My first Ha attempt and first solar attempt

[mrjolly]

Well, it's been a while since I've attempted to do any imaging! After doing my back in and ending up on the wrong end of a surgeon's knife because of it I've been told not to lift anything heavy again. So with that, the HEQ5, ED80 and remains untouched and I've got something a bit lighter, a double stacked lunt 50!

I had my first attempt at imaging today with it and a DMK41AU02, no matter what combination of adapters and barlows, I couldn't get focused. The only thing I found that worked was unscrewing the eyepiece adapter from the blocking filter and duct-taping the camera directly to it. If anyone has a more elegant solution I'd appreciate some advice!

Unfortunately no sooner had I got everything setup (and taped together!) this morning the cloud started to develop so only got one 40 second AVI. After fiddling around with it for a bit:

Had a go at colouring it don't think I've got that quite right yet....!

 

[johnfosteruk]

Stunning for a first go mate, Nice detail and that filament is becoming a fair size now. Well done.

[Pete Presland]

Very nice disc's. 

[Iainp]

Looking good!

Iain 

[laudropb]

Very nice first attempt.

[Macavity]

Excellent effort!

Having wrestled with the "adapter issue" in the past, I found a
solution to lack of in-focus which worked well for me... I prefer
to have things screwed together rather than brass rings etc.

If you are familiar with the T2 thread system it's easy to put
something similar together. The ZWO camera has a T-thread
but you'd need a C-thread to T-thread adapter for your DMK!

http://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p2838_Adaptor-T2-female-on-C-Mount-male---only-4mm-length.html

As you see, I have a couple of T2 rotators inline to allow me to
"clock" the diagonal to center the sweet spot and recover the
correct orientation of the camera. Your image seems uniform
enough without such gymnastics? In case of need though!

http://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p7356_TS-T2-360--rotator---only-5-5mm-back-focus.html

IIRC other things are a 15mm Baader T2 extension ring and a
female/female T2 adapter. Make this up (sic) as you go along?

[David Smith]

That's a great start.

[Macavity]

P.S. As a bit of "enlightened self interest", I notice you don't get any Newton's Rings! 
And, with a bit of practice, you could get the WHOLE of the Sun in frame [teasing].

But clearly the *global shutter* is effective in reducing NR's - And I could live with the
15 fps? (I only need / get 18 fps. with the ZWO ASI120MM anyway)! The Pixel size is
not THAT much different... Not sure I have a spare £400, but if the above works... 

[keramos]

Excellent Images for first attempt, good stuff. Keep em coming.

[mrjolly]

21 hours ago, Macavity said:

Excellent effort!

Having wrestled with the "adapter issue" in the past, I found a
solution to lack of in-focus which worked well for me... I prefer
to have things screwed together rather than brass rings etc.

If you are familiar with the T2 thread system it's easy to put
something similar together. The ZWO camera has a T-thread
but you'd need a C-thread to T-thread adapter for your DMK!

http://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p2838_Adaptor-T2-female-on-C-Mount-male---only-4mm-length.html

As you see, I have a couple of T2 rotators inline to allow me to
"clock" the diagonal to center the sweet spot and recover the
correct orientation of the camera. Your image seems uniform
enough without such gymnastics? In case of need though!

http://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p7356_TS-T2-360--rotator---only-5-5mm-back-focus.html

IIRC other things are a 15mm Baader T2 extension ring and a
female/female T2 adapter. Make this up (sic) as you go along?

Brilliant, thanks! The T2 adapter looks like it'll do the job so I'll order one of those and see how I get on! My image was probably uniform because once I'd put the camera on I was adjusting where it sat as I noticed that it seemed pretty strict in that if it was slightly off to the left or right and I got noticeable fading towards the edges. It didn't seem too bad moving the camera up or down.

I'll probably order one of the rotaters too just to be safe!

[DrRobin]

Cor that is a good first image and welcome to the world of solar Ha imaging.  I hope you are on the mend and back to full imaging duties soon.

Robin

[Macavity]

37 minutes ago, mrjolly said:

Brilliant, thanks! The T2 adapter looks like it'll do the job so I'll order one of those and see how I get on! My image was probably uniform because once I'd put the camera on I was adjusting where it sat as I noticed that it seemed pretty strict in that if it was slightly off to the left or right and I got noticeable fading towards the edges. It didn't seem too bad moving the camera up or down.

I'll probably order one of the rotaters too just to be safe!

Yes, I think you would then know what you (ultimately) wanted! For what it's
worth, I ordered a set of T2 rings from FLO (seemed about the cheapest?)!
https://www.firstlightoptics.com/adapters/t2-extension-tube-set.html
That way you can experiment with the camera/diagonal spacing.