Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Dec 21, 2018 13:49:17 GMT
RASA 8 arrived a couple of days ago. I have been keen to give it a go,but conditions have been windy and cloudy.Was able to get ngc 253 10sec x 6 on the 294 before clouds rolled in again. I darkened it a little on fitswork. Next clear sky, I will try the 224 and 178. cheers Paul
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Dec 22, 2018 22:43:30 GMT
Last night was clear but full moon and very bright.I will just have to be patient which is hard for me Paul
|
|
|
Post by Dragon Man on Dec 23, 2018 13:36:03 GMT
Lovely detail Paul. Regardless of the Moonglow affecting the image it's a corker
|
|
|
Post by ChrisV on Dec 23, 2018 22:27:33 GMT
That's a beast of a scope
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Dec 24, 2018 5:17:09 GMT
Ken James pointed out mirror flop on the image. The RASA 11 and 14 have mirror locking screws. The RASA 8 does has 2 discs with 3 small Allen screws in each disc. I presume they are for locking the primary mirror but unlike the RASA 11 manual, the RASA 8 manual doesnt mention their existence at all. I tightened them a little but did not want to overdo it just incase it affects the focuser. I have emailed Celestron for advice but Christmas is a very bad time to be waiting for answers. Any advice ? Tarantula 15 secs x 12 stack on the 294. It was about the same with a 10 sec x 6 stack but I didnt save it. Sky was clear but lots of moonlight Merry Christmas Paul
|
|
|
Post by Dragon Man on Dec 25, 2018 13:14:34 GMT
Yeah Paul, again I can see how the mirror is off by the slightest bit. But I am loving the FOV!!!!!!! Fantastic! This seems like the scope I have been waiting many years for. Officina Stellare make the 8" Veloce Riccardi-Honders but at $11,000 it can stay there Now Celestron has come to the party and made a much cheaper version. Amazing telescope for what we do. It makes our cameras even faster! f2
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Dec 25, 2018 14:30:34 GMT
Thats very encouraging Ken. I read on CN that turning the focuser anticlockwise after focusing stabilises the mirror somewhat .It also appears that I need to adjust the focuser every 20 mins and/or after it has slewed .I didnt realize mirror flop is was a problem with all SCT's. It is another clear night and the moon didnt rise till after 11 but probably not a good time to try all this out with a few Christmas cheers under the belt. Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas. cheers Paul
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Dec 25, 2018 14:54:38 GMT
I forgot to mention that if I need to use a filter, the usual 2" or 1.25" dont fit .I have to buy a RASA specific one from Celestron. Celestron are specific about keeping the backfous distance within 1 mm of the recommended 25 mm particularly with the larger sensors cheers Paul
|
|
|
Post by Dragon Man on Dec 25, 2018 14:54:59 GMT
Thats very encouraging Ken. I read on CN that turning the focuser anticlockwise after focusing stabilises the mirror somewhat .It also appears that I need to adjust the focuser every 20 mins and/or after it has slewed .I didnt realize mirror flop is was a problem with all SCT's. It is another clear night and the moon didnt rise till after 11 but probably not a good time to try all this out with a few Christmas cheers under the belt. Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas. cheers Paul Yes, I read quite a few comments in CN about the possible focus shift on RASA's. But the good news is that actual users, not the ones guessing what would happen, mentioned in the imaging section that focus shift was not a problem even after a 30F temperature change. So I would ignore the theory that RASA's will need focus adjustments every 20 mins or so. The people actually using them say they don't need to re-focus. Hmmm . . . bummer about the filter size! And yep, had a fantastic Christmas. My boys and their wives and my granddaughter all here for Christmas Dinner
|
|
|
Post by Dragon Man on Dec 27, 2018 9:48:58 GMT
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Dec 27, 2018 21:57:48 GMT
That price is for the RASA 11 at Bintel. They havent put the RASA 8 on their list as yet. I went through OPT . The price was US $1650 plus us $168 for freight and then au $333 for gst and taxes once it arrived at customs. I told my wife that I didnt expect it to arrive for another 6 months. It arrived on Dec 18.
cheers Paul
|
|
|
Post by Dragon Man on Dec 28, 2018 11:30:08 GMT
That price is for the RASA 11 at Bintel. They havent put the RASA 8 on their list as yet. I went through OPT . The price was US $1650 plus us $168 for freight and then au $333 for gst and taxes once it arrived at customs. I told my wife that I didnt expect it to arrive for another 6 months. It arrived on Dec 18. cheers Paul Ahhhh, so it is. Thanks Paul. my mistake for not reading the description Good that OPT sends to Australia. Most US shops won't (or can't).
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Dec 28, 2018 14:17:12 GMT
I was surprised as well Ken. I had to sign an end user statement that I was not going to resell the scope. I paid just over $2900 in total.OPT was good to deal with. I would have preferred to deal with Bintel but there is still no indication as to when it will be available in Australia
On another point....The RASA has a Losmandy dovetail which is great for the EQ6 but I cant put it on the HEQ5 . That makes it not transportable for me as the EQ6 sits in the Pod and stays there. The RASA is under 8 kg (17 lb) so the HEQ5 should handle it. I may put a Vixen dovetail on it.
We had some clear skies just before Christmas , but I have found celebrations and astronomy dont mix too well.
cheers Paul
|
|
|
Post by howie1 on Dec 29, 2018 1:28:47 GMT
I was surprised as well Ken. I had to sign an end user statement that I was not going to resell the scope. I paid just over $2900 in total.OPT was good to deal with. I would have preferred to deal with Bintel but there is still no indication as to when it will be available in Australia On another point....The RASA has a Losmandy dovetail which is great for the EQ6 but I cant put it on the HEQ5 . That makes it not transportable for me as the EQ6 sits in the Pod and stays there. The RASA is under 8 kg (17 lb) so the HEQ5 should handle it. I may put a Vixen dovetail on it. We had some clear skies just before Christmas , but I have found celebrations and astronomy dont mix too well. cheers Paul There is a dual saddle available for HEQ5 Paul. Here's a screen grab from a video on my YouTube channel showing it (all other videos are just the laptop desktop). I bought it from ADM at about end of 2016. I bought the following ... ADM dual saddle for HEQ5 but FLO in the UK also sells it for 135GBP ... ADM saddle from FLO UK ... over to you to decide which is cheaper to ship / is it worth it? cheers,Howie
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Dec 29, 2018 9:54:47 GMT
Thanks Howie The dual saddle appears to be my only option for the HEQ5. The RASA dovetail is 50 cm long so simply swapping over to a vixen doesnt seem to be an option. The UK saddle appears to be the cheaper cheers Paul
|
|
|
Post by davy on Dec 29, 2018 11:03:13 GMT
Thanks Howie The dual saddle appears to be my only option for the HEQ5. The RASA dovetail is 50 cm long so simply swapping over to a vixen doesnt seem to be an option. The UK saddle appears to be the cheaper cheers Paul Use the dual saddle on my heq5, I did mount a scope on top of another,, was a tight configuration to work,, shotgun style easier to use.. I also fitted the extension pier much better if using two refractors
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 1, 2019 23:32:38 GMT
here is the horsehead 15secs x4 stack rasa 8 on the 294 uncooled. I thought I had saved a 15,30,45 and 60 sec quick capture on sharpcap., but nothing saved. 15 secs was about the lowest exposure time to produce a decent single image of the horsehead. Celestron answered my question about the mirror flop and told me to tighten the bearing assembly. I presumed this meant tighten the allen screws in the discs that had replaced the mirror lock on the rasa 11. I was afraid to tighten them when the rasa 8 first arrived as the instructions on the rasa 11 warned against focusing with the mirror in the locked position. There were no instructions at all regarding mirror flop, mirror lock or what the allen screws on the rasa 8 discs were for. They appear to tighten the bearing assembly as the mirror flop has disappeared. Howie, the dual saddle for the heq5 is on its way from the UK. I am going to the beach for a couple of weeks and so the rasa 8 stays home as the dovetail only fits the eq6 at the moment. cheers Paul
|
|
|
Post by ChrisV on Jan 1, 2019 23:39:50 GMT
That RASA is a photon sucker - 1min!! Be interesting to see what a bit of stretching does.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 2, 2019 0:47:48 GMT
Here is a 60sec x3 stack with the rasa8 and the 294. Sharpcap would not align the frames as it claimed there were too many hot pixels. Last night was a very warm night and my 294 is uncooled but I suspect Sharpcap may have mistaken the stars for hot pixels but I am not sure about that either. I had to increase the minimum star width and then it could not recognize enough stars to align the frames. I need to spend a bit more time getting used to the rasa /sharpcap combination. edit 4/12/19 . my mistake ..it is 45secx4 .. this is as viewed. .the image is pretty good by my standards after a bit of a stretch on astrotoaster cheers Paul
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 9, 2019 1:11:10 GMT
I stretched the previous image in Astrotoaster and did my first post in the Beginners Astrophotography section of Iceinspace for comments. Although suitably impressed with the speed of the scope, some mirror tilt still exists as has been pointed out What bothers me is that I am still the only one on any of the forums to have posted images of the RASA 8. It has been released long enough for someone else ,somewhere in the world, to post. Why the silence? Is the mirror flop a common problem ? I am still waiting for an appropriate response from Celestron. I can live with amount of tilt shown but would appreciate some advice from the manufacturers . Very strange dont you think? cheers Paul
|
|