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Post by ChrisV on Aug 28, 2017 0:30:36 GMT
I've got a filter & filter wheel that I'm itching to try out. The moon will be out and the weather a bit iffy ...
Cloudfreenights says there might be a few free patches of sky. So if all goes well I'll being doing H-alpha (and comparing to no filter). Never tried it before. On 80mm refractor with an ASI290mono, sharpcap. Plus I've put stellarium back on my PC so want to check it works.
I'll start 8pm. If weather is no good I'll just blab for a while and show how I set up and stack clouds. If it all ends in tears I'll try again later during the week.
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Post by howie1 on Aug 28, 2017 2:14:50 GMT
Beat me by about an hour Chris! The best skies and forecast conditions in Brissie for ages! I will post up both my abismal effort on Saturday (what a laugh that was), and the broadcast times for tonight. Cheers ... be nice to have two Aussie on at the one time.
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Post by ChrisV on Aug 28, 2017 5:26:51 GMT
I'll have a go to but will probably switch to watching yours when the clouds come. Weather looks much better up there tonight.
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Post by Dragon Man on Aug 28, 2017 6:19:34 GMT
Still rain and cloud here so I'll probably be watching you blokes
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Post by ChrisV on Aug 28, 2017 9:35:32 GMT
I'm up now after a few hiccups
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Post by ChrisV on Aug 28, 2017 10:22:12 GMT
I'll be back on air at 830pm
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Post by Dragon Man on Aug 28, 2017 12:14:05 GMT
DAMN!!!!! I missed you blokes! I had a meeting with the council Town Planner about future light restrictions in our shire (which is huge) and didn't get home until around 10pm. The good part is that the council loves the idea of restricting all future light fittings to fully shielded lights and less lights over all. So tonight was still a winner
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Post by ChrisV on Aug 28, 2017 12:54:09 GMT
I only went till about 930pm then the clouds came in. I didn't see that Howie was broadcasting? Got some H-alpha going, putting up some stuff now
Edit: well done with the council Ken !
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Post by howie1 on Aug 28, 2017 23:20:21 GMT
Hey Chris, usually there is one to two bars of signal on the broadband hotspot out at the Lake ... but last night ... nothing! So couldn't broadcast nor get on the web to see yours. Nice images. Any probs with the new filter wheel?
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Post by howie1 on Aug 28, 2017 23:29:30 GMT
Great result with the Council Ken! All Brisbane astro clubs put out a petition for all members to sign and send to their local members re LED lights. Dunno the outcome.
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Post by ChrisV on Aug 29, 2017 2:31:48 GMT
Howie
I went berko and got a full set of 36mm Baader filters from Teleskop-Express and the ZWO 7x 36mm electronic filter wheel from Bintel. Got them for AP purposes (I'll have to get a cooled mono eventually to actually use it all properly). Its a bit of overkill for what I did last night, but a wheel keeps the filters safe and sound from dust and nasty greasy fingers etc.
The filter wheel works a treat. It worked straight out of the box with sharpcap. And with the ZWO ascot drivers in astrophotography tool.
Cheers
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Post by ChrisV on Aug 29, 2017 2:32:27 GMT
Great result with the Council Ken! All Brisbane astro clubs put out a petition for all members to sign and send to their local members re LED lights. Dunno the outcome. If they put in LED lights that will wreck what that L Pro filter can do
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Post by Dragon Man on Aug 29, 2017 16:08:17 GMT
Great result with the Council Ken! All Brisbane astro clubs put out a petition for all members to sign and send to their local members re LED lights. Dunno the outcome. If they put in LED lights that will wreck what that L Pro filter can do Yes, the LED lights can affect some astrophotography, but boy'o'boy they make the sky a hell of a lot darker. Most of the light that annoys the imagers is down low and only if you are near the LED lights. They don't throw their light up into the sky. If you can get several hundred metres from the new LED lights they don't have any effect on cameras.
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Post by Dragon Man on Aug 29, 2017 16:13:28 GMT
Great result with the Council Ken! All Brisbane astro clubs put out a petition for all members to sign and send to their local members re LED lights. Dunno the outcome. The whole Sunshine coast is about to go LED with replacing 30,000 streetlights to LED, with the backing of the International Dark Sky Association. It is called the 'Sunshine Coast Urban Public Lighting Master Plan'. Link to the Master Plan is in the first line on this page: www.sunshinecoast.qld.gov.au/Council/Planning-and-Projects/Council-Plans/Urban-Public-Lighting-Master-Plan
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Post by ChrisV on Aug 29, 2017 23:22:09 GMT
I'm going to try H-alpha again tonight. Either on my 80mm refractor or maybe on a 50mm guide scope.
Aiming to start 730PM AEST. Might be a few cloud patches around so will post here if any delays.
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Post by howie1 on Aug 30, 2017 1:29:03 GMT
If they put in LED lights that will wreck what that L Pro filter can do Yes, the LED lights can affect some astrophotography, but boy'o'boy they make the sky a hell of a lot darker. Most of the light that annoys the imagers is down low and only if you are near the LED lights. They don't throw their light up into the sky. If you can get several hundred metres from the new LED lights they don't have any effect on cameras. Geez, I didn't know that Ken. That Brisbane club petition didn't mention it either ... it read like LED lighting was the death of backyard astronomy! Given that my townhouse complex has gone LED and I was positioned out front right between two streetlights on the night I was broadcasting Lightroom use and nothing was working well ... maybe it was because I was literally under/between the two LED lights! There's a spot out behind two townhouses across the road from me with no streetlights (other than the townhouses having their inside lights on) ... so I will have to go give that a go. 50m hike carrying all the gear over there, but it beats out front of my place - its like daylight out there at night now with two led streetlights! 50m hike with kit isnt too bad if it allows me to do astronomy over there. So interesting tip that one ... ie nice and dark a little way away from the led streetlights. Very interesting.
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Post by howie1 on Aug 30, 2017 1:32:09 GMT
I'm going to try H-alpha again tonight. Either on my 80mm refractor or maybe on a 50mm guide scope. Aiming to start 730PM AEST. Might be a few cloud patches around so will post here if any delays. Great, I'll check if you're on and watch. Cloudy and windy here in Brissie Bayside.
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Post by ChrisV on Aug 30, 2017 9:26:26 GMT
Delaying it till 8pm to see if the clouds go away
Edit: or 830pm Re-edit: Its total clouds. I'll have a look later about 10pm and try again if its OK
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Post by howie1 on Aug 30, 2017 10:40:19 GMT
Been checking for your broadcast then seen your posts re cloud in sydney. Bugger.
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Post by Dragon Man on Aug 30, 2017 16:23:32 GMT
Yes, the LED lights can affect some astrophotography, but boy'o'boy they make the sky a hell of a lot darker. Most of the light that annoys the imagers is down low and only if you are near the LED lights. They don't throw their light up into the sky. If you can get several hundred metres from the new LED lights they don't have any effect on cameras. Geez, I didn't know that Ken. That Brisbane club petition didn't mention it either ... it read like LED lighting was the death of backyard astronomy! Given that my townhouse complex has gone LED and I was positioned out front right between two streetlights on the night I was broadcasting Lightroom use and nothing was working well ... maybe it was because I was literally under/between the two LED lights! There's a spot out behind two townhouses across the road from me with no streetlights (other than the townhouses having their inside lights on) ... so I will have to go give that a go. 50m hike carrying all the gear over there, but it beats out front of my place - its like daylight out there at night now with two led streetlights! 50m hike with kit isnt too bad if it allows me to do astronomy over there. So interesting tip that one ... ie nice and dark a little way away from the led streetlights. Very interesting. Here's 'before' and 'after' photos I took of our streetlight directly outside our club site. It is about 200 metres away from the observatory. Notice in the Before pic how the light shines on the top of the trees, the power lines, and glows in the sky' because the old lights had no sheilding. The dark band across the sky is bushfire smoke sitting on an inversion layer In the After pic the top half of the trees are now dark and the sky is darker (except for the distant skyglow from Ballarat).
Yes, the new LED lights give of a spectrum of light that affects imaging, but because they are shielded, the annoying light is kept low and doesn't shine up into the sky. The Imagers affected will be shooting through that low down light. Move out of the plane of light and there is no bad spectrum to shoot through. In other words, either move further away from the light, but if that cannot be done, move above the base of the light into the dark plane. Here's what I mean about the light plane. First is the old common streetlights that are everywhere, filling the sky with light: Second is the full cut-off LED light. They are brighter on the ground than the old lights but the plane of the light spill is low:
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