Back in the Solar Club and other updates

Well my friends it has been a long time since I updated my blog. An update to the current state of my scope and mount is that I believe I have pushed past the AP load limit on my mount. With the ST80 and SSAG and mounting gear, my scope is pushing around 19 pounds. The stock counterweight bar on the Sirius EQ-G isn't long enough to properly balance with 2 11lb counterweights, so I need to look into a counterweight bar extension from scopestuff. I tried sandwiching a 2lb weight between the 11lb weights, but there is too much slop and it makes balancing the mount difficult. I am kindof at a standstill until I can extend the counterweight bar, or I will have to dump the ST80/SSAG setup. Hoping I can upgrade to an Atlas this tax season.

Another reason for infrequent updates is work has been keeping my highly busy and highly stressed. 12-14 hour days are not uncommon and at the end of the day I just don't have the energy to lug all the gear outside and orchestrate everything to play nice with each other and work properly. I regret it too, as Jupiter is in prime position for imaging and I have let way too many good evening slip by as I was simply too exhausted. I hate my job for this very reason.

The real reason for this update is to let everyone know that I am back again in the h-alpha club. I have purchased a used Coronado PST from a gentleman and it should be here this week. A lot of folks have commented that I will be disappointed with the PST based on my previous experience with the Lunt LS60tha. During a solar outreach earlier this year, I had an opportunity to look through a fellow OKCAC member's PST. With mine setup close by, I was able to get a good handle on the difference in visual performance between the two scopes. I can honestly say that the PST was a very good performer, and that the difference was only slightly in favor of the Lunt 60. I remember thinking to myself that the negligible difference in view certainly did not constitute almost 500.00 dollars in price difference. So while I know that the Lunt I had just barely beat the PST in visual performance, I think the PST will satisfy my solar observing needs for a long time. My only fear is that PST performance can vary from scope to scope, and I hope I get a good one compared to the one I got to use last summer.

Another challenge to overcome before doing any serious imaging is that I have sold off all of my solar gear associated with the Lunt. I will need to purchase or cannibalize another tracking mount and I should probably be looking at another monochrome imager such as the DMK21. I do have a DBK21AU4 that I can use, but due to the restrictions of imaging h-alpha, a monochrome imager is ideal for using full resolution. I really cant wait to look at the sun again, it has been way too long.

Updates to follow more frequently I hope.

Scope Upgrades

Sold the CG-5asgt and my other 8" deforked SCT. Used the proceeds to prep my scope for the Orion Awesome Autoguider Package (which will be here next Tuesday). I upgraded the finder to the ubiquitous Telrad, and added the signature orange Celestron losmandy D dovetail rail. I also purchased 2 astrotech losmandy-d rail adapters that I am going to mount the guidescope rings on. There were several reasons why I decided to use this configuration. The vixen style rail that comes with the Orion package is too long for my OTA, so either I cut it and paint the end or leave it on and let it overhang. Either way would look ugly. Also, as the kit comes, it will not be able to be mounted to the OTA. I would have had to buy radius blocks from ADM to give the bar the clearance necessary to mount the rings. Again, expensive and would look hideous. The combination of the celestron bar and astrotech adaptors was around 90 dollars, not much more than just a pair of radius blocks from ADM. I am very happy with this setup and wish the SSAG package was here to install.

Only bad thing? The extra weight has thrown my scope far out of balance. I cannot use my scope again until I order another 11' counterweight. Bummer. Will have to be next paycheck.

Holiday weekend fun

So I sit here downing a Coors light and putting the finishing touches on the hand controller box for my DIY motorized focuser. I had posted a link a long time ago but tabled the project. After imaging Jupiter the other night with the DBK camera, I decided a motorized focuser was not a luxury item, but rather was an essential needed device. I still think that my final images were a little soft on the focus, so hopefully this will remedy that. Looking at the JMI MotoFocus designs, I figured that the price was just too prohibitive, and since I am always on a low budget, decided to go the DIY route explained in the following two links:

http://emediadesigns.com/emediadesigns.com/focuser/

http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=nexstar&Number=5038166&Forum=,,,,f36,,,,&Words=focuser&Searchpage=4&Limit=25&Main=5038166&Search=true&where=sub&Name=&daterange=1&newerval=&newertype=w&olderval=1&oldertype=w&bodyprev=#Post5038166

I had a bunch of various parts laying around so I decided to tackle the hand controller, which I am glad to report is complete. It really was pretty easy, but as I found out earlier soldering is a frangible skill. After scalding the hell out of my thumb on the iron, I decided I need to do it more often (incident occurred pre Coors light BTW). Only deviation from the above mentioned plans is that I decided to mount the battery container on the outside of the box so that I would not have to unscrew the cover plate if I needed to change the batteries. Being clumsy I also decided to make the box bigger so that I could manipulate the controls easier in the dark. I am pretty happy with the results, now all I have to do is cannibalize a phone or ethernet cable and attach some mono plugs. I then need to obtain a servo and cut the stops out of it so it will work in full rotation. Fashion a mounting bracket to connect to scope and I will be in business at a quarter of the cost of the JMI unit.

I will post updates as I complete the project. 

First Jupiter of season

Got the Baader UV/IR cut filter in the other day, but work and weather kept me from getting a decent shot at some imaging. Broke that streak last night, and here is the best of the lot. I decided to simply use my OTA on it's original NexStar mount and found out quickly just how much worse an altaz mount is at accurate tracking with high magnifications. Always had to chase it around last night, I guess I got spoiled with the EQ mounts. I should have used my Sirius mount last night, but I wanted quick setup and tear down. At any rate, .avi  sequences averaged around 600+ frames at the 90 second mark. Stack, alignment, RGB alignment, and wavelet processing all done in Registax V6. Scope is C8, camera is original DBK-21.

Focus seemed a little soft. I am working on a DIY Bahtinov mask for fine focus. Couple things were evident as critical for my shopping list last night, though. A 3x barlow and motorized focuser are a must. Flip mirror and illuminated crosshair eyepiece parfocal on the mirror would be REALLY nice as well. Time to start pinching pennies.

DBK-21 first light

Last night I was hoping to try out the new DBK-21 cam on Jupiter and maybe catch some Perseid meteor shower action as well. I setup right before dark, and perhaps a little too hastily. GOTO performance was not very good, worked well at first but had some issues later in the evening. Some were good, others well not so much. I attribute that to targets being on the meridian. not too familiar with how this affects EQ observing, but it seemed to have an effect last night. At any rate, I setup and in my boredom, decided to try to image Uranus. I knew not to expect any detail, so believe it or not I am actually happy with the following image of the little blue dot. Imaged at 0542ut, this is a process of 50 frames, stacked, aligned, and RGB alignment in registax v6. C8 on Sirius EQ-G. No barlow. DBK-21 camera from Imaging Source.

Uranus, 0542ut C8/DBK21

I continued to play around with different targets, suffering some way off GOTO performance. Still not sure what all that was about, but I did not pay proper diligence to my normal setup. Was pretty rushed with it.

I was pretty stoked to see Jupiter rise above my eastern obstructions around 0245 local. I had started to dial in the settings on the camera when a cloud bank rolled in. I didn't even get to capture one .avi sequence. One thing was pretty apparent is that the uv/ir cut filter required for this camera is extremely critical on Jupiter. Color was obviously skewed, but there was a hazy halo around the entire planet that was very distracting. I am assuming that was IR light washing out the edges. I will have to order a good uv/ir blocking filter. I will try again next week though. Somewhat pissed that I had waited so long for Jupiter and the height of the Perseid meteor shower only to be clouded out, I decided to pack it in. To add insult to injury, it started raining so I had to do a very fast breakdown. No harm done, but hopefully next week I will have better results to post up.

EQMOD Scope control demo from tonight 7/28

Just a quick video I made tonight during my first light with the new Orion Sirius mount running EQMOD/EQASCOM. Had lots of fun tonight despite mediocre skies.

Lots of changes

Last week I traded my beloved Lunt 60 solar scope. I loved that little scope, but I decided to trade for a mount more suitable for AP work. After we cycle down from the solar maximum, I will pick up a used PST to satisfy my urge for solar imaging. I ended up trading for an Orion Sirius EQ-G (little brother to Atlas mount) with a deforked fastar-compatible C8 with starbright coatings. Also included was the Celestron pelican case and cases for everything else. I got tons of accessories and netbook to control the mount/scope via EQMOD/EQASCOM. The mount itself is only 7 months old and used a handful of times.

I swapped out the tripod (1.75"OD legs) with the sturdier tripod (2.0"OD legs) from the CG-5 asgt mount. I ordered and installed the Orion 16" SVP Pier extension, which is compatible with both tripods. After learning how to polar align the cg-5, I decided I wasn't going to crawl on the ground anymore. I must admit, with the scope and mount attached to the pier extension, it is quite a formidable setup.

Another shot of the "Twins":

I put the trade scope on the CG-5 ASGT mount and plan to use for visual use or planetary imaging while I do my DSO subs with the NS8SE OTA on the Sirius mount.

About the Sirius mount. There sure isn't as much review information on the internet as it's big brother, the atlas. The motors and controls are the same, however the payload limit of this system is rated at 30lbs. I figure my OTA with eventual guidescope package and imager will place it between 16-18 lbs depending on the imager used. A little over half of the visual rating, it means I will have to give extra attention to balancing if I plan to be successful with AP. I am also thinking real seriously about going the hyperstar route next year at tax time. 

The motors on the Sirius mount are amazingly quiet when compared to my CG-5. The CG-5 is pretty loud, and although it never really bothered me before, compared to the Sirius I can see where they can get annoying. The mount was purchased originally without a hand controller, so I connect to the mount using EQMOD/EQASCOM and sync goto's with Cartes du Ciel. I really didn't like CdC at first, being familiar with stellarium and all, but I have to admit that it has grown on me. Uncle Rod pointed me in the right direction to get it setup in a similar fashion to stellarium. 

About EQMOD. This program is simply amazing, giving me much more control and trouble-free operation than NexRemote ever could. It is a bit of informational overload, due to the never-ending list of features. The trick is to take several nights and take small bites, rather than try to chew on it all at once. I took several nights learning different features and over the course of last week, I feel pretty confident in using it. I downloaded the voicepack and installed it so now the mount talks to me when operating. Audible alerts and announcements are completely customizable, allowing any sound or .wav to be assigned to nearly every aspect of mount/scope operation. I am currently compiling some star trek computer sounds to plug in, because yes, I am that big of a nerd. I will say this about EQMOD, it is light-years ahead of NexRemote.

So my plans are, for the moment...to sell the Nexstar 8 altaz mount (350 with manual, nexremote software, HC extender, HC, computer/hand control cable, no power cord) and purchase an Orion SSAG package. I also plan on selling my DMK21 monochrome imager (300) and purchasing the color equivalent DFK/DBK21 for planetary imaging (since only needed monochrome for h-alpha imaging).

Tonight will be first light with this new setup. Hoping for clear skies and good luck!