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Post by Deleted on Feb 9, 2016 20:43:24 GMT
Hi all, I've recently completed building my new 8" f/4 compact dob which I've coupled to a Crossbow Equatorial Platfrom from Gregg Blandin. Over the weekend I finally got to marry the two with my little LN-300 here at my home in Sydney, and give the set up a bit of a thrash. The screenshot pics I did tweak as the capture device I have loses a lot of data in the connection. I'll be looking into the capture devices that were recommended to me to see which works with Windows 10. The platform as it is, is more for visual use, and the tracking is not quite upto imaging, but for my purposes it is fine. Gregg has told me he is working on a new platform that has auto guiding, which would be a scream for big dobs! So here are my screenshots of M42, the globular cluster NGC 2808 and Eta Carina. I have to say I nearly wet myself when I saw the skeletal dark pillars on the screen! Blooming marvelous! Hey, not quite to the standard of Dragon Man, yet, but slowly working my way through things. For a first run with this set up I am VERY pleased. I've got a Nexus DSC system that I'll look to put on the dob for my next VA outing, as it has eq platform capability - it will help me out a loy in looking for stuff in the sky from home. Light pollution at home is now starting to defeat me with my star hopping... Clear skies & cool chips, Alex.
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Post by Rick in NWArk on Feb 9, 2016 20:56:07 GMT
For a first run, Alex, these are absolutely fantastic images! Congrats!
And welcome to the forum!!
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Post by Dragon Man on Feb 10, 2016 4:28:49 GMT
Good stuff Alex! Get that LN-300 singing Great to hear from you again.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 10, 2016 5:17:34 GMT
Thanks lads, for the kind words. Rick, thank you for the welcome. But I'm not that new to this forum - just ask Ken! By the way, I've been picking up tips quietly from Ken's posts and threads on ways to make my LN-300 'sing'. There's a run of clear weather for the next few days here in Sydney. I hope to put these to good use. Controlling the Gain in particular will be my main focus. I'm trying to control saturation around stars and hopefully also reduce some of the noise. Would a UV/IR filter help under light polluted skies? Pretty much all my VA is done from my home in Sydney. Not ideal, I know, but we don't all live out bush, do we Ken... Alex.
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Post by Dragon Man on Feb 10, 2016 6:15:00 GMT
but we don't all live out bush, do we Ken... Alex. I do LOL!!!
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Post by ChrisV on Feb 10, 2016 6:49:24 GMT
Let's hope the clear skies persist in Sydney. Is been pretty brutal lately.
Nice pics and a great dob. I got into video from the iceinspace thread you started last year. No going back now !
Thanks. Chris
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Post by Dragon Man on Feb 10, 2016 7:01:45 GMT
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Post by ChrisV on Feb 10, 2016 11:49:36 GMT
I just got into astro last August! Then after a few months started wondering about video cameras. Alex or someone mentioned you - that's how I got here ...
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Post by ChrisV on Feb 10, 2016 11:50:39 GMT
I'll go back onto iceinspace and talk it up with pics
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Post by Dragon Man on Feb 10, 2016 12:51:23 GMT
I'll go back onto iceinspace and talk it up with pics LOL, good Luck Chris.
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Post by Rick in NWArk on Feb 10, 2016 14:25:32 GMT
By the way, that's a good lookin Dob that you built. No focus travel issues for video cameras?
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Post by Deleted on Feb 10, 2016 20:01:25 GMT
Rick, No focus issues at all - I design my dobs to have no issues . Design for things, and it all then just works.
Another neat thing about this little scope, it can punch out a 3deg True Field of View with the right eyepiece. That's the ENTIRE Veil Nebula in the one field of view! No 'maybe' about it. I saw the entire Veil circle back in August last year during the Queensland Astrofest! Wowed me so much I sketched it too:
I had my 17,5" dob at Astrofest too. I HAD to sketch the Veil with that sucker too - though just the eastern loop fit in the FOV: You'll excuse the uploaded sketches - still a screenshot, of sorts...
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Post by howie1 on Feb 14, 2016 3:29:14 GMT
LOL Ken! Same experience mate! Taken my VSS, Micro EX to astro nights, then my Canon DSLR with AstroToaster and lately my little Nikon J1 and every time the public love it! They crowd around almost ignoring all the other folks scopes. They Ooooh and Ahhhhh and I lookup info on the targets and blab on about the size and distance it is etc and they love it! But the fellow astronomers then come over and just don't get it. The comments are either "Aha, doing some imaging ... boy your stars are blocky or unfocused." And then when I explain its a 10 sec live feed they just wander off. Or they comment "I can see you are new to this ... what you have to do to get good images is take at least 5 minute exposures, and take about 10 of them, then get some software called AutoStakkart .... yada yada ..." LOL
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Post by Dragon Man on Feb 14, 2016 4:10:27 GMT
Yes Howie, sadly all those comments are common down here too with other Amateur Astronomers. They either say get a 'real' camera, or a proper Eyepiece! Even when I explain all the advantages of Video (wheelchair bound people, poor eyesight, instantaneous faint objects, in colour, large crowd viewing, etc.) they just don't get it. Even the concept of Live Broadcasting is beyond their understanding. I tell them that folks in the Northern Hemisphere can use me like a Remote GoTo Telescope and see objects in the Southern Hemisphere they would otherwise never see, they come back with stupid comments like "don't they know how to use Google Images?". Fortunately 2 of our clubs members are starting to ask a few more questions. Not enthusiastically, but it's a start.
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