Focuser – Where Is The Damn Friction Screw?

My focuser is a PrimaLuceLab 2,7″ Hybrid-Drive.

My problem is that with CCD, barlow and Diagonal the focuser slides during focus operation, so I know there is a friction screw somewhere, but there are many screws, on Google I found a blueprint of the focuser and I found the correct screw, so I tight the screw a little bit and I resolved, below there is a photo of the focuser, hope it will help others!

My HEQ5 Synscan Naked!

Yes I decided to clean my mount finally after… 10 years!

It wasn’t that hard, I followed the guide of astrobaby (http://www.astro-baby.com/heq5-rebuild/heq5-m1.htm) and I recorded my work so to watch again to remember the process and doing it in reverse to put all together.

At the end now I have a much more smooth Right Ascension axis and hopefully I will have a better guide experience!

Soon I will do some test and measure the periodic error.

No more fear after the first time!

IMG_20180107_233229 IMG_20180107_233200

Continue reading “My HEQ5 Synscan Naked!”

Atik Titan – Gain and Read Noise Analysis

This is an analysis of gain and read noise of the CCD Atik Titan.
I used as samples, two bias frame and two photos of M27 taken with 60 seconds of exposure, even though it should be done with flat frames, as said in my documentation, probably because they have a better signal to noise ratio.

Anyway the result are in line with the official website specification so I am more than satisfied.

Here you can download the sample images I used.

STD Mean Pixel Atik Titan Specification
Bias1 21,04 1235,00
Bias2 20,95 1235,00 FWC (e-) 22500,00
Flat1 468,87 11883,83 ADC (bit) 16,00
Flat2 492,62 11798,47 Readout Noise (e-) 7,00
  FWC (e-/ADU) 2,91
Mean (Bias1 + Bias2) 2470,00
Mean (Flat1 + Flat2) 23682,30
 
STD (flat1 – flat2) 419,72
STD (bias1 – bias2) 29,51
Gain (ADU) 0,12
Gain (e-/ADU) 0,35 Gain Factor (e-/ADU) 0,34
Read Noise 2,53 Readout Noise (ADU) 2,40

bias_histo

m27_histo

Testing AIRY ED90 with Atik Titan and QHY5L-II

Testing payload and focus with my two cameras Atik Titan and QHY5L-II on AIRY ED90 with the following components:

With AIRY ED90 – Refractor 90mm Aperture – 500mm Focal length

Sadly looks like the diagonal is required in order to use CCD cameras and eyepieces with this telescope.

 


Atik Titan with Diagonal and no filters ( Focal length 495mm )

IMG_8702atik_nofilter


Atik Titan with Diagonal + Barlow 2x ( Focal length ~1000mm )

IMG_8703atik_barlow2


Atik Titan with Diagonal + Eyepiece ProZoom 24mm ( Focal length ~1200mm )

Without saying that this configuration is really heavy, way too long and can’t balance the mount in dec…

IMG_8706atik_eyepiece24


Atik Titan with Diagonal + Eyepiece 20mm ( Focal length ~1500mm )

IMG_8706atik_eyepiece20


Atik Titan with Diagonal + Eyepiece 16mm ( Focal length ~2000mm )

IMG_8706atik_eyepiece16


QHY5L-II with Diagonal and no filters ( Focal length 495mm )

IMG_8705QHY5L_nofilter


QHY5L-II with Diagonal and Barlow 2x ( Focal length ~1000mm )

IMG_8704QHY5L_barlow2x

My New Telescope!

My new telescope!

Diameter: 60mm

Focal Length: 230mm

Ocular: PrimaLuceLab Lantanio ProZoom 8-24mm

IMG_8398

just kidding…

Anyway if you get this compact refractor and you are that type that you like to open everything to understand how it works, be careful when you open the upper part, the lens is kept fixed by the two part connected and as soon as you remove the hood the lens might fall.

 

IMG_8390 IMG_8389 IMG_8388 IMG_8387 IMG_8393 IMG_8392 IMG_8391

Osservazione del 17 Novembre 2012

Primi test osservativi con binocolo Garrett 20×80 WP-CF Mk II

Oggi finalmente sono riuscito ad utilizzare il binocolo con qualche soddisfazione.
Prima di tutto ho diaframmato il binocolo a 20x60mm, per via del cielo troppo chiaro ho voluto provare a diaframmarlo. Il treppiedi lo ritengo appena sufficiente per lo strumento, troppe vibrazioni con un vento leggero, mentre la testa del treppiedi a tre assi e’ assolutamente inutilizzabile, acquistero’ una testa fluida Manfrotto a breve.

Luogo osservativo: campo da calcetto in una scuola elementare a Seoul.

Situazione cielo: falce di luna ben definita senza nessun alone intorno, stelle ben definite e turbolenza atmosferica minima; non posso essere piu’ preciso.

Gli oggetti che ho puntato sono stati i seguenti:
– Giove, senza nessun alone intorno ma con leggera aberrazione cromatica lungo il bordo, con Europa a 5 arcosecondi dalla superficie di Giove alle 12:40 UT ( sempre se Ciel e’ attendibile ), splittato con facilita’; osservando sul bordo dell’oculare (con Giove centrato nel campo ), sono riuscito ad intravedere la superficie a fasce, riducendo la luminosita’ del pianeta, seppur senza soddisfazione.
– M45, nebulosa assente ma sempre molto bella da vedere.
– M36, risolte 6/7 stelle.
– Doppio ammasso, molto bello anche in condizioni di inquinamento luminoso pietose, risolto fino a magnitudine 9.7 circa.
– Mel 20, Alpha Perseo, ammasso molto bello e ricco di stelle.
– Stock 2, …niente da fare.
– M31, …mi sono quasi rotto il collo senza nessun risultato, allo zenit non e’ fattibile.
– M38 e M37, non sono riuscito a vedere una sola stella dei due ammassi.
– Tr 2 nel Perseo, risolte solo 5 componenti ( stelle di magnitudine 10 assenti )

Le stelle risultano puntiformi al centro del campo ma spostandosi verso il bordo si deformano e vanno fuori fuoco.
Per quanto riguarda la collimazione la ritengo piu’ che buona; le pupille d’uscita, dopo averle osservate diverse volte, mi sono sembrate perfettamente circolari, anche se come gia’ detto noto una leggera convergenza.