GrumpiusMaximus Posted January 26 Share Posted January 26 We've had thick, unrelenting cloud here for the last few days. Instead of going out to look at stars, I've been fiddling with Astroberry, 70ED, Hypercam 183c and my AZ-GTI and got them all talking to each other, set up a real-time clock in the Astroberry and set up a VNC profile to access it from an old laptop. All working nicely now. I've also calculated and measured the focus point and written it on a little sticker for my tripod so I can get it roughed in quickly and as I've got the Raspberry Pi running off the same battery pack that's powering the AZ-GTI, there's no need for a mains connection and I can attach it all to the tripod and take it out with one hand. A grab-and-go astrophotography setup. Which, of course, means I can strip it all down and go to visual in under 2 minutes. So when I stop learning about the different varieties of thick, grey cloud visual observation isn't inconvenient... 5 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cloudsweeper Posted January 26 Share Posted January 26 2 hours ago, GrumpiusMaximus said: We've had thick, unrelenting cloud here for the last few days. Instead of going out to look at stars, I've been fiddling with Astroberry, 70ED, Hypercam 183c and my AZ-GTI and got them all talking to each other, set up a real-time clock in the Astroberry and set up a VNC profile to access it from an old laptop. All working nicely now. I've also calculated and measured the focus point and written it on a little sticker for my tripod so I can get it roughed in quickly and as I've got the Raspberry Pi running off the same battery pack that's powering the AZ-GTI, there's no need for a mains connection and I can attach it all to the tripod and take it out with one hand. A grab-and-go astrophotography setup. Which, of course, means I can strip it all down and go to visual in under 2 minutes. So when I stop learning about the different varieties of thick, grey cloud visual observation isn't inconvenient... I don't understand a word of this, but I love the enthusiasm! 😉 Doug. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrumpiusMaximus Posted January 26 Share Posted January 26 (edited) 3 hours ago, cloudsweeper said: I don't understand a word of this, but I love the enthusiasm! 😉 Doug. It means that all of this: Runs off a battery pack, that is also secured to the tripod. And it can all be reset for visual in about 2 minutes by just removing the camera and a couple of cables. The battery pack connects directly to the AZ-GTI mount to power it and the Raspberry Pi to power that. The camera is powered from the USB 3 port of the Raspberry Pi. The Raspberry Pi is attached to the tripod leg. It puts out its own WiFi hotspot, so all I need to do is connect a laptop to the Raspberry Pi's WiFi network and log in to get full control over everything. I do have a dew heater but that draws too much current if I try to run it out of the Pi and the camera shuts down. Next thing is a guide scope and guide camera but I haven't even tried this setup out in anger yet. I'll stop posting about this now because this a visual thread - but I wanted to make a setup I could convert in less than five minutes and take outside with one hand. We'll see how effective it is soon... DISCLAIMER. The dog does not run off the battery pack and generally runs off lamb, potato and sardines. Edited January 26 by GrumpiusMaximus 3 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawksmoor Posted January 26 Share Posted January 26 Last night there was a short window of opportunity and I spent thirty or so minutes in the backyard with my 8x40 bins. The full Moon was quite beautiful and bearing in mind it’s brightness my bins delivered lots of detail for my old eyes to appreciate. The Hyades and Pleiades always deliver, even in moonlight but I could not detect the comet lurking near the Hyades. George with sunlight streaming in through the window in Lowestoft. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigella Bryant Posted January 26 Share Posted January 26 Well, not night but day. First outing with the new mount. In a word, "just WOW" well, two words. Tracking absolutely amazing. 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zermelo Posted January 26 Share Posted January 26 3 hours ago, GrumpiusMaximus said: The battery pack connects directly to the AZ-GTI mount to power it and the Raspberry Pi to power that. The camera is powered from the USB 3 port of the Raspberry Pi. The Raspberry Pi is attached to the tripod leg. ... the thigh bone's connected to the hip bone, the hip bone's connected to the back bone... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterC65 Posted January 26 Share Posted January 26 It's looking like it might be clear here tonight, but I have a cold and feel rough, too rough even for EAA. A light pad arrived today so that I can try doing flats for EAA, so the clear skies are a surprise. Perhaps the Cloud Gods can be hoodwinked when buying kit from non-mainstream astronomy suppliers (Amazon) that is not normally aimed at astronomy. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu1smartcookie Posted January 26 Share Posted January 26 Set up complete … first light of the Monster Mak with the dual speed focuser . Just using an 1 1/4 diagonal tonight as I intend to use the TV power mate . Cooling the scope will take about an hour I’m sure , just time to have some food and then get settled in a chair looking at Jupiter and possibly Uranus . ( no carry on humour please ) before the moon makes an appearance. For once I’m glad of the new house directly behind my garden as it blocks the moon for a couple of hours . But I will welcome seeing it in the Mak later . Looks like the only clear night of the coming week IF you believe the weather “experts” Stu 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Spock Posted January 26 Share Posted January 26 Clear all round here. So, time for a doubles session - I've not had one in months (too busy with Jupiter). 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjohnson3803 Posted January 26 Share Posted January 26 It's been cloudy / rainy / foggy / snowing here since Christmas. <sigh> 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Spock Posted January 26 Share Posted January 26 Couple of minutes break (I'm getting old lol). Quite a few so far. Best one - Σ300 - looks like a mini Castor. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuburbanMak Posted January 26 Share Posted January 26 Having fun with the new SV Bony - 3-8mm zoom tonight (I’m impressed!) + have mounted the 127 Mak alongside the FC100 - so it’s Tak v. Mak, report to follow… 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zermelo Posted January 26 Share Posted January 26 First light for the 10" Dob was a damp squib. Stars impossible to focus, distinct triangular shapes showing, I suspect pinched optics. I'll have the cell off tomorrow and see how tight the clamps are. 2 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Froeng Posted January 26 Share Posted January 26 Another session with Jupiter tonight. The seeing is good, but not excellent. Quite a bit of detail in the equatorial belts. Now warming up, waiting for GRS to come ‘round… 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Spock Posted January 26 Share Posted January 26 Had a brief look at Jupiter. Lots of detail on view. Taking another break - eyepieces have misted over. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrumpiusMaximus Posted January 26 Share Posted January 26 Had a quick go with the photography setup but couldn't get PHD2 to read the FITS files and polar align. So I roughed it in and took some wide shots of Ursa Major as an experiment. It didn't track properly (probably tripod levelling) but I got a few frames at 10 seconds. Still loads to learn but bit by bit I'm getting there. With a few clear nights I'll crack it. I then took out the camera, put in the diagonal and had about ten minutes on the moon and a bit of a scan around Cassiopeia. Sky was clear but the Moon is very bright and the seeing is only moderate, with a lot of turbulence up high - which was very evident on the Moon. Decent views though. Nice to be able to do it so quickly and convert the setup. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ags Posted January 26 Author Share Posted January 26 Was looking at Jupiter, the Moon and Sirius with my ZS66 and Svbony 3-8. Intrigued by something @Mr Spock said about variable polarising filters, I did try a single polarising filter to see if it might reduce scatter. Jupiter looked good unfiltered at 130x, but seemed subtly more defined and stable with the filter, which was a surprising result. I'll try it with a bit more aperture on another night. Next up was Sirius and my quixotic pursuit of the Pup - a forlorn quest with the ZS66 which can't quite manage Polaris' companion. Nevertheless there seemed less scatter again with the polarising filter. I thought I glimpsed something near Sirius but a check indoors with handy book on double stars indicated the position angle for my glimpse was wrong. The Moon was nearly full so even the slight filtering of the polarising filter was welcome. Detail seemed incredibly sharp on the terminator even at 130x. I wonder if I upgraded to a "better" grab and go refractor, would the views actually improve in any noticeable way? 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badhex Posted January 26 Share Posted January 26 9 hours ago, GrumpiusMaximus said: It means that all of this: DISCLAIMER. The dog does not run off the battery pack and generally runs off lamb, potato and sardines. Does the dog also wear pink crocs? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Spock Posted January 26 Share Posted January 26 Called it a night as some cloud is drifting across. Jupiter still looks detailed so the seeing is quite good. The Pleiades looked lovely in the 42mm - 3.7° really frames it well. Too much background light to see any nebulosity though. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Froeng Posted January 26 Share Posted January 26 The seeing has deteriorated. Jupiter has turned a bit blurry. The GRS should now be visible. But not to me… 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigella Bryant Posted January 26 Share Posted January 26 Had a couple of hours observing Jupiter. Seeing only average but could make out three festoons from the lower part of the NEB into the equatorial region. Later on they seemed to be followed by a white oval within the NEB. The SEB was fairly regular with distortion to the top and bottom. Seeing deteriorated so called it an early night. The EQ8-R Pro mount tracked Jupiter really well throughout the session. Only used f16 tonight with a 1.6x barlow. Nigella 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Epick Crom Posted January 26 Share Posted January 26 I toured Auriga last night, a January tradition as it's gone by February over here. Took in M36, M37 and M38, a wonderful trio of Messier open clusters. I discovered a new combination there last night, the double star HD 38583 close to the interestingly named carbon star FU Aurigae. Who says astronomical objects don't have attitude 😂 4 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bosun21 Posted January 26 Share Posted January 26 (edited) Just in after a successful first light with the ED102S and HEQ5. Captured a load of SER's of Jupiter with the 250 go to dobsonian, also some in IR. Then spent the rest of the night doing visual with the Vixen. The scope is excellent and sharp. I wish it had a dual speed focuser though. I'll do a report tomorrow as I haven't even eaten yet 🙄. Edited January 26 by bosun21 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lunator Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 I had a short session last night. The seeing was variable and Moon glow was significant. Some of the views of Jupiter were good. I also looked at a few doubles. I finished off with the Moon, where in one crater on the southern limb only one edge and the peaks were visible. This gave the impression that the lit peaks were detached from the Moon. Cheers Ian 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu1smartcookie Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 As a follow up to my first set up using the 180 Mak I centred on Jupiter first last night . The views were “almost”the best I have seen of the planet , only the views in a 12”dob were better . One thing I discovered is that I usually observe with my right eye , last night I used my left eye and the image was noticeably brighter , although it felt awkward . I soon got used to it . I decided that last night I would only use one EP(26mm ) which gave me around 95x mag… I put in the 2.5 x power mate but if I’m honest it was too much for last night . Sometimes the seeing was good , other times not . I looked at a few of the favourite stars . Aldeberan ,Bettleguese , Rigel . I did a star test to check collimation and was happy to see everything was ok . I used the new dual speed focuser , brought from FLO and I have to say it’s much more precise than using the original focuser for fine focussing .Weight is no issue on the sabre mount and the focuser actually helps with balancing due to the very heavy corrector plate on the scope . Switched to the Orion nebular which was getting a bit washed out by the moon but of course it’s still a wonderful sight . The “wings” showing up particularly well. I packed up reasonably early due to the cold . The scope took about 45 minutes to dry out . I have today been given a long dew strap to use with the Mak instead of the old celestron c8 one which is obviously a tad to large . All in all a very positive evening allowing a gentle start with the Mak. Need a tracking mount though. Stu 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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