not been touched theres to many . mars was up hard to miss its rise in early now still to low for me and to late.Jupiter pics are edited a bit to bring the banding out cheers
    Jupiter video

    wide-field pic


  22. todd8137
    HI to every one well tonight was another great night 9 1 2011,set the dob up around 17:30 and there was a little cloud,tea in hand at around 18:20 a took my first look of the night jupiter was in a clear part
    Jupiter
    this was a great view tonight with the 10mm ep i could see 3 clear bands and all 4 moons with no trouble drew a pic which a will post to my pics after a while a put a blue filter 82a in and one of the the bands about a quarter of the way from the bottom really caught my eye this time i then drew a quick sketch and moved on
    Orion
    i waited about 19:20 to view this again i looked at the great neb and m43 drew a quick pic i had a great view the dust and gas was really bright i hd no probs pic in 4 stars out in the centre that were in a little group,above that was a group of 3 almost in a line around the edges of the great neb there was lots of stars,at around 23:40 i looked again this time with 0III filter and orion was high in the south i could see even more detail in the great neb and m43 with all its trapezium was easy to spot and all its doubles a wish a had more knowledge to tell you about the rest but that will come with time also there ws a bout 5 shootin stars just to the left of orion which made me jump more than once
    Taurus
    at around 12:00 i spun to aldebaran which was a orange/red color tauri the doubles were visible to my eye they were great lots of groups around them as well m1 was not there or a missed it the doubles if never seen before were just thing a did not expect at all the amount of stars around the double was crazy
    Pleiades
    m45 was easy 5 stars visible with the naked eye with 20mm ep a could look around and see lots with in this group the 7 sisters were easy to spot it was all the little ones in and amongst this lot that was great for me and try in to spot them
    AURIGA
    capella was nice but for just above elnath were a double and a few other little stars
    i did have a look for Andromeda m31 but yet again my lack of knowledge let me down again ursa major mizar and alcor were good i found it east to separate them m97 was not to be seen at all not even a smudge no m81/82 either but plenty of doubles just above were they should have been use indubhe as a pointer up were lots of doubles a very frosty and cold night and a was freeze in at the end a came in the house wiped the dob dry put every thing a way and went to bed very happy
    thanks pat
    ps my lack of knowledge as let me down the things a seen tonight would have made a man weep home work is the key for me
    links of what a seen on star maps

    i have no removed the drawings thanks pat

  23. todd8137
    hi all had a great night out last night got a few pics a say a few about 300 all in all,well it started with a few day shots of the moon just to get the focus right ect and to test some day time settings worked well.a took a few moreof the moon as it got dark then decided to have a go at pleaides got a few not brill but its a start,a now no and recorded down the settings for next time m42 was the next one a got about 100 shots of this more than 4 secs with no goto is a pain.the baterries were dead from the night befor ,a must get a power tank of some sorts soon.well i put them on photo bucket and a hope ypou do not mind take in a look and maybe give in me some pointers on how to improve the obivous bein get in the goto on the meade go in would help
    http://s473.photobucket.com/albums/rr93/todd8137/13%20marc%20cannon%20eos%20300d%2012%20dob/
    theres the link and thanks for reading and take in and take in a look at the pics thanks pat comments are welcomed here
  24. todd8137

    Moon stills from avi

    By todd8137,

    heres the link i put the post in the lunar images ect on here ,heres the link its sgl
    http://stargazerslounge.com/imaging-lunar/152420-moon-stills-avi.html#post1916388
    if ya get time have a look the stills are not half bad (i would say that i took the vid)
    cheers pat
  25. todd8137

    space clouds ?

    By todd8137,

    HI
    all last night came in the house packed every thing away looked out the toilet window and saw these clouds a saw some pics the other day on sgl but thought i would never see the it was around 02:45 iso 200, 5 secs
    cheers pat
    clear skies
    ps as you can see the painted out street lights may garden is now in total darkness


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