Ritchey–Chrétien enjoyers thread

[tight lodge]

why would you taste a wet ashtray?

[high aspen]

was drunk

was 2 years ago too

[tight lodge]

are you from a baltic country or east european?

[high aspen]

uk

[harsh matrix]

yes

it's painful

but it is possible

[digital nexus]

What FL did you use it at

[harsh matrix]

Around 1087 mm

You're going to want to make sure you have a darks library set up for it

And dont expect to ever be guiding on more than one star if you are lucky

I used my 120 MM Mini at 95 gain with a darks library and tried to avoid guiding faster than 1.5s subs for the best chance of getting a guide star.

[runic violet]

Ngl wouldn't buy that for $100

When you can save that money for something slightly more expensive and much better

[digital nexus]

I already said I would so I’m not going to back out now.

If I upgrade to another guide cam, il use this one for my guide scope on my Askar 71f.

[harsh matrix]

im nervous af rn

we are stacking some M81/M82 lum from the quatt

w/ flats

I was right to be nervous

every square inch of the quattro is flocked

how does this remain possible

😭

[digital nexus]

looks good enough

[harsh matrix]

naaaaah

this is 16.5 minutes

if i stacked hours and hours of this

it would be a complete nightmare

[digital nexus]

don’t know til u try

[harsh matrix]

yes I do

I know how this goes

[frosty shard]

because it's not an RC

[harsh matrix]

nah

my RC is having issues too

[frosty shard]

Beyond the reducer?

[harsh matrix]

yes

[tall summit]

@digital nexus so far super happy with the 60mm guide scope upgrade

[digital nexus]

nice. I’m testing my 50mm guide scope tomorrow

Depending how it goes, il try the OAG I’m getting

[tall summit]

Big chnaces are you gonna need some weight at the front of the OTA

[digital nexus]

Why

[tall summit]

They are pretty back heavy, dec balancing

[digital nexus]

I don’t bother to balance

[tall summit]

Oh, nvm, i forgot you have harmon8c

[digital nexus]

il move it far up the bar to try and have it close to balance but it’ll be fine

Like I know this was not balanced at all

Long ass dovetail

[harsh matrix]

If anything you want to push that up to avoid a tripod collision

[digital nexus]

yea

That was just to put it on quickly, I never planned on imaging with it that low

[harsh matrix]

Good

[tall summit]

Damn, I am getting my best guiding ever

[harsh matrix]

@tight lodge

This is how it is rn

I put in a 2" eyepiece and I see a Hotspot reflection

It moves to the opposite side of wherever my eye goes.

Actually the eyepiece revealed something eerily similar to what im seeing in the flats

If i pull my head back, away from the eyepiece, I see a similar series of concentric rings

One or 2 of those rings is a reflection of the glowing tube interior above.

It looks identical to that top right photo

The result is an unevenly illuminated eyepiece

Uhhhh

Its the entire baffle tube thats glowing

@frosty shard this seems to be the issue

Actually that may be correctable

The reflection at the tip of the drawtube that I can see definitely wont correct 💀

That needs to be addressed beyond a doubt.

@tight lodge this drawtube is extremely reflective. Blindingly so. @frosty shard you should know this too since you have this focuser. You should probably flock the inside of it.

That thing in there shining like the sun is the inside of the drawtube of the focuser

[frosty shard]

How does this keep happening...

like honestly

you would think attentuating reflections like this would be the #1 priority

[harsh matrix]

Guess not

Anyway i painted the mirror retaining ring

The inside of it

[tight lodge]

Dude! I'm getting the same artifact somehow

Someone found out this when processing my images

[harsh matrix]

It's 90% likely to be the coma corrector

The paint is not completely dry and its already much darker

[tight lodge]

I'm gonna experiment a bit this weekend and try to figure out what causes it

[tight lodge]

That's much better

[harsh matrix]

Same here

[harsh matrix]

Its not apples to apples with the test i did while in my room but its close enough that I would see something had I not painted it.

Its on this end where it really matters too

Not really just the secondary mirror

[tight lodge]

The thing is, I haven't taken flats yet with the new flat pannel position. Now is a bit further from the secondary mirror

[harsh matrix]

It wont matter much if the light pollution is bad enough

I had a dew shield on my quattro all night last night

I took flats with the shield in the exact same position and they still failed.

[tight lodge]

Probably it matter when the light from the flat pannel doesn't enter the focuser drawtube directly

Kinda look like those internal reflections from Digitized Sky survey

When I take Flats in NB, I keep getting these artifacts

You can see there's one right over NGC206, and another one between the core and M32

[harsh matrix]

Yikes

[tight lodge]

The thing is, they appear only if I take Flats with a narrowband filter.

That's why I don't take Flats for NB

In broadband they get corrected

[harsh matrix]

Hmmmm

Thats sus

[tight lodge]

Very

[harsh matrix]

If these parts i painted remain reflective, im going to flock them

I want to paint the drawtube but I think flocking is a better idea

[tight lodge]

Main concern is the paint flaking

[harsh matrix]

Same

This stuff does flake

But the farther up in the optical train i put it, the less of an opportunity it has to impact my imaging

Thats why I put it up near the baffle tube vs all the way down the drawtube.

If you apply it right it doesnt flake and come off on its own

[harsh matrix]

You tell me

Are we collimated or not

I brought the reflections into focus by accident

Lmao

I got a photo of the light diode

In my desk lamp

[high aspen]

pretty!

[tight lodge]

About as good as hubble after it's launch

[harsh matrix]

Um guys @tight lodge @frosty shard , it could actually be impossible to get a perfectly flat field with a reducer on the RC, specifically with the 571

It would be fine with the 533

the reason being that the edges of the 571 will receive light from the primary mirror not once, but twice.

or more specifically, near the edges

because the light cone is probably being cut off thanks to the M42 back on the Apex, it's possible that there's hard light fall off there, and then the sudden bright ridge I was observing is from the primary, and after that is the light from the secondary

it's a complete mess

[high aspen]

buh

[tight lodge]

Hear me out. CCD with bug fat pixels and you shoot at native fl

[harsh matrix]

true

except not a CCD

they will stink in my light pollution

i can just bin

[tight lodge]

Hardware binning is better

[harsh matrix]

true

[high aspen]

have you heard of the 9um pixel cmos soeson

sensor

[tight lodge]

Complementary Metal-Oxide Bricks? 😂

[high aspen]

yup

[sinful sapphire]

It’s in the player one Apollo camera

Apollo-M Max I believe

[high aspen]

apllenamingchene

[sterile pendant]

We can also use charge-domain binning sensors. It give a fair pixel size at the end

[tight lodge]

I got the biggest pixel here

[sterile pendant]

Like this one :
https://www.highpointscientific.com/qhy530m-pro-ii-mono-scientific-camera-with-imx530-sensor
But not for every budget

https://eu.lunaticoastro.com/product/qhy5iii568/

[sterile pendant]

"Unlike Most CMOS cameras, the QHY5III568M/C camera supports charge-domain binning (FD Binning)"

https://s1-dl.theimagingsource.com/api/2.5/packages/publication/sensor-sony/imx568-aamj/bea26dba-3f25-53d5-9585-ff39de9956f9/imx568-aamj_1.0.en_US.pdf

Or this one :
https://www.qhyccd.com/scientific-camera-qhy811pro/

They are the few possibilities to use only one sensor with RC in deep space and planetary

[sterile pendant]

The last one is more overkill than something else 😂

[tight lodge]

This is a sign that none of us can afford it

[sterile pendant]

Do you have a soul ?

[tight lodge]

Nope. I sold it to Satan

[digital nexus]

Do I even try tonight

[sterile pendant]

Go to sell your kidneys so 😂

[tight lodge]

I don't think they are usable anymore

[sterile pendant]

Damn, so, not for you I guess

[tall summit]

Star-test it!

[digital nexus]

but it’s gonna be cold

5f at the lowest

I really don’t know how I feel about using small hex keys to try and collimate in 5F

[digital nexus]

Hold on

[tall summit]

at least so you know where you stand

[digital nexus]

Do I need to have anything setup to collimate it?

Can I just have it sit on my star tracker?

I don’t need tracking right?

[tall summit]

I mean, tracking would help honestly

[digital nexus]

Just point it at Polaris or something

[tall summit]

defocused star will be moving out constantly

or that, yes

Polaris

[digital nexus]

Polaris won’t move much

I don’t have anything setup for this

I don’t even know what il need for focus

I guess id be able to setup

I don’t have guiding ready though…. I guess that would be fine?

[tall summit]

maybe try daytime on something far away to get rough idea of the focus

[tall summit]

yeah, tracking is good

[digital nexus]

If I get home soon enough

[digital nexus]

so no guiding would be fine

I was planning on testing the 50mm tonight but this weather is too poor

can’t wait to try and collimate with small hex keys in freezing weather

Love it

Great suggestion

[tall summit]

Well, gotta be done at some point, and its not getting any warmer lol

[digital nexus]

Actually I live in Pennsylvania and Pennsylvania is bipolar and the weather will rapidly and randomly change

It could be 40F next week and u wouldn’t be suprised

[tall summit]

we are close, NJ

[digital nexus]

Sorry to hear that

Off brand PA

[tall summit]

If I didn't move from NY during pandemic, there would have been no astro for me 🙂

[digital nexus]

Y

[tall summit]

NYC sky is ROUGH

[digital nexus]

Oh you were in nyc

Makes sense

Isn’t NJ pretty bad too?

[tall summit]

It is

I am in B7

[digital nexus]

Ouch

[tall summit]

yeah, its no Poconos

[high aspen]

smol

[digital nexus]

Im near Pittsburgh

High B5

[tight lodge]

@harsh matrix I found out that my backfocus is 56mm instead of 55🤣

[candid flame]

because filter?

[tight lodge]

Yep. All this time I had the correct 56mm backfocus thinking that i have 55

[harsh matrix]

Lol

[tight lodge]

https://tenor.com/view/bob-ross-happy-accidents-gif-7215839

[digital nexus]

Camera is attached @tall summit @harsh matrix @frosty shard

Now the question is… will it reach focus

Why’s it so long

[harsh matrix]

Idk

Doesn't need to go that far out to reach focus though

[digital nexus]

its can draw out 4"

not bad

[stiff mason]

Noo not the red cam

Booo red cam we don't like red cam

[digital nexus]

yea yea

if anyone turned down the used deal i got, they need to reevaluate themselves in an asylum

[stiff mason]

Ohh you got it used

Then that changes things

[digital nexus]

$450 for a 533mc, with filter drawer and L-Enhance

like come on

thats a steal

[stiff mason]

Yes

Its a robbery

[digital nexus]

im sellin the L-Enhance too now

cause i just bought the 3nm sv220

[stiff mason]

Nice

Tell me it's quality once you get a picture

[digital nexus]

All the reviews I’ve seen say it’s good

[frosty shard]

it's quality once you get a picture

[oblique sun]

So the filter improves its own quality every time you take an image with it?

you should take a video and get the best filter on the planet

[stiff mason]

Tell me the quality of the filter once you use the filter and capture an image with it

[frosty shard]

the quality of the filter once you use the filter and capture an image with it

[stiff mason]

Pray, speak of the filter's virtue, when thine eye hath employ 'd it and caught the image.

Doesnt get any better than that

[quartz meadow]

Have you had the opportunity to collimate it yet?

[digital nexus]

no

I was going to do it last night but it was 7F so I decided that wasn’t a good idea

[quartz meadow]

think your hands thanked you for that decision

[digital nexus]

yea I tried lunar instead

not fun

il wait until I can do it tracked

[quartz meadow]

like how fast did it drift out of view?

[digital nexus]

I did it with my f/5 6” dob

Focusing sucked cause it’s a crappy helical focuser

[quartz meadow]

f/5 was like 750mm FL, right?

[digital nexus]

yea

[digital nexus]

Can I collimate it with a Collimation cap?

Just to get a rough Collimation

[tall summit]

rough yes, just make everything center and symentrical as far as you can

[digital nexus]

Are there any knobs I can buy to make it easier so I don’t need to use small ass hex keys?

[tall summit]

yeah,, Bob's Knobs its called

[digital nexus]

For primary mirror too?

[tall summit]

No, I dont think so, at least I am not aware of the set

[digital nexus]

I tried to get focus today, I got close but it still was blurry

Backfocus maybe?

[tall summit]

if you dont use reducer backfocus doesnt apply to you

[digital nexus]

the focuser was out like 3.25 inches

I’m guessing it’ll get smaller once I add the OAG

[tall summit]

no extension rings, right?

[digital nexus]

I had 2 and a filter drawer

[quartz meadow]

for rough collimation? yes

[digital nexus]

yea rough so it’s not completed fu cked when I go outside

[quartz meadow]

Muon

[high aspen]

yup

[tall summit]

Here is where my focus is roughly from ota, without reducer I remember needing another 2" ext ring

[digital nexus]

I’m talking about from the actual focuser

It had to go to 6

I added 1 more extension than is in this pic

[quartz meadow]

wait how much backspace is necessary?

[digital nexus]

¯_(ツ)_/¯

[tall summit]

our focusers are different, but we should be roughly same distance between Ota and Cam

[tall summit]

this doesnt look right

[digital nexus]

¯_(ツ)_/¯

Could it not have been far enough

It was about 225 feet away

[quartz meadow]

I guess it's fine as long as it reaches focus but I'm thinking about tilt

[digital nexus]

I can add another m70 extension thing

[high aspen]

do you have 2 parabolic mirrors (when perfectly spaced the light will be parallel)

[digital nexus]

What

[high aspen]

twas joke :c

ill bring up fancy rays

[high aspen]

you could kinda use this as an eyepeice

miror ony eyepeice would be cool

@frosty shard i broked it 😭

infinite fl

[mortal vale]

Bro I have the same PFP on my account lmao

[digital nexus]

what

[mortal vale]

Though taken by me ofc (sorry for the off topic, found it real cool)

[digital nexus]

but your profile picture is the heart nebula

[mortal vale]

Google profile, but we still got the same object as our PFP, just a different app :)

[harsh matrix]

I forgot to put cone neb in here

I 2x drizzled it after processing this and it looked great

I think I will 2x drizzle a bit more with this camera

[desert locust]

holy sharpness

[harsh matrix]

@frosty shard I flocked the focuser and drawtube

You quite literally cant see it anymore

You cant see the drawtube from the camera side either.

I know it shouldnt be necessary but I dont want to take any chances, I am going to flock the inside of the baffle tubes too.

We are going all out.

[digital nexus]

how are you flocking it

[harsh matrix]

I got a bunch of sheets of flocking material off of Amazon and im cutting them to size and carefully attaching them to their intended spots

[harsh matrix]

Flocking complete

I used my skills from getting an A in Geometry to get near exact measurments

I threw in extra material everywhere because I dont want to understood since fixing that is harder than leaving in a little extra

Honestly if this doesnt fix my issues, theres something seriously wrong

[high aspen]

floofy nebler

[harsh matrix]

1 after and 2 before, @frosty shard this is definitely worth while doing

[frosty shard]

That looks like the contents of my soul after grad school

[high aspen]

gon?

[harsh matrix]

lum flat v Ha flat after flocking the ever living hell out of everything

okay that's a pretty big difference tbh, before and after

WAIT

THIS IS WHAT WAS SHOWING UP IN MY LIGHTS

I subtracted the new flat from the old

it left all of the extra light

this is the nasty crap that was ending up in my final images

[tight lodge]

weird how flats look like a bumb map

[harsh matrix]

yeah ik

i dont know why that is still

i thought all the ringing would be gone but nope

[tight lodge]

I got one of these for my Samy as well

[harsh matrix]

i should probably sell my roki and buy a canon EF mount roki instead

that way i can get one of those adapters

i cant install one of those on my current roki

[tight lodge]

do it

[tight lodge]

which one do you have?

[harsh matrix]

i lost the spring for the aperture actuator

[harsh matrix]

Micro 4/3 mount

somebody online 3D prints adapters

[tight lodge]

mine is 100% manual. aint got nothing but mechanical parts inside

[harsh matrix]

maybe i should just buy his

[harsh matrix]

mine is too

[tight lodge]

ahhh, the 30$ Etsy adapter

almost bought that one by accident

[harsh matrix]

it's 80 💀

i wish it was that cheap

[tight lodge]

WTF!

[harsh matrix]

[tight lodge]

i payed 40$ for the CNC Machined one

[harsh matrix]

exactly

btw here's the lum from the last night i used the scope with the new flats

all that's leftover is that extra light from reflections

it looks identical to that subtracted image above

i think this could work

what have i done

[tight lodge]

oh, you just reminded me that i have to trouvleshoot my flats as well

[high aspen]

blakhol

[tight lodge]

What's your ADU level that you go for your flats?

[tight lodge]

@harsh matrix any idea why the SII,Ha and R have such an aggressive vignetting?

[tight lodge]

@harsh matrix did flats do more harm than good? XD

[high aspen]

woaw

geem ir stars

@frosty shard https://www.firstlightoptics.com/uv-ir-filters/sightron-ir720-125-ir-pass-filter.html

probably gonna get this filter

to do triband ir

[tight lodge]

How are you gonna prevent the filters fro overlapping in the long wavelengths?

[high aspen]

ill have to account for that + my cams qe dropoff

ive done it successfully with my orion image

and with stars

stars are the easiest tho xD

[tight lodge]

I have solution for you. SLOAN i', z'-s', y'

[high aspen]

money :(

ill upgrade to them later

[high aspen]

blue is ir

[crisp flower]

@frosty shard what do u think of this slightly weird m82?

[high aspen]

geemicus

[quartz meadow]

green

green is always welcome

[crisp flower]

Gween indeed 😄

Needs loads more of Integration tho

[frosty shard]

Baller. Is that HaIRG

[crisp flower]

Worse actually xD
Its IrHaR with some curves to make the Image less Red Overall because the ir dominated quite a bit

[frosty shard]

Relevant
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DR7m8brjsWu/

jorgelo24

Chat, can you relate? 🫵🏻🤓

My guitar is a @schecterguitarsofficial C-1 SLS Hollywood.
The audio is the @shanemgillis SNL monologue about Greenland.

#metalmemes #guitarmemes #memes

Likes

799

Instagram

[digital nexus]

OAG acquired

[tight lodge]

Welcome to the gang

[tall summit]

Started setting up and shooting a few days ago-all my stars were triagngular/pyramid shape. Freaked me out, thought it got bumped or something. Turns out I just didnt give it enough time to cool down:)

So happy i have a carbon version of this thing, with quartz mirror. I can see this being a big issue and people needing eaf

[quartz meadow]

very cool

[high aspen]

https://youtu.be/9D93CsPYy_Q

new astrolavista vido!!!!

[high aspen]

its 4.5 kg w-out any addons

[harsh matrix]

Oh wow

I had no idea he had any interest in the RC's

[high aspen]

neither

im so proud of him

[harsh matrix]

That happens to me a lot too

[frosty shard]

I hit him with the copypasta

[high aspen]

[harsh matrix]

I cannot understand for the life of me why they still include that focuser on brand new RC's

[runic violet]

Didn't you like the newer ones?

[harsh matrix]

It's not the one I like, it's the one that came with my RC8 that you had.

They still put THAT ONE on new RC's. 💀

[runic violet]

Didn't you get a different one with your 6" RC or something

Or are you saying the newt focusers are the good ones

[harsh matrix]

Yeah it came with a different one

It was a revamped version of what came on my RC8

[runic violet]

So what is this random assortment or something

Spin the wheel to see if you get shit or not shit focuser

Or is it just the RC6 that get good focusers

Or just carbonstars

[harsh matrix]

It looks like it is just carbonstars that get the good ones

[runic violet]

As an aside my frac has a focuser again, and it's not GSO lol

[harsh matrix]

Literally just the carbonstars

[harsh matrix]

Looks like a jank feather touch

[runic violet]

JMI lol

More similar to a moonlite though, could pass for one

[harsh matrix]

@digital nexus his suggestion about how to collimate is what I did with my RC6 and 8 before I decoupled the 8

The procedure isn't that straightforward though

[harsh matrix]

I use Nina auto exposure

It picks around 32k/being 50% histogram

It aims for a 10% total delta around that 32k ADU figure

[harsh matrix]

Well all of your filters have vignetting.

I think the reason it looks much worse on the narrowband filters is because they let in fsr less light than the broadband filters and so the center collects much more light than the corners and the STF makes it look much worse than it is.

[harsh matrix]

I smell skill issue

[digital nexus]

So just collimate the secondary first?

I got no idea what the Collimation state of my rc6 is, since it was shipped and the previous owner. Not to mention I tightened the Collimation screw so it’s probably all messed up

[harsh matrix]

Pretty much ONLY

[digital nexus]

what about that DSI method

[harsh matrix]

He said absolutely do not use a Cheshire

[digital nexus]

I don’t have a Cheshire

[harsh matrix]

If a cheshire eyepiece doesnt work that means a laser wont either.

And btw

[digital nexus]

I don’t have a laser 😭

[harsh matrix]

A laser didnt work for me

So dont use a laser either

[digital nexus]

I have a Collimation cap

[harsh matrix]

DEFINITELY not then.

[digital nexus]

bruh

I thought I could for a rough Collimation

Before going outside for star test

[harsh matrix]

Sure you can

But absolutely not for final adjustments or even for decent collimation

[digital nexus]

Since I messed up the Collimation the previous owner had, I’d like to just check first

[harsh matrix]

You have to make final adjustments on a star in all cases or you will have suboptimal collimation.

[digital nexus]

It’s like 7F constantly now, so I’m not too keen on collimating rn

I need an Alan wrench screw driver or something so I don’t need to use those little metal things

[harsh matrix]

Yes Allen wrenches help a lot

[digital nexus]

Should I buy those Bob’s knobs

[harsh matrix]

No

They don't hold collimation very well on these RC's, supposedly.

What I can tell you is mine holds with the stock screws even with me banging the scope around by accident and stuff.

Hell

I just took it apart completely, 3 times, and it still held collimation.

I wouldnt surrender this crazy level of stability over ease of use since I don't have to collimate every day or week.

Btw for the secondary and more or less in general, a metric Allen key multi tool is really nice.

Plus the bulkier size makes it way easier to hold onto when collimating.

It virtually erases the possibility of you dropping it into the tube so long as you have steady hands and a good grip.

[digital nexus]

yea il end up dropping one of those and hit the mirror

[harsh matrix]

Btw the DSI method is what makes people complain about how hard RC's are to collimate.

It's that fiddling with the primary and secondary mirror action just to realize that the reason they cant get precise alignment of their laser or Cheshire with the spot on the secondary is because the primary mirror and focuser are fixed to one another.

[digital nexus]

I thought you liked the DSI method

[harsh matrix]

That's what frustrates people and makes them give up.

Absolutely not.

[digital nexus]

bruh

[harsh matrix]

I do star collimation exclusively.

[digital nexus]

Doesn’t the DSI method use a star

[digital nexus]

So you just collimate like a newt?

[runic violet]

?

[runic violet]

The DSI method is star collimation pretty much

This conversation is very confusing

[harsh matrix]

No im sorry

[digital nexus]

thats what I thought

[runic violet]

If you do DSI while being unaware of your coupled primary then yes you'll be very confused

[harsh matrix]

I used the Google ai summary to find out what it was

[runic violet]

....

[harsh matrix]

Because the website wont load

I cant get the page to work.

[digital nexus]

How does it change, mine is coupled

[harsh matrix]

💀

[runic violet]

You have very little control over your primary and tilt

[digital nexus]

How badly did I mess up tightening the Collimation screw to hold the mirror in place

[runic violet]

I just wouldn't bother a whole lot with them and just get the secondary to do the best you can

[harsh matrix]

There's 2 versions of it, that's why im confused.

There's a cheshire/laser method and a star method. It's the cheshire/laser method you want to avoid like the plague.

[runic violet]

Cheshires work fine especially if you're severely out of collimation

If you're severely out of collimation it's pretty much the only way you'll get back

[harsh matrix]

Check with a cap ig

[harsh matrix]

Thanks

[digital nexus]

I can check that indoors, lemme Do that rq

[harsh matrix]

Cause I couldn't get it to work on my dumb phone

[digital nexus]

I’m on my phone

[runic violet]

My only issue with cheshires is they aren't very accurate at least to the precision required by RCs

But they are useful especially in that situation when you bork the collimation completely

Or you have cleaned the mirrors and put them back and now everything is whack

I do think lasers are pretty silly though

Very low on information content there

[harsh matrix]

Well mine is special.

It hates cooperating.

[runic violet]

All the laser can really help you with is making sure the secondary is vaguely pointed at the focuser

[harsh matrix]

This is one good reason why cheshires/lasers are not great for precise collimation.

I essentially did the procedure with an OCAL once and that went over poorly.

My primary was so far off that the star looked like a circle with a giant notch in it.

[runic violet]

Huh?

Collimation telescopes are completely irrelevant here

[harsh matrix]

Not that part specifically

The part about the dot not being the optical center is the point

[runic violet]

That's true but it's pretty close in that the field won't be completely whack

[harsh matrix]

Lol

[runic violet]

As for cheshires it's irrelevant cause you're not using that mark anyways

[harsh matrix]

Mine was completely wack

[runic violet]

Idk what you're doing with an ocal

[harsh matrix]

I was essentially collimating it like a newt

Trying to get a bunch of concentric rings

[runic violet]

But a Cheshire is the only way besides basically a random walk to fix complete misalignment

[harsh matrix]

This was back when I still had the 6 though

I wanted to see if I could find a collimation method to use during the day time.

That's the last time I ever attempted such a thing.

[runic violet]

Yeah you don't use a Cheshire to get to a state of precise alignment

Its just a saving grace

[runic violet]

Yeah... Nah

[harsh matrix]

[runic violet]

To make an analogy, a laser is a compass, a Cheshire a polar scope, and star alignment phd2 drift align

Or maybe cheshires are a bit more like tppa

[digital nexus]

@harsh matrix @runic violet

Best I can do on my phone

The circle is up to the right

[runic violet]

Looks fine, now point it at stars

[digital nexus]

in a few months once the weather stops playing

[runic violet]

Sad

Till then not much to do

[digital nexus]

I can see a bit of reflection on the bottom left

[runic violet]

Unless you get yourself an artificial star

[digital nexus]

Like silver

[digital nexus]

I can make one but I’ve heard those aren’t great

Isn’t it just like paper and a little flashlight

[runic violet]

Artificial stars are fine you just need one below your diffraction limit

[digital nexus]

and how can I do that

[runic violet]

A proper one is from a precise pinhole that's like tens or hundreds of microns in size

[digital nexus]

I messed with the secondary, got the circle pretty close to the middle

@harsh matrix Does your RC look like this too?

[harsh matrix]

No

[digital nexus]

oh

Wonder what happened then

[harsh matrix]

Face the sun

[harsh matrix]

It looks like styrofoam from shipping

Imo

Normally the particles are not that small though

[digital nexus]

idk

I’m sure it’s not big deal

[harsh matrix]

This is mine

From a couple of months ago but I keep my stuff in good shape, so it's the same now as then.

I should get some swag shots of my RC

[undone sedge]

i have two* cameras

one (well, two) to take photos with my telescopes

and another to take photos of the telescopes

[digital nexus]

How do you store your rc. On the front or side

[harsh matrix]

I keep it flat on the dovetail if it is ever not on the mount.

On the losmandy though

[digital nexus]

so not vertical like I have it

[harsh matrix]

The vixen is too thin and the thing can roll over.

Correct

[digital nexus]

I don’t have a losmandy on mine. I’m guessing it’s not as much of a concern on the 6 though

[harsh matrix]

It can be if you have it loaded

Otherwise, no.

[digital nexus]

I have an OAG and guide scope on my Askar lol

double the guide power

[harsh matrix]

Btw brainandforce is the one that likes DSI method

I technically use it but I didnt know thats what it was called and I definitely dont follow any guides

[digital nexus]

Well now you have the guide

[frosty shard]

Bob's Knobs also do not give you sufficient precision when collimating an RC, that's the other big issue

[harsh matrix]

Oh thats very true

[frosty shard]

You're way better off with an Allen key

[harsh matrix]

I forgot I can't make fine adjustments on my quattro

Every time I turn the Bob's knobs on my quatt, it makes huge adjustments since the force required to overcome the pressure of the other 2 screws will throw the tilt way off.

[harsh matrix]

@tight lodge no cone neb tonight 😭

The moon is practically on top of it and my filters are NOT that good.

Man

That makes me sad

I was looking forward to shooting it again.

My OAG is much more evenly illuminated

[harsh matrix]

not looking good

im going to see if i can salvage it

[harsh matrix]

wait

guys

we may have salvaged it

i dunno what this thing is

probably the dew heater or something

i have a dew heater and dew shield on because it's extremely wet outside for no particular reason

[tight lodge]

But idk if you noticed, but those that have the darker vignetting are the R, Ha and SII Filters. The OIII, B and green are totally fine

[tight lodge]

ooooo, dirty optics

[high aspen]

@tight lodge the yellow is due to 850nm

but the red channel is linked to 685 nm

fixed

[crisp flower]

Dont make me want to Switch my lum Filter for the 742nm again

[tight lodge]

run continuum subtraction on 685 using 850 as reference

[high aspen]

bleh

okie

[high aspen]

i forgor to align them

[tight lodge]

[high aspen]

here u go

[tight lodge]

now channel combine it with the 850

[high aspen]

nah

amma subtract visible from it too

muehehehhehehe

[tight lodge]

Do you have luminance

[high aspen]

yea

heres w-out lum subtract

[tight lodge]

Hmmmm

[high aspen]

look dat core detail

[tight lodge]

Ok, pixelmath the 850 with R and 685 with G

[high aspen]

whyyy

okay

[tight lodge]

Because you're working with multiple channels😅

[high aspen]

why not map them to gold and lime

:(

[tight lodge]

Because using pixelmath to add data to certain areas of the red channel makes them glow stronger

[high aspen]

how i do then

i feel im doing it wrong

[tight lodge]

something like
R + .75 * NIR850
G + .60 * NIR685

[high aspen]

do i put that in the g and b box or the paramaters?

[tight lodge]

yes, but you have to change the NIR850 and NIR685 to whatever you named yours as

[high aspen]

done but when i click apply it doesnt do anything

i was looking at the wrong window 😭

uhh

now i have alignment issues

how do i align the channels 😭

[frosty shard]

This clip might end up in a music video btw

[tight lodge]

Astrobackyard type B-roll? 😂

[frosty shard]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rI4PE95KIGU
This song is getting a music video with user submitted clips and photos

[high aspen]

attention

[harsh matrix]

YUMMY

the RC8 still actively has issues despite the painstaking work ive put in

turns out the focuser was playing a major role

it's not entirely fixed despite everything ive tried

I think my little internal baffle is hindering more than helping by sending that light back to the camera

instead of scattering

[tight lodge]

Do you experience it in narrowband as well?

[harsh matrix]

I wont, no

Its because I dont have enough light in narrowband to have the problem

However im not content with shooting narrowband until forever

I hate that entire idea.

I got this scope for galaxies, not for shooting narrowband nebula ONLY.

Also the problems with the quattro are coming from the CC

There's not a single reflective surface visible to the secondary mirror and yet I still have a double reflection in my light frames and flat frames

It's not hardly visible at all in narrowband, but still sort of there.

[tight lodge]

Hear me out. Get a 2" AR window and thread it in front of the reducer

[tight lodge]

.

[harsh matrix]

On my RC?

[tight lodge]

Isn't it the one with the reducer reflections?

[harsh matrix]

I dont know anymore

I found the reflections to be from the RC itself

Not the reducer afaik

Im not going to test the reducer until all of my problems at native are fixed.

Because without eliminating all other factors, ill be unable to determine if the reducer is at fault or if the scope is at fault if I dont first address the issues with the scope.

The quattro is a different story

The OTA is very well controlled but the CC has internal reflections galore.

Im not sure how much an AR window is going to to when the problem has to do with the construction of the reducer to begin with.

The inside of it is somewhat reflective, specifically a ring that's almost halfway down the tube.

I think it is holding a lens element there and the edge of that is extremely reflective.

[tight lodge]

So your Quattro has a similar issue to mine?

All my flats have a center bright spot that usually overcorrects in images

[harsh matrix]

Yes and no

It is much brighter in the center but it's got an intense ridge at the bottom, and it's less intense at the top.

[harsh matrix]

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1128673711042592829/1447483002488881273/image.png?ex=6937c918&is=69367798&hm=0d21e60d4184a2a05d9558ed4dec108e6300d1210d33db123d987f5c0849d743&

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1128673711042592829/1447483518702583892/image.png?ex=6937c993&is=69367813&hm=48c1f3a8f911d9812f5ff2c770806eea890a9efdc55671f722e165e7800ccf08&

Examples

[high aspen]

o:

its the lil cutie

[digital nexus]

Would this be a good fit for an AM5N..?

[harsh matrix]

nope

a standard AM5 could barely handle a truss RC10

I could get an RC10

fully load it and put it on my EQ6R Pro

[digital nexus]

I have the ragdoll 17 pro

[harsh matrix]

that mount is an absolute beast

[digital nexus]

Il put an RC30 on it

[harsh matrix]

yeah nah i wouldnt go that heavy on a harmonic

[digital nexus]

What’s the largest commercial available RC

That’s like, not extremely extremely pricy

Like under $10k id say

[harsh matrix]

[high aspen]

wtf

[silver ibex]

Ah btw, I don't remember if you already saw this

[digital nexus]

whaat

[high aspen]

that with a 6" rc on???

[harsh matrix]

i didnt see it

🔥

[digital nexus]

yea???

What’s wrong with that

[high aspen]

how much extra weight capacity you got?

[digital nexus]

A lot

I won’t need a counterweight

[silver ibex]

Overmounting my beloved

[high aspen]

may as well put the asskar on it too and image with both 😭

like genuniely

[digital nexus]

I’m thinking about it

But idk how

[high aspen]

im ginna be undermounting >:3

[digital nexus]

I could put my Askar on the top dovetail of my RC6 but will they be imaging the same spot in the sky??

[high aspen]

yea

widefield + smol field

would be cool

[digital nexus]

I’d need a counterweight for sure

And another camera

Or I use my dslr

[silver ibex]

I like the sound, now this is max speed, but I was surprised by how silent it is on the lower speeds

[silver ibex]

My old mount sounded like a 747 taking off regardless of speed 😭

[digital nexus]

Harmonics sound like space ships

[high aspen]

ouch

thanks for drilling a hole in my skull

[harsh matrix]

@frosty shard if this doesnt work, I dont know how my flats could possibly still fail. 💀

Its so dark inside the tube that all you can see is camera noise

There ain't a single spec of light that doesn't belong

I will crash out hard if there's still a problem.

[tight lodge]

The fact that I can see the reflection of your hand in the baffle makes me nervous

[harsh matrix]

Same

And I have no way of knowing if this is causing a problem or not

Im tempted to flock that too

[tight lodge]

Do it

Frock everything in that telescope

[harsh matrix]

That might actually be causing the embossed circle

[tight lodge]

Make it a blackhole

[harsh matrix]

The remainder of it i mean

[harsh matrix]

btw @tight lodge the little baffle for the drawtube i made in fusion in like 5 minutes

that could have taken 30+ in blender

[tight lodge]

The power of Fusion360

[harsh matrix]

also thinking about flocking the outside of the secondary dew shield

the only reason i dont want to do that is simple though

dafuq

it might be the baffle tubes

[tight lodge]

Time to flock em

Both, primary and secondary

[tight lodge]

What the?

[tight lodge]

Sir... you really need a secondary mirror heater

[harsh matrix]

Ye fr

Im rage quiting atm

Im dang near certain the reflections that remain are from the short bit of the drawtube that I've yet to flock because I left it blank to use the reducer.

So I just painted the front of the reducer and im going to give that a shot, jump the gun per se.

[harsh matrix]

I think collimation slipped finally

Rip

[digital nexus]

womp womp

record a video of yourself collimating so i got a tutorial

[high aspen]

buh

[harsh matrix]

It won't be applicable to you

[digital nexus]

why 🙁

arent all RCs created equal

[high aspen]

their rc is just better

[digital nexus]

justice for my RC

[harsh matrix]

Mine isnt

Mine is decoupled

[high aspen]

amma recouple it >:3

[digital nexus]

I still don’t understand how that changes collimating. Don’t I still need to move the primary regardless

[harsh matrix]

You dont need to move it no

Not all the time

When the primary is coupled to the focuser, you basically never want to move it.

[digital nexus]

but I did move it 💀

[harsh matrix]

It changed it for me because it gives me the ability to cancel out all off axis astigmatism as well as on axis coma in one fell swoop.

[harsh matrix]

Yes you did.

Which means your tilt is fixed too.

[digital nexus]

Or my tilt is worse

[harsh matrix]

Either way

[digital nexus]

I tightened one Collimation screw to stop the mirror from bouncing

[harsh matrix]

I dont exactly have a way to record myself doing it.

[tight lodge]

Finally feels good to not be the only one with a seemingly normal telescope that ain't normal anymore

@harsh matrix Will you ever try Hubble's deep field image?

North target

[harsh matrix]

Probably

Im just not sure of the information I need to find the data though

[tight lodge]

I might try it sometime in March

Until then I will try most of the winter targets

Well... few of them atleast

[harsh matrix]

I think im about at the finale of this charade

Ive got 2 alternating baffles inside of the scope now that should snuff out all extra light that comes through the focuser.

Neither of them are even slightly reflective and the tube behind the primary mirror is one big black hole.

There doesnt appear to be any anomalies in my flats so far except for my OAG prism 💀

I had to reposition it and I made an oopsie in the process

[harsh matrix]

@frosty shard hail, the reducer is finally dead

cant make it work here

works great in dark skies but it refuses to work at home

i will shoot native from here on unless there's another reducer/flattener on the market that's not poorly made.

god

this could be focuser sag

i hope not

[frosty shard]

Damn, I really did avoid a ton of problems by shooting native this whole time

Which, to be fair, was the intention

[harsh matrix]

you really did

though it could be the focuser

that could have been the cause of all of this

i might finally do the thing and get a starlight express feathertouch

[harsh matrix]

it would certainly explain why ive had much worse looking problems calibrate out perfectly with the 533 but not the 571

this is by far the best correction ive had in lum with this scope

unfortunately the dust motes remain

im going to take sky flats to see if that changes or not

if it does, it means putting the flat panel on the dew shield to take flats wont work

it means the dew shield is being problematic too

[harsh matrix]

ugh @tight lodge i cant even shoot NIR in peace with the quattro

😭

[tight lodge]

Damn!

[tight lodge]

I only get that in the flats, but the IR subs are quite clear

[harsh matrix]

oh dont worry, its there in the subs too

[tight lodge]

Uncalibrated stack vs the IR flats💀

[harsh matrix]

i dont know why your flats look like that

ah

this is what im seeing

but i dont see the upper right extension because the 585 is so much farther cropped in

ughhhhhhh

i never did fix that problem then

okay thats obvious

if i did i wouldnt be having this issue at all

[tight lodge]

Someone did mention something that was quite big brain

[harsh matrix]

about what?

[tight lodge]

Oh... the flat pannel being centered more towards the blue light.

So flats in G,B and OIII turn out normal but in R, Hα, SII and NIR they get borked

But... that shouldn't matter since the camera will adjust the exposure to match the target ADU

[harsh matrix]

correct

yeah idk what the spectrum has to do with it

i think focus on the reflection shifting significantly is the only thing that could possibly cause this

even then i dont know why the properties of it change or what exactly drives the difference between the flats and the lights

[harsh matrix]

[high aspen]

frizbee?

[tall summit]

hey people

if I use barlow before the camera, do I double my OTA FL in asiair settings (for plate solving)?

[crisp flower]

Not too Sure bc ive never used one but id say so

[tall summit]

was trying to do jupiter with barlow for the first time, couldnt make it work

wonder if there is any practical FL length above which asiair wouldnt solve?

ah, according to chatgpt there is

[high aspen]

yes

[high aspen]

ew

[tall summit]

Do you guys use EAF?

I guess all mono people are?

I am considering getting one, ZWO EAF 2025 ( I am on asiair), had a couple of questions

1. Does it really take all the guesswork/bahtinov masks out of the process, or you still have to touch it up?

2. Can I still use the other knob for manual adjustment, or do I have to use EAF for everything?

[crisp flower]

am using a zwo eaf with my stellavita.. The focus it gets is very good lets say about 9/10 times. Sometimes when its struggeling to find stars getting in focus fails but most times it just works, as for the knobs, i am not able to manuallyadjust them, as the eaf kind of locks the focus. i have a bolt i can unscrew to be able to change the focussers position manually but other than that its pretty much stuck in the position its at

[tight lodge]

The ZWO EAF is a good decision weather you have an ASIAIR or MiniPC.

[crisp flower]

iirc the newer versions come with a remote tho.. u can use that to change its position then

[tall summit]

good info, thanks

[tight lodge]

It does not. Nina will measure that star HFR and create a curve then aim for the lowest value

[tight lodge]

No. You will have to use the EAF all the time to change focus

[tight lodge]

QHY has an EAF that can be switched to manual mode that uses a knob to adjust. Buuut incompatible with the ASIAIR

[high aspen]

f5 mak cass

[digital nexus]

Just get the Gemini EAF

[tall summit]

It does, although separate purchase. They also have a Pro vesion, has in a nd out buttons on the body

But + 100$ to the price

[crisp flower]

got it

[tall summit]

I am on asiair mini for the time being

[tall summit]

Order placed!

[high aspen]

@frosty shard i gave the auto optomiser access to every function

using reflections off the back of the glass to form an image inside the lens

[desert locust]

is it light leaks?

[harsh matrix]

Nah

Severe reflections

[desert locust]

From what?

[harsh matrix]

That's the fun part

I dont really know

[desert locust]

You should make sure it’s not light leaks

[harsh matrix]

I know for a fact it isnt

Trust me

Ive been through this too many times.

[desert locust]

just curious, what does the back of the rc look like

[harsh matrix]

A solid, flat piece of aluminum with no gaps

Nowhere for light to get in

[desert locust]

you probably alredy tried this, but shine a light all around the scope to see if there are any leaks or where the stray light is coming from

[harsh matrix]

Ive already done this and thats why I already know the leaks are gone

Also

That reflection you think is a light leak was because the flat panel couldn't sit flush on top of the dew shield

Later flats and light frames did not have that issue present.

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/975845011260309587/1448125190075846717/image.png?ex=693a1f2e&is=6938cdae&hm=b00f551e39f1697e5a64f68836cf451fb31c823e51d4e65df22b3e2184d7b189&

This being the most recent example

If there was a leak, it would have DEFINITELY manifested here.

This is an hour of data and its the best calibration ive ever had with this scope. And I used sky flats, which REALLY dont work when theres a leak present.

[scenic mist]

anyone got a model for an adapter from RC focuser to a traditional newtonian plate with the 4 screws doesnt have to be a specific size just to any plate

[harsh matrix]

Nope

[tight lodge]

Maybe the flat pannel is too bright?

[harsh matrix]

Brightness has made no difference

[harsh matrix]

I got my first set of perfectly calibrated data last night

the sky flats calibration still could have been slightly better so i took new bias frames at the right temperature and it's perfect

that above is DBE'd but the point is that nothing unfixable remains.

ive yet to test any data from tonight

im nervous but ive got high hopes

also my SNR is noticeably better especially in lum

[harsh matrix]

@frosty shard I've seen the light, there's no going back

that's 1 hour and 57 minutes of data from my backyard, with a 50% moon, at the native focal length

i severely overstretched the data and i dont care

[harsh matrix]

interesting...

flat panel flats still dont work 100%

but sky flats work about 99.5%

this is working like 80%

[harsh matrix]

@tight lodge as predicted, the double reflection does not appear in narrowband data from the quatt

and good pick btw

i love this thing

this camera is a banger too

[tight lodge]

The Quattro with the 585 is too OP

[harsh matrix]

this combo feels fantastic

[tight lodge]

Now imagine an APS-C sensor with 2.9μm pixels and the QE of the 585

[harsh matrix]

Fr

I need one

This camera might make me like narrowband more.

[tight lodge]

@harsh matrix Imagine if it would have actually worked

[frosty shard]

Join us at native FL

But do not join me here in Madison, the weather is cruel and I probably won't be able to shoot until January

Unless I snap and decide to take my RC to Texas

(I'm visiting my parents for the holidays)

[harsh matrix]

[harsh matrix]

Tbh its a little more fun

Plus my EQ6R seems to always guide better than the threshold for ruining a sub.

I can count on it to handle the RC at full power.

I think my dust mote calibration issue could possibly have something to do with an inaccurate AFW calibration.

Im going to recalibrate it tonight and run the same tests. If the issue vanishes, then the RC is perfect, if it remains, Im going to take the mirror cell off and flock all of the baffle tubes as well as paint all of the knife edge baffles.

That should be the final nail in the coffin should this last step fail

[frosty shard]

Ohhhhhhh this might explain why some of my dust motes appeared to move in my photometric flats

I didn't even think about that

[harsh matrix]

Yeah

Ive taken the imaging train out and put it back in so many times since the last calibration that the roulette has probably moved from the "known" position.

[frosty shard]

Thankfully that was not image data

[frosty shard]

Also if we want to collaborate it should be very straightforward

[harsh matrix]

Yup

I want to go deep on M82 this coming galaxy season

I really want a high resolution, sharp image of it.

My seeing was balls for this but even then the scope still resolved a couple of globs in the disk of M82.

[frosty shard]

I got one frame of M82 in IR if you want it

[harsh matrix]

What if we collab'd on M51 or someth

I want to do M74 or something of the sort but I have no horizon for it.

I could only get like 5 hours a night max

Gotta decide if I want to try to get dark site data too

See if i can maybe combine home data and dark sky site data

Basically all of my gradients were from stray light lmao

[frosty shard]

How would you feel about trying to image the M90 jellyfish

I got no problem with M51, but something that difficult really makes a collaboration worth it

[harsh matrix]

You mean the H-alpha?

[frosty shard]

Yup

[harsh matrix]

Hmmmmm

Thats another i dont have a good horizon for

[frosty shard]

Ah

What would be the feasible declinations for you to shoot

[harsh matrix]

[frosty shard]

I am not very constrained by horizon but anything below –20° is going to be difficult

[harsh matrix]

Anything north of 30 degrees or about south around -13 degrees

Actually semi lie

I can image almost anything around the celestial equator and more south.

If i move my EQ6R to the grass, I could probably get M90

Anything more south than that is unlikely to work though.

Dumb tree, man.

Coma cluster

[scenic mist]

damn what stopped it from working

[harsh matrix]

The OAG

That imaging train is eating too much back focus.

[scenic mist]

oh

rokinon should make refractors if they could fix their QC

[tight lodge]

The OAG. I'm 11mm o er the maximum back focus

[tall summit]

This is nice! The best that I have so far:

It's a heavy crop, from this

[frosty shard]

When I go to Australia, if the timing works out, I might try to shoot the Bullet Cluster
https://www.cloudynights.com/forums/topic/617066-bullet-cluster-of-galaxies-dark-matter-hot-topic-first-am-image/

Unfortunately it's looking less and less likely that I'll be able to shoot things at 6 hours RA (which includes the LMC sadly)

[harsh matrix]

NOOOO

At least get Carina if all else fails

[frosty shard]

I should be able to do that

Southern Milky Way will be very accessible

[harsh matrix]

Good

[harsh matrix]

banger?

[quartz meadow]

lovely palette

now that star color makes me think that there's been added IR into the mix

[harsh matrix]

correct

[high aspen]

coloursful

[candid flame]

C o l o u r s 🔥 🔥 🔥

[crisp flower]

The colors in the lower right are so interestingly beautiful imo
Not that they arent in the Rest of the Pic, this Corner hast Just catched me interest

[frosty shard]

banger.

[chrome kite]

this better get iotd