Imaging with the 130pds

[spillage]

I always leave everything set up and never move it. Also I am slightly lazy. I have to do collimation so will do the flats afterwards.

[Guest Tuomo]

55 minutes ago, spillage said:

I always leave everything set up and never move it. Also I am slightly lazy. I have to do collimation so will do the flats afterwards.

But if you refocus -> new flats.

[Stub Mandrel]

2 hours ago, Tuomo said:

But if you refocus -> new flats.

Surely refocus is putting things back as they were?

[Guest Tuomo]

13 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

Surely refocus is putting things back as they were?

I think we are a bit lost here. You need to make flats, right? You have made flats with your 150p? And now you are planning to make flats with 130p. 

Flats will correct vingetting and remove dustbunnies. Right?

Ok. You cant move your camera at all after taking lights if you still want to make flats. Why? Dustbunnies will not be placed in EXACTLY same place like they are in the light frames if you move camera or refocus. Proper flats must match with light frames, imaging train position and focus.......So flats taken with different setup would only work with images taken with exactly same setup and orientation....

[Stub Mandrel]

1 hour ago, Tuomo said:

Why? Dustbunnies will not be placed in EXACTLY same place like they are in the light frames if you move camera or refocus.

Can explain how the dustbunnies move when you refocus?

How do all the good people with automated systems who refocus after every 90 minutes cope?

[Guest Tuomo]

1 minute ago, Stub Mandrel said:

Can explain how the dustbunnies move when you refocus?

How do all the good people with automated systems who refocus after every 90 minutes cope?

Fair enough. Maybe their permanent setup is free from dust in sensor. Dont really know. Maybe they are correcting only vingetting. But i still think basics are still the same. Flats taken with one setup works only with images taken with that same setup.

If you are going to use flats taken with different setup, do it. I would not. It only takes 10 minutes to take flats.

[al-alami]

Its not prefect, but I'm really happy with this one. 

Maybe next time I shoot it I'll have a lot more time to get more detail, this was more of a "lets fill in some time".

Luminance 9 X 120 sec

Red 7 X 120 sec

Green 7 X 120 sec

Blue 7 X 120 sec

[alacant]

M31: Canon 700d. What a pity we don't have quite enough FOV to fit it all in. Which gives the perfect excuse not to bother collecting any more data for the faint dust at the edges! Thanks for looking and clear skies. 

[rotatux]

I don't know your equipment and capture settings (how many subs / overall minutes etc), but it's beautiful. Sadly my FoV is even narrower with the MFT sensor, but I'm planning to take about the same framing (which should just fit in the diagonal) with the help of my now stabilized mount and CC-reducer.

[alacant]

1 minute ago, rotatux said:

overall minutes

25 light frames of 4 minutes.

The framing is quite easy. With a conventionally positioned focuser, set the camera at right angles to the focus knobs; almost an exact diagonal. HTH. 

[Susaron]

This morning Moon Gents before running to work.

[Atreta]

On 10/17/2017 at 10:30, alacant said:

M31: Canon 700d. What a pity we don't have quite enough FOV to fit it all in. Which gives the perfect excuse not to bother collecting any more data for the faint dust at the edges! Thanks for looking and clear skies. 

WOW

that's an amzing image.

[al-alami]

On 10/2/2017 at 13:29, Adam J said:

security clearance for astronomy...wow what do they think that you are going to use it for?

 

Hi Adam,

Do you think this:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/adapters/flo-compression-ring-adapter-for-skywatcher-newtonians-m54.html

would be a good temporary improvement to keep the tilt (or lack of) constant? By temporary I mean till I can budget for a moonlite.

 

[Adam J]

34 minutes ago, al-alami said:

Hi Adam,

Do you think this:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/adapters/flo-compression-ring-adapter-for-skywatcher-newtonians-m54.html

would be a good temporary improvement to keep the tilt (or lack of) constant? By temporary I mean till I can budget for a moonlite.

 

I have one, I dont like it and actually went back to the original adapter, but I did drill and tap an extra hole for another thumbscrew to help prevent tilt.

I think that there is a baader click lock clamp available that would be better, it is much more expensive though.

[al-alami]

Just now, Adam J said:

I have one, I dont like it and actually went back to the original adapter, but I did drill and tap an extra hole for another thumbscrew to help prevent tilt.

I think that there is a baader click lock clamp available that would be better, it is much more expensive though.

hmmmmmmm good to know I guess.  Thanks for the info.

I guess I just need to save up for the moonlite.

[Adam J]

Just now, al-alami said:

hmmmmmmm good to know I guess.  Thanks for the info.

I guess I just need to save up for the moonlite.

If i could afford one that would be my choice. But drilling that extra hole for a third thumb screw really does help things.

[al-alami]

1 minute ago, Adam J said:

If i could afford one that would be my choice. But drilling that extra hole for a third thumb screw really does help things.

I guess I can give it a try.  Nothing much to loose.   Besides, I did the fun part of flocking the scope a couple of days ago.  So I'm itching to try it out.

[rotatux]

I'm about to flock my tube too, but just a question BTW: is there any risk the flocking material could accumulate water / humidity, and raise condensation, during moisty nights ? or do you combine it with some heating device to avoid it ?

PS: what I actually have for flocking is a somewhat thick felt (I mean maybe equivalent to ±15 sheets of paper)

Edited October 25, 2017 by rotatux

[Uranium235]

6 hours ago, rotatux said:

I'm about to flock my tube too, but just a question BTW: is there any risk the flocking material could accumulate water / humidity, and raise condensation, during moisty nights ? or do you combine it with some heating device to avoid it ?

PS: what I actually have for flocking is a somewhat thick felt (I mean maybe equivalent to ±15 sheets of paper)

Not really, if you have a dew shield - dew will never make its way far enough down the tube to give you any issues.

[happy-kat]

I'd hoover the felt to reduce loose fibres

On my smaller prices of flocking I ran a ruler edge and then sticky tape to collect the fibre dust.

Edited October 25, 2017 by happy-kat

[Guest Tuomo]

7 hours ago, rotatux said:

I'm about to flock my tube too, but just a question BTW: is there any risk the flocking material could accumulate water / humidity, and raise condensation, during moisty nights ? or do you combine it with some heating device to avoid it ?

PS: what I actually have for flocking is a somewhat thick felt (I mean maybe equivalent to ±15 sheets of paper)

Use DC-FIX black velour from local hardware store or from FLO. No need to worry about dew. I dont have any heaters and have not had any problems with dew. 

[tony8690]

Hi All,

What does flocking Do? Is it something everyone should really do with there scopes?

Off to Northumberland tomorrow! Should get my first shots with the 130pds over the weekend! 

T

[Susaron]

On ‎10‎/‎24‎/‎2017 at 23:48, al-alami said:

Hi Adam,

Do you think this:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/adapters/flo-compression-ring-adapter-for-skywatcher-newtonians-m54.html

would be a good temporary improvement to keep the tilt (or lack of) constant? By temporary I mean till I can budget for a moonlite.

 

I have used the Geoptik ring in my 200PDS, it is pretty good as well, it uses nylon screws instead of metal ones, though for our beloved 130PDS nothing beats the light and hard Moonlite focuser.

Just to mention a discussion I had with some colleagues about the suitable drawtube length for the Moonlite focuser mounted on the 130PDS. I went for the 2'' (50mm) drawtube as I wanted the tube for visual duties. There were discussions about if the long drawtube protruded on the light path etc, etc..., I have checked that with the DSLR there was not protrusion, and with the QHY168C I had to push the drawtube till the end of its length to achieve focus, so even less problem with any protrusion. I am indeed very happy with this decision, I am sure that using the qhy with a 38mm drawtube caused me to use any 2'' extender.

Edited October 26, 2017 by Susaron

[Susaron]

19 hours ago, rotatux said:

I'm about to flock my tube too, but just a question BTW: is there any risk the flocking material could accumulate water / humidity, and raise condensation, during moisty nights ? or do you combine it with some heating device to avoid it ?

PS: what I actually have for flocking is a somewhat thick felt (I mean maybe equivalent to ±15 sheets of paper)

Aside from flocking which provides a darker tube, it is a good idea to cover the scope with thin camping carpets, that prevents dew/frost development on cold nights. Even in the driest Spain as we observe at 700-800m altitudes the temperature drops quite fast in Winter and after one hour after dark you can find frost on your metal tube.

 

[Susaron]

Some pictures from yesterday night, I suffered problems with the new APT 3.40 which hung up from time to time, so with the first quarter Moon and these problems, I went for short pictures of some well-known objects, NGC457 along with NGC436, The Double Cluster and M45. The QHY168C set-up was Gain 6, offset 2 (to clip the briliant background to some stage), Temp -10ºC. The pictures for the NGC457 and Double are 40x30secs, and 40x60s for the Seven Sisters, no darks, flats or bias. The equipment our beloved 130PDS+AZEQ5+EZG60+ASI120MM.

Quick processing with DSS, and PIX (crop+ABE+curves).