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Narrowband

New Beginnings


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First off, Hello and hope 2021 works out better for you than 2020!

I thought I'd start a new thread here to introduce myself, show what I'm up too and well, chart my progress in imaging.

About me - Let's say I'm longish in the tooth, but still a beginner. What do I mean? I started some 14-15 years ago and have tried all different kinds of setups to image with. I've used more than a few meters of tape, converters and adapters galore, computers large and small, odd ball software titles etc to grab an image. Back in those days, mega pixel cameras cost more than a kidney. Pretty sure there was no "complete solutions" from any single vendor for all the required components.  I've a shelf full of "modified" web cams too. Hell, I feel I could make some serious money with these if I were to put them back together again.  Many an hour standing out in the freezing cold and never really making a decent image compared to what you see today.  Anyhow, I parked my scopes and found some other ways to spend money (If you thought this hobby was expensive you should try marine aquariums!)

Back in March/April time frame last year, I dusted off my scopes again, and re-purposed a Raspberry PI I had to have a play with, purchased a second hand Canon Camera and had a play. All was going OK until on the third night I knocked the USB plug on the camera and since then it no longer speaks - I suspect the socket in the camera has broken. It still takes pictures, just not under computer control.

While looking at replacing this camera, I took a long hard look at what I'm wanting to do - been drifting far too long with random purchases here and there which pushes up the frustration levels as nothing works well.  In this hobby, working well is important to me as it's cold outside and spending time trouble shooting stuff all the time is not time I spend looking up or capturing images.

What did I do?  Well, I've invested in the ZWO platform and just love how simple it is to use, hook together and get stuff done.

First off, I had this November 2020 setup which was me using what I had while waiting for some parts to come into stock from FLO.  I was not happy with this and decided to use the 130PDS as the scope and have now morphed into this setup:

  • NEQ6 mount
  • 130PDS
  • ZWO ASIAIR
  • ZWO ASI294MC Pro
  • ZWO EAF and temperature sensor
  • ZWO AIR120MM Mini
  • ZWO Mini Guide Scope
  • HiTec ASTRO EQDIR 
  • Dew heating Strap
  • Celestron Lithium 13.2Ah power tank
  • Custom crafted steel plate for mounting ASIAIR

After putting all this together, I've waited for a clear night to start playing which it was on and off for a few hours last night.

First impressions of the setup left me impressed on just how simple this can be. Within what was only a few minutes, I had it assembled, PA, focused and guiding - OK, so maybe 20 - 25 minutes due to those nasty bolts for alignment - they are going to be replaced!

What's Next?  Well, I'm not worried about the collimation for now and yes I have "pacman" stars but I want to spend time gathering images and learn how to process them. When this is starting to take effect, I'll look into the tuning the scope - one step at a time and right now, I want to get something back for the investment I have made.

Look forward to chatting more here as and when

Stay safe all

Mark

 

 

20210107_155831.jpg

20210107_155809.jpg

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I forgot to add a star based image from last night - so here is a single image to start with of C49 (Rosette Nebula). Other than convert from FITS to JPEG nothing else has been done but at least you can see what I am working with to start with.  Off to go learn how to "post process" the images and I hope to see some redness appear.Light_C49_120s_Bin1_gain120_-10C_0014.thumb.jpg.9e6a33f1aed91df0f2298546da29242f.jpg

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