Posts Made By: John Theodossy

Here's the deal, I am looking for an inexpensive way to put a PST on a tracking mount. Meade factory outlet is dumping the last of their ETX60s and ETX70s for pretty cheap. Add another $50 for a piggyback ring from scopetronix and maybe another $50 for a white light solar filter it gets to about $200-$250 to get the PST on a tracking mount. So a couple questions:
1. Does this make sense, or is it really a waste of time to have the PST on a tracking mount. I would like to do some imaging through the scope as well (so far just visual use)
2. Will the these scopes/mounts carry the PST? I had an ETX125 for a long time, but am not sure how robust are these smaller versions.
3. Given the intended use, is there any reason to pay extra for the 70 vs the 60?

(OK that's 3 questions)

Thanks
John

Hi all,
While imaging around NGC 3718 and Hickson 56 I picked-up something I cannot identify. Below is a single 5 minute sub exposure with the item in question marked. It is present on all the subs. Is this some sort of lens flare? Image is from a FLI 1024, Tak Mewlon 300, clear filter captured remotely.

Thanks
John

Hi all,
Has anyone added wheels to their LX200 tripod (similar to the ScopeRollers)? I have only seen the "platform" style for the LX200 (i.e. Scopebuggy, JMI wheelies, and some nice homemade projects). Unfortunately, I don't think these will work well for me and I am looking for a way to get the rig on wheels without adding too much weight. Here's my situation, I currently keep the scope inside and have to get it down 2 steps getting from inside to outside. Once outside, much of my yard is not level (not huge hills, but just "unlevel" enough to require adjusting the tripod legs differently with each set-up). So my concern is that even if I move the scope from the house to the garage for storage(although I'd rather keep it inside}, I still have the leveling problem. I know I could take rig on and off of the platform, it seems the hassle factor then stays the same as just carrying everything outside and I'm looking to ease the hassle. Any ideas other than wheels on the tripod would also be appreciated, and sorry for the rambling question.

Thanks
John

Hi all,

It seems that things have been pretty quiet on the "new thing" front for awhile. Yea I know there are always some new gadgets coming out, but no "revolutionary" things for awhile. A few years ago the GOTO scopes had a big impact, and more recently the low cost ccd imaging devices surged. For awhile I thought binoviewers might become the new hot items, but these seem to be more of a smoldering item rather than setting things on fire.

So what does everyone think will be the next truly HUGE thing?

Hi all,
About 15 hours of data and several years of experience short of Richard Crisp's, but I was happy with the result anyway
Total time about 2 hours, H-SHO through a Tak Epsilon 250, SBIG ST-10XME. Aligned in Registar, tweaked in Photoshop.

John

Just to continue the theme, here's another of NGC281 in narrowband (SHO), the pastels suggest Ms. Pacman to me.

Hi all,
Most narrowband images we obtain are displayed using false color mapping, with the Hubble palette (SII=red, Ha=green, OIII=blue) being the most common and familiar. I have also tried mapping using the Canadian-France-Hawaii Team palette (Ha=red, OIII=green, SII=blue) and to CMYK for fun. What I have not been able to get quite right is mapping to the actual narrowband wavelengths (SII 673nm etc) to create an image that is more of a "true color" of the wavelengths captured with these filters. I've tried various techniques in Photoshop without much success. I do realize both the SII and Ha are in the red, and perhaps they are too close to make this kind of thing work.

Curious as to whether anyone else has tried this and if so, what did you do.

Thanks
John

Below "Pacman" narrowband mapped to CMY (OIII, SII, Ha)

Hi all,
Here's a less commonly seen composition of a familiar target.
About 2 hours of M42 H-SHO; Tak Mewlon 300 with SBIG ST8 remotely controlled (GRAS)
Let me know what you think.
Thanks

I use an eye patch and think it helps. While viewing it does keep me from squinting, although I still tend to close the non-viewing eye, but not as tightly as when not using the eye patch. I also use it to cover up my viewing eye when I have to get up to look for something, particularly if I need to go to an area the has a street-light, or in the house. In these cases it helps keep from completely losing dark adapted pupil. For $3, if it doesn't work for you, you'll at least have part of a halloween costume.

John

Check-out the book by Michael Covington (Astrophotography for the Amateur). The appendicies have all the information you are interested in, including things like exposure times for different objects at different focal lengths, tracking tolerances at differnet focal lengths, etc. Very readable style (IMO)