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Posts Made By: Alexander DiNota

June 21, 2002 03:40 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

C8+ on an ultima 2k mount

Posted By Alexander DiNota
I have recently purchased a U2k mount that I mounted my C8+ classic orange OTA to. Celestron said this can not be done because of calibration errors but of course I did not listen to them. I did, however, notice that when I used the hand controller to set the 90 degree position for polar alignment on a wedge, the scope was not close to being parallelto the fork arms. The goto was not even close. When I eyeballed everything I was able to get objects in the FOV of a 25mm ep. Can someone tell me if it is possible to calibrate the encoders so I can get the alignment more accurate on a regular basis.
Thanks,
Alex

June 21, 2002 06:30 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

ultima 2000

Posted By Alexander DiNota
Does anyone know if the DEC encoder can be adjusted? Please will someone help me.
Alex

January 13, 2003 03:56 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

ultima 2000

Posted By Alexander DiNota
Has anyone else experienced drive failures with an Ultima 2000 under extreme cold conditions (around 10 degrees f)? I took out my scope for one of the rare clear New York nights this Saturday and the RA drive stopped. I knew the batteries were old so I connected a 12v power supply and still no luck. When I took the scope inside and replaced the batteries the drive resumed perfect operations. I thought the 12v ps was supposed to over ride the batteries.
Any information on this would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Alex

January 21, 2003 05:07 PM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Solar System

Saturn, my first of the New Year

Posted By Alexander DiNota
Well, The weather finaly broke in upstate New York and I was able to take the cob webs off my Ultima 2K. Sunday was about 10 degrees F and the night's sky rated about a 2. I tried my luck with Saturn anyway. I used a VestaPro to take 5 fifteen second videos. I processed the best 2 videos through Registax. The resulting two images were then run through Astrostack. Comments are always welcome. Thanks for looking.
Better skies for all,
Alex

August 26, 2003 10:07 PM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Solar System

Mars 8-24-03

Posted By Alexander DiNota
Well the clouds parted in New York for a brief time so I tried my luck with Mars. The Sky was pretty turbulent. Most of the time Mars looked like someone trying to escape from a balloon.
This was taken with a Classic C8 mounted on An Ultima 2000 mount @ f20 and a Vesta Pro. I picked the best frames from multiple videos and stacked and processed them using Registax. Not great but its a start.

October 3, 2005 02:53 PM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Solar System

Mars

Posted By Alexander DiNota
Hi All,

Saturday night was the first time I was able to get out and try my luck with Mars. Good viewing starts at 1:00 am. My collimation is a little off so I will give it another go. This is taken with a Classic C8+ and Vesta PRO, 220 from 900 images under light polluted Westchester, NY skys. Can anyone tell me what the difference between the Vesta Pro and Toucam is? Thanks for looking.
Alex

June 24, 2002 03:58 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Astroshops

Posted By Alexander DiNota
you can try apogee inc. The owners name is Jason. He is a really great guy that will try to work with you. They sell name brand equipment(tele vue, celestron, meade etc.) as well as surplus stuff. There web site is www.apogeeinc.com.

July 30, 2002 07:04 PM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Solar System

SAC IVc Color CCD Camera ???

Posted By Alexander DiNota
Tom,
Why go for the sacIVc? It is only a planetary camera. I have the latest deep sky SAC7 camera that I would like to sell for only $100 more. This is SAC's latest camera for deep sky imaging. The camera is brand new. I bought it a month ago. I have to sell to pay off some other bills that have crept up. If you are interested in discussing this matter further, please call me at 914-739-4640 or e-mail me at [email protected] If you e-mail me I will get back to you on Thursday

December 13, 2002 04:50 PM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Solar System

old orange tube c14 fork-mount tracking error?

Posted By Alexander DiNota
Lonnie,
If I am not mistaken, ccdops, SBIG's software, allows a user to track and accumulate. That is, you can take multiple exposures in whatever duration, in seconds, you set the camera to and the software combines the exposures. This would be like taking one long exposure. I agree with you, a 5 minute unguided exposure is probably wishful thinking however, most mounts can track for for at least 30 seconds without a problem. If you perform a drift polar alignment, I'm sure you could track for longer. The ST237A is a great introductory camera. I have seen many excellent images taken with it using a color filter wheel and LRGB processing. I suggest you contact SBIG. Their tech support guys are great. They can answer all you questions with authority. Good luck
Alex

December 20, 2002 02:12 PM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Solar System

anyone using a Philips Vesta PCVC675K for...

Posted By Alexander DiNota
Larry,
Here is a picture of Clavius from a C8+ classic mounted to an Ultima drive using the Vesta Pro. This image is a combination of two of the best images taken from a 20 second avi. Registered using Astrostack and slight processing with Microsoft Photo Editor.

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