nytecam
Postmaster
Reged: 08/20/05
Posts: 5748
Loc: London UK
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I'm still undecided as to what scope to use at the club's DSO sessions that recommence in the autumn from our site on Headley Heath at a modest 600ft - will it be the trusty ETX-70 or my Meade DS-2114s [converted to a Lensless Schmidt camera] - the later's 90mm aperture and all reflective optics make the central star in M56 easy via the SX Lodestar CCD but the ETX -70 is more compact and easier to work with.
Last night at dusk I set-up the ETX in equatorial mode on the rear patio and did motor calibrate and alt-az test via the Autostar #494 menu then easy 2-star align. Both alignment stars Arcturus and Vega where in the fov and centred and synched! The prior calibration obviously helped and I probably do this on each session.
Swapped CCD for eyepiece then goto M3 west of Arcturus and yes there it was within the tiny CCD fov  A lot of tweaking focus knob to get it sharp and a few short 60s exposures [in auto 5s subs] before it 'set' into my rooftop - pic later. here's a 5second shot of globular M56 in Lyra that goes down to nearly mag 14 and maybe below that in inset 60s shot. How faint can you see with 70mm? Great fun - more to follow 
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Nytecam 51N 0.1W
Meade 30cm LX200+ETX-70+e-finder+C8+Ha+CaK PSTs SBIG SGS+homebuilt spectrographs
Starlight SXVF_M9+Lodestar CCDs/Canon 300D DSLR/Fuji E550
My observatory build-ETX-70 imaging-my videos
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jgraham
Postmaster
Reged: 12/02/04
Posts: 6757
Loc: Dayton, Ohio
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Neat! Your camera looks very sensitive with very low noise as well. I always thought of my little ETX-60BB as a 350mm lens with a built-n clock drive.  I'm tempted to try a #497 controller on it so I can use the periodic error correction function. So much to try, so few clear nights...
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-John
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Homebuilt scopes from 4.25-16.5"
Meade LXD75-N6/SN6/SC8, DSX-90, ETX-60BB, ETX-125PE, DS-2130
Orion StarBlast, BinoViewers, Coronado PST
Rebel XT/XTi, DSI Pro (I, II, & III), DSI, LPI, Electronic Eyepiece, Phillips SPC900NC
Tasco 60mm Refractors
Edited by jgraham (07/03/08 12:04 PM)
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rcd47
sage
Reged: 03/15/08
Posts: 259
Loc: East Texas, USA
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Quote:
So much to try, so few clear nigths...
Ain't it the truth!!!! 
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Randy
Edmund Astroscan
Meade ETX125PE
Skywatcher 102mm F5 & Alt/Az Mount
Orion ST80/Mini EQ1
Tasco Starguide 114/Celestron Hand Paddle
Pentax 10x50 Binoculars
Philips SPC 900NC
Stellacam EX
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stefanj
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 11/15/07
Posts: 1755
Loc: Western New York State
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So cool- I'm looking forward to trying out my LPI on my ETX90 RA (non autostar- but has a good tracking motor)
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Life is a circus- and I'm stuck in the FREAK TENT
If these are blue- it means the moon is full!
Meade ETX 90RA w/ tripod
Meade AZ 70 (now solar)
Meade DS 2130 AT
Zhumell 10" Dob
Simmons 10x50 Binoculars
GLPx8
LPI
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nytecam
Postmaster
Reged: 08/20/05
Posts: 5748
Loc: London UK
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Thanks everyone for your interest Quote:
Neat! ....... I'm tempted to try a #497 controller on it so I can use the periodic error correction function. So much to try, so few clear nights...
There does seem so many permutations to test  Here's M51 which is better resolved than my 1st pic of M51 last year on the larger but cooled [needs lots of power] MX9 CCD 
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Nytecam 51N 0.1W
Meade 30cm LX200+ETX-70+e-finder+C8+Ha+CaK PSTs SBIG SGS+homebuilt spectrographs
Starlight SXVF_M9+Lodestar CCDs/Canon 300D DSLR/Fuji E550
My observatory build-ETX-70 imaging-my videos
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nytecam
Postmaster
Reged: 08/20/05
Posts: 5748
Loc: London UK
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here's nearby face-on galaxy M101
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nytecam
Postmaster
Reged: 08/20/05
Posts: 5748
Loc: London UK
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and M81/82 also in the Big Dipper - I've rotated the camera to contain both galaxies in one shot - something quite alien to me
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nytecam
Postmaster
Reged: 08/20/05
Posts: 5748
Loc: London UK
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back to the planetaries in the southern sky with M27
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nytecam
Postmaster
Reged: 08/20/05
Posts: 5748
Loc: London UK
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and classic regular target M57 - the central star is a maybe in the inset enlargement
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nytecam
Postmaster
Reged: 08/20/05
Posts: 5748
Loc: London UK
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finally from the session the first object of the evening during dusk globular M3 in CVn with some star mags added from Megastar
Note the hint of astigmatism [vertically stretched stars] minimised later by carefully focusing - all the ETX-70s I imaged with reveal some astigmatism [even the shot of M81/82 where the camera rotated about 90 deg from normal] which, I suspect, is due to slight curvature or misalignment of the flip-mirror used to image
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nytecam
Postmaster
Reged: 08/20/05
Posts: 5748
Loc: London UK
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Another session July 3/4 with near perfect ETX-70 polar mode goto/ tracking onto the match-head sized CCD even over a 90 degree slew
Here's NGC 7331 and Stephan's Quintet groups of galaxies in Peg - faintest stars to mag 14.7 regularly recorded here in 2min exposure
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Nytecam 51N 0.1W
Meade 30cm LX200+ETX-70+e-finder+C8+Ha+CaK PSTs SBIG SGS+homebuilt spectrographs
Starlight SXVF_M9+Lodestar CCDs/Canon 300D DSLR/Fuji E550
My observatory build-ETX-70 imaging-my videos
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cnstarz
professor emeritus
Reged: 12/22/07
Posts: 549
Loc: Kentucky, USA
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Maurice,
Following your lead I've imaged with DSI and ETX-60 several DSO's in a whirlwind session. I've posted the results on the photoshop express web site: ALBUM
The exposures were short 1 off shots with no stacking (except m27)... Great fun.
Thanks for sharing
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Matt
Apogee 50mm BB scope
ETX-60 BB
Meade 70-az
5" DIY Newt (wip)
C6-N on CG-4 GEM
Gallery
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nytecam
Postmaster
Reged: 08/20/05
Posts: 5748
Loc: London UK
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Post deleted by nytecam
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cnstarz
professor emeritus
Reged: 12/22/07
Posts: 549
Loc: Kentucky, USA
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Maurice,
Here's a link to my gallery on CN. Gallery
See related thread Thread
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Matt
Apogee 50mm BB scope
ETX-60 BB
Meade 70-az
5" DIY Newt (wip)
C6-N on CG-4 GEM
Gallery
Edited by cnstarz (07/05/08 06:23 AM)
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nytecam
Postmaster
Reged: 08/20/05
Posts: 5748
Loc: London UK
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Quote:
Maurice,Here's a link to my gallery on CN. Gallery See related thread Thread
These results are excellent for your scope/CCD combo  Got my first shot of M22 globular just peeping over next-doors fence low on the London meridian thus - I've used 12 x 5s subs for 60s exposure
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Nytecam 51N 0.1W
Meade 30cm LX200+ETX-70+e-finder+C8+Ha+CaK PSTs SBIG SGS+homebuilt spectrographs
Starlight SXVF_M9+Lodestar CCDs/Canon 300D DSLR/Fuji E550
My observatory build-ETX-70 imaging-my videos
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nytecam
Postmaster
Reged: 08/20/05
Posts: 5748
Loc: London UK
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Here a small globular NGC 6366 in Oph near M14 and Juno [currently]
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nytecam
Postmaster
Reged: 08/20/05
Posts: 5748
Loc: London UK
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here's the tiny globular Pal 9 in Sgr west [right] of Jupiter that causes the flare
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nytecam
Postmaster
Reged: 08/20/05
Posts: 5748
Loc: London UK
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and Jupiter in 30s [full frame], 0.1s for sats and 0.01 for disk - again very low down in sky
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cnstarz
professor emeritus
Reged: 12/22/07
Posts: 549
Loc: Kentucky, USA
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Maurice,
Amazing what you've put together. Controlling all the variables of scope, camera, and computer is quite the challenge; really enjoying it myself. There's so much potential even with modest equipment.
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Matt
Apogee 50mm BB scope
ETX-60 BB
Meade 70-az
5" DIY Newt (wip)
C6-N on CG-4 GEM
Gallery
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nytecam
Postmaster
Reged: 08/20/05
Posts: 5748
Loc: London UK
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Thanks Matt - here's my portable ETX setup on the patio used to capture the above pictures
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Nytecam 51N 0.1W
Meade 30cm LX200+ETX-70+e-finder+C8+Ha+CaK PSTs SBIG SGS+homebuilt spectrographs
Starlight SXVF_M9+Lodestar CCDs/Canon 300D DSLR/Fuji E550
My observatory build-ETX-70 imaging-my videos
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