Imaging with the 130pds

[RolandKol]

10 hours ago, jjosefsen said:

Well no I didn't expect it to be as plug and play as a frac, or everyone would use one. Part of the reason I got this one, but went for a higher end CC was that I wanted to see how I got on with a reflector, expecting to do ok, and then to go for something like an 8" F3.9 if it worked out.

That plan is on hold for now ?

I think my problem is with the secondary still..

The extra speed of this scope is very nice to be honest, and nice to work with.

If you will decide to go for a Cheshire, - keep in mind.

Once you are close for mirror to be in the center, adjust the middle bolt very very slightly...

It took me probably 10 or even 15  times to do all from the beginning and I was ready to bin the scope with all accessories all together  I even thought my Cheshire is bad or something

But in fact... I simply had to be much more delicate, especially close to the center.

130PDS is a nice DIY toy with very rewarding results

I see only one problem in your case, - you did almost all mods in one go!  

So a bit mote patience and you will not bin it... As per F3.9... I even afraid thinking of it after my battle with the secondary at F5...

If I will ever get one...  I will probably skip the flocking mod...

 

[Stub Mandrel]

M96 and M95 from last night. A bit pedestrian with such small targets. I should have centred higher up, and got M105 and friends in shot as well...

[RolandKol]

Hi guys,

Can anyone advice the naming or even post a direct link to the 10mm or 9mm T2 spacer/extender?

I cannot find the analogy as in the picture below, -  it is 11mm one, - It's a bit too long for my optical train (SW CC>ZWO OAG >ZWO EFW > ASI1600).

[spillage]

I sure this is the set I brought along with some delrin spacers.

[RolandKol]

4 minutes ago, spillage said:

I sure this is the set I brought along with some delrin spacers.

thanks ... It  will take 6 weeks to come.... plus these are 2 in one (like 11mm+2mm from my picture), so I will need a 12mm which is not in the set
what a headache..... 

Edited February 1, 2019 by RolandKol

[spillage]

I would just get a 10mm t2 extension and a pack of delrin as these should have three 1.0mm spacers allowing you to gain the extra 2mm with more left for fine tuning your cc.

[RolandKol]

6 minutes ago, spillage said:

I would just get a 10mm t2 extension and a pack of delrin as these should have three 1.0mm spacers allowing you to gain the extra 2mm with more left for fine tuning your cc.

what is the delrin?

[spillage]

Have look here.

[RolandKol]

thanks a lot!!!!

Will give a try

[RolandKol]

2 hours ago, spillage said:

I would just get a 10mm t2 extension and a pack of delrin as these should have three 1.0mm spacers allowing you to gain the extra 2mm with more left for fine tuning your cc.

I just looked at it once again... And these will go between CC and OAG... 

in such a case... OAG will go almost directly to EFW and I will not be able to focus a guiding cam.... as 11 mm will disappear which are now introduced by that bloody ZWO 11mm ring... 

[al-alami]

Have I mentioned that I love this scope?

Telescope: Skywatcher 130PDS
Mount: Skywatcher HEQ5 Pro StellarDrive 5
Camera: QHY 163M
Filters:Ha + O III + S II 
Exposure:

Ha (green channel):
36 X 600 sec

O III (blue channel):
36 X 600 sec

S II (red channel):
36 X 600 sec

Image data collected using: Sharpcap
Processed in Pixinsight and Photoshop CC

[RolandKol]

Loosing my patience...

I made a bad decision... Just before putting OAG on, decided to collimate my secondary for the last time...

Now I simply cannot get my stars back  I tried to change camera and CC spacing 55mm with +-2 and +-1mm using darling rings...

result is more or less the same as below.... I thought I have somehow managed to over-tighten the primary during collimation... loosening the bolts did not help...

a bit confused what has caused this.

  

Edited February 9, 2019 by RolandKol

[Uranium235]

Managed to get out for a few hours last night - though not the best conditions for LRGB imaging so I picked on something fairly easy. More a test of field flatness really, its close but needs a tweak I think. Taken using the QSI camera (LRGB).

[alacant]

9 hours ago, Uranium235 said:

needs a tweak

Not sure; blue and red curves?

[Uranium235]

12 minutes ago, alacant said:

Not sure; blue and red curves?

 

I meant tweaking collimation slightly to get the corner stars perfect   Three are acceptable, one is a bit "meh".

[RolandKol]

1 hour ago, Uranium235 said:

I meant tweaking collimation slightly to get the corner stars perfect   Three are acceptable, one is a bit "meh".

Hi, do you use simple Cheshire for collimation?

I struggle a bit with my secondary... My Cheshire is just a bit Wobbly in and results are bit "luck" dependant.  
 

[Uranium235]

On 16/02/2019 at 10:25, RolandKol said:

Hi, do you use simple Cheshire for collimation?

I struggle a bit with my secondary... My Cheshire is just a bit Wobbly in and results are bit "luck" dependant.  
 

Mine is the combined cheshire/sight tube. If its a bit wobbly, then you could use a self centreing EP adaptor - but even those have a small degree of inaccuracy. You could also wrap a single  layer of tape around the cheshire EP, thats another way to make the fit  bit more snug.

As long as your secondary is at the correct angle (appears round) and directly under the sight tube, then just follow the normal collimation steps.

[Uranium235]

I might add that Im going to do the milkbottle washer mod for my secondary, I feel there is a little bit of rotation - perhaps indicated by the off centre illumination im getting in my flats  (which is slightly shifted to the right). The degree of adjustment required is small - hence the mod because it allows for very fine adjustments.

[Uranium235]

Grabbed a test image of M42 after the double cluster. Its just 18min per channel as it was in the process of disappearing behind the fence...lol

6x180s (R,G,B)

 

[JohnSadlerAstro]

Hi,

I'm afraid I cant contribute to these amazing deep sky photos, there has been a bad lack of clear skies recently. However, on Thursday last week some haze came in, perfect for lunar photos! I took this photo of the Apollo 15 landing site, the illumination wasn't quite right, I needed to image about 12 hours earlier I think. The brightness range in this area is crazy, so some areas are a bit overexposed. The barlow is an absolute abomination but it seems to work reasonably well in mono mode, that way the CA doesn't show! I probably ought to upgrade it!  

130PDS on NEQ6

ASI120MC with default 2x SW Barlow

Around 10 min vid (15,000 frames) stacked with AS2

Processed in Registax, Star Tools and Gimp.

JPEG compression has slightly reduced the resolution, which is around 800 metres/pixel in the original TIF, I believe.

John

[Stub Mandrel]

1 hour ago, JohnSadlerAstro said:

The barlow is an absolute abomination

I was recommended a Revelation Astro ED barlow as giving great performance at modest cost, and it is indeed very good.

[ericleo1]

On 10/03/2014 at 12:02, Russe said:

All images have been made with a Canon450D (unmodded), on a HEQ5 PRO goto, 9x50 finder guider (QHY5).

Me and my garden gnome:

several M51 crops:

M97 & 108:

M81 & M82 (& NGC3077):

M81 & M82 pre-SN:

few M74 crops:

dragon fly cluster:

and M33 crops:

Excellent pics- I looked at the Sywatcher 130p-DF with a view to  buy but what is the cheapest mount you cd use with it? (without going motorised?)

[Stub Mandrel]

1 hour ago, ericleo1 said:

Excellent pics- I looked at the Sywatcher 130p-DF with a view to  buy but what is the cheapest mount you cd use with it? (without going motorised?)

HI Eric an EQ3 will hold it for visual use, but you do need a motor if you are going to attempt photography.

[RolandKol]

OK!  So at last I think I have managed to finish off the collimation of the secondary

My tests on the bright stars from yesterday are still waiting at home, but a short stack looked very very promising!

Thanks all for any advice given!  happy!

Also... As lots of here are with 130PDS plus ASI or Canons, - been thinking maybe someone is interested in teaming up on the same target?

I have created a topic below,  - drop a line if you are interested!

 

Edited February 25, 2019 by RolandKol

[Uranium235]

Still working on this but its looking promising, even with absolutely no calibration frames: