First widefield attempt Orion complex

[Gina]

Thank you Do you think you could post details of the dimensions for the mask, please? I would like to have a go

[pixueto]

Thank you Do you think you could post details of the dimensions for the mask, please? I would like to have a go

No problem. Gina, what lense are you going to use it with? FL and F/aperture.

[Gina]

No problem. Gina, what lense are you going to use it with? FL and F/aperture.

Thank you 200mm f3.5 (or f4) initially - may go on to others later,

[pixueto]

Well, there we go. I focused using Vega. In this series of pictures you can see how I am achieving focus. I started in the infinity mark but, as you can see, I was way out of the point of focus then. The image is not as sharp as the one I normally get from the mask I bought from FLO for my SW 200P but I think it's quite good nevertheless. I have yet to try with live view and see how it goes, though. You must click on the thumbnails to see the process properly as the images appear reduced in size.

[Ags]

How do you attach the mask on the front of your lens?

[pixueto]

Another one. This time cropped so you can see the focusing process.

[pixueto]

How do you attach the mask on the front of your lens?

I borrowed double sided sticky tabs from my son (the white bits in the picture). 100 tabs = £1. But, to be honest anything will do from bluetack to sellotape as the mask is made of cardboard (very light). probably, the neatest way of doing it would be to drill a couple of holes at the top so you can stich two toothpicks and hold it the same way the ones they sold in FLO.I might actually end up doing so.

[pixueto]

Thank you 200mm f3.5 (or f4) initially - may go on to others later,

Gina, I'm trying to send you the picture for your mask but it's a SVG file and it won't let me do it. Have you got any idea how can I send you this?

Alternatively, you can go to:

http://astrojargon.n...kGenerator.aspx

and introduce the values 200 for focal length and 50 (that's your F4) for aperture. Generate the mask, print it, stick it on a piece of cardboard ans use a needle to make the holes where the threads will go. You might find a tidier way of doing it; after all I'm very clumsy. I wouldn't go mad about having the threads perfectly aligned or parallel as mine weren't and it works anyway (as I expected). You'll generate a mask for your aperture in F4 but, if I understood all that I read about difraction, you can use it anywhere you stop.

Hope that helps

Pix

[pixueto]

I seem to be the only one up tonight! Well, I'm getting excited with the results as they come up. Did a quick stacking of some of the subs (1h 45min) no darks, flat or bias frames and this is what DSS threw at me after a quick channel alignment and luminance stretching. I've got over 3 hours worth of subs and I'm in the process of taking some darks an bias. I'll also try some flat frames but I moved a bit the focus when I removed the camera!

I intentionally placed the cursor over a star in the picture in order to show cromatic aberration. I'm new to using a refractor, let alone an old M45 lens and I would welcome any comments on this. Tracking might not be perfect as it was very windy and I didn't go to great lengths polar aligning this time (I was more concerned about focusing and finding out if my mask would work).

Thanks for your help.

[Gina]

Gina, I'm trying to send you the picture for your mask but it's a SVG file and it won't let me do it. Have you got any idea how can I send you this?

Alternatively, you can go to:

http://astrojargon.n...kGenerator.aspx

and introduce the values 200 for focal length and 50 (that's your F4) for aperture. Generate the mask, print it, stick it on a piece of cardboard ans use a needle to make the holes where the threads will go. You might find a tidier way of doing it; after all I'm very clumsy. I wouldn't go mad about having the threads perfectly aligned or parallel as mine weren't and it works anyway (as I expected). You'll generate a mask for your aperture in F4 but, if I understood all that I read about difraction, you can use it anywhere you stop.

Hope that helps

Pix

Thank you Dropbox is very handy for distributing files but I thy that site and see how it goes. I'll get back to you if I have any problems.

Your mask certainly seems to work well