Now you only have to worry about bats (I have a personal story there) and midnight golfers with glowing balls!
Cheers,
Neville
LSO
Thanks Neville.
Luckily the golf course is being altered and the tee off point for the hole behind the observatory has changed. We used to get regular golf balls now they are rare as the line of trees is more in line with the tee of point forming more of a barrier and the golfers are hitting further awayt from our property.
No bats around here that I have seen but lots of Rosellas and Kookaburras.
Greg.
Quote:
Originally Posted by strongmanmike
Ha! Looks like it was always there, lovely bit of work mate...you should consider entering the building game
I like your point of view regarding the name, sounds very focused and clear, you obviously did some reflecting before forming that image in your mind..
Mike
Thanks Mike.
Yes that's true, I did contemplate it for a while.
Going to do a few final tweaks of the building today to make the openings where the wheels go past the gable walls more weather proof.
I need to rotate the pier a bit now I know where the SCP is and to get the mount within it's adjustment movement for the pole.
I got my AP160GTO mount up and running again after a little mini disaster where several months ago by mistake I plugged the Software Bisque 48 volt transformer into the 12 volts AP1600 electronics and something blew in them.
I got a new upgraded GTO CP4 control board and installed it and it's all working well.
It took a few clear nights to get past the confusions that usually turn up when handle gear. But it's now nearly back to running nicely. Just need to do a new PE curve and install it and a new T Point model (not so needed when you do a closed loop slew that uses Plate Solving to get the target object in the middle of the screen).
I took my AP Honders to my dark site (only done that once before) and imaged with it. Wow, a new appreciation of it. 12 inch aperture at F3.8 with no need for collimation is lovely to work with. The FLI Atlas focuser is also great to work with. Joshua Bunn did a terrific job on a new adapter to replace a missing one.
At my home observatory my PME mount has been lying idle. I thought I'd damaged it by cutting off some redundant cabling to the dovetail outlets.
On closer inspection I saw that the power supply for the PME is 48 volts not the 12 I tried with. It's been years since I set it up so I'd forgotten about that.
I got a new 48 volt transformer power supply and was ecstatic to find the mount starts up like normal.
So today I finish the little fine points of cladding and waterproofing and then I install a dovetail bar and rotate the mount to closer to the SCP.
Then mount the scope, camera, computer etc ready for the next clear night.
The moving house, the blowing of the AP1600 board and then what I thought was damaging the PME's wiring all were a significant setback but it's all resolved now.
I also did some visual observing with an AP130 GT on an iOptron CEM70 mount. It was great on one night. Next night I discovered the dec axis has a metal pin that stops it from rotating past a certain point. It's not mentioned in the manual.
You have to rotate the dovetail until it hits that stop then rotate back 180 degrees then mount your scope otherwise on some slews the mount hits this metal pin stop. Annoying.
Otherwise that mount seems to be very good. I haven't imaged with it yet but next trip I will. I wanted to concentrate on getting the AP1600 operational - one battle at a time.
I have learnt to work on a problem and if it's not resolving not to get frustrated but to leave it overnight and get back to it fresh or check the forums for advice. It cost a few clear nights but I got there and most of the little tricks came back to me after quite a hiatus in imaging.
So my imaging setups are:
1. Astro-Physics Riccardi Honders 305 F3.8 on a Software Bisque PME mount (a reliable and simple to use mount).
2. AP 130 GT APO with Quad TCC or flattener giving either F4.5 or F6.4 and iOptron CEM 70 with iPolar on a pier outside my dark site observatory.
Imaging with either a QHY600M, FLI Proline 16803 or FLI MIcroline 16200 (probably, mostly the 16803.
3. Honders on the AP1600 at my dark site (taken there and taken home afterwards which is a bit of a chore as it's heavy). But those 800 metre altitude very dark skies are a continual source of wonder plus 12 inch aperture at F3.8 helps overcome limited imaging time. I found out the Honders sits a bit lower in my observatory and is not wind affected which is a huge plus.
4. Planewave CDK17 at F6.8 or with reducer F4.5 on the PME at my home observatory. It's a 2 man job mounting it though so it will be a while before I set it up.
5. CFF 105 F6 with flattener and FLI Proline 16803 or possibly QHY600M for either at home or my dark site where it could sit on the CEM70 mount so I could have this imaging whilst the Honders on the AP1600 is imaging (2 separate setups).
6. Mirrorless camera setups - Canon EOS R(a) - Ha modded EOS R and Sigma Art 14mm F1.8 or Samyang 21mm F1.8 or Samyang 135mm F2. Mount would be piggybacking on the CEM70 or Skywatcher GTi mount or Unitec Swat 330 tracker or Fornax Lighttrack 11 on a Vixen tripod and William Optics wedge. The Lighttrack is handy as it's light and works well for nightscapes where weight does come into it. I haven't used the GTi yet but I will. The Swat 330 gave me fairly round stars in a ASIAIR plus polar alignment and 14mm F1.8 x 5 minute exposures. 2 minutes at F4 or F5.6 and ISO1600 will most likely be my default for tracked nightscapes. There are endless beautiful coastal scenes down here on the south coast of NSW.
A lot to get on top of but a lot of fun too (well, mostly!).
I plan to be back in full swing imaging as of this week. I already did 2 successful nights of imaging the last few days at my dark site.
Greg.
Last edited by gregbradley; 25-01-2024 at 11:15 AM.
Greg,
Great news your almost finished your Obs and set up
Wow you have a comprehensive set of quality imaging rigs to choose from which covers the whole hobby.
Yes the South Cost of NSW is a beautiful part of Australia , I’ve been down at my place since Boxing Day with family ( kids and grandkids) heading back to Sydney on Sunday.
Only managed 1 clear night on Tuesday. Endless cloudy nights have been with us for months here on the mid to south coast of NSW and I guess in VIC and parts of QLD too, but this pattern is suppose to break by late February/ early March.
Good luck and post some images when this weather gives us all a break
What do you shoot down with that canon Greg?
It's huge, I can see how a permanent set up would be of benefit.
I can only lift 65 Kg, my own body weight one handed, wouldn't want to be carrying that canon around and trying to get it mounted too often.
In saying that I'm always worried lifting my RC 8 or 8" Newt onto my mount, more cumbersome than heavy but always concerned.
Yes the number of clear sky nights has been very very low.
I also hope that patern breaks. You've been down here for a while - what is the usual % of clear nights?
I installed the AP Honders astrograph this after noon. Nearly ready for action.
I am not sure if the pier is positioned close enough to the SCP to get a good polar alignment. I'll know that within half an hour of a clear night.
Greg.
If you click on the image it shows it the right way up.
I’ve had my holiday home down here since 2016 and retired in 2017. My wife is still teaching 2 days a week and doesn’t want to give it away yet at 65. So we spend about 3 to 4 months of the year down here ( spread out through the year including school holidays when the kids and grandkids often visit )
I’d say it’s about on par with Sydney as far as % of clear nights over a year , the difference being generally lower daytime and nighttime temperatures and humidity as well. The skies however are chalk and cheese , in Sydney at my main residence it’s Bortle 8 with neighbours lights blasting my yard and restricted views from the south east to the south west , down here it’s Bortle 3 no neighbours lights and almost 360 degree views from 25 degrees up . So when I come down here and image it’s like unbelievable , the data is so clean. Sydney’s a challenge but I still enjoy it . I don’t observe in Sydney it’s a waist of time , I have a 12” goto dob in the garage down here which provides some great views.
What do you shoot down with that canon Greg?
It's huge, I can see how a permanent set up would be of benefit.
I can only lift 65 Kg, my own body weight one handed, wouldn't want to be carrying that canon around and trying to get it mounted too often.
In saying that I'm always worried lifting my RC 8 or 8" Newt onto my mount, more cumbersome than heavy but always concerned.
Yes it is pretty heavy and about the limit for me.
The tube is actually 14 inches which allows thermal currents to "drain off" to the sides of the tube. I think that was a clever design.
The scope is also provided with some lifting straps and also a video on how to best load and unload it onto the mount. So that helps a lot.
Greg.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Startrek
I’ve had my holiday home down here since 2016 and retired in 2017. My wife is still teaching 2 days a week and doesn’t want to give it away yet at 65. So we spend about 3 to 4 months of the year down here ( spread out through the year including school holidays when the kids and grandkids often visit )
I’d say it’s about on par with Sydney as far as % of clear nights over a year , the difference being generally lower daytime and nighttime temperatures and humidity as well. The skies however are chalk and cheese , in Sydney at my main residence it’s Bortle 8 with neighbours lights blasting my yard and restricted views from the south east to the south west , down here it’s Bortle 3 no neighbours lights and almost 360 degree views from 25 degrees up . So when I come down here and image it’s like unbelievable , the data is so clean. Sydney’s a challenge but I still enjoy it . I don’t observe in Sydney it’s a waist of time , I have a 12” goto dob in the garage down here which provides some great views.
Cheers
Martin
Thanks for the write up Martin. I have been here now a bit over a year and there has been a couple of stretches of clear sky but apart from that it's been a bit uncommon.
I have noticed though that when it is clear and calm the seeing can be fantastic.
Greg.
Last edited by gregbradley; 26-01-2024 at 09:16 AM.
Cables are a mess though. Need to tidy it up more. I did install an underfloor
50mm PVC pipe to be able to feed cables under the floor and out next to the computer. Have to use that next.
Cables are a mess though. Need to tidy it up more. I did install an underfloor
50mm PVC pipe to be able to feed cables under the floor and out next to the computer. Have to use that next.
Greg.
A bet your glad it’s almost finished , now for some clear skies please
When I built my deck for the NexDome I made sure the floor was clear of obstructions like cables etc…,
2x 50mm conduits did the trick ( see photo )
My only disappointment was the centre concrete pier was too narrow to mount a steel riser pier to support my EQ8-R mount head. Had to use the EQ8 tripod pier which is a behemoth and didn’t take too much floor space in the end.
When I look at other people's concrete footers for EQ8 pier-pods I realise I could have saved some concrete if I'd thought it through a bit more...
Neville
LSO
Neville ,
Thanks
These photos are 3 years old , my Obs was finished in April 2021
Although I had to use an EQ8 tripod pier she’s rock solid and I have plenty of walking space around the rig when the OTA is pointing towards zenith.
Sidereal is no longer bringing these NexDomes into Australia anymore , mine was probably the last shipment. They are now supplying ScopeDome which are more than double the price but are a more quality product , more towards the professional rather than amateur user like me.
Oooh neeearly there Greg, all looks eeeexcellent, hoping it all works like clockwork (digital clock that is) looking forward to some cool images coming out of that APH
With our recent run of bad luck, a serious health issue and major op for Angie, a house purchase gone bad (cost us big time) and then the death of Ben, I"m hoping that's our three things and it is largely behind us and I can get back out under the stars more this year...
What do you shoot down with that canon Greg?
It's huge, I can see how a permanent set up would be of benefit.
I can only lift 65 Kg, my own body weight one handed, wouldn't want to be carrying that canon around and trying to get it mounted too often.
In saying that I'm always worried lifting my RC 8 or 8" Newt onto my mount, more cumbersome than heavy but always concerned.
Quote:
Originally Posted by gregbradley
Yes it is pretty heavy and about the limit for me.
The tube is actually 14 inches which allows thermal currents to "drain off" to the sides of the tube. I think that was a clever design.
The scope is also provided with some lifting straps and also a video on how to best load and unload it onto the mount. So that helps a lot.
Greg.
Once not thaaat long ago, OTA's were not a problem for me, upto..?..pretty big!...now?.. dang, arthritis has set in, my right shoulder, sooo can't reeeally do this anymore...
Still stronger than the average 56 year old but age is creeping fast now.... have to use levers, lifting aids and tricks of phyiscs, much more often now
Thanks for sharing the journey Greg. What a wonderful new set up. You have much to be proud of there. Hope you get plenty of fun nights and great shots from the new home base
Thanks for sharing the journey Greg. What a wonderful new set up. You have much to be proud of there. Hope you get plenty of fun nights and great shots from the new home base
Thanks Rob.
Always learning new things. For example I took the saddle of my PME mount when I moved to a new house. I should have left it on. It has an exact orientation on how it is attached to the mount. It has an arrow machined into it to show you which way it goes.
Well I didn't read that bit in the manual and I had it 90 degrees away from where it should be. Wasted 2 clear nights with that trying to understand why it wouldn't slew anywhere near where it was supposed to!
Same with my AP1600 mount. I had to replace the electronics due to a dumb mistake of plugging in the 48 volt PME power supply into the 12 volt AP1600 electronics. It forced an upgrade to the latest controller which is better but cost $2500.
Again I couldn't get it to slew properly and read the manual and found out it needed a specific position on startup. Once I did that I was good. That cost 3 clear nights at my dark site! ouch.
I've learned to be patient with astro gear these days. Plus, don't swap and change too much. Using the same rig for a while is a very practical approach.
By the way I am loving this sliding gate rail with matching concave wheels. The roof rolls off with very light hand pressure and it fairly quiet which is important when neighbours are close by and sometimes you need to close the roof late at night.
Greg.
Last edited by gregbradley; 07-02-2024 at 11:22 AM.
and it is largely behind us and I can get back out under the stars more this year... 
