First light: Atik314L+

[Uranium235]

Hiya,

Just had the first evening with the new camera, I didnt get that much done at first because focusing with the stock focuser on the 150P was a bit of a pain in the proverbial.

Anyway, I got it focused & guiding eventually then turned to the veil and took a few subs in Ha and OIII. One trouble though, when I switched filters on the wheel it always seemed to knock the scope and I would end up having to recentre the target. From 10pm onwards the seeing rapidly got worse, so had to call it a night.

Overall, the 314L+ is a smasher. The only reason im deducting 1 mark is because the power cable supplied needs to be longer.

9/10

Veil Nebula:

5x300 (Ha) 5x300 (OIII)

150P, Atik 314L+, 50mm finderguider

Thanks for looking

[barkis]

That really is very nice, a very creditable first light for your 314L, and you must be very pleased.

A longer guide cable should be easy toget a hold of.

The Veil is a beautiful object, and you got it good.

Nice stars too .

Ron.

[Uranium235]

Cheers Ron! Yep, Im well chuffed with it!

I do have an extension for the power cable somewhere, just gotta find it amongst my other junk though

Hmmm.. I think an upgrade of the focuser is in order because it struggles to find grip going inwards now, not unless thats fixable with a few tweaks.

Rob

[barkis]

Sorry, I meant to say power cable, not Guide cable.

The Crayford should be adjustable tension wise, but be careful, there have been instances recently of the bearings breaking up.

Quite a lot of tension is necessary, but too much means a bearing journal can fracture, They are quite small items.

Ron.

[MikeWilson]

That is really, really, really nice! Wow.

Have you got LRGB filters too and would you consider trying those on this object, or is this a narrowband-only target?

[ollypenrice]

Nice first light; well done! Long subs and round stars. You're on your way!

Make sure your power cable is bomb proof on the Atik. The caneras ae very, very sensitive to the slightest bad connection.

Olly

[Uranium235]

Have you got LRGB filters too and would you consider trying those on this object, or is this a narrowband-only target?

I havent got any LRGB yet as im still deciding on what brand - astronomik, or stick with baader. I could have used the UV/IR blocker as the L channel but im not sure if it was parfocal with the narrowband filters (its all baader so it should be).

Im still working out what filters suit what target, I did try m33 at first but it didnt respond that well. I think galaxies need to be LRGB really.

[beamish]

Very nice 1st light indeed !!

Look fwd to seeing more !

[russ]

wow that's beautiful. A very successful first light i would say.

[ollypenrice]

I like the Baader LRGB set very much, myself. I haven't tried the Astronomiks.

On the Veil I found that Ha and O111 worked very well with LRGB, the Ha in the red and the O111 in the green and, at a reduced percentage, in the blue. (Blend m,ode Lighten in all cases.)

Olly

[Uranium235]

Ahhh, so OIII needs to be reduced in the blue channel? Sorry for asking but the art of combining filtered images all a bit new at the moment. I combined them in a 1:1:1 ratio (Ha,o3,o3), and I was wondering where all the green had gone.

Maybe I should take a look at a course for this dark art, or at least read a book on the subject. Any recommendations?

[Uranium235]

Update: Have now ordered an upgrade for the 150P focuser, as it stands it cant cope with the weight of the camera + filter wheel (I end up using my hand to push it in). The weather is going to be pants for the next couple of days so I should have time to fit it

[MikeWilson]

Hi,

The 150P focuser is pretty strong. I have a 500g DSLR + MPCC hanging off mine in all kinds of precarious positions and it hasn't adjusted, slipped or change focus on me yet.

What are you upgrading the 150P focuser to? Are you going all the way to a Moonlite, or something in between?

Also, are you using 1.25" filters, or 2" filters?

[Uranium235]

Have made a couple of changes now. Last night I fitted the 10:1 focuser upgrade to the 150P, and the difference was shocking. It seems to have massively increased the payload, plenty of grip both ways now

Ive also re-jigged the filters so ive got some sort of LP blocking the L channel.

The only thing im having trouble with now is the filter wheel.... Id like it to be a bit more "feather-touch", ive tried messing with what i presumed was an adjustment bolt for this, but its still a bit of an effort to move it.

Just waiting for clear sky

[SlipperySquid]

Great image mate!! I am sooooo jealous I would love an Atik...but I can wait.

What focuser did you go for in the end please? I ahve the SW 2" crayford that came with my 200p seem's good enough at the moment but we all know that more shiny things are better in the long run