Smartphone shots 17th Nov 2018

[Stu]

I took these through the 140 Mak last night and they came out ok. It was a frustrating night, battling dew and ultimately losing unfortunately.  I forgot a vital cable for my dew strips so couldn't use them.

These were taken using the Celestron NeXYZ mount and either 24mm Panoptic, 12.5mm BGO or Docter. I was quite pleased to catch the third peak in Copernicus, and also to be able to make out the polar cap on Mars.

I also discovered Snapseed for processing which seems really capable. More complex than PS Express but has been control of curves amongst other features. I've heard recently of Halide too for imaging on iPhone so will try that out too.

 

[Highburymark]

Very nice pics Stu - didn't know that another Docter had found its way into your kit. 

[PhotoGav]

Great shots Stu. How do you rate the NexYZ now you’ve used it a bit?

[Sunshine]

Nice shots! I was puzzled by what that contraption is on your telescope, then I realized it’s the smart phone holder lol.

[nightfisher]

Stu, those are some of the best Luna smart phone pics i have seen, very good

[Stu]

3 hours ago, Highburymark said:

Very nice pics Stu - didn't know that another Docter had found its way into your kit. 

Thanks Mark. Indeed, I can blame Gerry for that one . Nice to have one back.

[Olli]

Very nice images Stu. a mak is on my long wish list! 

[Stu]

3 hours ago, PhotoGav said:

Great shots Stu. How do you rate the NexYZ now you’ve used it a bit?

Thanks Gav. I should probably do a little write up on on. On the whole I'm happy with it, although it's not infallible. The first unit I got was quite wobbly in one of the axes but of course FLO sorted that out very quickly and the replacement was fine.

The main clamping mechanism works well, provided you tighten it up enough using the orange locking screw. Without this you don't get a firm connection. There is a bit of faffing around to be done to get the clamp in the best position, I found for instance with the 12.5mm BGO I had to pull the eyepiece out of the diagonal a little way to give enough room to clamp on to, perhaps because it was a 2" diagonal. With a 1.25" I would have been able to clamp on the diagonal itself, something I did do when using the Tak prism. Generally there is a way of getting it attached which works well, once you've found it.

The three axis adjustment is very good too, my only criticism is that it could do with being a smidge stiffer so the position doesn't move once set. To be fair it doesn't move unless you adjust it, but it's a bit like a focuser which is too lose if that makes sense? The Z axis adjustment is great, makes all the difference in terms of being able to get right on the exit pupil and see the full field stop.

So, overall pretty positive. It is a good balance of being solidly constructed but not too heavy. It would be more rigid made all from metal but would be far too heavy to easily balance the scope so it strikes the right balance there. 

[Stu]

2 hours ago, nightfisher said:

Stu, those are some of the best Luna smart phone pics i have seen, very good

Thank you Jules

 

[PhotoGav]

Thanks for the review Stu - now there’s an idea for a S@N column - ‘Stu’s Reviews’!! The gizmo sounds good and your images are a great advert for it!

[Captain Scarlet]

Very nice Stu. You’re inspiring me to get a phone holder. 

I have Halide, I can recommend it, I have a few others and it’s my favourite, extremely convenient to adjust exposure at a swipe, but I haven’t used it at night.

Funnily enough I too was out last night in the back garden, was apprehensive about dew but luckily none turned up! Must be a very localized phenomenon.

I finally split Rigel as a double with a scope of my own (mak 127), not especially clean but definite, which I’ve only ever managed before with your Tak on a WAG night in Feb.

Magnus

[Stu]

12 minutes ago, PhotoGav said:

Thanks for the review Stu - now there’s an idea for a S@N column - ‘Stu’s Reviews’!! The gizmo sounds good and your images are a great advert for it!

Now there's an idea

 

[Stu]

12 minutes ago, Captain Magenta said:

Very nice Stu. You’re inspiring me to get a phone holder. 

I have Halide, I can recommend it, I have a few others and it’s my favourite, extremely convenient to adjust exposure at a swipe, but I haven’t used it at night.

Funnily enough I too was out last night in the back garden, was apprehensive about dew but luckily none turned up! Must be a very localized phenomenon.

I finally split Rigel as a double with a scope of my own (mak 127), not especially clean but definite, which I’ve only ever managed before with your Tak on a WAG night in Feb.

Magnus

Dew does seem very variable, sometimes like you I'm expecting it but it doesn't arrive. Last night and in the week at home it was very heavy. I'm tempted to follow Chris' example and insulate my Maks as it seems this can really help with cutting tube currents down, and also seems to reduce dewing by stopping the scope radiating heat away to below ambient.

Glad you got the Rigel split, it's definitely a nice one!

[barkis]

Very nice Indeed Stu, you are doing wonders for inspiring the 
use of Smart Phones for AP. 
Each subsequent session you post, shows marked improvements too.
You are certainly mastering  this new  genre. 

 

[LukeSkywatcher]

Not too shabby at all. 

[bish]

Great set of pics Stu. Good that you can still get  a decent shot of Mars now it’s getting smaller.