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AstroZamboni posted:Last night had more blue in the clear sky chart than I've seen in months. Made for a good night to set up my ghetto-rear end backyard tarp observatory. Did a lengthy messier and Caldwell tour until the moon came up. Good night. Why the tarps? Blocking direct neighbor lights?
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May 1, 2021 22:01
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Yooper posted:Why the tarps? Blocking direct neighbor lights? Bingo.
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May 1, 2021 22:02
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Admirable. I fuckin hate streetlights. I wonder if it would be worthwhile to get a big tent, cut the top out and figure out a way to streamline its setup. Probably better off making a dethloff eyepiece shade though.
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May 1, 2021 23:58
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At least tarps are in stock, unlike everything else I want to buy.
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May 2, 2021 00:20
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Yooper posted:Tell me more about those powerboxes. Yeah, it's about cable management and centralization, plus getting everything on DC 12V so you can have less AC adapters floating around. I formerly had a plastic box with an industrial grade USB hub plus a Powerpole hub and mounted it on top of the telescope. This means you just have one power and one USB cable coming off the whole scope assembly. The powerbox doesn't change this whole assembly very much in terms of cable management, except it added built in dew heater power (instead of using a separate control box) and a dedicated DSLR power socket (instead of using a converter from 12V plugged into one of the Powerpole plugs). Plus the Powerbox can be monitored over USB, there's a little Windows app you can get to talk to it. I basically replaced the Powerpole hub with the Powerbox, I still have the USB hub on there. 4 12V power plugs is enough for what I need (the USB hub, mono camera, and focuscube; if I am autoguiding, that camera gets power over USB2, same for the filter wheel). I power the mount directly from the power source (bench power or a battery box) since it draws so much more juice than everything else plus doesn't rotate like the scope does. I think I have the mount USB plugged into the scope hub which is not ideal, but keeps just one USB coming off the whole assembly still (to the laptop). Both of the power sources I use have two Powerpole connectors; I use one for the Powerbox and the second for the mount. I have the older ones: https://pegasusastro.com/products/pocket-powerbox/ It looks like they have a newer design that pretty much does the same thing: https://pegasusastro.com/pocket-powerbox-micro/ If you really want to go nuts they have a larger box with more connections: https://pegasusastro.com/products/ultimate-powerbox-v2/ These can also drive the Focuscubes or any other stepper motor focuser, it seems. Yooper posted:Why the tarps? Blocking direct neighbor lights? Clearly just creating the best earth field alignment for artisinal photon collection.
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May 2, 2021 01:47
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hannibal posted:I have the older ones: https://pegasusastro.com/products/pocket-powerbox/ Excellent, that'll be the next upgrade. The focuser should be here tomorrow and I'll get everything in order. Now I'm fighting an issue with the 533MC camera where the factory driver does a white balance offset. I'm not entirely sure what's going on, folks over at Cloudynights are helping out. They are recommending I just switch to the ASCOM camera drivers to prevent the issue. In a nutshell my stack was saturated in the blue that made for a really weird look. My photometric color calibration had two distinct plots and made everything look like mustard. quote:The issue is due to the white balance default setting in the ZWO SDK (WB_R = 52, WB_B = 95). With this setting, the data in the FITS files are modified, they are not raw data any more. For explanation see:
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May 4, 2021 17:44
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I've been working on retrofitting the parallelogram binocular mount a friend gave me last year (along with a set of 4" Zhumell binoculars) with a shorter boom and a rejiggered counterweight shaft for improved stability and safety. It's finally 100% finished. The new version uses a 3/4" threaded rod counterweight shaft with big nuts and washers holding the counterweights in place. The top photos at the link are the "Before" photos of the mount as it originally was. The boom was so long it swayed, and the counterweight shaft was kinda hazardous. The new arrangement is much more stable. https://imgur.com/gallery/CZloJM8 Tomorrow night is shaping up to be an excellent observing night so I'll be deploying the tarp observatory and both the 6" dob and the big binoculars. Might pull an all-nighter working on the Astronomical League Urban observing program.
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May 6, 2021 05:21
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AstroZamboni posted:I've been working on retrofitting the parallelogram binocular mount a friend gave me last year (along with a set of 4" Zhumell binoculars) with a shorter boom and a rejiggered counterweight shaft for improved stability and safety. It's finally 100% finished. The new version uses a 3/4" threaded rod counterweight shaft with big nuts and washers holding the counterweights in place. Man, that's a cool looking setup! I'd love to see those binos in action. That list of urban observing targets looks pretty cool, I've got a clear night on Saturday (I hope) so will be getting out the other scope for some observing and see what I can see.  I installed the Pegasus focuser and a new Optolong IR/UV filter yesterday. My scope now looks like someone poured a pail of black spaghetti on it. Cables are getting out of hand. I see a power box in my immediate future.
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May 6, 2021 14:52
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The focuscube really is great. Great choice. My only advice is to ignore the setup instructions and just start plugging step and backlash numbers into your acquisition software of choice until you get a deep V on the HFD/FWHM graph. When I initially followed some of the setup instructions, I could not get a V to appear on the graph in SGP. It was very frustrating until I just started upping the suggested numbers, by a lot. Like a factor of 10. Then I just tweaked it until I could get good focus with a few 8 second exposures. I think I'm currently doing 8 or 9.
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May 6, 2021 16:54
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Last night was indeed the best conditions I've had in ages and the temp bottomed out at 47° so I wasn't freezing my rear end off. The views were POPPING. Took some no-doze and pulled my first all-nighter in a long-rear end time. Made it a quarter of the way through the A.L. Urban program before astronomical dawn and the birds started making a ruckus. The night fell somewhere on the spectrum between "mini vacation" and "needing a cigarette after." Actually got better seeing than usual for the transparency (Colorado ain't known for the most stable seeing conditions) and had super clean separations on Epsilon Lyrae at 400x.
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May 7, 2021 21:17
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AstroZamboni posted:Last night was indeed the best conditions I've had in ages and the temp bottomed out at 47° so I wasn't freezing my rear end off. The views were POPPING. Took some no-doze and pulled my first all-nighter in a long-rear end time. Made it a quarter of the way through the A.L. Urban program before astronomical dawn and the birds started making a ruckus. The night fell somewhere on the spectrum between "mini vacation" and "needing a cigarette after." Your nights adventure inspired me to tackle some of the list. The conditions were ok, I could resolve a couple double stars but I had much better luck with the clusters. The highlight was seeing the Cigar Galaxy. My Alt-Az mount is drooping though, I think adding the 2" focuser over did it. I'm going to tear into it one day and see what can be adjusted. At the same time I was running NINA with the astrophotography rig. The new autofocuser is super sweet. I hit a nice curve on my 2nd round trial. I did M13 first followed up by the Iris Nebula. Fluffy clouds bounced in and out all night so I only have 30 minutes of subs. I also replaced the SVBONY $19 UV/IR filter with an Optolong version.   I'm hoping to get a couple more nights on this target. The nebulosity and framing looks great with this scope.
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May 8, 2021 13:47
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Is there any resource that shows which Celestron mounts are the same as which Skywatcher mounts?
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May 11, 2021 23:33
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Phanatic posted:Is there any resource that shows which Celestron mounts are the same as which Skywatcher mounts? I think Celestron are unique, while Orion/Skywatcher shared mounts. https://astro.ecuadors.net/celestron-ioptron-losmandy-orion-sky-watcher-mount-comparison-chart/
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May 12, 2021 01:02
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Cool, thanks, thought it was Celestron/Skywatcher that had the same parent company.
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May 12, 2021 01:06
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Phanatic posted:Cool, thanks, thought it was Celestron/Skywatcher that had the same parent company. They do, but the Celestron branded stuff isn't duplicated across their other product lines.
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May 12, 2021 03:25
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It’s a mess. Celestron, Sky Watcher, and Orion all get some things from Synta. Some things are different, some aren’t. The Sky Watcher EQ5 (manual) is the same as the Celestron CG5 (manual) which is what underpins the Advanced GT and the AVX. All of them are clones of the grand ole bad rear end Vixen Great Polaris. The Sky Watcher goto package for the EQ5 uses the “Synscan” system and isn’t the same as the motor/software/plastic cladding package that goes on the goto Celestron CG5s, the Advanced GT and the AVX. The Sky Watcher EQ3 is the same package as the Orion Astroview on their silly wiggly aluminum legs. The Celestron CG4 is an EQ3 head on 1.75” steel legs, which is an improvement, but confusingly named. The SW EQM-35 is an EQ3 head with an enlarged/improved RA axis. The Orion Sirius Pro AZ/EQ-G is the black version of the white SW AZ-EQ5. The Atlas AZ/EQ-G is the AZ-EQ6. I’m not sure how the CGEM II and CGX compare to the sisters Atlas Pro and EQ6-R, though I’m given to understand that they aren’t duplicates like everyone’s version of the EQ3 or EQ5 head.
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May 12, 2021 03:48
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duodenum posted:It’s a mess. Celestron, Sky Watcher, and Orion all get some things from Synta. Some things are different, some aren’t. Man, what a cluster of poo poo. Is it the same for telescopes? I see a lot of units that appear to be either outright clones, or just rebrands on the same unit. Are there any consumer grade scopes made outside of China/Taiwan?
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May 12, 2021 12:54
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Yooper posted:Man, what a cluster of poo poo. There is a lot of overlap among dobs, maks, and refractors sold by Orion and SW. Some features are unique to the brands, but an Orion ED80 has the same glass as the Sky Watcher Evostar 80ED, just comes with fewer/different accessories. GSO is another big consumer grade telescope maker, they make your Apertura, Zhumell, and Orion Skyline series. Different altitude bearing, I believe it has adjustable friction, which is handy if you switch between heavy and light eyepieces, or a binoviewer and such. Now don’t be wary of Synta products just because they’re Chinese, they do great work for the price, and are more consistent now than they were like 10-15 years ago (…I’m told, I don’t have a warehouse of samples that I’ve personally tested). That applies to newt mirrors for Orion and SCTs for Celestron, and all of the various mounts. Far fewer duds, far more good to great, especially for the general consumer. AstroZamboni and his crew could appreciate the fine smoothness of a Zambuto mirror or the otherworldly perfection of a Takahashi anything, but you’re talking about 10x the price for quality that average joes might only barely appreciate.
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May 12, 2021 13:47
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duodenum posted:There is a lot of overlap among dobs, maks, and refractors sold by Orion and SW. Some features are unique to the brands, but an Orion ED80 has the same glass as the Sky Watcher Evostar 80ED, just comes with fewer/different accessories. Cool, thanks. I'm sure my scope is either Chinese or Taiwanese and the manufacturing quality is really great. It is certainly better than my needs, which is fine.
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May 12, 2021 14:54
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Yooper posted:Man, what a cluster of poo poo. The stuff that's made outside of China/Taiwan these days is typically really high end. TeleVue, Takahashi, AP, CFF in Europe, TEC, Planewave etc, or small producers of things like high end Dobsonians like Obsession, AstroSystems or NMT. The big China/Taiwan sources are Synta (owns SkyWatcher and Celestron), Synta-affiliated Ningbo-Sunny which is Meade's new parent company, Jinghua Optical Company (JOC) which owns Explore Scientific and Bresser, Guan Shen Optical (GSO) which sells stuff under their own brand and also supplies for TONS of companies, Kunming United Optics (lots of rebranded refractors and binoculars, like all the current AstroTech refractors) and Long-Perng which also makes a lot of rebranded moderately higher-end refractors. And smaller distributor companies like AstroTech, Orion and Apertura are rebadging products from any or all of the above companies. Orion for example currently carries products from Synta, GSO, and Long-Perng under the "Orion" brand name. AstroTech carries GSO and Kunming United under their brand. I'll add that the stuff coming out of China these days is consistently excellent. Celestron's SCT's are optically better than they've ever been currently. AstroZamboni fucked around with this message at 15:06 on May 12, 2021 |
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May 12, 2021 15:03
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Thanks for all that. I'll just ask this then: I'm looking for basically an HEQ-5, but I've also been looking for an EQ-6R because if I can actually get the thing instead of just looking at a web page that says "Backordered" I'll spend the extra money for it. Of course, they're just as backordered, and even the used ads on Astromart et al get snapped up instantly. But if I'm just looking for the capability/price of those mounts and aren't wedded to a particular brand (Does Synscan vs Some Other Thing make a difference?), what other makes/models should I include in my searching? HEQ5/Orion Sirius/? EQ-6R/Orion Atlas II/? Got out last night for the first time in weeks (previous clear night was the night of the supermoon), and missed focus on M51. Gonna get a Bahtinov mask for the 300mm. That brings to mind another question: how dependent are the focus masks on focal length? I'm shooting with an old manual Nikon 300mm 2.8 that has two teleconverters for it, a 1.5x and a 2x, so the focal length can be 300mm, 450mm, or 600mm; would I need a different mask for each focal length? A lot of vendors seem to sell a mask for range of ODs rather than focal lengths so I imagine it's not that critical. Photo tax, here's the last thing I got that I'm happy with: 
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May 12, 2021 15:27
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Phanatic posted:Thanks for all that. I'll just ask this then: I was in the same spot, skipped on the HEQ5 and got the EQ6 instead for pretty much the same reasons. I've never used the hand controller on my mount, everything is through the PC so I can't comment on SycScan or any of that. As far as masks, if you've got a caliper and can measure the OD of the lens I'll 3d print you one, or a few. I use this page to get started - https://satakagi.github.io/tribahtinovWebApps/Bahtinov.html You can play with your focal length and see how it impacts the Bahtinov ratio. If it gets too tight you can do 3rd order, but I found that the thin slots didn't make much difference.
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May 12, 2021 15:55
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Yooper posted:As far as masks, if you've got a caliper and can measure the OD of the lens I'll 3d print you one, or a few. I use this page to get started - https://satakagi.github.io/tribahtinovWebApps/Bahtinov.html You can play with your focal length and see how it impacts the Bahtinov ratio. If it gets too tight you can do 3rd order, but I found that the thin slots didn't make much difference. Thanks for the offer, and that link. I've got like half a dozen 3d printers at work I can use. What I'd really love is to have one with 122mm filter threads, but I'd probably have to go to metal for that and really it's probably not worth it. Phanatic fucked around with this message at 18:40 on May 12, 2021 |
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May 12, 2021 18:31
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Made it through 10% of the Astronomical League's double star list tonight before my finder started dewing over and I decided to call it a night. Looks like the double star program's gonna be a cakewalk. I've already collected the A.L. Messier, Binocular Messier, and Sunspotter awards. I'm slowly but surely trying to work towards the master observer award.
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May 14, 2021 08:49
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What's the source of the "1/3d from the left" histogram rule? Naively, what's the downside of going with more exposure and shifting the peak rightwards, provided you don't clip anything on the right side? When you stack it's going to stack the same way, isn't it? Or does more subs/shorter exposure vs. fewer subs/longer exposure integrate differently when all is said and done?
Phanatic fucked around with this message at 05:12 on May 18, 2021 |
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May 17, 2021 18:13
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Phanatic posted:What's the source of the "1/3d from the left" histogram rule? Naively, what's the downside of going with more exposure and shifting the peak rightwards, provided you don't clip anything on the right side? When you stack it's going to stack the same way, isn't it? Or does more subs/shorter exposure vs. fewer subs/longer exposure integrate differently when all is said and done? As long as it's not clipped I'm not sure there's any loss. I think it comes down to the signal vs noise, the more frames, the more signal, the more the noise gets averaged out.  I had a clear night so drug out the rig and battled the first mosquitos of the year.  This was the warm up, 17 minutes of exposures. Star clusters are a good way to start off, hard to gently caress up.  I did 3 hours on Coma B, but I don't think there's enough there to make a really amazing shot at my focal length. Still is cool to see the pile of galaxies though.  Lastly an hour on the Whale Galaxy. I swapped out my cheap SVBONY UV/IR cut filter for an Optolong UV/IR cut and I'm noticing more chromatic aberration. For now I'm correcting it in Lightroom, but the larger stars are bumming me out.
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May 19, 2021 02:34
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My handheld binoculars are a misaligned pair of Celestron bottom of the barrel 7x50s. They're going loving bye bye. Getting a set of Orion Ultraview 10x50 Wide angles for my birthday. They should complement my big binos and my 6" dob. Also good for taking hiking and camping and they play nice with glasses.
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May 20, 2021 23:53
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Phanatic posted:What's the source of the "1/3d from the left" histogram rule? Naively, what's the downside of going with more exposure and shifting the peak rightwards, provided you don't clip anything on the right side? When you stack it's going to stack the same way, isn't it? Or does more subs/shorter exposure vs. fewer subs/longer exposure integrate differently when all is said and done? I don't know the source, I think it's just a general rule. The idea is not to under/over saturate the sensor pixels. You'll see some people advocate for exposing to the right, to your point about not clipping on the right side. And when it comes to subs, a big factor is just the time it takes to integrate a bunch of short subs vs a few big subs. Some people care, some don't. (I personally don't) The more accurate version is to find out what the ideal exposure time is based on your camera's characteristics. That'll take you down a bit of a rabbit hole but gives you the 'best' numbers. See also: https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/558357-sgp-and-image-statistics-panel-use-for-exposure/ https://www.lightvortexastronomy.com/measuring-your-camera-sensor-parameters-automatically-with-pixinsight.html https://jonrista.com/the-astrophotographers-guide/astrophotography-basics/signal-noise-and-histograms/
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May 21, 2021 04:20
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Set up last night and discovered my USB hub was dead. Packed up for the night and discovered this morning that it also fried my ASI120MM guide camera and the USB port on the EQ6-R mount.  I can still move the mount using the hand controller so it's not totally fried. I was waffling on a Pegasus power box, kicking myself for not getting it sooner. Lesson learned, don't trust all that hardware to a $40 USB hub. 
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May 29, 2021 16:55
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F
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May 29, 2021 17:09
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Can one of you fine folks tell me what forum your awesome thread came from? I'd like to send it home before the Space Forum Rotates. (Or if there is somewhere better your thread wants to live. Up to you all.)
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Jun 1, 2021 14:39
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DIY or H&H or HCH whatever it’s called these days. It’s the one moderated by a German meat dish.
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Jun 1, 2021 14:57
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Golden-i posted:Just pulled the trigger and ordered a Redcat 51, since I want to start doing some wider-field shots. Back ordered, of course - wish me luck on getting it sometime in the next few months. Three months later, I got a shipping notification for this and a Star Adventurer mount. Looking forward to some wider-field shooting this summer/fall without having to haul my EQ6-R around (which is much more difficult now that I also have to fit two dogs in the car as well).
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Jun 4, 2021 16:58
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Interesting, apparently Orion just bought Meade.
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Jun 4, 2021 23:56
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We have transitioned from cloudy night season right into wildfire smoke season.
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Jun 9, 2021 03:31
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 Trying out a couple new toys tonight. Star Adventurer 2i and an adapter for my ASI294MC for Canon EOS lenses (also featuring Hamdog, who must always be the center of attention). Starting wide with a fisheye lens, might try some others if things go well. If things go well tonight, I'll break out the Redcat 51 for the first time tomorrow.
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Jun 12, 2021 02:22
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lol that is a great picture
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Jun 12, 2021 05:30
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Last night ended up being a bit of a bust, unfortunately. The laptop I use to run the camera decided to stop booting an hour before astronomical twilight and I had to reinstall Windows, which of course lost all of my astro apps and took a while. Didn't get out until after midnight, only to find that the ball head on my tripod doesn't go to an extreme enough angle to polar align the Star Adventurer. At that point I was just to drat tired to try and figure it out. So, today will be another attempt, this time using a slightly different setup:  I removed the ball head and added an equatorial mounting bracket that will let me get the angle I need, and hopefully I can actually get this set up before the middle of the night. Also using a lens that's easier to find the focus on @55mm. I did run a couple of 5--minute exposures near Cygnus (Bortle 4 skies) just to see how far off my alignment was, and am actually pleasantly surprised at the result:  Barely any processing there, just debayered and a histrogram stretch. Obviously lots of streaking, but this was a 5-minute exposure and was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. You can actually see the East Veil Nebula just up and right of center. Fingers crossed that I can figure out my polar alignment tonight.
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Jun 12, 2021 16:48
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Waited on a backordered Orion Ultraview 10x50 binocular for a month and it finally arrived... and it was super duper fucky mega defective. The right objective was at a wonky angle by a couple degrees, and both of the exit pupils had bites taken out of them. Returned to Orion, but they're already on backorder again for another few weeks. Fucketydoodah murderstabdeathkill. In the meantime got the P-mount set up to more easily switch between large and small binoculars, got an L-adapter for the 10x50, and figured out a better mounting option for the red dot finder. I've been plugging through the A.L. double star program. 40% of the way through and even the "challenge" objects have been a cakewalk. I've also started in on the A.L. Hydrogen Alpha Solar award program with my PST. I already got the white light solar "Sunspotter" award, so the H-alpha is the next logical step. I'm trying to build up to the master observer and binocular master observer awards.
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Jun 12, 2021 21:31
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Golden-i posted:Last night ended up being a bit of a bust, unfortunately. The laptop I use to run the camera decided to stop booting an hour before astronomical twilight and I had to reinstall Windows, which of course lost all of my astro apps and took a while. Didn't get out until after midnight, only to find that the ball head on my tripod doesn't go to an extreme enough angle to polar align the Star Adventurer. At that point I was just to drat tired to try and figure it out.
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Jun 13, 2021 14:01
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