Focusing is simple with a bahtinov mask

[TiffsAndAstro]

Maybe I got very lucky, but, for anyone struggling with manually focusing anything, like me as a noob, I would highly recommend a bahtinov mask.

Any Nobel prize committee members reading this, please consider putting Mr/Dr Bahtinov up for a suitable prize

I just dangled the mask from two plastic screws on end of the dew shield and was expecting to barely see the pattern

 

 

also, anyone struggling in Nina to choose a star to slew to focus on,  click the manual focus icon (rotated star) and choose one from the list Nina slew right to it and didn't even plate solve. Not sure how that works but not complaining:)

Edited April 7 by TiffsAndAstro

[Knighty2112]

Yep, I am visual observer too and I use this method pretty much every time, unless the moon is on show when I might use that to get sharp focus.

[TiffsAndAstro]

2 minutes ago, Knighty2112 said:

Yep, I am visual observer too and I use this method pretty much every time, unless the moon is on show when I might use that to get sharp focus.

i was very worried id need something really bright like jupiter for it to work.  Even the dim stars nowhere near center of my view had them

just ordered one for my guide scope.

[carastro]

I have been using a Bahtoniv Mask for years.  I believe Pav Bahtinov not only did not patent his mask, and got little royatlties from it only from some companies who generously thought he deserved it.  I thought I had heard he had since died, but can't seem to find anything on googling,  

I googled it to check and found this interview with him in Russian with sub titles in 2019

 

Edited April 7 by carastro

[TiffsAndAstro]

8 minutes ago, carastro said:

I have been using a Bahtoniv Mask for years.  I believe Pav Bahtinov not only did not patent his mask, and got little royatlties from it only from some companies who generously thought he deserved it.  I thought I had heard he had since died, but can't seem to find anything on googling,  

I googled it to check and found this interview with him in Russian with sub titles in 2019

 

I think opticians use similar for some stuff too. 

[michael8554]

For really accurate focusing, I use "Bahtinov Grabber "on my PC, with the Bahtinov mask on the OTA.

It gives a reading of how accurately you have aligned the spikes.

Michael

[TiffsAndAstro]

14 minutes ago, michael8554 said:

For really accurate focusing, I use "Bahtinov Grabber "on my PC, with the Bahtinov mask on the OTA.

It gives a reading of how accurately you have aligned the spikes.

Michael

Will have a look Ty for the tip

[900SL]

My EAF plays up in the Finnish cold, once it is below -15C, so this year I bought a mask for the 90mm APO as a fall back. Saved the day on a couple of occasions now

[engstrom]

21 hours ago, TiffsAndAstro said:

i was very worried id need something really bright like jupiter for it to work.  Even the dim stars nowhere near center of my view had them

just ordered one for my guide scope.

I guess it depends on the size/design of the mask though? I self printed one for my 80ed and I definitely do need really bright stars for it to be of any use. 
But having said that; yes! They’re invaluable. I went from “I need an EAF!” To “I can spend the money on something else!” Overnight.

Edited April 8 by engstrom

[TiffsAndAstro]

2 hours ago, engstrom said:

I guess it depends on the size/design of the mask though? I self printed one for my 80ed and I definitely do need really bright stars for it to be of any use. 
But having said that; yes! They’re invaluable. I went from “I need an EAF!” To “I can spend the money on something else!” Overnight.

I got the one from flo website for £16. Look at the pic I linked, everything in my view had its own diffraction pattern even very faint stars

[TiffsAndAstro]

On 08/04/2024 at 11:37, engstrom said:

I guess it depends on the size/design of the mask though? I self printed one for my 80ed and I definitely do need really bright stars for it to be of any use. 
But having said that; yes! They’re invaluable. I went from “I need an EAF!” To “I can spend the money on something else!” Overnight.

If you're anything like me, a good eaf would be great, but it's a question priorities: what gets me the biggest improvement for the least cash

[MarkOw]

On 08/04/2024 at 11:37, engstrom said:

I guess it depends on the size/design of the mask though? I self printed one for my 80ed and I definitely do need really bright stars for it to be of any use. 
But having said that; yes! They’re invaluable. I went from “I need an EAF!” To “I can spend the money on something else!” Overnight.

Any recommendations on where to get good quality 3D files for a given lens / scope?

[900SL]

You'll find some via a Google search. There was a site that would generate a pdf, given the aperture. 

There is a relationship between either Aperture or focal length, and grid fineness 

[900SL]

https://www.deepskywatch.com/Articles/make-bahtinov-mask.html

[MarkOw]

ok, thanks, hopefully the google search will do it, as I don't fancy my chances of getting the grid right!