What did the postman bring?

[Victor Boesen]

13 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

It’s always nice to receive small shiny blue boxes with Japanese writing on them 🙂

 

I look forward to receive more(hopefully also larger ones) in the future...

[upahill]

1 hour ago, Victor Boesen said:

@upahill nice PC you got going there! Is you graphics card the 2060? I have the 2070 in mine and I mostly built my computer towards gaming while also being able to do some 3d-modeling like you say and some video editing. I also have an I5-9600K which I can easily overclock to 5ghz but I left it at 4.7ghz since the temperature at this clock speed is a little more comfortable. If you need some help feel free to ask(I see you have almost everything set so there might not be any). And by the way! Here's a pic of mine:

Thanks, yours too - love the blue - yeah its the 2060 - with a view to upgrading to the 2080Ti if I ever feel the need to. Im a bit of an AMD fanboy so stuck with them and went for a used Threadripper 1950X - 16 cores / 32 thread, again with a view to upgrading to the 2970WX if I feel the need and the prices come down. 32GB of ram right now which I can push to 256 on this board.

I cant believe the prices of hardware at the moment, had to compromise on every component, but should be a nice upgrade from my FX8320 with 16GB and RX480! And was a radical shift from the Dual E5 Xeon system I was planning.

Edited September 12, 2019 by upahill

[Victor Boesen]

7 minutes ago, upahill said:

Thanks, yours too - love the blue - yeah its the 2060 - with a view to upgrading to the 2080Ti if I ever feel the need to. Im a bit of an AMD fanboy so stuck with them and went for a used Threadripper 1950X - 16 cores / 32 thread, again with a view to upgrading to the 2970WX if I feel the need and the prices come down. 32GB of ram right now which I can push to 256 on this board.

I cant believe the prices of hardware at the moment, had to compromise on every component, but should be a nice upgrade from my FX8320 with 16GB and RX480! And was a radical shift from the Dual E5 Xeon system I was planning.

The AMD chips are also a lot better at multicore work I only chose the intel because of its gaming capabilities. Sounds like a really nice system!!

[Stub Mandrel]

Hmm.

Double ended 1/4 whitworth camera adaptor

Set of four 50mm castors, two locking.

16A hookup connector.

🙂

 

[DeepSkyMan]

On 09/09/2019 at 18:58, Helen said:

Hmm more boxes arrived today...

 

 

My initial impressions are very favourable -  robust, nicely engineered, relatively lightweight. This will be my travel/starparty mount.  It takes my Tak so easily that I almost got away with no counterweight .  The starbook Ten is rather different to the standard skywatcher ones.  I'm looking forward to exploring its use in the field.

It should also be controllable via asiair, so that's the next challenge, in time for the SGL star party (or I'll be picking Grant's brains 😉 )

Helen

 

Helen, congratulations on your new Sphinx, I have an SXW, they are splendid mounts.  Regarding wireless setup here is an excerpt from a post I made on CN regarding my setup:

Regarding the Sphinx and remote setup you need the following components:

Additional 12v power supply (or one with sufficient capacity to power your WiFi, Dew control and Sphinx)

Length of CAT5 ethernet cable (Note: This is std ethernet NOT cross-over)

A small WiFi router, I use this one:

https://www.netstoredirect.com/tp-link-routers/39960-tp-link-tl-wr802n-6935364071721.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI6abnst6L1wIV8TLTCh34EglnEAQYAiABEgJk1fD_BwE). 

There are more compact solutions available now, but this one works for me.

A tablet or mobile phone (Apple or Android)

A planetarium app (again Apple or Android).  I use SkySafari.

You connect the Starbook to the WiFi router power it up and subject to config changes in your planetarium software thats all there is to it.  Make sure the router is powered up prior to the Starbook.  When the Starbook then powers up it immediately detects the router and obtains an IP address from the DHCP server on the router.  The IP address can be found under the About menu option in the Starbook.

Using SkySafari is a breeze.  You just make the appropriate IP address setting in the Scope Setup in SkySafari, connect to the mobile router from your tablet or phone and hey presto!  From this point forward you communicate with the Starbook from SkySafari.  You have all the functionality of the Starbook but in addition you have access to the 'gazillions' of astro objects in SkySafari and a more intuitive user interface.

One thing to remember make sure you are running SS and the Starbook in the same time-base.  If DST in the Starbook make sure SS is in DST as well, otherwise your gotos will be out by an hour in RA.  Something else that you might find useful and caused me some confusion when trying to understand how SS worked with the Starbook, SS knows within its coding what epoch co-ordinates a specific mount is expecting and always converts the SS co-ordinates to that epoch.  This is from correspondence with Bill Tschumy at Simulation Curriculum:

 

"Bill Tschumy
February 08, 2017 20:49

The setting for the epoch (J2000, Now, etc) in SkySafari is for your benefit only.  It has nothing to do with the coordinates we use when talking to the scope.  We know what each mount expects and always convert to that epoch before sending an RA/Dec to the mount.  

Here is a pic of my setup:

Hope this makes you take the leap to remote control, it really is liberating.

Kind Regards

Paul J.

Edited September 13, 2019 by DeepSkyMan

[Helen]

3 minutes ago, DeepSkyMan said:

Helen, congratulations on your new Sphinx, I have an SXW, they are splendid mounts.  Regarding wireless setup here is an excerpt from a post I made on CN regarding my setup:

 

Regarding the Sphinx and remote setup you need the following components:

Additional 12v power supply (or one with sufficient capacity to power your WiFi, Dew control and Sphinx)

Length of CAT5 ethernet cable (Note: This is std ethernet NOT cross-over)

A small WiFi router, I use this one:

https://www.netstoredirect.com/tp-link-routers/39960-tp-link-tl-wr802n-6935364071721.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI6abnst6L1wIV8TLTCh34EglnEAQYAiABEgJk1fD_BwE). 

There are more compact solutions available now, but this one works for me.

A tablet or mobile phone (Apple or Android)

A planetarium app (again Apple or Android).  I use SkySafari.

You connect the Starbook to the WiFi router power it up and subject to config changes in your planetarium software thats all there is to it.  Make sure the router is powered up prior to the Starbook.  When the Starbook then powers up it immediately detects the router and obtains an IP address from the DHCP server on the router.  The IP address can be found under the About menu option in the Starbook.

Using SkySafari is a breeze.  You just make the appropriate IP address setting in the Scope Setup in SkySafari, connect to the mobile router from your tablet or phone and hey presto!  From this point forward you communicate with the Starbook from SkySafari.  You have all the functionality of the Starbook but in addition you have access to the 'gazillions' of astro objects in SkySafari and a more intuitive user interface.

 

One thing to remember make sure you are running SS and the Starbook in the same time-base.  If DST in the Starbook make sure SS is in DST as well, otherwise your gotos will be out by an hour in RA.  Something else that you might find useful and caused me some confusion when trying to understand how SS worked with the Starbook, SS knows within its coding what epoch co-ordinates a specific mount is expecting and always converts the SS co-ordinates to that epoch.  This is from correspondence with Bill Tschumy at Simulation Curriculum:

 

"Bill Tschumy
February 08, 2017 20:49

The setting for the epoch (J2000, Now, etc) in SkySafari is for your benefit only.  It has nothing to do with the coordinates we use when talking to the scope.  We know what each mount expects and always convert to that epoch before sending an RA/Dec to the mount."

 

here is a pic of my setup:

 

 

Hope this makes you take the leap to remote control, it really is liberating 🙂

 

Kind Regards

Paul J.

Thank You!  Its always good t get positive feedback and help from someone with first hand experience.  Yes, very favourable first impressions and I've this evening got the little router working with skysafari 🙂   The next challenge is to get it all working with the Asiair...

But before that, I'm looking forward to just playing with the Starbook Ten for some visual fun 🙂   Maybe on the weekend...

I'll report back (new thread time I think 😉 )

Helen

[DeepSkyMan]

Helen, how are you intending to use the ASIAir?

Ah... after reading your signature, it’s pretty obvious🙂. You will using it with your ASI1600.  My next big purchase scheduled for November will likely be an Atik Horizon, same Panasonic chip as the 1600.

Edited September 13, 2019 by DeepSkyMan

[Sagitta]

The postman made my day with this beauty coming from the UK. Thanks David :).

[DaveS]

Some bits to go in a "barebones" i3 industrial pc for the obsy, boot ssd, storage ssd, and 8 gig RAM

And a cheap 'n' cheerful 4k monitor, as there are a lot of windows open on the desktop

It's just on the stand for the time being, it will be VESA mounted when installed.

 

[Knighty2112]

Camping poles and tarp arrived today to try to shield that blooming LED streetlamp you can see on the right blaring away in my front garden. Hoping to test it a little tonight and see hows it goes! <fingers well crossed>

Edited September 13, 2019 by Knighty2112

[markse68]

Finally- an Oiii filter 😃

I was waiting for a 2” but got bored so plumped for this T2 version with an m42-m48 adapter which I think should cover most of my eps without vignetting and will be nice with the 1.25” eps not having to refit it each time when swapping between them with the 2”-1.25” adapter. No idea if it’s the 6nm or 12nm version though as it doesn’t say🤷‍♂️ Hoping for the later obvs for observing use...

At last I might see evidence of this illusive  Veil and other Cignus nebulae I hear so much about 🤞

[robbymain]

On 13/09/2019 at 17:16, Knighty2112 said:

Camping poles and tarp arrived today to try to shield that blooming LED streetlamp you can see on the right blaring away in my front garden. Hoping to test it a little tonight and see hows it goes! <fingers well crossed>

Just out of interest, have you made a complaint to your council? This type of light trespass is against the law under the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act (2005). Politely make a nuisance of yourself until they do something about it!

Edited September 15, 2019 by robbymain

[robbymain]

On 09/09/2019 at 18:58, Helen said:

It should also be controllable via asiair, so that's the next challenge, in time for the SGL star party

Apologies in advance if I drool over your new mount at Lucksall - one day I will own one of these beauties! In the meantime I must be content with my vintage GP (SW enhanced drives) and not impulse buy an OTA that is too heavy for it (hate to overload a mount!).

Can I ask, did you consider an AP before deciding to buy this? At the current UK prices, the SX2 seems like much better value for money (not the Starbook 10 version obviously)

[Mark at Beaufort]

On 13/09/2019 at 17:16, Knighty2112 said:

Camping poles and tarp arrived today to try to shield that blooming LED streetlamp you can see on the right blaring away in my front garden. Hoping to test it a little tonight and see hows it goes! <fingers well crossed>

Gus I hope it works for you. I use a cassette washing line which extends across the whole garden. I use 6 black ground sheets and clip them using the eye lets. I use mine to shield lights from the house.

[Knighty2112]

2 hours ago, robbymain said:

Just out of interest, have you made a complaint to your council? This type of light trespass is against the law under the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act (2005). Politely make a nuisance of yourself until they do something about it!

Hi Robby, sadly this only impacts my hobby of astronomy, and not into any other areas where I could complain that it interferes with my sleep or quality of life in any other way, so I don’t believe the council would do anything just to accommodate me. Sadly, one of the perils of living in a large town or city.

[Knighty2112]

2 hours ago, Mark at Beaufort said:

Gus I hope it works for you. I use a cassette washing line which extends across the whole garden. I use 6 black ground sheets and clip them using the eye lets. I use mine to shield lights from the house.

Hi Mark. It worked Ok on my first try with. Found I need to bring it a little closer in towards the other fence as the light from the lamp on the right still was an issue in some positions. Need more material to block light also in other parts too. Also, thinking of using thin wood at the top to hold the tarp and other material to block the light, so will be looking for some suitable wood to do this, as even with setting the guy ropes as tight as I could I couldn’t get the tarp as high as possible and tended to sag down. 

[Helen]

3 hours ago, robbymain said:

Apologies in advance if I drool over your new mount at Lucksall - one day I will own one of these beauties! In the meantime I must be content with my vintage GP (SW enhanced drives) and not impulse buy an OTA that is too heavy for it (hate to overload a mount!).

Can I ask, did you consider an AP before deciding to buy this? At the current UK prices, the SX2 seems like much better value for money (not the Starbook 10 version obviously)

😎. You can willingly come and drive it 😎. The starbook is really fun!

I did look at the AP, but by the time I added drives etc it got quite expensive.  I actually got what I think is an excellent deal on the sx2.  It's ex-demo, but you can't tell 😎Mount, tripod, starbook ten,  total £1,600.  I am a very happy bunny!! 😁😁

Helen

[CraigT82]

On 09/09/2019 at 18:58, Helen said:

Hmm more boxes arrived today...

 

 

My initial impressions are very favourable -  robust, nicely engineered, relatively lightweight. This will be my travel/starparty mount.  It takes my Tak so easily that I almost got away with no counterweight .  The starbook Ten is rather different to the standard skywatcher ones.  I'm looking forward to exploring its use in the field.

It should also be controllable via asiair, so that's the next challenge, in time for the SGL star party (or I'll be picking Grant's brains 😉 )

Helen

 

Lovely! Have just sold an SXW with starbook which was a superbly portable yet capable mount,  this sx2 shoul be great to use. Just FYI if you need a tripod tray it's exactly the same as the SW az4 alloy legged tray, which pop up on astroboot now and then 

[Helen]

2 minutes ago, CraigT82 said:

Lovely! Have just sold an SXW with starbook which was a superbly portable yet capable mount,  this sx2 shoul be great to use. Just FYI if you need a tripod tray it's exactly the same as the SW az4 alloy legged tray, which pop up on astroboot now and then 

Thanks Craig 😁. I've found the EQ3 one is the same too 😎, so that's now in use. 

I'm going to need a half-pillar to stop my Tak hitting the legs 😏

Had some fun with starbook last night though 😁

Helen

[JeremyS]

Got hold of a used copy in vgc. Easier to take away on hols than her bulkier "Deep Sky Wonders" volume.

[Mark at Beaufort]

Great book Jeremy. Bought it years ago but took it away a few weeks ago on a trip to Hayling Island.

[laudropb]

Very nice book Jeremy. I have used it on trips to France.

[Ags]

17 hours ago, Knighty2112 said:

Hi Robby, sadly this only impacts my hobby of astronomy, and not into any other areas where I could complain that it interferes with my sleep or quality of life in any other way, so I don’t believe the council would do anything just to accommodate me. Sadly, one of the perils of living in a large town or city.

I live in a city and successfully complained about the streetlight due south of my garden. They simply attached a little steel baffle to block most of the light shining into my garden. Nothing ventured, nothing gained?

[robbymain]

56 minutes ago, Ags said:

I live in a city and successfully complained about the streetlight due south of my garden. They simply attached a little steel baffle to block most of the light shining into my garden. Nothing ventured, nothing gained?

That's a great result! I hope our UK councils can be so helpful. A lot of issues with annoying light trespass (unfortunately all too common these days with poorly designed, thoughtlessly installed, mega-bright LED floodlights) could be solved with a bit of cheap shielding.

[Dustspeakers]

16 minutes ago, robbymain said:

That's a great result! I hope our UK councils can be so helpful. A lot of issues with annoying light trespass (unfortunately all too common these days with poorly designed, thoughtlessly installed, mega-bright LED floodlights) could be solved with a bit of cheap shielding.

I raised a complaint about a new led street light opposite our bedroom window. Not only did I get an email response in an hour, they had fitted a shield within 2 weeks!!!

Surrey Heath area thumbs up

 

16 minutes ago, robbymain said:

That's a great result! I hope our UK councils can be so helpful. A lot of issues with annoying light trespass (unfortunately all too common these days with poorly designed, thoughtlessly installed, mega-bright LED floodlights) could be solved with a bit of cheap shielding.