Sort of first light ASA 16" f3.6

[alocky (Andrew lockwood)]

Originally Posted by Slawomir

Looks great Andrew - it certainly is a very capable instrument. Star shapes are very good

Have you considered getting Win 10 Pro version? - you can delay Windows making updates for months.

Thanks Suavi! I'm hoping after nearly three years of delays, problems, damaged optics and repairs I've finally got a keeper.
I use Win 10 pro since I remote up into the dome from my desk (right near my whisky storage!) and have disabled driver updates, told it to never install OS updates unless I OK it: But it seems to reset these values after I do install an update, and treats the settings as 'informal guidelines'!
The drivers issue is only recent, and it's like a virus - once you get the newer package even downloaded there are about 10 different bits of software trying to install them as soon as you turn your back...
I used to be a sys-admin back in the days of the Sun Ultra and Solaris. I wish I had that level of control over my computer these days!!

[alpal]

Hi Andrew,
that's a spectacular picture for your first light.
I would look forward to a review of the scope & mount.
I'd like to see how they mount the mirror.
Did you use the lodestar guider or rely upon the DDM85 accuracy?

cheers
Allan

[DaveNZ (Dave)]

Andrew, you would be happy with that effort. Good to see you have most of the issues sorted out with the mount.

If you could do a review at some stage that would be great. I have always been interested in ASA tech. There seems to be a bit of negative stuff on the forums so it's difficult to get a handle on how their mounts/OTAs perform.

[multiweb (Marc)]

Looks like a keeper Andrew. 16" F/3. What a beast! The field and correction look great.

[alocky (Andrew lockwood)]

Originally Posted by multiweb

Looks like a keeper Andrew. 16" F/3. What a beast! The field and correction look great.

Cheers! The only negative of the focal ratio is the vignetting caused in the QSI's filterwheel, but it's manageable. But you can almost hear the photons being sucked into it..

Originally Posted by DaveNZ

Andrew, you would be happy with that effort. Good to see you have most of the issues sorted out with the mount.


If you could do a review at some stage that would be great. I have always been interested in ASA tech. There seems to be a bit of negative stuff on the forums so it's difficult to get a handle on how their mounts/OTAs perform.

Thanks Dave, I've written one in the equipment section, and happy to answer any questions I can. The tech and hardware are first rate, as you'd expect from people who build observatory class instruments all over the world. The support at the amateur end of the product line, and particularly software would have to be the weakest point.

Originally Posted by alpal

Hi Andrew,
that's a spectacular picture for your first light.
I would look forward to a review of the scope & mount.
I'd like to see how they mount the mirror.
Did you use the lodestar guider or rely upon the DDM85 accuracy?

cheers
Allan

At some point I'll have to remove the mirror and give it a clean - so I'll post pictures then. It's not a simple operation and I believe the cell is a full flotation system.

[SimmoW (SIMON)]

Congrats Andrew, look like it's a keeper and well worth the long wait. You're very patient!

[DJT (David)]

Great first light there. Per Colin, nice to see the stars in the centre fully resolved.

Congrats on the kit and coming through the teething dramas. Looks like it's going to be a great setup

[alocky (Andrew lockwood)]

Originally Posted by SimmoW

Congrats Andrew, look like it's a keeper and well worth the long wait. You're very patient!

I am - I also have a long memory and a very long reach :-)

Originally Posted by DJT

Great first light there. Per Colin, nice to see the stars in the centre fully resolved.

Congrats on the kit and coming through the teething dramas. Looks like it's going to be a great setup

Thanks! - I was pleased to get two stars with the old 10", but 4 was a nice surprise! Still got a way to go before I've got it humming along, but the biggest problem is the weather now!

[marc4darkskies (Marcus)]

A very respectable first light indeed! Nice work Andrew! I'm suspecting you've been a little over zealous with smoothing/noise reduction(??). That would explain the lack of clarity on the jet & the pillar. In any case, the overall the resolution & correction look fine to me.

Looking forward to new iterations with more data.

[alocky (Andrew lockwood)]

Originally Posted by marc4darkskies

A very respectable first light indeed! Nice work Andrew! I'm suspecting you've been a little over zealous with smoothing/noise reduction(??). That would explain the lack of clarity on the jet & the pillar. In any case, the overall the resolution & correction look fine to me.

Looking forward to new iterations with more data.

Hi Marcus, thanks for that! I had another go at it and was able to get the jet and the pillar back, but at the expense of bloating the stars a little. The main culprit was the masked stretch process in PI, as I don't recall using any noise reduction tools in the main workflow at all. But the clouds have moved back in for at least another month now, so once I've ironed out some of my problems with flats, I'll do it again from scratch. F3.6 is extremely finicky about flats through the small filters in a QSI683!