Imaging with the 130pds

[toxic]

great comet there Martin well done indeed 

[tingting44]

thank you

[Atreta]

If you do get a cc then it might be better to get a non-reducing one as the reducing ones e.g. the Skywatcher seem to have the side effect of causing the focus tube to protrude too far internally... This has cropped up several times on other threads recently. It results in one side of the stars being flat sided.

Louise

I took a visit to the site of a brazilian store and they sell this GSO coma corrector: http://agenaastro.com/gso-2-coma-corrector.html

is this a good one? as you said this one won't have any reducing effect.

thanks again,

Frank

[Thalestris24]

I took a visit to the site of a brazilian store and they sell this GSO coma corrector: http://agenaastro.com/gso-2-coma-corrector.html

is this a good one? as you said this one won't have any reducing effect.

thanks again,

Frank

Hi Frank

I have one of those and it works fine though my one doesn't have the visual adapters. Be aware that it has a 75mm backfocus so you would need about 20mm of spacers. However, in my case, it has allowed fitting a filter drawer (plus a 5mm spacer) in front of my Canon 1100d. http://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p3979_TS-M48-quick-filter-changer-incl--1x-2--filter-drawer---low-profile-for-big-sensor.html

My 1100d has a full spectrum mod so I wanted to try it with an Halpha filter. I've not got around to trying that yet mainly because of problems with my mount and also the weather, of course!

Hope that helps

Louise

ps although the gso isn't reducing it increases focal length by about 10% so narrows the fov slightly i.e. 650mm becomes 715mm

Edited March 30, 2015 by Thalestris24

[Uranium235]

Hi Frank

I have one of those and it works fine though my one doesn't have the visual adapters. Be aware that it has a 75mm backfocus so you would need about 20mm of spacers. However, in my case, it has allowed fitting a filter drawer (plus a 5mm spacer) in front of my Canon 1100d. http://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p3979_TS-M48-quick-filter-changer-incl--1x-2--filter-drawer---low-profile-for-big-sensor.html

My 1100d has a full spectrum mod so I wanted to try it with an Halpha filter. I've not got around to trying that yet mainly because of problems with my mount and also the weather, of course!

Hope that helps

Louise

ps although the gso isn't reducing it increases focal length by about 10% so narrows the fov slightly i.e. 650mm becomes 715mm

Thats interesting.....

Perhaps it will be better at flattening if it slightly increases the FL (like the parcorr does), and a spacing of 75mm is pretty generous.

Blimey..... just took a look outside to see what all the noise is..... its horizontal hail. That will be a fun trip back to the office!

[Thalestris24]

Thats interesting.....

Perhaps it will be better at flattening if it slightly increases the FL (like the parcorr does), and a spacing of 75mm is pretty generous.

Blimey..... just took a look outside to see what all the noise is..... its horizontal hail. That will be a fun trip back to the office!

Hi Rob

I think also the spacing isn't as critical as some cc's... I've hardly had a chance to try mine out properly yet. Damn weather!

Hope you managed to dodge the 'horizontal hail'!

Louise

[tingting44]

here is the progress with my M31 image

one 10 min sub (no processing done)

M31  (single RAW 10min sub - NO PROCESSING) by tingting44, on Flickr

 

1st captured night 1 data on the 21'st September 2014 which consisted of 25 subs giving me 4.16 hours on M31

here are a few version of night 1 data...

M31 - WIP by tingting44, on Flickr

 

M31 - Negative B&W - WIP by tingting44, on Flickr

 

M31 (Pixinsight) by tingting44, on Flickr

 

Then the next chance i got to grab night 2 data was 16'th Jan 2015! due to weather/work......

i managed to grab 19 more 10 min subs giving me another 3.16 hours of data, so in total of night 1 & 2 i now have a total of 7.32 hours on M31

Well here is the final image consisting of 7.32 hours of 10 min subs (44 subs), all images have dark/flat/bias calibration frames 

M31 - Finished by tingting44, on Flickr

 

 its been one of the hardest images to process to date, it was also my 1st time imaging an object over 1 night, the core is still a bit out of control but im happy with it for now, so now putting this away in my finished folder, till i add more data when it comes round again or till i get a CCD and try this target again

 

also thought id show a quick process of trying to get a decent mask in Pixinsight to protect the background and stars, it was a right pig, lol

jobs a goodun by tingting44, on Flickr

 

The equipment used...

SW 130-pds

HEQ5

Baader LP filter

SW Coma corrector

Canon 7D

[Uranium235]

Forgot to include this one, Twin Quasar QSO 0957+561 A/B - approximately 7.8 billion light years distant.

[nightfisher]

Bad news guys and gals,

i wont be imaging with my 130, i have finally got round to setting up my new Nexstar SE mount and the 130 is to long to use with this mount, so long term i dont see me keeping it as i traded my 150p ds for the 130 especially for this mount..................live and learn as they say

[Uranium235]

Ahhh, ive seen the ad   Somebody better move fast then! Sorry it didnt work out for you, im sure it will find a good home.

However, for the imagers - I have another cheap and easy mod to *vastly* improve grip, stability, and remove drawtube tilt:

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/243409-skywatcher-focuser-ds-cigarette-packet-mod/

Did it last night, and it works a treat - all I need now are a few stars to test it on.

[JimFR]

Ahhh, ive seen the ad   Somebody better move fast then! Sorry it didnt work out for you, im sure it will find a good home.

 

 

However, for the imagers - I have another cheap and easy mod to *vastly* improve grip, stability, and remove drawtube tilt:

 

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/243409-skywatcher-focuser-ds-cigarette-packet-mod/

[carastro]

How easy is it to get focus with Atik cameras + filterwheel with this scope and a coma corrector?  

I am tempted but don't want to but it then find focus is difficult.

Carole 

[Uranium235]

Easy peasy... in fact it will be easier with your camera since your chip backfocus requirement is less than mine (yours is ~13mm, mine is 17.5mm). So you will probably need to make up about 15mm with extensions - assuming you have a short connection between your FW and camera.

I'd imagine that after a few years you already have most of the bits required (have a rummage through your bits box). This is where a set of digital calipers are worth their weight in gold.

[Thalestris24]

How easy is it to get focus with Atik cameras + filterwheel with this scope and a coma corrector?  

I am tempted but don't want to but it then find focus is difficult.

Carole 

Hi Carole

Not sure about Atiks but I've been using my 130pds with a dslr and a TS/GSO coma corrector plus a filter drawer. The cc gives about 75mm backfocus and also increases focal length by about 10%. No problems focusing and the focus tube doesn't intrude I'm going to add a SW autofocuser soon

Louise

[carastro]

I'd imagine that after a few years you already have most of the bits required (have a rummage through your bits box). This is where a set of digital calipers are worth their weight in gold.

Yes I have a box full, all with different threads   and you will bet your sweet life none of them are the right size or thread.

My Atik EFW2 screws directly to the Atik camera, so no space in between.  

Thanks Louise, I previously had a 200PDS and seem to recall the DSLR was quite easy, but had more problem with CCD cameras which is why I am asking the question.  I didn't keep it for too long as I found it a bit big which is why i am considering this smaller version.

Guess I'll have to suck it and see.

Carole 

Edited May 4, 2015 by carastro

[Thalestris24]

Only £159 - can't go wrong really! Noticeably lighter than my 150pds too. They do require adding a weight at the primary end to balance but otherwise easy to use The reason I mentioned the GSO cc was that people have reported having problems with the focus tube cutting off stars when they've used it with the SW cc.

Louise

[theghettostylus]

After seeing all the fantastic images I know what scope I'm treating myself to next payday! I'm using a 130 at the moment with a very, very bodged focuser that now has no focus wheel aha fully push in and out kind of deal now.

[DaveS]

The Baader MPCC will force the focus tube too far in as well when used with filter wheel and Trius 694.

[Uranium235]

My Atik EFW2 screws directly to the Atik camera, so no space in between.  

Blimey, youre going to have loads of space to play with then... if your chip backfocus is 13mm and the FW is 22mm, then you need a spacing of either 20-22.5mm from the T2 thread, or 22.5-25mm from the M48 thread.

There's a chance it wont be a light imaging train, so you will have to tweak the focuser tension a bit to cope with it.

[Uranium235]

A few extras, probably the last of the broadband as Im now switching back to narrowband (yayyy!)

[Thalestris24]

Just fitted a SW autofocuser to the 130pds . With a bit of luck might be able to put it to use tonight - fingers crossed!

Louise

[JimFR]

Interesting... is it truly automatic (ie: USB ports) or merely electric?

Edited May 14, 2015 by JimFR

[Thalestris24]

Hi, it's the skywatcher one to which I've added a usb interface

[Thalestris24]

Hi, it's the skywatcher one to which I've added a usb interface

ps If anyone's interested there's a useful video here for adding the SW autofocuser to an ED80 - same Crayford focuser. The video maker adds a Hitec usb controller + Focusmax. However, just for fun, I built my own usb interface based on a Motorbee board, and wrote some software to control it .

Louise

[Uranium235]

More 130pds goodness.....   (larger image & more info in deepsky section):