Introduce your self :)

[Yoddha]

Hello,

In this section you can introduce yourself and to talk with the other members on any subject

[chris marshall]

Hi All

Built an observatory in my back garden 2.5 years ago - best thing I've ever done but still feel I've got a lot to learn. Been using APT for about 1 year & I must say it is great - so easy to use, intuitive with lots of tools ready @ a click. I found the change in your DARV for polar alignment a few months ago much better & have used it to get my PA spot on easily within 20 minutes so thanks.
I must say Ivo your images are amazing. I liked the one of M31 with a Canon 550D iso 1600. What are your skies like - do you use a LP filter? How did you get it so sharp & noise free at that ISO & no darks.
Thanks for everything

Chris

[Yoddha]

Welcome Chris!

Thank you for your kind words!

The M31 image was taken from the site of our national observatory (1740 above see level). Recently we are making our national astro parties there The sky is one of the best in our country during the summer. In winter the nearby skiing destination is a kind of polluting the skies... Night rides didn't exist back in 70s when it had been built... The great advantage is the possibility to get exceptional seeing disadvantage is the ~4 hours drive to the place

Usually I shoot from other location one hour way where the skies are bit darker, but the level is only ~820m and the humidity is very high - 50% is the best I remember, in most cases is above 80%.

The town I live is heavily polluted. The only reasonable option is narrow band imaging. Melotte 15 and Pacman are shot from the office balcony, but there is other problem - no enough clear window - up to 2 hours per target and it goes out of sight...

[alacant]

Hi everyone
A big thanks to Ivo for a great piece of kit. I've just taken the plunge into PointCraft. A few teething problems trying to integrate it with my more familiar cdc but hey, I hit M22 and got it centered on my first outing. I should add that that is not down to my technical expertise, more the excellent documentation and software. Not sure how the forum works here but I think I should post on the PointCraft section with plate and cdc queries rather than here. Anyway, thanks for accepting me.

[Yoddha]

Welcome Alacant!

Thank you very much! I'm happy that you like APT Looking forward seeing your images

[Reinhard]

Hello to everybody in this forum, I am new here, and I am also a greenhorn in all those aspects of astro photography.
I am 56 years old, live in the North of Austria, in RETZ.
My name is Reinhard and I am a general practitioner in Geras and Retz.
Kind regards, Reinhard

[Yoddha]

Welcome Reinhard!

[Vikrant]

Hello everybody
Good morning

I am Vikrant. Greetings from India . I work as nuclear engineer, but Astronomy is my hobby. I love doing spectroscopy.

Regards

[Yoddha]

Hello Vikrant!

I'm happy to see you here

[Stefan]

Hello Everyboy

This is Stefan from Switzerland. I am the developer of the Swiss DirectDrive System of the mounts ..
http://www.aokswiss.ch/d/mont/ddm/uebersicht_ddm.html .

I am interested in fully automated astro fotography, because I need my sleep in the night.

I tested APT a little bit and came to the conclusion, that you did and do a good job. Nevertheless I think that we need addtional features (rotator alignement (after platesoving), command for new rotator angles, , command for refocusing using dedicated stars, etc ...) to do such a job in a perfect way.

I hope you are interested in such extensions, which are needed to reach this goal.

Clear Sky
Stefan

[Yoddha]

Hello Stefan,

Thank you for your interest and for your kind words! Definitely we hope to add the features you have listed soon

Your mounts looks amazing!

[Bill_P]

Hi All

My name is Bill and I live near Southampton, England.

My setup is: Skywatcher HEQ5 PRO with AstroDevelopments Latitude & Azimuth Bolt Upgrade Set fitted. Bresser Messier NT-203/1000 Newtonian OTA with Hexafoc focuser, Baader Clickstop Zoom Mk IV and 2.25 Barlow. Astronomiser Modified Canon EOS 1300D. Altair v2 Laser Collimator and Self Centering Adapter Kit. Tracer LiFePO4 12v 12ah Battery.

I am still a novice user and recent convert to APT

[Yoddha]

Hi Bill,

Welcome to the forum

[Jim Zanardi]

Just registered, can the Celestron fx 8300 be operational or should it be used as a desk weight? Jim Zanardi

[Jim Zanardi]

I am a T6i DSLR user, recently (upgrading?) to a Celestron fx 8300. After reading various ominous reports regarding this camera I ask this question,,,,is it usuable or is it an expensive desk weight?

[Yoddha]

Hello Jim,

Welcome to the forum!

We had mixed bag of feedback about this camera... The best way is to give a try, the demo version of APT has no limitation related to the hardware control

[Smk]

Hello all!
Now that I’m retired I’m delving into the fascinating and sometimes frustrating hobby of Astrophotography. Thanks to the WWW I’m finding many fellow star gazers to offer suggestions and advice. However sometimes during my evening sessions observing in a Class 6 Sky , problems emerge that sometimes frustrate the heck out of me.
This is my latest situation:
I have a ASI 294MC pro that I can’t seem to function correctly in APT. I’m using a Windows 8 machine that is using a 64 bit format. I say this because the drivers are 32 bit and I’m thinking that this may be the reason. I have also installed the firmware but I’m skeptical about its behavior.
My modified DSLR should be here Monday and I’ll use that until I can figure this little conundrum out.
Any suggestions would be most appreciative.
Clear skies!!!

[Yoddha]

Hello,

Welcome to the forum!

Could you explain the problem in more details? APT is 32bits itself so it should work fine with the driver.

[Jaday]

Jaday from Washington State, USA, nice to be here.

[phb]

Hello Jaday from Washington State. I'm phb, also from Washington State (near the top left-hand corner). I assume it's raining where you are too.