New member

[Alec]

Hi 

New on here, just taken up astronomy and already made some bad choices:( 

 

[red dwalf]

welcome to the club, i`m still making bad choices, not all astro related now thankfully as that can be expensive.

just down the road from me, i`m in sandiacre

 

[Daz Type-R]

Hello and welcome to the forum, sorry to hear about your bad choices, if you don't mind sharing, what you've done / bought?

[Perkil8r]

Welcome aboard. I'm in Sandiacre too but work (some might argue that fact) in Long Eaton at the Long Eaton School.

[Alec]

I've a mak 127 on a goto mount. Replaced the manual focus with a drive unit, added a flip mirror and finally added a zwo camera. Really  problems are with setup, with a image visible central in a low mag x25 and image dead centre, flipping the mirror results in the image not visible in the pc window indicating to me the mirror is out. I've tried adjusting the mirror without any real results other than the image being slightly off the screen.

 

I'm also having difficulty using Sharpcap to gain an image other than the moon.

 

Full setup is Mak127, goto mount, Flip mirror, zwo asi120mc, sharpcap, firecapture and Stellarium 

 

 

[Brantuk]

Hi Alec and welcome to EMS

 

Edited September 15, 2017 by Brantuk

[tuckstar]

Hi Alec welcome aboard.

[+Bino-viewer]

Hi there Alec. Welcome & hopefully bump into you sometime ?

 

Hope you get your setup working..i'm afraid Sharpcap and Firecapture and pc's are a bit out of my comfort zone,

but theres plenty of others on here who are genned up with such things and will be able to help i'm sure.

 

I'm interested how you've got 25x mag out of a Mak scope ?

[Alec]

Forgive me I didn't mean x 25 mag, I meant using a 25 wide eyepiece. What I'm looking for is some advice, or better still a visit to the dark site at belper where I could possibly get some assistance with my setup

[Perkil8r]

I'm not sure about flip mirrors, never used one myself. Are those images stacked or just single frame captures? There doesn't look to be much wrong with them for a starting point, in fact I have seen a lot worse than that from more experienced folk.

 

Watch out in the forum over the next few weeks, I'll be posting for the school about a practical astronomy course and an astrophotography for beginners course we're running soon.

[+Bino-viewer]

Look out in the meets section re observing sessions. I think we must be due a session soon....?

 

I've seen alot worse images as well (my own, for starters) from a newbie. You will get better for sure.

Remember Saturn is very badly placed from the UK for the forseeable, and its a tough ask to get a decent image of it.

[Perkil8r]

Also, the Moon in daylight never looks brilliant anyway, just not enough contrast available. You've done well to get it that good in the first place.

[Tweedledee]

Welcome to EMS Alec. 

[Alec]

Hi All

 

many thanks for the encouragement on pictures and yes they are stacked in registax. I got hooked on this astronomy lark as my son is in his final year at the Long Eaton School studying astronomy. Of coarse to assist with his studies I ended up investing in a telescope. The Mak was bought as defined as a planet buster in most of its reviews online and I have to say its shown some stunning views of the moon close up and good visuals on Saturn. Of coarse one thing leads to another and he wanted to capture images. This is why I think I made a mistake in the choice of telescope, great for close up, but not much else. The demands on the mount for astrophotography I've quickly learnt are demanding and a goto not much up to the job, hence when funds permit, I will be investing in something like a EQ6 for future proof upgrades in equipment.

 

My main struggle has been with focus issues when changing from eye piece and camera and why I invested in a flip mirror seems the ideal solution. That's when the problems start with a image central in the eye piece 25 wide angle, flip to the camera and no image visible, move the axis a bit and its in the frame. So the search on internet starts to find a solution. Finally I think I've cracked it, the factory setting not up to my demanding requirements. Can someone check the images between eye piece and camera and say if the its good enough. The camera seems off to one side slightly, but if you rotate the camera in its mount it stays at the same offset around the graphic circle in the software.

 

To confirm my setup is as follows Skywtacher Mak127, home made focus unit (3D printer stepper motor) 2 speed controller variable focus rate. Imaging flip mirror, standard goto tripod with sync scan, ZWO AS120mc camera, Hawke red dot off my rifle (brilliant does not move) various Plossil eye pieces super 25, 16 illuminated, 10 and a x 2 barlow, various filters. Software Stellarium, Registax, FireCap and SharpCap. Also installed and have running ASCOM platform.  I've also just been given FREE a skywatcher star travel 80 with a eq2, managed to capture the image below, and I'm sure in the future will be able to use as a guide scope when I invest in a real telescope.

 

I shall be checking this site on a regular basis and will definitely be attending the astro coarse at the school, thanks for the heads up on this.

 

  

 

 

[Smithysteve]

Hi Alec, welcome to EMS, joining this forum should turn out to be a good move. ?. You can learn a wealth of stuff on here and your game will be upped, so to speak.

The mak 127 should also give you some fine 'visual' views of dozens of globular clusters, nebulas, galaxies etc, known astrotechnically as 'fuzzy objects'!

Enjoy your journey! Keep on posting!

cheers!

 

[Stephen]

Hi welcome to the EMS

[Skywatcher dobsonion]

Hi.and welcome.we have all made some bad decisions in the past.hope you enjoy the site.friendly bunch.

[newtyng5]

Hi there Alec. Big welcome to EMS.

[Alec]

Thx I'm in germany ATM with work. Looking forward to being back and a clear sky when the weather permits: Does anyone consider the adujustments I made to the setup to be acceptable?

12 hours ago, newtyng5 said:

Hi there Alec. Big welcome to EMS.

 

[tuckstar]

Are you referring to your finder. If you get the image in the main scope on target then centre the finder you should be about there. The higher mag you use on the main scope the better your accuracy will be. You should be looking in the day at an object a few miles away. 

If you mean between eyepiece and flip mirror than you need to use an eyepiece that gives you about the same mag as your camera as a 25mm eyepiece will have a much wider field of view than your camera and make centering more difficult.

Hope that helps.

Edited September 20, 2017 by tuckstar

[Alec]

Anyone thinking of a visit to Belper this weekend if the evening weather is kind to us. I read I'm allowed a visit before deciding if I want to join.

 

Would definetly visit and some help would be most appreciated to view something different than the moon, double stars etc

[Daz Type-R]

Might be a bit thin on the ground this weekend, some of us are at the Kelling Heath star party in Norfolk, no EMS staff are around now until Sunday / Monday.

 

You could try putting a meet thread up in the meets section, failing that we are due our monthly meet at Belper later this month, it's on my list to sort either at Kelling or as soon as I'm back.

[newtyng5]

I am thinking of going Belper tomorrow. The weather reports look favourable. (tomorrow as in Thursday, just noticed it's Thursday now). If anyone is free? Alec you are welcome to come. If you can come alec, you can see what you think , then apply for dark site membership. (its cheap as chips)

Edited September 20, 2017 by newtyng5

[+seven_legs]

Yes rob and myself are up at Belper tonight if the weather forecast stays true

[Alec]

Thx for the invite, but I'm currently in germany on business. Perhaps one night next week weather permitting.