first ever attempt at dso MORE HELP PLEASE! 24TH FEB 08

[radioactive]

Having never done this before and Not having much of an idea here on what to do this is a single 5 second expo done with the Atik 16IC mono I have lots of other single expos also but not sure how to proceed with them I put a bit of colour into this one with maxim and that's it at least I have got a better focus through the scope now that I have a jmi/wo2 controller on the C11

Please please be brutal its the only way to help me :shock:

[RobH]

No brutality neededd Martyn!

Not a bad first attempt...centre of M42, trap area.

Looks like you're at around F10 on that so you're not being easy on yourself

[Beyond_Vision]

Not to bad for a first attempt.

Still a tad out of focus, you should try to focus on a reasonably bright star to start with, before slewing to your target.

You will need to take more frames and add/stack them together in Maxim. M42 is a really large target and you will only fit the core of it in your field of view. Its the brightest nebula in the sky so is a reasonable target to go for just to get to grips with the camera. The biggest problem with M42 is it has a very large range of brightness with very dim outer regions and a really bright central area. It may be best to practice on some of the brighter Globular Clusters which can be done with a reasonably short exposure.

Regards

Kevin

[Sam]

Good stuff RA! it's quite satisfying getting that first DSO on the screen.

[beamish]

It's a bl**dy good start Martyn, I had a bash at M42 myself last night -deleted the lot!! So keep it up !!

Karlo

[barkis]

Don't beat yourself up RA. You have made a start and not a bad one at that.

A couple of things for you to do have already been highlighted, so all I will say is

keep at it, listen to to the advice you get, and your imaging will improve in

leaps and bounds.

Good Luck Mate.

Ron.

[CELESCOPE]

Hi RA , a very good start for you , now a tip from ole Rog , at f10 you are going to find it hard , a 6.3 reducer will help , but using it unguided at 6.3 will maybe give you 15 /20 secs , but polar alignment would have to be very accurate.but don't dispear, this is what u can achieve , no tricks to this one just a plain unguided image of M51 15 secs at 6.3 , so you can do a lot at this f ratio, and also focus will be a lot easier.

Rog

(click to enlarge)

[radioactive]

Thanks everyone for your words of encouragement I am trying to take it all on board I think my Collimation is still a tad out tis a wee pity my being thick :insects1:

Roger I will try putting the reducer in how you mentioned in your focal reducer sct for sale post

[lunator]

Martyn

I'm not an imager but if that image was my 1st DSO I would be pleased

[jgs001]

Nice image RA. It's come out well.

[radioactive]

Its pretty carp IMHO but at least the 1st one is out of the way I was really hoping to get another crack at an image last night (so still very eagar good sign,) but no such luck no matter how much I tried I could not shift them damn clouds from around here

Its a very steep learning curve I am finding with plenty to go wrong I have a new problem that I am really struggling with now that's going to affect my ability to use the C11 to its potential (I cannot remove the Jmi motorised focuser from the SCT thread) it went onto it fine but will not separate from it it all has to come off together which is no good at all I have tried some fair extreme manual force to unscrew the two from each other but no luck at all so for now I am stuck with that configuration not happy with that it should not present any difficulty to re separate the two imho I was going to try and fit the Celestron 6.3 focal reducer in at that point as its got nowhere else it can go I am going to try using the Sentinal to image next time out

Btw the camera did have a 0.5 focal reducer screwed into the nose piece in that image at the top so not in fact F10 would it not be F5.2 ish?

Anyway I am going for some star cluster targets next time as advised here's a picture of the imaging train as is the shiny thread is part of the focuser the black bit should be part of the scope but it all comes off together only instead of unscrewing and yes I do undo the thumbs screws first!

any suggestions? comments, jokes,first day copies you wanna give me, old bus passes welcome, Not discarded wives not got any more room left for them right now too many scopes! :-)

[MikeP]

Martyn,

Would a change of temperature help? If one of the bits is metal, it could benefit from taking the assembly indoors and letting it warm up to see if it expands and loosens.

Probably a stupid idea, but better than my other which is to use a pair of Stilsons.

Mike

[Beyond_Vision]

You could use one of those gadgets that grips oil filters etc to get the extra torque. I bought one from Aldi not long back for the exact same reason.

Regards

Kevin

[radioactive]

Martyn,

Would a change of temperature help? If one of the bits is metal, it could benefit from taking the assembly indoors and letting it warm up to see if it expands and loosens.

Probably a stupid idea, but better than my other which is to use a pair of Stilsons.

Mike

may end off using some tool or other in the end but as the last resort type of thing I am amazed how solidly stuck together it has become as I say it went on without any difficulty that I noticed so its not cross threaded I only made it firm hand tightness on putting on in the first place I had it between my legs sat down in the house I may heat a damp rag up with gloves on and wrap the shiny chrome thread bit see if it will give any strange this is very strange Kevin just read your reply before posting this yes that kind of thing is what I had in mind a strap type tool failing that I have a mate who is a plumber plenty of the larger tools ie Stilsons (last resort)

[Kaptain Klevtsov]

A tiny drop of oil left to soak into the threads may help here as these threads usually have no grease or oil on them.

Kaptain Klevtsov

[barkis]

I think the heat method is your best remedy. If you have a hair dryer play it over the focuser threads for about 10 minutes. Maybe you coud fix it so you don't have to stand holding it that long. Once enough heat has gone into to the metal, you can attempt to turn it off.

A thin strip of towelling knotted into a loop could be placed over the focuser, and a short stubby piece of wood inserted in the loop.

Twist around tll it tightens, and then bracing one end of the wood against the wall of the focuser, gently push the other end upwards to try and lever it off . Anti clock of course.

Ron.

[radioactive]

I think the heat method is your best remedy. If you have a hair dryer play it over the focuser threads for about 10 minutes. Maybe you coud fix it so you don't have to stand holding it that long. Once enough heat has gone into to the metal, you can attempt to turn it off.

A thin strip of towelling knotted into a loop could be placed over the focuser, and a short stubby piece of wood inserted in the loop.

Twist around tll it tightens, and then bracing one end of the wood against the wall of the focuser, gently push the other end upwards to try and lever it off . Anti clock of course.

Ron.

KK I put a drop of oil on it I think I will put just a little more actually Ron I was thinking of rigging up some kind of windlass onto it

I will have to use the hair drier in a secluded area I do have an image to protect yer know! :shock:

[gaelicstorm7]

A good start that Martin !, much better than my 1st attempt, not as easy as people think this imaging lark is it !

Alan