CRACKED IT !!!! SUPERNEWT

[Catanonia]

No more comet trails, not tightening up the corrector on the T2 thread as much and got the spacing bang on

1st 5 min sub of M33 came down and perfect as far as I can tell.

[Grinde]

Fantastic news, Cat! I was hoping to see you succed down this path, as I belive fast corrected newts will be my weapon of choice in the future. May I ask how you solved the previous problems?

[Catanonia]

Not 100% sure mate to be honest. But I noticed last night that if I tightened the corrector to the image train tightly you would with T2 threads then it caused the problem.

So I have only loose hand tightened it this time and seems to be working. Also much more careful on focuser slop, that might have caused it too, so tightened the bottom of the 3 focuser screws, the one resisting gravity 1st before the others.

Looking good, here is a quick 3 min sub of M45

[swag72]

I am really glad that you have sorted it out. I know there is nothing worse than the problems you were getting. Congrats!!!

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

That looks really impressive. Congratulations!

[Catanonia]

That looks really impressive. Congratulations!

Thanks mate, not too shabby considering the 1/2 moon was up near M45 during the 3 mins

Colimation is still not perfect, but that will come with time I am sure with combination of CCD Inspector and the Cats Eye colimation kit.

[Kai]

Is it the collimation that is causing the Stars to be out of shape ?

I only ask as to my eyes the shape isnt consistent across the whole image.

[ollypenrice]

Is it the collimation that is causing the Stars to be out of shape ?

I only ask as to my eyes the shape isnt consistent across the whole image.

The improvement is prodigious but I do agree with Kai. Some stars are tending towards the triangular while others look better. Mind you, the stacking of a large number might improve that.

You are certainly making great progress. An instrument like this might benefit hugely from a Fearthertouch focuser.

Are you totally satisfied that the tube itself is rigid?

Olly

[Tim]

That's much better Steve, thank goodness those trails have gone.

Try and get a 1 sec picture on some bright stars, like M45, it'll help show up what the problem is with the triangle stars. It might be that your primary mirror cilps are too tight. Any longer exposure will distort the stars somewhat due to the atmosphere and guiding etc.

Tim

[msinclairinork]

Making progress Cat!

I really look forward to seeing you sort this out as believe it or not I was thinking of upgrading to the TS power newt and a QHY9 combo a few months back, as I'm due a tax refund in April and I can just squeeze the two in

Like you I'm thinking fast for UK skies is almost essential. But what's worried me, is the lack of people owning them in the UK - you would think people would be jumping for these? I know the collimation is a turn off, but surely if you're obsy based this shouldn't be to much of a problem?

Anyway...needless to say I'm watching everything you post in anticipation!

Good luck!

Michael

[Catanonia]

If sky sort out my internet at home soon, expect a few images from me in the DSO forum.

I have a M42 / M81/82 processed at about 2 hours each and the signal is pretty impressive.