Newt Test - M83.

[Tandum]

Thought I'd run out the 10" newt to see if it will play with the QHY gear.

I found that the QHY wheel won't seat properly on the moonlight focuser as the electronics box on the wheel hits almost everything on the focuser. That stopped my starlight camera from focusing but removing the nose from the qhy9 got it to focus, just. I'll check all that crap out in daylight.

This is M83, no coma correctors, flatteners or LP Filters, shot from the back yard in downtown Brisbane. First image is full frame with crazy multi coloured gradients (Did the flats with an 8" light box on a 10" scope) , second is a crop. I'm just posting this so people I was talking to earlier can have a look at what came out. Nothing special here.

This was shot with L binned 2x (6x600sec) and RBG binned 3X (6x150sec) QHY9 on a 10" F5 newt.

10minutes subs out of a 10" newt on an eq6 :D
I put the whole show (cameras and all) on my bathroom scales and broke the scales :D

[edit] Collimination is out but it looks like the tube needs to be cut so why bother :(

[peter_4059]

Looks like it's going to make a nice combination Robin. How do you have the guide scope set up?

Peter

[AlexN]

Good going Robin... Definitely looks like the tracking is all sorted out now... I definitely think this will fill the position of "Galaxy Busting Setup" for you!

[Tandum]

Pete, I just moved my tak 60 assembly from my tak 102 assembly to this scope for the sort term but I do have a little stellarvue 60 finder which has a 2" helical focuser on the back end. Once the rings for it show up I'll mount that on a vixen bar on top. The fs60 and other stuff on that losmandy plate are too heavy really, even with 4 counterweights at the bottom of the eq6 bar it wasn't ballanced, but close enough.

Alex, Looks like the strip and regrease did the mount good, it's a lot more stable than last attempt, no more wiggling :) I'll chop the tube, 25mm will do it, and I'll have a look at a 2" 2X powermate and a new light box I think.

[AlexN]

Just a thought regarding the balance mate, Maybe try to attach the finder/guider underneath the OTA as opposed to on top. This will keep the setups center of gravity lower, requiring less counter weight to balance, and therefore, hopefully better tracking.. I've made a REALLY REALLY bad MS Paint diagram..

In this scenario, you wouldnt need the top dovetail plate, instantly reducing weight, and the weight from the finderguider and the electronics boxes could be moved from above the OTA to underneath it... Obviously, the finder guider would have to be offset to one side a bit so that the focuser/camera setup did not obscure its view. However this could be done by either rotating the newts tube a little, and having the guider slightly offset so their lateral weight distribution is even, or alternatively, it could be offset a little more to one side, and the lateral difference would be made up by the scopes visual finder scope...

Just a thought but I reckon thats a much better plan than adding more counterweight..

[TrevorW]

Looks good to me, nice detail

[RobF]

Very VERY decent Robin, considering the challenges. I'm suffering problems with the QHY filterwheel motor assembly hitting my camera on the other side - enough to prevent me reaching focus with MPCC, FW, etc. Theo has agreed to swap the old version I have with the newer one with the motor reversed. I think it should clear everything on the focuser side well enough.

Man, that is going to be another formidable weapon in your arsenal. I reckon we're going to see some pretty amazing work coming from your way this year.....:thumbsup:

[Tandum]

I know what your saying Alex, but flex might be an issue, I can try it when the rings show up.

Trevor, that's binned 2X so only about 2Mpixel resolution and ccdinspector wasn't kind to it's collimination :)

Rob, are you running out of infocus? Did you try just reversing your wheel to see if it will work? I ran all night at -25C, without the nosepiece or any fogging issues at all and you know how hot and humid it was.:) I think I'd prefer to keep the nose on the camera though, it will be a lot easier to clean that way.

In the light of day, my wheel problems will go away when I cut the tube. That will force the drawtube further away from the focuser body and the wheel will clear it easily then.

[telecasterguru]

Robin,

Looks like your onto a winner with this rig.

Do you mind if I ask why you binned the RGB x3 and not x2.

Frank

[Tandum]

I was originally planning to use my little 1.4Mp starlight camera on this scope Frank as it won't need coma correctors etc so I upped the qhy9 binning on L to get close to that, but I guess the RGB should really have been 4X @ 300sec to get enough data to colour it properly. It looks really washed out colour wise to me :)

[AlexN]

Colour data really doesnt need to be flash Robin... I agree that 150s was probably a little on the short side given the target, but I wouldn't be too concerned with getting loads and loads of colour data.. I'm finding between 15~20 minutes per channel is more than enough..

[Tandum]

A threaded nosepiece for an LP filter would be nice too, the G and B from the other night are way way noisier than the red.

In the mean time --- CHOMP :thumbsup:

[RobF]

How did you do the amputation Robyn?I've always been loathe to operate on my baby.

[Tandum]

Alchemy did an article on it. 1mm blades for the angle grinder make it pretty neat.
I wrapped paper around the tube to connect my cut marks, then drew a cut line with a marker pen.
Remember to cover the secondary and measure everything twice :)

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/63-441-0-0-1-0.html

[marki]

You are a brave man Robin, don't think I would have the courage to take to my scopes with an angle guider. You seem to be coming to terms with the QHY9, gotta love the cooling capacity yes :). Mine easily reachs a delta H of 50 degrees C.

Mark

[Tandum]

It had to be done and in the end it was pretty easy, thanks Alchemy. Now the drawtube is out of the focuser and everything seats properly plus I now have focus with the qhy9 nosepiece between the camera and wheel so the starlight should be good as well :D

But it looks like rain here for the rest of the week, so in the corner it sits :(

I'm running it at -25C with 70% cooling dropping to about 60% before dawn and it's hot out there :)

[AlexN]

Good job mate... Looks like a neat line you cut with that grinder...

[Waxing_Gibbous]

Being a real novice at AP:
How did you determine that the tube needed to be cut?
Thanks,
Peter

[Paul Haese]

Just some small niggles to sort out and you will be on your way. I like the scale of the first image. The second shows more detail too.

[Tandum]

Peter, With this new filter wheel I have and the extra adapters needed to attach the cameras to it, I couldn't get the camera in far enough to gain focus. It already has a low profile moonlite focuser and knobs instead of screws on the primary mirror which I didn't want to replace with longer ones so I had to cut the tube to bring the primary mirror closer to the camera. I've moved the focus point further out of the scope.

Paul, the tak is a very nice scope and takes really sharp snaps but it just doesn't have the legs for shooting galaxies. This thing just sucks in bucket loads of light, just a pity it's so long and heavy. I think it will be useless with a decent breeze blowing.