A single frame with my newly acquired SW 120 f/5 achro.
Please ignore the white artefact near the top.
I see the image has come through very large for some reason;
it is better viewed at about 70% screen size.
raymo
Last edited by raymo; 11-11-2016 at 03:26 PM.
Reason: correction
A single frame with my newly acquired SW 120 f/5 achro.
Please ignore the white artefact near the top.
I see the image has come through very large for some region;
it is better viewed at about 80% screen size.
raymo
Looks great. This is what I want mine to look like one day
Mike, Single exposure lunar shots are not difficult, just attach your DSLR
and click away using as high a shutter speed as you can. Look through them and select the best one. This shot was taken using eyepiece projection, not prime focus. Untouched, as it came out of the camera.
Ben,I gave up AP a few months ago, and sold all my gear, it was getting too
heavy for me, and the seeing here is usually awful. Got an EQ3-2 with
drives, and the 120 f/5 that I can carry complete inc the battery. Just
took a couple of lunar shots for old time's sake.
raymo
Last edited by raymo; 10-11-2016 at 07:20 PM.
Reason: more text
Great to see you back imaging Raymo. I know what you mean by the weight of those bigger scopes ( and mounts ) the smaller outfits are just so much easier to move around. I even think you're more inclined to use it more often because there is less effort involved. Don't give up on the AP, that 5 inch f5 Achro looks like it will be a nice scope to use. Not any CA noticeable either, so it might be worth trying on some more challenging objects. Well done on making the effort. I have achieved some pleasing results with my 4 inch f5 so the extra aperture will give you a longer focal length without sacrificing light gathering ability.
Mike, Single exposure lunar shots are not difficult, just attach your DSLR
and click away using as high a shutter speed as you can. Look through them and select the best one. This shot was taken using eyepiece projection, not prime focus. Untouched, as it came out of the camera.
Ben,I gave up AP a few months ago, and sold all my gear, it was getting too
heavy for me, and the seeing here is usually awful. Got an EQ3-2 with
drives, and the 120 f/5 that I can carry complete inc the battery. Just
took a couple of lunar shots for old time's sake.
raymo
Thanks Raymo, I got a couple of really good shots through thin clouds the other day before the heavy clouds rolled in using your tip of higher ISO and faster shutter - just waiting for a combination of an early day at work and no cloud so I can try it out properly.
BTW - I see you're over in Margaret River. I would have thought you'd have great skies there. Why is the seeing so bad for you?
If the truth be told, I was also having trouble getting my old head
around the complexities of processing.
raymo
I'm 50 in Feb but have always been pretty good with computers, thinking I was pretty tech savvy. That is until trying to process some of the Astro shots I have taken - it's doing my head in.
Yea, Mick, I know the feeling I did imaging for a few years with some pretty decent results, but technology has caught up with me, ant at 66 I just cant keep up with it.
Yea, Mick, I know the feeling I did imaging for a few years with some pretty decent results, but technology has caught up with me, ant at 66 I just cant keep up with it.
Leon
Hi Leon
I did a bit of cyberstalking and went back and had a look at some of your images. Looks to me you were doing a damn good job with whatever you were using at the time.
I'm 30 yrs older than you;[ Mick, that is, not Leon]. My head's already done in.
raymo
Seriously? Wow, with my knees and ankles I'll be happy if I can get up the stairs at your age, let alone hauling around mounts and telescopes. You must be one fit 80-year-old.
I did some cyberstalking of some of your older posts as well and there are some great pics.
Kind of you to say so Mick. I did film AP and manual guiding for over
50yrs, but got into digital too late in life, and never bothered with RAW,
darks, flats, or guiding. Did my processing in DSS. Only used Photoshop for
a bit of sharpening and resizing of images for posting here. Might be some sort of record for the worst value for money software I ever bought. [not
the software's fault]. I couldn't get my head around PS or Pixinsight.[however its spelt]. I don't know if you noticed them when you were trawling through
my pics, but I posted a series of single frame shots which I think I enjoyed producing more than the stacked images. I'm not enjoying the 120mm for
visual; its been a long time since I did visual with anything less than 200mm,
and mostly 250mm, so I find 120mm underwhelming, might get rid of it.
raymo
My misfortunes were discussed here several years ago. We were burgled,
and a suitcase containing all of our astro and family images was stolen.
Losing my astro images was bad enough, but the only image my wife
had of her mother was in there, and now my wife is having more and more
trouble even remembering what she looked like, because she died back
in 1960.
I do have a few 6x4" prints including one of Halley's comet, and I think one of Orion. I'll look them out and see what if anything is worth
posting.
raymo
Last edited by raymo; 11-11-2016 at 11:49 AM.
Reason: correction
Mick, regarding seeing here in Margs: we are in the same belt of weather
that goes across Oz from west to east and ends up in Melbourne.
We get about 7 quite nice summer weeks, and the rest of the year we are
frequently clouded in. I get about 35-40 really good imaging nights, and
another 30 or so passable ones; the rest of the year is mostly useless.
raymo
Mick, regarding seeing here in Margs: we are in the same belt of weather
that goes across Oz from west to east and ends up in Melbourne.
We get about 7 quite nice summer weeks, and the rest of the year we are
frequently clouded in. I get about 35-40 really good imaging nights, and
another 30 or so passable ones; the rest of the year is mostly useless.
raymo
Hi Raymo,
That's a real bummer being robbed, especially given that the stolen pics are worth nothing to the #&%@* who were more than likely looking for something they could quickly sell for drug money. Yet they mean so much to you and your wife.
As for number of good seeing days per year, I'm wondering if that's about what I have to look forward to in Sydney.
As for the astrophotography with film and manual guiding. I can't imagine how difficult that must have been to learn. I just take a pic and if it looks crap I know instantly and retake it. With Film you wouldn't know until after you processed it.
Though I imagine, while being difficult, in some ways it would have been better overall - you would have to really learn your craft, learn the intricacies of your mount, your camera, the film, and guiding, and also know the sky really well.
I've only had a scope for a couple of weeks, have cone error I haven't fixed yet, have a lot to learn about alignment, and am only beginning to learn the sky (my Southern view is blocked to about 36 deg so polar alignment is done with compass, iclinomoter, and level).
I can now point out Venus, Saturn, Mars, a few stars and the place of few nebulas and clusters should be, and that's it. Yet, with a few cheats on the mount if my alignment is out, I can ask it to point at the Tarantula Nebula and jag a few decent shots at 15-20 seconds and stack them (for me to then ruin in post processing).
I think for becoming a good astronomer your way is probably better. I suppose for getting more people involved the new way is probably best to keep them interested and not give up too early on.
A bit off topic, but does your dovetail have adjusting screws at each end?
if so it will make cone adjustment easy.
Old and new is a two edged sword. The old way is much more satisfying in the long run, but the new way seems to encourage newbies to stay in the hobby, as you said, which can only be a good thing.
raymo
A bit off topic, but does your dovetail have adjusting screws at each end?
if so it will make cone adjustment easy.
Old and new is a two edged sword. The old way is much more satisfying in the long run, but the new way seems to encourage newbies to stay in the hobby, as you said, which can only be a good thing.
raymo
Yep, there is adjusting screws there. I watched a video from the Astronomy Shed about how to fix the cone error, got ready to go and then realised the two screws either side of the bolt are hex heads. I don't have a hex screwdriver attachment big enough as I mostly used them for taking apart electronics gear. I'll go up Bunnings and get one on Sunday.
Edit
God I'm stupid sometimes. An Allen key does the job.
Last edited by mikeyjames; 11-11-2016 at 10:07 PM.
Reason: Stupidity
