Hi there; Well, the Bandmate Type II is essentially an OIII filter. While this is a great filter for planetary nebula or the Veil Nebula, NGC 6960, it would not be a good choice for a Night Vision setup. A Ha filter, 7nm to 4nm, is best suited for Night Vision to dial back light pollution. 💫
@@DakotaStarryNights thank you so much for how active you are in these comments. So to be clear a Astronomik H-Alpha 6 nm CCD Filter - 2" Round Mounted should be perfect? Was thinking of getting an adapter with just this filter & NV and use even without my 8” Dob… have you ever given that a try. Naturally for deep sky the telescope is the answer but I’m imagining something special even without the telescope?
May 10th was a great night. We were planning on going north out on Elk Vale Road until we saw nothing but solid tail lights all the way to the horizon. We drove east and ended up watching north of New Underwood near Elm Springs and still had people driving all over the place out there. I didn't think that many people would be interested in the night sky and was glad the sun was able to put on a good show for everyone. Hopefully that event will help people get further interested in astronomy. I would say that it was my second best A.B. event. 1989 in north central Nebraska was even better. That storm was more intense with much more visible color. Absolutely stunned me. Great video, glad to see you putting more content out. I did laugh at the cornball "switch" joke. 😁
What an amazing night that was....I live in a class 6 sky here in Tamworth UK and it was even bright under town skies. I travelled out into the north area of Tamworth which is only class 5 but it improved it a little more. A very strange night to say the least. Nice to see some new material Richard. Clear Skies.
Night vision is an interesting option, however the 'real scenery feel' and color afforded in the 16" cannot be discounted. More than 22 years ago I used a 0 Lux Sony handicam to image the night sky through an 8" SCT as well as wide sky for meteor showers. I could see the ring and such through the 8" recorded 480x480 low resolution. But what it showed me is that NV and other live assisted devices have the drawback of false color and seeing the electronic photon to pixel conversion giving the scintillation of the background. This is where I enjoyed the naked eye live moreso though I'd miss out on nebulosity extension which the NV helps show up. With modern stacking software there are now devices coming online to fit the niche between expensive NV and full EAA with computers and such.
I agree with you for the most part. But I don't believe I totally discounted the use of a 16" dob over NV. NGC 6960 was amazing that night with the Thousand Oaks OIII filter on had on hand without NV. It was, if I recall correctly, delicious and superior to NV. 🙂 There are other less expensive options to NV as you pointed out. They do take a little more time to setup. But the real downside, one has to look at objects on a computer screen or tablet. We're already looking at computer screens all the time; which may be why I've notice during "outreach" folks prefer the intimacy of looking at an object through an eyepiece, NV or not. Thanks for posting, it's a great subject. 💫
Thank you for this video. Very clear and helpful. I had a question regarding your setup with an SCT for example the Celestron 8SE. Would the setup still work? Only difference is I have a bino but it has PVS14 optics so that - adapter - 55mm - coma corrector? - telescope. Did your calculations looks like with everything by assuming no compatibility issues I would be at a f4.7
It's difficult to know with the complexity of the bino, adapter, 55mm, and a coma corrector. One thing for certain, long focal length telescopes are at a disadvantage. You really want f5 or f4. And below f4 is better still. 💫
Hi there, thanks for your very detailed tutorial. I Flocked my Skywatcher quattro 150p, but instead of dealing with the sticky flocking sheet, I made my one with 2 big X-ray plys joined them with masking tape, then I cut the holes for focuser and bolts using templates previously made. try on a couples of times to verify the perfect fit and once I was satisfied I applied the flocking sheets to the X-ray. Easy to work and if you need to take out just remove it. Greetings from BelloCielo-Chile Jaime
When using something of higher magnification than the 55mm televue (+64mm adapter) does it loose resolution? I have tried a 30mm GSO eyepiece but seems as though it only magnifies the inherent scintillation of the device.
I only use TeleVue eyepieces so maybe there's something there. That said, for higher magnification I use a TeleVue 35mm Pan Optic and have gotten great results with a UL16 dob.
The one thing you missed in this video was discussing zoom. Your focal length increased which increased your zoom. The only fair comparison of aperture would have been to take footage of a for example 100x zoom between one scope and the other and compare brightness.
Thank you for a clear and detailed description of the process you went through. Definitely going to be useful in making my own pier extension for my LXD-75 tripod.
Since you are using wood for your dovetail rails you could tape a piece of sandpaper to the tube and sand the dovetail rails to match the tube diameter. Would make for a tighter more supported mounting.
Maybe you could offer some help, I just bought the am5 mount. I would like to use my televue 85 scope with guide scope and camera but I can’t find mounting brackets for all my gear. I want to use mount for both equatorial and visual. Any suggestions
thank you very much for this!! . i have recently purchased the am5 for visual in alt/azi . i am using a sct 9.25 with its original tripod . i have a 120asi guide camera to plate solve . it is attached the top of the OTA but in alt azi mode it end up being on the side and when i plate solve the visual is off just outside the viewing circle. the 120 is attached solid to the scope i see your guide scope is in the viewfinder holder? ...im not sure how that is done . it does not fit in the holder ? thxs
You would need to put the finder scope in an adjustable holder with rings. Center the scope on a distant object then adjust the finder scope until that object is in the center of the finder scope.
thxs for the reply ..i have the adjustable holder for my finder scope but is there a an adjustable holder that will hold my asi120mini scope which i am using fro the plate solving ? @@DakotaStarryNights
Here you go: www.teleskop-express.de/en/mounts-tripods-rings-rails-power-supply-14/mounts-azimutal-without-goto-21/ts-optics-az5-alt-azimuthal-mount-with-tripod-and-fine-adjustment-4537
Great video! How about the improvement in magnitude using te device with the big dob? What do you think of the resolution usingthe device? It looks to be negatvely impacted to some extent, at least with your camera images. The globular shown was a good example. The star images aren't exactly pinpoints. I don't know if that was partly because of seeing. Woould there be good resolution on the trapesium? Like good definition ofthe D and E stars? I know exactly what you are saying conerning the big dob and a filter on the veil. Just astounding, and maybe because of the excellent contrast, compared to the device?
With NV there is an improvement in magnitude with any scope. But NV is not so much about resolution. However, at the eyepiece it's much better than what the camera is showing here due to focus issues and the limits of video recording. The main advantage to NV is seeing faint objects that otherwise would not be visible or would show very little structure. For outreach, it's a game changer. But as stated at the end of the video, with NV and a big dob you can have the best of both worlds. :)
the previous owner of my Meade 8 ST had used the rubber foot off a crutch and slid it onto the focuser knob. increased sensitivity similar to your handlebar grips. also works great.
Hello, I think it is underestimated to get the right distance between the main mirror and the second mirror. Unlike SC telescope, the RC telescope has hyperbolic mirrors built in and if there are problems with the images you should probably start there. I dismantled my scope and washed the mirrors. Afterwards, despite the good settings, nothing was right anymore, although I had made a video beforehand and Jupiter's satellites were round. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-66NknidwvQQ.html However, after cleaning, the satellites are more arrow-shaped. I also had the problem that the main mirror could be slid back and forth on the bearing tube by 0.8 mm. To fix this I had to apply 4 layers around the Tube of Kepton tape. Now I'm just waiting for a clear night to complete my adjustment. CS Werner
Hi: Kevin Zhou of IOptron recommended your RU-vid channel. I recently purchased the Scope and upgrading the Focuser as you suggested. Would like to image The Whirlpool and M27. Live in Concord, MA and have suburban light pollution. Can drive to New Hampshire and Vermont for better Dark Skies. Have an occasional Mountain Lion, but these animals are traveling large distances. Do have Black Bear, but usually young males. Is the Focuser attached to the Primary Mirror? Is this a real concern? Best regards, Carl Geyer. Love your channel.
Hi Kevin, the stock focuser is not attached to the primary mirror, unlike typical Schmidt Cassegrain Telescopes. Subsequently, there is no mirror flop when crossing the meridian. Just be sure the travel length of the new focuser doesn't exceed 55mm. Otherwise you run the risk of it bottoming out on the visual back in some situations. Other than that, it's a simple task. BTW: we have cats here in the Hills and occasional sightings of Black Bears. 💫
Thanks for this useful, practical video. My dream is to make motorised mosaics like this, especially since my next sensor is the small ASI533MC pro and I’m used to a full frame DSLR sized sensor - so mosaics is the workaround. In Australia the falcon is now version 2 and the price has gone up to $1350 AUD, which is a lot 😢Will practice first with a manual rotator and NINA.
Greetings to you all in the southern night skies! 🦘💫 Nice choice on the ASI533MC. A couple of guys I know, including myself, got one. It's a great little cam! 😊
The inside of the two baffle tubes are prime candidates for flocking. In fact, on cloudynights forums, the consensus of a very lengthy thread started in 2012 is that the very most critical and efficacious use of your time improving a Mak is to flock the inside of the primary baffle. Then, the secondary, or consider removing it entirely because its flare expands outward and increases the central obstruction. Flocking the inside of the main optical tube is a distant fourth behind getting a dew cap that is at least as long as the aperture of the corrector.
Perhaps...give it a try and see if you notice a 'real' difference. The discussion on cloudynights suggests that the inside of the primary baffle tube is the most important, and then either removing, shortening, or flocking the inside of, the secondary baffle.
Nice setup! Indeed gazing at the sun can be quite hot, even here in the Netherlands 😅. We're coming to the States for a tour, in April, starting in Salt Lake City. Unfortunately I don't think I'll be able to bring a telescope with me. Any recommendations for renting one? Kind regards, Menno
As far as I know, there are no places to rent telescope in the Black Hills. There is the Black Hills Astronomical Society that holds public star parties free of charge and private ones for a fee. You can look them up and see.
