Vroobel Posted June 3 Share Posted June 3 (edited) Another step towards a comfy Solar System observation. Not today, on Saturday morning I received a great RACI finderscope from @Hairycamel. It's much easier in use than the original straight finder, especially if have to aim higher. I'm not sure whether I'll replace my Baader T2 prism with Amici one, I'll use it as it is for now. 😊 Edited June 3 by Vroobel 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairycamel Posted June 3 Share Posted June 3 It looks like it was always meant to be there! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr_Cat Posted June 4 Share Posted June 4 Somedays I just can't seem to focus on anything - but this should sort my C925 out at least... 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wookie1965 Posted June 4 Share Posted June 4 (edited) Got two sets of doublets care of Linton (Iguise) cannot thank him enough. The thicker pair fit in the cell of the vixen 102M, tried them just across the road and they focus cannot wait try them either on the sun or at night. Unfortunately I put the thicker of the doublets in the scope on first look it focussed on the roof across the road when trying it with solar could not focus on the sun. Edited June 5 by wookie1965 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukeTheNuke Posted June 4 Share Posted June 4 On 03/06/2024 at 11:47, Nikolai De Silva said: We brought some new things! First, a GoPro Hero 12 Black. Its cool! We were looking for a cam to take on the way when we go on trips. We were looking for camcorders, like handycams, but we got this with a great recommendation and bought by paying a little more! Still didn't have much times to look this up. Hope this is really good. Anyone have used a gopro? What are your comments? Are they nice to use? Can i use this for astrophotography? (I mean, not serious, but some) Here is it. And also bought a laptop, a Lenovo LOQ Ryzen 7 RTX 4050. My brother is doing animation (still 13), and he is now catching up things with it. Wow, great minds think alike! I'm pondering getting a new action camera, either the Osmo Action 4 or Go Pro 11 or 12 (I have the original Osmo Action and some cheaper ones, like the Okaso V50). They are probably not the best for astro! Those action cams are not that great in the dark! Fun cameras, though, for recording your adventures without risking your phone, and they can sometimes go places where it's tricky with a phone. Maybe underwater with a waterproof case? I think the Go Pro can do 120 FPS at 4K resolution? So great for slow-mo (I'd really like 4K at 120 FPS). And my new Lenovo lappy is due to arrive on Friday! I'm beyond excited! Ah, you have one with an RTX 4050? That should be fun for gaming / animation, erm, I mean serious work, LOL! Enjoy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukeTheNuke Posted June 4 Share Posted June 4 (edited) Against my wife's better judgement, I got: A Point Gray Grasshopper 3 USB3 camera. I used to own the ICX687 model in the range, which was good for solar h-alpha. Anyway, I rage quit imaging after some Quark troubles, and with solar minimum approaching, and a new hobby taking off, so I sold my Grasshopper 3 and ASI174 cameras. Last week, I saw a Grasshopper 3 for sale and had no idea which model in the range it was, but figured the price was good enough that I'd take any in the range for that price and do what I can with it. If it's no good for solar, fine, hopefully it can do something on the moon. I wondered if fate would move me in a certain direction. If it was a mono, gosh, maybe check with FLO if they inspect their Quarks before sending them out! If it was colour, stuff the Quark! Perhaps a new scope for lunar imaging? If neither, I'll figure something out! What I hadn't counted on was that it's monochrome NIR?!?! "An NIR camera? Erm, can this even record anything for me, or is it for scientists only?" But it's NIR-enhanced. I don't think the QE curve is anything too much to worry about?: It's not normally like me to take a punt like this, but I figured why not go on an adventure and see where this camera takes me? I was hoping to image the sun in white light today, but it was permacloud. So I imaged a microscope slide instead. Well, a first light's a first light. The sensor is a CMOSIS CMV4000. It has a relatively large sensor, at 1 inch. It records full frame of 2,040 x 2,040 at up to 90 FPS (my poor lappy only got into the 20's, LOL, but I have a new lappy coming on Friday, hopefully, that should shift). Anyway, here's the first light, with some false colour added: I've no idea what it is. But it looks interesting and reminds me a bit of the sun. And speaking of the sun, I suppose a fairly large square sensor might be useful for full disc. If it's any good... Edited June 4 by LukeTheNuke 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan White Posted June 5 Share Posted June 5 Postie Pete has been with power goodies. XT60 plugs and sockets as recommended by @Bivanus and others. Thank you 👍 and. 12v 10a psu that will fit in the box space I have. Looks good. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AstralFields Posted June 5 Share Posted June 5 This just arrived. Really excited to review the Tridaptor. The guys at MSM sent me one for free to review on my YouTube channel. At the same time I got a Baader Zoom from the 2nd hand market for a nice price. I am keeping unpacking it for the video but I can tell that the size is a lot better than my other three axis adapter. Will share when done.. when the sky clears up and the Moon is back. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukeTheNuke Posted June 5 Share Posted June 5 (edited) Wowsers, my new PC turned up today, I wasn't expecting it this soon! Hopefully my long-held dream of gaming in high detail in 4K is about to come true! (GTX 1060 -> RTX 4070 Ti Super). Oh, erm, of course, it's mainly for doing serious work, and astro processing! I have a little budget for some new games. I dunno what to go for. Games with a high replay value, not a play-through-once style of game. Edit: It's completely dead, LOL! No lights, fans or noise. Edited June 5 by LukeTheNuke 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
josefk Posted June 5 Share Posted June 5 A bit of an indulgence as i already regularly use the phone app "dark sky meter" to the same end, nevertheless this should be a) a bit more accurate on properly dark nights (the phone camera based app can be a bit erratic when its really dark), and b) something i can use mid session without ruining my dark adaptation (if i forget to use my phone at the beginning of a session to take a sky reading then its a bit of a one eyed faff to use it later without accidentally seeing an undimmed screen...) . 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Scarlet Posted June 5 Share Posted June 5 1 hour ago, josefk said: A bit of an indulgence as i already regularly use the phone app "dark sky meter" to the same end, nevertheless this should be a) a bit more accurate on properly dark nights (the phone camera based app can be a bit erratic when its really dark), and b) something i can use mid session without ruining my dark adaptation (if i forget to use my phone at the beginning of a session to take a sky reading then its a bit of a one eyed faff to use it later without accidentally seeing an undimmed screen...) . Very nice. The way I use mine is to ignore the very first press, for some reason the first reading is always about 0.2-0.3 too optimistic. I keep repeating until successive readings agree within 0.1, which usually happens within three or four readings. Will you be recording your readings sqm/date/time from a constant place? If so and you send them to me in due course I can build you a model of what darkness to expect at a given date & time IE sqm = fn(sun alt, moon alt, moon phase, MW proximity, …). Cheers, Magnus 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
josefk Posted June 5 Share Posted June 5 1 hour ago, Captain Scarlet said: Very nice. The way I use mine is to ignore the very first press, for some reason the first reading is always about 0.2-0.3 too optimistic. I keep repeating until successive readings agree within 0.1, which usually happens within three or four readings. Will you be recording your readings sqm/date/time from a constant place? If so and you send them to me in due course I can build you a model of what darkness to expect at a given date & time IE sqm = fn(sun alt, moon alt, moon phase, MW proximity, …). Cheers, Magnus ooof. First of all thanks for the tip on getting consistent readings - i shall definitely use that as a matter of course. Secondly i will collect readings from two locations but a model of one of them would be fantastic. It will be a few months before i have a series of data but that is a very kind offer and i'm going to remember to take you up on it 🙂 . My log already records time, date, location, and moon phase quantitatively and a UMi "score" plus comment on the transparency qualitatively. Recently i have been thinking to add a column on relative humidity too - i do like a good spreadsheet 👍😂 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Scarlet Posted June 5 Share Posted June 5 (edited) 16 minutes ago, josefk said: - i do like a good spreadsheet 👍😂 In that respect, we are alike 🖖🏻 Edited June 5 by Captain Scarlet 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Littleguy80 Posted June 5 Share Posted June 5 2 minutes ago, Captain Scarlet said: In that respect, we are alike 🖖🏻 Me too 3 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ST_Steve Posted June 7 Share Posted June 7 Dream scope has arrived 😁 APM LZOS 100mm f8 20 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan White Posted June 7 Share Posted June 7 Very nice @ST_Steve, that is quite a wonderful sight, enjoy first light. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ST_Steve Posted June 7 Share Posted June 7 (edited) 10 minutes ago, Alan White said: Very nice @ST_Steve, that is quite a wonderful sight, enjoy first light. Thanks Alan, sadly the clouds and rain synchronised with the delivery 😢 I apologise to all for the cloudy skies for the next six months but hopefully they will clear in time for the longer nights… Edited June 7 by ST_Steve 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vroobel Posted June 7 Share Posted June 7 The higher class of the purchased stuff the longer period of clouds and rain? 😏 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
josefk Posted June 7 Share Posted June 7 49 minutes ago, ST_Steve said: Dream scope has arrived 😁 APM LZOS 100mm f8 That is going to be fabulous. Clear night forecast for Saturday too (i hope i haven't jinxed anything typing that) 🤞 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bosun21 Posted June 7 Share Posted June 7 Deliveries yesterday of a pillar for my AZ-EQ6 as I need it for the refractor. Unfortunately not a LZOS but a Skywatcher 120ED. It has a Baader Steeltrack focuser. A Brightstar flip mirror for my planetary imaging, a 1.25" dielectric diagonal, a 50mm 2" extension piece and anti vibration pads. I also picked up a few cheaper eyepieces for my 180 as at F15 they will perform just fine. Oh and a R-Sky observing hood. 14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukeTheNuke Posted June 7 Share Posted June 7 12 minutes ago, bosun21 said: Deliveries yesterday of a pillar for my AZ-EQ6 as I need it for the refractor. Unfortunately not a LZOS but a Skywatcher 120ED. It has a Baader Steeltrack focuser. A Brightstar flip mirror for my planetary imaging, a 1.25" dielectric diagonal, a 50mm 2" extension piece and anti vibration pads. I also picked up a few cheaper eyepieces for my 180 as at F15 they will perform just fine. Oh and a R-Sky observing hood. Is that the ED DS-Pro? I have the 100 mm - a cracking scope for the money. The optics aren't embarrassed by my Tele Vue 85, even allowing for the greater aperture. I wasn't that excited about the 100, but I was so wrong. I love that scope now and would never sell it! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bosun21 Posted June 7 Share Posted June 7 2 minutes ago, LukeTheNuke said: Is that the ED DS-Pro? I have the 100 mm - a cracking scope for the money. The optics aren't embarrassed by my Tele Vue 85, even allowing for the greater aperture. I wasn't that excited about the 100, but I was so wrong. I love that scope now and would never sell it! The ED Evostars have very good optics but weren't the best mechanically with the focuser and finish etc. Once you replace the focuser then that's good enough for me. The fixed dew shield doesn't bother me neither. The doublet was FPL 53 but has now apparently changed to FCD-100 which is the Hoya equivalent. I have previously owned the Evostar 80 and 100 and optically I thought they were great. The 120 being f7.5 is ideal as well. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ST_Steve Posted June 7 Share Posted June 7 Final purchase for a while (blown the budget with the frac). A 9mm Morpheus to complete the set. 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bosun21 Posted June 7 Share Posted June 7 49 minutes ago, ST_Steve said: Final purchase for a while (blown the budget with the frac). A 9mm Morpheus to complete the set. Lovely new acquisitions @ST_Steve. Hope you have a good first light. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Scarlet Posted June 7 Share Posted June 7 4 hours ago, ST_Steve said: Dream scope has arrived 😁 APM LZOS 100mm f8 Wonderful 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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