This weekends viewing report

[drummerp]

Hi all,

My wife and I have just returned from a weekend of clear ish skies whilst camping in our campervan in Ilfracombe.

Saturday and Sunday evenings were the clearest as Friday evening was mostly cloudy.

This weekend was the first for us to use the new CG-5 mount and tracking motors bought from Websentinel with the 130p and the 12” flextube bought from TJ purchased recently.

On Saturday evening we both struggled pin pointing anything and getting to grips with the new equipment although we did manage to see Saturn and at least 4 of its moons with both scopes but we couldn’t get the CG-5 to track because the batteries ran out. We were also on a pitch next to the toilet blocks and had to deal with constant lights going on and off all night.

Sunday evening was much better after we spent a while before it got dark setting up the equipment and collimating the scopes and aligning the finder scopes etc although, we had no way of dealing with the light pollution from the toilet block.

We purchased a 2” thread 36mm super wide angle eyepiece for just £30 from a kind chap off Astro buy and Sell only last week and this turned out to be a great buy.

Firstly, we started with Saturn again and were able to see this much clearer then the night before on the 12” flextube using a 2x Barlow and a 9mm eyepiece this gave us the best results being able to see 5 of its moons, (Rhea, encladus, Titan, Mimas & Dione) we could also make out the gaps in between the rings on Saturn and the different colours. (this was a very pleasing for passing campers having a look, many for their first time)

The CG-5 was also up and running and I was able to track Saturn quite accurately for more then 20 mins without it moving much away from the centre of the eyepiece. I connected the Phillips 840k webcam and imaged 2502 frames over a 10 min period. Will try and process this later although, I was using WxAstro Capture and found it very difficult to use the controls and may have over exposed the image. (May need help)

We then went on a bit of a mission with the 12” flextube, the skies became more darker and clearer and just using the super wide angle eyepiece we were able to first see the M13, M65 & M66 followed by the M81 Bode’s Nebulae. These appeared mostly faint images probably due to the light pollution and were the same with a smaller mm eyepiece and Barlow.

This took us well into the early hours especially after we were stopped quite a few times by fellow campers asking and wanting to see what we were doing (I almost told one couple that we were from the FBI checking for UFO’s and Alien attacks)…. lol

Anyhow, a good weekend with the new gear which we are very happy with, Thanks to Websentinel and TJ.

Can anyone tell me if I can set the hand controller on the CG-5 to track without having to keep my finger pressed down on the button, my finger went numb after about 10 mins. ???

Cheers

Neil

p.s -Ivor (our campervan couldn’t make it home so we had to get a friendly RAC man to tow us all the way back to Bristol, hopefully he'll be fixed for our next weekend away)

[drummerp]

Just tried to process the webcam image I captured of Saturn and its absolutely rubbish.

I'm really unsure what I'm doing wrong.

I'm using a phillips 840k through WxAstro Capture with my 130p. I cant seam to focus when I have a 2x barlow so its just straight into the view finder with the webcam.

The image on the screen is really small and although I can keep it pretty still and centralised for ages I cant seam to get a clear or large image like I can when viewing it with an eyepiece.

Can anyone give any assistance??

Cheers

Neil

[Doc]

Nice report neil sounds like you had a great couple of nights.

Cannot help with your webcam imaging as I've never had a go myself.

[mdstuart]

Well I have spent many a time trying to get a web cam to focus. I find it best to practice on the moon as you can keep getting back on the screen and changing the focus bit by bit until its sharp. Also you may find you need a barlow without a lens to get focus...

Good luck.

Mark

[Talitha]

Hi Neil, it sounds like you FBI agents had a great weekend, lol.

You might want to try asking in 'Equipment' for the solution to your hand controller question, and 'Imaging' for some help and advice regarding your webcam problem (i hope you get everything figured out before your next outing).

[Jarndyce]

Hi Neil

Thanks for your report. Can't help with your webcam, I'm afraid.

But your CG5 mount should track automatically if the switch on the handset is set to "N".

Also check that the clutches on the motors are tight. You can test this by slewing the scope at 8x.

Happy viewing.

[Jarndyce]

Ps. For focusing issues, have you tried a Bahtinov mask?

They work really well.

[drummerp]

Ps. For focusing issues, have you tried a Bahtinov mask?

They work really well.

Hi Jarndyce thanks for the advise.

I thought a Bahtinov Mask was mainly for use when looking at Stars?

cheers

neil

[albedo0.39]

Great report Neil and seems you got some interesting viewing in.

light pollution from the toilet block

- LOL - it could have been much worse.