Come join the friendliest, most engaging and inclusive astronomy forum geared for beginners and advanced telescope users, astrophotography devotees, plus check out our "Astro" goods vendors.
Come join the friendliest, most engaging and inclusive astronomy forum geared for beginners and advanced telescope users, astrophotography devotees, plus check out our "Astro" goods vendors.
Hi All,
Just a quick message to say I have just joined. I'm based in the north west of England under Bortle 7 skies. However with us being surrounded by sea we have a typical marine environment which means lots of clouds.
I'm interested in DSO astrophotography mainly and am in the extended light dome of Manchester. So mainly narrowband with mono cameras, or short exposures with LRGB on mono. I occasionally use OSC with IDAS D2 to cut out the LED light pollution and that seems to work well.
Also have solar gear, both white light using Altair Astro Herschel wedge and Ha with etalon equipped dedicated scope.
Terry
Terry - Gatto Ambra Observatory Scopes: WO: RedCat 51, ZS 73, ZS103, SW: 200P Solar: Altair Herschel wedge, Daystar Scout 60SSDS Mounts: SW: HEQ5Pro Rowan & EQM35Pro. Guiders: All using ZWO ASI120MM minis. Cameras: ZWO: ASI294MM-Pro, ASI 183MC-Pro, ASI 183MM Pro, ASI 174MM Filters: IDAS, Altair, Baader, Antlia, ZWO. Observatory: The Jousting Tent - ROR. Acquisition: NINA on Windows 11 - EKOS/INDI/Kstars on Raspberry PI4 (retired for now) Image Processing: PixInsight, APP, Photoshop 24.1.0 Location: West Manchester Light Pollution: Mucho Bortle 7/8
-Michael Refractors: ES AR152 f/6.5 Achromat on Twilight II, Celestron 102mm XLT f/9.8 on Celestron Heavy Duty Alt Az mount, KOWA 90mm spotting scope Binoculars: Celestron SkyMaster 15x70, Bushnell 10x50 Eyepieces: Various, GSO Superview, 9mm Plossl, Celestron 25mm Plossl Camera: ZWO ASI 120 Naked Eye: Two Eyeballs Latitude: 48.7229° N
I've just ordered an AstroTuffTrUK mini-500 pier truck from the good people at https://www.astrotufftruk.com/productsa ... -pier-truk
I saw them at the Practical Astronomy Show in England a few days ago. I was blown away with how well engineered they are. I don't have a permanent observatory yet and my wife wasn't keen on a fixed pier embedded in a piece of concrete. I got fed up of getting a tripod or two out and often left them out for weeks on end with a scope cover over.
I image on asphalt and the tripod has sunk holes into the surface. So the mobile pier seemed like the next best option. Everything would be permanently connected on the truck and it will be a simple matter of placing in position, extending the jacking screws to take it off the wheels, a quick polar align with NINA or Sharpcap and off we go - in theory anyway.
I am having it custom built in red and will put on the Skywatcher pier extension I already have (currently fitted to a tripod) to gain some extra height.
It should look similar to this one as I have ordered it in red with a larger equipment tray to accommodate my "observatory in a box". Essentially a plastic lidded box containing powersupply, computer and networking equipment.
Lee at AstroTuffTrUK says that the trucks are good for a movable load of 500kg (1/2 tonne) and are on 10" pneumatic wheels at 30PSI. My rigs don't weigh anywhere near that so I think it will accommodate me well.
Last edited by TerryMcK on Thu Apr 04, 2024 1:22 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Terry - Gatto Ambra Observatory Scopes: WO: RedCat 51, ZS 73, ZS103, SW: 200P Solar: Altair Herschel wedge, Daystar Scout 60SSDS Mounts: SW: HEQ5Pro Rowan & EQM35Pro. Guiders: All using ZWO ASI120MM minis. Cameras: ZWO: ASI294MM-Pro, ASI 183MC-Pro, ASI 183MM Pro, ASI 174MM Filters: IDAS, Altair, Baader, Antlia, ZWO. Observatory: The Jousting Tent - ROR. Acquisition: NINA on Windows 11 - EKOS/INDI/Kstars on Raspberry PI4 (retired for now) Image Processing: PixInsight, APP, Photoshop 24.1.0 Location: West Manchester Light Pollution: Mucho Bortle 7/8
Stephen
- - - - - Telescopes: Questar 3.5 Standard SN 18-11421; Stellina (EAA); Vespera II (EAA) Solar: Thousand Oaks white light filter; Daystar Quark (chromosphere) Hα filter Mounts: Explore Scientific Twilight I; Majestic heavy duty tripod Local Club: New Hampshire Astronomical Society
Nice collection of equipment and congrats on the AstroTuffTruk, they really seem to build a solid product! A mobile obsy and a happy other half; that a good deal for sure.
Looking forward to your posts and all the best,
Mark
"The Hankmeister" Celestron 8SE, orange tube Vixen made C80, CG4, AZ-EQ5 and SolarQuest mounts.
Too much Towa glass/mirrors.
Solar:
H/A - PST stage 2 mod with a Baader 90mm ERF on a Celestron XLT 102 (thanks Mike!)
Ca-K - W/O 61mm, Antares 1.6 barlow, Baader 3.8 OD and Ca-K filters with a ZWO ASI174mm.
W/L - C80-HD with Baader 5.0 & 3.8 Solar film, Solar Continuum 7.5nm and UV/IR filters with a Canon EOS 550D.
Member of the RASC
Welcome to TSS Terry, I'm not that far away in Blackburn. Looking forward to your images.
Pete
Rig1. Samyang 135 F2 ED UMC, Player One Poseidon-C Pro, EQ5
Rig2. Celestron RASA 8, Zwo Asi 533 MC Pro, EQ6
APM Astrograph 107/700, Hutech/Idas filters, NINA, Pix.
lots of cables!