Thursday, 25 February 2010 15:00 | Written by Geoff |
Here is snapshot of Saturn taken with my new scope LX200 10" SCT with Mintron Camera. Seeing was terrible and Saturn just cleared the rooftops but not too bad :)
Thursday, 07 January 2010 09:35 | Written by Geoff |
Finally managed to get out in the observatory last night. Had to use a hammer and break up the ice on the roof, 4.5 inches thick! what a racket that made.
Air turbulence was terrible due to all the houses around having the heating up full blast so Mars was dancing around on the screen took a chance and gathered 200 frames with the Mintron and a 2x barlow and a 25a Filter. I Stacked the avi in registax (must learn how to use this properly) and the result was not too bad at all. I managed to capture the polar cap and some detail on surface. All in all I am happy with this my very first attempt at Mars and I will publish the image a little later it was too damn cold to fiddle about with a memory stick at midnight and I was suffering from the cold by this time. The wife had made me a nice hot black coffee which I knocked over in the dark so no doubt the observatory will be smelling of coffee and I can't get clean it until Sunday Wahhh!
Sunday, 22 November 2009 22:29 | Written by Geoff |
Galloway Star Camp follow on:
It's always nice to recieve an email from someone you met at these events and shared a couple of days out of your life with to share a common interest. So here's one from a nice chap call John Singleton.
Geoff, Pleased you enjoyed the Star Camp like we did. We got home on Monday before the terrible conditions that many had later. I have looked at your interesting dasoc web pages and will use them to follow your efforts with imaging from time to time. Best wishes, John
Sunday, 22 November 2009 22:18 | Written by Geoff |
Great service from Rother Valley Optics.
I ordered an Olll filter from this company on Friday afternoon and to my amazement it arrived at 10:30 Saturday morning. Unbelievable service and many thanks for the good customer service. I will certainly use them again! So thats two great companies so far Astronomy and Nature Center and Rother Valley Optics. So how about it readers? let me know of good service or bad service and I will publish them here.
Cheers- Geoff
P.S.- A nice follow up email
Hi Geoff,
Many thanks for that. I am glad you are happy with our service. If you need advice or if you want any more kit, do not hesitate to contact me.
Tuesday, 17 November 2009 21:40 | Written by Geoff |
Hello All,
Just back from Galloway Astro Camp and what a great experience it was too! I arrived on Friday and set up my scope (I didn't take the LX90) but took the Celestron 8" SCT). After setting up the laptop and Mintron I awaited the night sky. The skies suddenly clouded over and it started to rain so I hastily packed away all the gear and sat in the car. It was torrential rain and high winds all night so I settled down to watching DVDs (plan B)
After a sleepless night I awoke to more rain on the saturday morning. After a nice shower in Drumroaming Camp Sites' superb facilities (Thanks Lesley) I had breakfast and then off to the County Buildings Wigton. Wigton Astronomical Society had arranged a whole day of fascinating lectures and displays.
The itinerary was as follows:
10:30 Choosing and buying a telescope by Prof. Ian Morison of Jodrell Bank. A super talk and lots of good practical advice and demonstrations. 11:30 Cosmology-Dark matter and Dark Energy by DR Stuart Lynn. Royal Observatory Edinburgh. Again a superb insight into the realms of Dark Matter. 13:30 Sunspots ans the Solar Cycle by Dr Lyndsay Fletcher reader in Astrophysics at University of Glasgow. She made the Solar talk a real treat for all. 14:30 Galileo's Universe by Dr Martin Henry, Senior Lecturer Department of Astrophysics, University of Glasgow. Fascinating.
This was followed by a panel discussion to round off the day and also time for shopping at the vendors stalls.
This was followed by a hasty retreat to the Camp Site in time to set up before dark. The skies darkened and I was treated to some of the darkest skies I have ever seen and I couldn't believe the canopy of stars and the Milky Way which was resplendent from horizon to horizon. I was up until 05:00 and had a wonderful time. I can thoroughly recommend this Star Camp to everyone. If you didn't make it this year don't miss next years.
Monday, 09 November 2009 09:58 | Written by Geoff |
Hi everyone, finally got the adjustments to the observatory roof finished. It now has a 4 foot opening as opposed to a 2 foot one and is able to lay completely flat on itself when opened. I now have views to the North, East and West as well as uninterrupted views to the south. I have also fitted a drawbridge style front that allows to me to lower the front of the observatory to capture those lower altitude objects to the south.
I fitted the polar wedge to the LX90 and did a few trial runs last night (08/11/2009) although goto was not exactly spot on (some spiral searching) it did not detract too much from the overall pleasure. I will need to try to get North alignment more accurate. My compass shows North as North East at the moment so there must be something in the observatory deflecting the needle off course -sigh-.
Anyway off this weekend to the First Galloway Star Camp ( for details see IYA2009 section) and I'm really looking forward to this. I will report back with news and post some piccies as soon as.
Thursday, 22 October 2009 12:03 | Written by Geoff |
Hi Geoff,
Had a look at the web site. Looks good and professional. The articles by Emma are quite good and very informative for the beginning astronomer. As to advice on image processing: take as many frame as possible. I do about 700 to 1000 frames. Use the GSTAR software - its a free download at the moment. Don't scimp on dark frames - take the same amount as light frames and do a fresh one each imaging session. Use a good image stacking program (registax 5 is what I use). Don;t be afraid to stretch the stacked image to reveal the feint detail.
Feel free to use more photos if you like, and good luck with your future imaging.
Just Got a set of balancing weights for my LX90 from those nice people at the Astronomy and Nature Center. They are made by Astro Engineering and now allow me to attach my Revelation dual speed Crayford focuser. I opted for the additional set of weights as the focusing unit and camera are a fair old weight. Delivery was amazingly fast and the price was about half of the sliding bar type for sale elsewhere. Well done to ANC and Astro Engineering!
Wednesday, 23 September 2009 19:15 | Written by Geoff |
Had a really long session last Saturday managed a 6 hour session. The scope was not too badly aligned and most of the night it was on target or there about.
I managed several nebulae and galaxies that I had only dreamt of seeing as a lad. I really need to get some counter weights for the LX90 so I can attach my revelation 2 speed crayford focuser. I find that the LX90's own focuser is hard to get pin sharp accuracy but the crayford is just too heavy without balances. I will post some more images of some of the joys of that night and start with an old friend M31 in Andromeda. I know that it's not a brill picture but none the less I'm excited about it and one day I will get it perfect. For now this will do me.
Wednesday, 16 September 2009 12:34 | Written by Geoff |
Here I will feature images by more experienced G-Star/Mintron users than me. If you would like your images to feature here just contact me and I will oblige. You never know I may one day be producing images of this quality
Monday, 14 September 2009 15:38 | Written by Geoff |
Hi from "Down Under"
Congratulations on an excellent website and one that is not black with dark blue links/text and white text, which looks so gloomy and is difficult to read. I don't even go past the front page on sites 'black' sites.
Your site is very well set out, easy to navigate and has lots of interesting material. I have bookmarked it and will peruse more as time permits.
You are off to a great start. There are six factors that you need to be mindful of: Focus, focus and focus, followed closely by Seeing, seeing and seeing!
Get them right and you are on a winner :)
Looking forward to more images
Jonathan
(Edinburgh grad and now born-again Aussie!)
Hi Geoff,
Just had a quick look at your site. You are on the right track to producing good images. I started out as you did, but now I'm regularly producing good images that I'm proud to show to others. Several Of my images were published in Steve Massey and Steve Quirk's book that you have. Both are very good friends of mine.
Friday, 11 September 2009 10:02 | Written by Geoff |
Just had a good read of the image processing section in The Deep Sky Video Astronomy book by Steve Massey and Steve Quirk. I thought I would process an earlier image of M13 (see original post). Well what a difference! although I didn't take flats or dark frames (not got to grips with that yet) The difference is remarkable. I will deff take some darks and flats and then revisit M13 and will post the result so you can see the difference. Thanks guys for the tips.
M13 after processing using Gimp and layer with unsharp procedure. compare the difference with the previous image posted a week ago.
Tuesday, 08 September 2009 21:56 | Written by Geoff |
Tonight going crazy indoors and looked out and saw a break in the clouds. Set up Mintron on LX90 but got only 5 minutes or so to get pic. Still not got to grips with exposure but managed to get the Gallilean moons and an over exposed Jupiter. But as they say, things can only get better :) and guess what? it's started raining again :(
Friday, 04 September 2009 09:35 | Written by Geoff |
Click on the book to purchase a copy.
Deep-Sky Video Astronomy is a concise guide to using modern video cameras for deep-sky viewing and imaging with the kinds of modest telescopes available commercially to amateur astronomers. It is not a beginner's book, but it does include an introduction and brief history of the technology, camera types, etc. More importantly, the authors examine the pros and cons of this unrefrigerated yet highly efficient technology, which is already beginning to compete with expensive astronomical cooled-chip CCD cameras in quality and ease of use. The book also includes a thorough examination of the variety of accessories that are available and can be used to achieve a particular result. Examples of accessories are focal reducers, Barlow lenses, and optical filters. However, much of the book's focus is on the practical side of creating beautiful and detailed astronomical portraits using image-stacking software, picture enhancement tools such as Photoshop, and in creating color images using only a very sensitive black-and-white camera. Practical step-by-step examples, supported by tried and trusted tips, show how it is possible to achieve the best possible celestial deep-sky video portrait! There is also information on how this technology is being used for comet hunting, supernova patrols, lunar and Minor Planet occultations, astrometry, and meteoroid observations
A great book I found written by Steve Massey and Steve Quirk Deep Sky Video Astronomy. The book gives you all the info you need to get great results from your Mintron/G-Star ccd camera. Get it here. Highly recommended.
"G'day Geoff
Nice blog and thanks for the feedback on the latest book. We appreciate it. I'm half Scots myself - love the country.. been a while since I was there though. " Steve Massey Australia
Tuesday, 01 September 2009 10:16 | Written by Geoff |
OK I finally got the remote cable and the the Gstar software to co-operate (after the initial success I reported earlier it would appear that it was very intermittent) and can use the the OSD without having to use GStar standalone program. It would appear that the pins 2 and 4 (ground) on the 8 pin DIN plug need to be joined I achieved this bending them so they touch and it works so now I will remake the lead and solder a short piece of wire between them.
Thursday, 27 August 2009 15:24 | Written by Geoff |
Finally got the remote feature to work in the capture software with the Mintron CCD Camera. I obtained the RS232 to RS485 converter and a couple of Din plug ends from Bernard at Modern Astronomy. The cable I used was rounded telephone cable and used just 2 of the colours which makes recognising the other end of the wire easier. Having solderered the wires to Pins 1 and 3, I connected them to the converter and plugged it into the 9 pin serial port on the PC.
I opened the G star software and clicked on the GStarCom button and Nothing happened!!! Wahhhhhh! Having had a nice cup of coffee I calmed down and approached the situation logically. I then downloaded the stadalone version of the software and tried again. Same result !! ?? what was I doing wrong. I re read the comments on the web and it all became clear. You have to plug the cable in to the aux port with camera powered off and then power up the camera and then run the standalone remote program and this time Success!
I now can change the Mintron camera settings without going near the camera. Oh joy of joys.
Tuesday, 25 August 2009 08:43 | Written by Geoff |
Hello everyone! I have decided to try my hand at blogging and have put my thoughts and actions to paper (albeit electronic) for all the world to see.
Just lately I got hold of a Mintron 12V6HC-EX CCTV camera and linked it up to my Meade LX90 8inch SCT to see what I could achieve. Just to put you in the picture I recently built a small observatory in my back garden. My garden being south facing is ideal for obseving with fairly clear views from east-south-west with just the north being obscured by the lift up roof on my observatory. The Scope is not mounted on a pier but on the heavy duty Tripod and the floor being raised off the ground flexes slightly if you move about so long exposure deep sky imaging is a deffinate no!
Both of these sites have a wealth of information, you just have to try to piece it all together and hope for the best. The Gstar software works a treat with the Mintron and I will let you know if I get the cable to work to control the camera settings remotely. Here's hoping.
Anyway last night 24/08/2009 I got some reasonably clearish kind of skies and I say reasonably because this summer has been terrible in Scotland! month after month of cloudy,rainy skies :(
So I got the scope nearly aligned and being anxious and impatient to get going and set the camera to Jupiter. The image was too bright so I turned the sense down and got a nice big disc and the four Gallilean moons no probs However no detail on the disc (still too bright) I assume this is a filter issue and will try to address this on later nights. I captured a short AVI and moved on to M57 WOW!!! A nice big ring and the central star which I have never seen before even with my 12 inch Dobsonian!
On a roll now so off to M27 Dumbell Nebula. Again a big WOW this was spectacular so captured another short AVI (note to myself to upload to You Tube and post link) next was M13 in Hercules again very impressive. The rest of the night till 0100 was used messing about slewing and so on to see what the camera would reveal. Any way I am more than suitably impressed with this camera to explore it more so keep looking and we'll see what happens.
Single Frame from 30 second AVI M27 Dumbell nebula
M13 in Hercules single frame from AVI
These images can only improve as I learn how to use the camera and how to process the images afterwards but not too bad for a start eh!
Geoff
P.S. if you want one of these great cameras then talk to Bernard at:
1. When you say single image do you mean 1 single frame or was the final image a result of stacking?
2. What exposure times where used?
They are great images, truly a good camera you should be really pleased with them. I take it your camera does not have a fast enough shutter speed for Jupiter.
Monday, 22 June 2009 19:33 | Written by Administrator |
Like all astronomers there comes a time when we all would like our own observatory. Cost is often a major consideration and let's face it we just all don't have a couple of grand lying about to purchase a ready made one. My needs were quite simple, a building or shed to take my 12" Dobsonian and 5" Nexstar SE. Having looked at ready made sheds to adapt i decided on self build. So with the help of my good friend George we set about buying the materials. I used Sterling board for the walls and roof but this was only available in 8x4 foot sheets and the area to build my observatory allowed me only 6x6 feet so every sheet was cut by 2 feet to make 6x4 sheets and then 2 were split lengthways to make 6x2 sheets which added to the former gave dimensions of 6x6x6 square.
As my garden is south facing I decided on a roll on roll off roof but then settled for a hinged roof with a drop down flap at the front. This opens up a large portion of the sky for me. I had problems with how to open the roof easily but a club member Don advised me to use 6 foot lengths of steel bar bolted to the roof and counterweights to assist in opening the roof. See the following photo's and you will see what I mean.
The wife raising the roof. Due to the weight of the steel bars very little effort is required to open the roof and indeed counter weights were not needed. The whole Southern sky is open to me.
My new Meade LX90 and Mintron Camera attached. Dew control unit is attached to the fork arm and Dew band around OTA. I will post a later image showing Crayford focuser and balances soon.
Just a wee update. The 12" Dobsonian has made way for an LX90 8" and I will post a more recent photo as soon as. I now have electrics inside so at least I don't have trailing wires to the house. I am upgrading the roof to have 3/4 of the roof opening and laying flat to the rear so that will open up even more of sky to me. My good friend Graham has made some seriously heavy duty hinges for me and I'm eternally grateful. So watch this space and when we have a good sunny weekend hopefully we can finish the project. Geoff
