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Old 28-06-2021, 01:34 PM
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first light AP 130GT and Quad TCC F4.5 alternate version

I have been working on dialling in the Quad TCC (APs name for their reducer/compressor) on my AP130GT F6.3.

The TCC is an impressive piece of astro gear and I used one in the past on the AP140 I had.

Its quite sensitive to distancing though, 1mm+/-. The QHY600m camera is a bit sensitive to tilt but it seemed to take the same corrections as my FLI cameras so I take that to mean QHY's stated tight tolerance for sensor orthogonality to be spot on. There is a tiny bit left to tune out but no biggie and focus was also very stable although I can get it more stably spot on once my electronic focuser is fitted. Manually focused for now just once early evening.

I took 3 sets of images over the last few nights. F4.5 at 130mm is a great combo with this QHY600 camera. At 1x1 binning it gives 1.31 arc secs/pixel which seems to be the sweet spot.

I only took a small amount of colour because I was planning on doing full narrowband as I took this when it was almost full moon and did not expect the RGB to be any good. But it was surprisingly.

Taken at my home observatory on a PME mount.

https://pbase.com/gregbradley/image/171751483/large regular size

https://pbase.com/gregbradley/image/171751483/original large size. Zoom in and surf around.

There are some interesting ripples in between the Lagoon and the Trifid.

Here are the links to the Ha image which has a lot of detail:

https://pbase.com/image/171751518/large regular size.

https://pbase.com/image/171751518/original large size for zooming in.

This camera/scope setup is very sensitive. A 30 second image holds a surprising amount of detail. A single 300 second image
is like a much longer exposure from previous cameras and setups.

Greg.
Attached Thumbnails
Click for full-size image (Lagoon and Trifid Ha O111 RGB V3 thumb.jpg)
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Click for full-size image (Lagoon and trifid  Ha 16 x 300secs 2x2 -10C thumb.jpg)
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Last edited by gregbradley; 02-07-2021 at 01:43 PM.
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Old 28-06-2021, 02:03 PM
JA
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Congrats on the great setup Good point - I see what you mean about ripples... almost as if the Triffid is dragging dragging stuff out of the Lagoon. I'm sure your new setup/FOV will keep you busy imaging, weather permitting.

Best
JA
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  #3  
Old 28-06-2021, 02:29 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JA View Post
Congrats on the great setup Good point - I see what you mean about ripples... almost as if the Triffid is dragging dragging stuff out of the Lagoon. I'm sure your new setup/FOV will keep you busy imaging, weather permitting.

Best
JA
Thanks JA. Its a pretty cool setup. I should post an image of it. The 130 is riding piggyback on the AP RHA305 which is the guide scope!

I like this AP130, as its surprisingly light and small for a 130mm scope. It was designed to be airline portable and unscrews with caps into 3 pieces.

Greg.
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Old 28-06-2021, 02:37 PM
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Hmm?..looks like a cheap Chinese plastic lens doublet..?

...sorry

Looks mighty fine Greg ...great gear

Mike
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Old 28-06-2021, 02:43 PM
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Hmm?..looks like a cheap Chinese plastic lens doublet..?

...sorry

Looks mighty fine Greg ...great gear

Mike
LOL. It would go nice at 1440 metres. I wonder where that could be?

Greg
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Old 28-06-2021, 02:55 PM
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LOL. It would go nice at 1440 metres. I wonder where that could be?

Greg
Indeed...my old Starfire EDF is only F7.5...in fact about F8.2 with the 4" field flattener

Careful analysis of many sources, suggest that if I place my new observatory in the top NE corner of Eagleview, and I can elevate my dome deck a little (~1-2m), I should be able to get the Dec shaft of my mount somewhere between 1445m-1450m ASL, the official height of the telescope

Mike
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Old 28-06-2021, 03:00 PM
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Indeed...my old Starfire EDF is only F7.5...in fact about F8.2 with the 4" field flattener

Careful analysis of many sources, suggest that if I place my new observatory in the top NE corner of Eagleview, and I can elevate my dome deck a little (~1-2m), I should be able to get the Dec shaft of my mount somewhere between 1445m-1450m ASL, the official height of the telescope

Mike
Wow.

The Quad TCC should also work on your AP152. It more a matter of the spacing. It needs at least a 3.5 inch focuser. Roland makes adapters for it to work on other makes like TEC and TMB.
At .72X it would make your 152 F5.4. That would be very fast given its aperture. The AP140 I had was F7.5 also.

Greg.
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Old 28-06-2021, 03:16 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gregbradley View Post
Its a pretty cool setup. I should post an image of it. The 130 is riding piggyback on the AP RHA305 which is the guide scope!
I'm interested in seeing a pic of this setup too Greg.

A lovely image of a great part of the sky.
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Old 28-06-2021, 03:49 PM
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looking good Greg!
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Old 28-06-2021, 03:50 PM
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I'm interested in seeing a pic of this setup too Greg.
Me too, love astroporn
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Old 28-06-2021, 05:15 PM
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Quote:
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I'm interested in seeing a pic of this setup too Greg.

A lovely image of a great part of the sky.
Thank you. I am very happy with the results so far.

Quote:
Originally Posted by rustigsmed View Post
looking good Greg!
Quote:
Originally Posted by strongmanmike View Post
Me too, love astroporn
Not the best photo as its getting dark but it shows it.

Thanks Russell for your compliment.

Greg.
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Old 28-06-2021, 06:48 PM
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Daleen at AP clearly came through.

Sure, I'm preaching to the choir...but that's a very, very pretty result.

Nice one
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Old 28-06-2021, 07:33 PM
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Quote:
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Daleen at AP clearly came through.

Sure, I'm preaching to the choir...but that's a very, very pretty result.

Nice one
Thanks Peter. I was surprised the colour would turn out given it was very bright moon.

Greg.
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Old 28-06-2021, 08:30 PM
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Hi Greg,
So well done...BRAVO!!!
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Old 28-06-2021, 09:35 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter Ward View Post
Daleen at AP clearly came through.

Sure, I'm preaching to the choir...but that's a very, very pretty result.

Nice one
Quote:
Originally Posted by IanP View Post
Hi Greg,
So well done...BRAVO!!!
Thanks very much Ian for the nice compliment.

Greg.
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  #16  
Old 28-06-2021, 10:41 PM
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Noice

DT
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Old 28-06-2021, 10:54 PM
AnakChan (Sean)
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Very nice Greg. I was eyeing on that AP130GT when it went up FS last year . Didn't realise it came with a Quad TCC!

Glad to see some results through it. The Lagoon's so beautifully captured.
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  #18  
Old 29-06-2021, 10:12 AM
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Great work Greg. Your efforts in dialling in this combo are paying dividends. You will be able to produce some very nice images for sure.
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  #19  
Old 29-06-2021, 12:10 PM
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Outstanding images Greg.
You have some high quality expensive gear there and it shows.
There is something about a refractor that can't be beaten.
One little thing -
the stars are missing colour.
Would you have needed to take some short exposures - say 10 seconds -
with that QHY600 to retain some colour?


cheers
Allan
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  #20  
Old 29-06-2021, 12:13 PM
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Ha looks great Greg, teeny tiny stars & lots of nice details.

Unconvinced about this colour version though with it's muted star colours, presumably because of the moon being up?

You must be a very happy camper now with these lovely new toys.
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