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Polarie on the way!


JB80

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i find it difficult to get colour out of my images using the AT, so dont worry too much, there was a tutorial in one of the sky at night mags but i couldnt get it to work :)

looks really good though, how much are the PA scopes for it?

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Yeah I'm hoping to stumble across something that will help out a bit with that.

I'll just keep at it.

Can't wait to use it when I don't need the filter.

The polarscope is between £150-£170 depending on where you look.

I wonder if it will go down in the next month.

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The LP can't help I guess, I know it's awful here. I found that if I zoomed in I could see more colour in the pics but that didn't help with the end product. Maybe it's due to the trailing?

I don't know, I look at Dave's thread http://stargazerslounge.com/showthread.php?t=189337 and see what he has come up with using the CLS filter and that gives me something to aim for.

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This is interesting! I forgot about the Vixen Polarie as I was researching the astrotac...That was one of the first things I looked at, but discarded it too soon thinking cheap and inexpensive was the way. Wrong!

You area pioneer here. I see this is a good alternative to what I want and less expensive, though not much less than the astrotrac. The astrotrac seems "louder" and the Polarie at least has a small size and is easy to carry. I was wondering about the small size of the Polarie but also at the little window to search for Polaris(?). Does that work well?

Hope you can post more photos soon, though I know it is difficult to have good seeing nights all the time.

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Hi Walky,

I think it's a great option if you only want to use dslr's with it, as I'm sure you know the heavier capacity of the AT is desireable for some but that wasn't what I was after. I don't think I have big enough lenses to be able to fully push it to it's limit and see how it holds up at max load but I think it'd be an interesting test.

It is definitely very well built for it's size though, looks can be decieving, it's a little wonder. If you would like to see some more pics of it from different angles or compared to some things I'm happy to post some but I probably can't do it for a week or two as we are on holiday at the moment without any cords and the PC here doesn't have a card reader.

Just let me know.

On that note I will also be able to post a few more pics from clearer skies too, I have only had the one night so far and the moon isn't helping but it was working fine, easy 2 to 3 minute exposures with seemingly less trails than my first attempts. It's just frustrating not to be able to check things out like the focus on a big screen although it looks pretty good zoomed in on the camera.

The sight window works pretty well, it's basically a small hollow tube that you look through and try as best you can to centre Polaris. Although I think it's hard to get dead centre because as soon as you move your eye the perspective changes but it doesn't seem overly critical. If you think it's close then go with it, as I don't have the polar scope yet the images I have and will post should give some idea how good it works without it.

It has a tilt meter too for your latitude and that saves some time otherwise you could spend more time finding Polaris and it's not quite as bright when looking through the hole.

I think making sure the tripod is level is just as important before you find Polaris, it might sound a common sense thing to say but it shouldn't be overlooked.

All in all I couldn't recommend it enough and when I get back I should be able to post some more pics, I have got some nice Milk Way shots to share. :(

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Of course, I am very appreciative of pictures, cannot wait to see them, but do it at your pace and leisure. I can understand better with them and I am sure others will benefit too.

I also hear most people agree with you and say t is easy to align even without the scope. I will hold that piece until I test it without. One expense at a time will make it easier on my wallet.

Happy seeing!

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As you'd expect, we're always on the lookout for stuff shot using the Polarie.

If you have a few minutes (4 and a bit in fact), this video was compiled using time lapse images taken with the Polarie:

And this seemed to me to be a pretty good solar image taken by Tom Kerss:

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=861479767714&set=o.132196206819659&type=1&theater

Cheers, Pete

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Impressing time lapse. You could detect Polaris very well as the center of the whirlpool. Beautiful and well executed, I can only think about how many pictures/time it took to shoot. Thanks for posting.

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It seems to have no issue with the Lunt, I want to see if I could do something similar with the PST. I suppose there is no harm in trying albeit minus the DMK.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Righto, here is a single 3 minutes and 5 second exp at ISO 1600 and at 28mm.

I have some others but this was the longest I took and I want to process them to see what I came up with.

I'll also add that the Solar tracking rate was working perfectly well during the transit until it clouded over and I fiddled with the tripod.

This was also my first time photographing the Milkyway, I had seen it loads of times in the past and in Crete I could just make out the faint whiteness of it with the naked eye but I think the pics were quite good.

7357916134_40fe0ea40d_c.jpg

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Thank you Viv. :)

I have a stacked image too using the Polarie in another thread using a bit shorter exposures, just need to refine it a bit more...

Fortunately for me I am fluent in both Japanese dialects

Fortunately for me there are English instructions in the booklet that came with the Polarie.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Right, a new test today.

The Polarie has no issue at all with tracking with a PST on it in the solar rate, I was quite impressed seeing as I just plonked the tripod to what I figured was North.

I don't see there will be any weight issues when I add the new camera to the setup so once the sun is a bit higher and the kids are having naps I'll give it a go.

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Well I just checked it with the DMK41 & PST and there is no issue at all with the weight, once I work out how to use the software properly and a bit more time it should work absolutely fine.

Going to have to give the sensor on the DMK a clean though, I'm a bit worried about that but I think I've got some fluid left and the IS site says you can use a lens pen.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Jarrod, you have sold this for me now looking into getting one living where i do i have loads of dark sites if all goes well hoping to have it up and running for the SW star party many thanks for your efforts.

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Really its a great little device, if you get one you will love it.

You asked about the kit in the other thread, do you already have a decent tripod because if you do you would save a bit of cash.

If not do what I did and get one that isn't sold in the kit, just be sure to check the load ratings up to the weight needed. I think depending on what package they have for the kit(each supplier can make their own up) you can probably find all the bits cheaper separately.

As for the polar scope you can either get it straight off but without it the result are still impressive, you may want to hold off on it at first.

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Thanks for your post, ordered a new tripod and ball from ebay all for sub £40, my idea is to run a nikon D3100 with a kit lens of 18-55mm for starters then progress.

I know it will take time but I need to learn where everything is first, onwards and upwards!!!!!!

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That's the best way and as you go along you will realise what you need next or if something needs upgrading and learn along the way.

Be sure to let us know how it all goes.

:)

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OK another test last night.

This is a stack of 15, 1 minute exposures at 300mm, iso200. All I have done is stacked the pic, I'm going to try and work on a better processing job later on.

It was also the first time I had used the polar scope which made a big difference as the last time I tried 300mm it would trail after 10 seconds even if it wasn't exactly centered as I could feel one leg of the tripod move in the sand as I put the camera back on.

I also did some at 75 mm but haven't got around to them yet.

I find it quite encouraging, now to find a good target for the 300mm.

post-8383-0-67695700-1343206343_thumb.jp

I also saw the first hedgehog of the year last night.

This fact is unrelated.

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