Welcome to AstroInFocus, my name is Brian and I am an avid amateur astronomer with a love of the night sky and a passion to share it with others.
Together on this channel, we will go through and look at various equipment, astrophotography tips, tour the night sky with live streamed star parties and much more.
thank you! Are your filter 2" or 50 mm? Because for 2" 7 position EFW it says either 2" threaded filters or 50 mm unmounted. Your filters look unmounted to me.
Good video. How did you mount the SV510 to the SV225 alt/az mount? The dovetail on the telescope is much too small to fit the dovetail on the alt/az mount.
While not an elegant solution, I was able to use 2 of the 3 screws on the SV225 mount to hold the scope in place. I did not have any fears of it coming loose or falling out. I have used it in this manner several times since then with success.
@@astroinfocus that’s what I ended up doing. A kludge, but it works. I’m gonna look for a Vixen dovetail I have around here somewhere and see if using that might work better
I often use my 25 mm Pocket Borg refractor as a solar telescope with Baader Solar film in front.I don't have a solar sight and I just use a 32 mm to get the Sun and line it up and switch to my 9 mm eye piece.
So you can't remove the solar filter? I built my own solar filter for my Mak and was thinking about buying this instead but if it's only good for solar it's not worth it to me.
You are correct, the solar filter is not removable. I feel that being permanently attached does offer some befits such as allowing it to be protected from tears or punctures during transit being recessed in the dew shield as and covered with the dust cap, but yes this is a solar only telescope.
I do not use NINA, however for SGP I just let it use the backlash setting that you input in the ASCOM driver and have not had any problems with an autofocus routine.
Yes, it is possible, but being that they move fast and are small, it can be quite difficult. Some motorized mounts can use software listed below to track them. www.heavenscape.com/
Are you using the SV503 70mm Refractor ED ? I have the ZWO EAF with the SV503 70mm. I would assume that I could use your demo as a guide to set backlash with my rig? Also, is that your starting position "in focus " ? 20145 ?
Enjoyed your video. I would be interested in knowing more about your observatory: cost, who constructed, how long to construct, “general” location (State would be sufficient), etc…. Could you also estimate the additional cost of going to 10X14 (vs 8X12). Thanks, John
Hello, thanks for putting out this video. I have setup very similar but with 2" filter wheel. And I am very new to the hobby, and have a question for you. If you need 55 mm for back focus and you took off the tilt place what did you use to replace the .5 mm or does it matter?
Hello, this is a great question! When it comes to backfocus distance, every mm counts. If you have all of the spacers and everything is adding up to 54.5 mm and you need only .5mm you can purchase shims in various thicknesses that can take up that .5mm spacing. Something to keep in mind ,if you are using a field flatter and once you have your 55mm back focus if your stars I. The corner are not round you may need to add or remove additional spacers. Also you need to account for the thickness of your filters. You divide the thickness of your filters by 3 to get the additional length you need. For example if your filters are all 3mm, and your setup requires 55mm backfocus. You will actually need 56mm backfocus. (3mm filter tickness/3) + 55 = 56.
i have a laser collimator, and using that and tuning to a star getting the secondary right in the middle over and under focused, spending a total of about 4 hrs this week just collimating the stars are still oval shaped/slightly blurry, i tried backing the locking screws out a little to not get primary mirror in tension/warped slightly. no luck.
@@astroinfocus it's a Skyoptikst 1400x 150mm newtionan reflector. It's a 5.9 inch diameter one. Collomation was fine when I got it but I figured it could be better cause when I looked into where the eye piece is without an optic In there. the white circle was like waxing gibbous moon shape so I tried to fix it and made it worst. Got it back close but it has the star shapes all off. And planets are sorta clear but have like double image over top oval shaped and blurry obscuring the clear planet
Superbe vidéo ...Merci aussi pour le partage de tes réussites et difficultés . un langage vrai 🙏🙏🙏. je me suis abonné a ta chaine . Bon ciel à toi et belles réussites . Patrick ( France )
Great pictures and more importantly, the tremendous progress you have made after starting out just a few years ago. You have to credit yourself for that. Your passion will carry you through and every picture you take is unique no matter how many people have taken it. Here's to many more years of astro photography.
Thank you for the comment. Comments like this really help push me to make more videos to share my journey and push me to refine my astro photography skills even more. I have just entered the realm of mono imaging, I can't wait to look back in a few years at my first mono image and see how far I have gone!
Hello, Thank you for your useful video. I have just bought an EAF and now I am at the point to find the right value for the backlash. I just was about to do it like you, but then I asked myself if this is the right backlash I should look at? Isn’t your backlash the gap between the fine/coarse gear? The EAF if directly connected to the main axis and the low gear button is just moving, because the main axis is moving, but has nothing to do with the movement of the barrel. I think I need to look for the backlash in the EAF and (if present) between the worm wheel and the rack and pineon drive? I want to do this at the sky and see if I can go back to the same star diameter after focusing in and out. This might be more difficult, but show directly the effect of the right focus. And this method does not need any additional tool. What do you think about this? Regards Jens
While doing it that way may proved a more accurate backlash setting, I can say with my setup this method had been reliable since I have posted the video and I have not had a need to further refine my backlash setting. That is the great thing about this hobby. There are many ways to achieve successful results!
Thank you for the tip! When I was placing the luminance filter I was thinking it may have been easier to line everything up if I would have taken the carousel out. Hopefully someone will see your comment if they are setting up their filter wheel, and they won't struggle like I did.
I'm looking to migrate to this camera and am wondering if you're experiencing any vignetting with the 36mm filters. I have the old ZWO EFW and LRGB and 5nm SHO 36mm filters but have heard I might be better off with 2" but it's a significant investment along with buying the new camera. Are you seeing any vignetting with this setup?
I have not had a chance or the clear skies to thoroughly test this setup out other than for a few short imaging sessions. So far, I have not noticed any vignetting in the images except possibly in the very edges at the corners. I am still working on fine-tuning my back focus spacing as I am getting some oblong stars in the corners. These filters have been highly regarded by other astrophotographers, and there is quite a price difference when stepping up to a 2" filter. I also have not noticed any halos around stars with the oxygen filter either. It is possible that the star field has not had any stars bright enough to cause any haloing. I will post a video once I get several images completed on my thoughts about this camera and filter combination. (So far, I am very impressed)
this method of determining the EAF backlash is theoretical because you start from the premise that the mechanics of the tube have no backlash. it is best to measure the distance that the tube travels during repeated in and out movements.
On the focuser on this scope and several others, I have not had any issues achieving reliable and repeatable auto focus. I will say I did calculate my backlash a bit differently on my Meade Lx200 12" as this method was not achieving repeatable results.
Did you try using a larger washer with the front and rear screw to see if it would help with more support. It looks like if you placed a washer on the rear screw that at least half of the washer would be helping to secure the back of the mounting plate.
Hello DurangoLegend, I have not tried that. I have been using the setup just as I installed it in this video and have not had any problems. I will admit I should put it on my to do list, since it would be much more secure having a second screw holding the focuser in place. Thanks for watching!
You won't regret the scope. It is definitely a lifetime scope. It is a telescope that I will never replace. While I haven't used mine much for visual the few times that I have done outreach, it has proven to also be an amazing visual scope for its size.
If you're weather is anything like it is here in the Chicago/NE Illinois area I'd stick with the MC. If you only get a few cloudless nights every month like I do you don't want to be spending time taking multiple images of the same target through various filters, possibly on different nights (or the following year). With an MC and a dual-band or LP filter you can get a nice amount of data in one night on one target and not have to wait for another cloudless night to capture additional data. Anyways, that's my opinion. Thanks for the video!
Thank you for your recommendation, I am still torn between switching to a mono camera. In my area we do have more cloudy nights than clear, but when it is clear it does seem to be when the moon is shining nice and bright. I am convinced that the moon has the ability to dissipate clouds.
Awesome Video,Ive Always Owned A Small Cheap Ref Since I Was 10,A 76mm Nat Geo😂Im 53 And Still Have It..But Santa Decided In 2016 To Get A 114LCM With A Neximage 10🤔🤔🤔WTH…I Had A Royal Blast Over The Next Year Learning,and Imaging Everything I Could,Including Some DSO’s,The Following Year,Santa Showed Up With A 6se🙀I Went Nuts,lol..Over The Spring I Got A Mak90 For A Grab And Go,And A Canon t3i,I Was Set,When Skywatcher Came Out With The Evoguide🤔🤔Widefiled😂,Gotta Have It,So I Did,lol,And The Eqm35Pro,Can Still Put My 6se On It..I Was Good Till Last April,and No Clue Why I Wanted The ES102/1000😂😂😂Great Doublet,For Visual,and Surprisingly,For Astro With No CA,At Christmas,Santa Brought Me An Evostar72,So Now I Have My Dream Skywatcher DS Set Up,And Some Great Visual Ones So Everyone Who Wants To Look Can,Also A Zwo120Mini,and The 385MC..I Live In A Small Community In NWPA,I Set Up A Few When I Can,And The Neighborhood Kids Come Up And Play,Its Great,We Have A Ball,and Learn Together,Have An 11 Y/O That The 114 Will Be Donated Too When The Weather Improves,Its Time For Someone Else To Have The Adventure I Did,Great Video,God Bless,and Clear Skies🙏🏼❤️🔭✨🌏
Nice video, but one point I might add. Your method here is correcting the backlash in the ZWO gearbox and even in the fine/coarse gearing of the focuser, but does not take into account any additional backlash that exists in the rack and pinion of the focus barrel. To eliminate it 100%, you'd need to rig up a DTI or similar accurate device to measure the actual movement of the barrel. I'm pretty sure if you did that, you'd find that the relationship of the two knobs will not match - which is fine because ultimately they do not matter, only the position of the barrel matters.
Hello, thank you for the comment. I don't have the tools to accurately measure the travel, however for my use case I have found this method to be more than acceptable for accounting for backlash. I have not had the focuser "get lost" while performing an auto focus routine. If I, or others do run into an issue I hope they will see your comment in hopes that it will guide them into focus.
@@astroinfocus I've had problems with my focuser getting lost. I worked out the backlash using you method, and it came down to 36 steps. Originially I had this set at 20 steps.
Backlash should be done with your camera and filter wheel INSTALLED ! Why ? because the loading on your Rack and Pinion focuser will be affected by the weight / load. The torque / Current required to rotate the focuser will also change the backlash.
Thanks for the tip, maybe in the future I will make a video calculating the backlash with and without the equipment, and test the results. Currently I have not had my autofocuser get lost by using this method to calculate the backlash, without the equipment attached.
Thanks for the video and the insight in your journey! And I would say, in my humble opinion: Your latest picture is not far from perfect 🤩! My journey startet about 4 years ago, only with my mighty Canon G7Xii on a Tripod, trying to catch the ISS - and I was immediately hooked! Then I actually did get a similar scope, Nexstar 6 SE, alt-az-mount of course, maximum 10 second exposures possible using a dslr - and I loved it and I am still very happy with what is possible this way! Then I took a step back, but also a step forward: I am back to camera and different lenses, but I mount it on a eq-mount (star adventurer GTI). Much longer exposures possible, and using a used, but astro-modified camera allows me to concentrate on these beautiful red nebulae like rosetta, California oder North America. I even tried to get Barnards Loop, but this took a lot of postprocessing ... If everything fits perfectly, I even screw the 6SE on this mount, although it's too heavy, but sometimes it works out perfectly! Last Sunday night was perfect, I had to wait for Super Bowl to start anyway, so I aimed at M81 and M82. And after making my dear MacBook Air und Siril scream for help I was fascinated and still am with the results! I've gone through all the struggles, made all the mistakes, but I still enjoy it. Being outside under the night sky calms me down, but the technical aspects of it all fascinates me as well. Greetings from Switzerland.
Hello, thank you for your comment. There is always something to learn and so many equipment options out there that will help you take a great Astro photo. I hope in the future to make a video featuring submissions from my viewers, I hope to see some of your photos! Welcome to the life long journey that astrophotography has to offer.
