Posts Made By: Derrick Lipinski

Good morning everyone.

Decent seeing conditions prevailed on Sunday morning so I decided to try my luck on Jupiter. I just finished installing Buck's Gears for my 14" LX200GPS as part of the beta test group. I needed an excuse to test them to see how well they work (I'm very happy with them).

I took about 21Gb of video that morning. There have been some really good images of Jupiter recently posted on this forum, so I'll have to see how the data turns out. At any rate, here is a small sample.

Sunday morning, February 22, 2004.
14" LX200GPS UHTC
Philips ToUcam
Aligned, stacked and processed in Registax2

Thanks for looking.

Clear skies.

Derrick.

Good afternoon friends.

I am considering the purchase of a digital SLR that would be compatible for astrophotography. Clearly, the 10D is a very capable camera for astrophotography, but Nikon has also introduced the digital D70 with a CCD sensor which is more economical and has virtually the same dimensions (23.7 X 15.6mm) as opposed to Canon's 22.7 X 15.1mm. They appear to have approximately the same specs, although I don't know what the comparable S/N ratios would be, or how the D70 would test againts the proven 10D.

Has anybody used a Nikon D70 for astrophotography yet, or are there some other options out there that have produced respectable results?

Your comments would be appreciated.

Derrick.

Excellent image Eric.

Derrick.

OK. So I have decided the Canon 10D/Digital Rebel route (over the Nikon D70).

Now the big question is: will the Digital Rebel (300D) do astrophotography as well as the 10D? For those familiar with these two cameras, would the lack of a mirror lock up (among other minor differences) on the Rebel detract from its use for astrophotography when compared to the 10D? How does the CMOS sensor/noise processor in the Rebel compare to the 10D? I understand they are very similar - but are they? How much processing will be required when sing a DSLR as opposed to a dedicated Astro CCD? Any comments or information would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance to all.

By the way, thanks to all for the info on the last post a week or so ago.

Derrick.

Hello folks:

I own a 14" LX200GPS which I have been happily using (with no problems) for just over a year now. All has been working well... until Wednesday's eclipse. I had my telescope tracking the moon. I went inside for a short while and when I returned, I found the telescope had basically stopped tracking. The Autostar was displaying "Moon..." etc, but did not respond to any keystrokes. I re-booted the telescope, but it has since refused to spark to life. I hear the chirp when I turn it the telescope on, but the Autostar light quickly fades to dim (not off) and no message appears. I brought the telescope back inside and tried again in the morning. Essentially, the telescope no longer wants to fire up. I'm not sure what the problem is.

I'm aware that the Autostar II handbox for the LX200GPS, has no brains (unlike the Autostar 497 - which does). My first guess would be loose wiring, but I took the base plate off (I installed stainless steel gears last spring, so I'm reasonably familiar with this) to make sure there are no loose wires, etc. there aren't. My second step will be to find someone here in Edmonton (Canada) who also owns an LX200GPS to see if the problem isn't the Autostar handbox (i.e. if it works on another LX200GPS, I could rule out the Autostar as being at fault). Yes, I have called Meade, and yes, they suggest sending the scope to California for them to have a look at it... Did I mention it's about one month past the one year warranty? (Go figure)!

Obviously, the last thing I want to do is to ship the scope back (at my expense - along with $US350 for the "extended warranty"). At any rate, I'm throwing this out to see if anybody has had the same problem, and what their soulution might have been. (BTW I have always used the recommended #547 AC adapter).

Thanks for reading and I look forward to any replies.

Regards,

Sparky.

Hi Harold.

"Is this the end of Astronomy for me?"

Only you will know the answer to that question, but in learning that answer, you have probably satisfied your curiosity - and there is a great deal of value in that.

Derrick

They're both marvellous.

Derrick

Hello All.

It's been a while since I have posted anything. In view of the fine work everybody else does, I don't often have anything worth posting, so I thought I would re-process an image I acquired in the fall of 2003.

At the time, it didn't really look like much, but I've experimented considerably with image processing software and decided to give this one another go. I'm reasonably happy with the results, although I must admit it has been processed a lot!

14" LX200GPS unguided
Meade 416XTE
Composite of 3 images of each LRGB (30 second exposures).

Thanks for looking

Derrick

Absolutely spectacular, Damian!

Great stuff!

Derrick.

Good morning all

I'm always eager to admire the wonderful posts on my daily stop here at Astromart. I have posted here occasionally in the past, but I am always in awe of what the backyard amateur is capable of these days. My questions are as follows:

Firstly, I am interested in knowing what the best sub-exposure times for various types of images would be. i.e. It is apparent that good images require a lot of data, not uncommon to have 90 or 120 minutes luminance + Ha alone. From your experiences, what would the best sub-exposure times for the variuos types of objects be? (i.e. 10, 15, 20 minutes, etc.). Clearly, the longer the sub-exposure, the greater the risk of vibration degrading the image, etc.

Secondly, for imaging deep sky objects when there is a bit of haze caused by light pollution and the like, what would the best filter be? What are the best RGB and Ha filters?

Thirdly, I have a 14" LX200GPS that yields beautiful images visually. I have seen some pretty spectacular images on this website, but many are using some fairly high-end equipment - AP1200 and Millunium mounts, AP155's, etc, etc. Could somebody direct me to some really fine images taken using a Meade 14" LX200GPS? I am considering the purchase of an STL-11000, in hopes of getting some decent images, but I would first like to know if anyone has used an STL-11000 with a Meade 14" LX200GPS taken with the standard Meade mount. I don't want to invest the money in a fine CCD if the telescope is not up to the task. I have posted a quick image of M57 I took a couple of years ago using my 14" LX200GPS with a Meade 416XTE, unguided, no wedge, 5 X 30 second exposures for each LRGB (I suppose this would translate to LRGB 2.5:2.5:2.5:2.5 for a total exposure of a whopping 10 minutes).

Sorry for the long-winded post, but I'm looking forward to some expert advice.

Clears skies all.

Thanks for reading,
Derrick.
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada