- Видео 19
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CellistOnTheRoof Astro 🪐
Добавлен 6 фев 2014
A cellist with her head in the clouds.
Welcome to my astrophotography diary from Brighton, UK - England’s finest cloud factory!
For more of my astrophotography, please see my Instagram: @cellistontheroof
All photos have been taken and processed by me.
Welcome to my astrophotography diary from Brighton, UK - England’s finest cloud factory!
For more of my astrophotography, please see my Instagram: @cellistontheroof
All photos have been taken and processed by me.
Dealing with pinched optics on WO RedCat/SpaceCat
My lovely SpaceCat 61 WIFD suffered from funny stars - here is a short account of all the things I tried and that may work for you! Ultimately it had to go back to William Optics for factory readjustment, so this is also my experience with that side of the process. Hope it's interesting!
Просмотров: 2 148
Видео
Simple solar limb imaging - capture and process
Просмотров 1,8 тыс.3 месяца назад
This is how I do close-ups of the solar limb with my 40mm Lunt and ZWO ASI174mm - including a Powermate/Barlow, and using IMPPG for processing!
What do I need for planetary imaging?
Просмотров 4,8 тыс.4 месяца назад
A run through my planetary imaging equipment necessities and nice-to-haves! Together with the following two videos on setting up, and imaging and processing, these pretty much show my entire process beginning to end. If you're hoping to get started with planetary imaging, these may provide some starting points and inspiration. Good luck!
Simple planetary imaging start - capture and processing basics
Просмотров 3,5 тыс.6 месяцев назад
Planetary imaging from coastal England sometimes seems like a fool's errand, but I am in love with it, and wanted to share my process! As always, this is just what works for me, but hopefully gives someone a starting point. After an unbelievably poor weather all throughout autumn and winter, I'm hoping to get some opportunities to record some better captures!
Installing a ZWO EAF to a RedCat/SpaceCat 61 WIFD
Просмотров 2,6 тыс.6 месяцев назад
A short video on how I installed ZWO's EAF to my SpaceCat 61 with the new internal focuser design. Not the most straightforward thing for me, so there's a "don't do what I did" included! Thankfully it all works now. You can find the diagrams and installation instructions I show on screen here in the manual: cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0675/5752/3673/files/Manual-Redcat-61-WIFD.pdf?v=1709691518
Highlights of European Astrofest in London 2024
Просмотров 8118 месяцев назад
A short video about a day out in London for the 2024 European Astrofest. It's a big conference with talks and all sorts of vendors and exhibitors, and this year they hosted their inaugural imaging competition sponsored by Celestron. My image of the solar system planets was shortlisted and exhibited at the hall, unfortunately I didn't win, but it was really nice to see among some great astrophot...
Setting up for planetary imaging - Camera, ADC, Barlow
Просмотров 12 тыс.11 месяцев назад
Setting up my SCT for planetary and lunar imaging, including the ADC and Barlow. For all who have been confused about what goes where, does it need backfocus, why they can't find it, how does guiding work, how does the ADC word etc - here is my whole quick setup process. I tried my best to show everything as clearly as I could, sometimes not as easy when recording in the dark and half the stuff...
Solar imaging with a small Lunt H-alpha telescope - capture and processing
Просмотров 10 тыс.Год назад
How I image and process the whole solar disc with a 40mm Lunt For anyone who loves their new hydrogen alpha solar telescope and are into solar disc imaging like me, I hope this can inspire some ideas about creating your own workflow or get someone started! In this video I run through setup, capture, and processing to get an inverted Sun image, which I personally like. The photo I’ve got in this...
Setting up a Lunt 40mm Hydrogen Alpha solar telescope
Просмотров 10 тыс.Год назад
Small 40mm Lunt from box to mount I encountered a few small snags setting up my new dedicated solar telescope, and wanted to share with you all how I got around them. I've recently moved on from a Coronado PST to a 40mm Lunt (ouch, wallet), because the PST wasn't playing ball when it came to focusing, and I'm looking to get the whole solar disc in frame. The Lunt had a few small things to resol...
Celestron CPC 800 vs 925 - size and portability
Просмотров 17 тыс.Год назад
If you’re like me, and you’ve been trying to decide whether the CPC 8” or 9.25” are portable enough for you before you commit, I’ve decided to make video about how they compare in size and what it’s like to manoeuvre them. I’m pretty average size and fitness, so hopefully this will be helpful for those who are wondering whether they can lift them up and set the down easily! The CPC series is ab...
How I stack and process photos of the International Space Station
Просмотров 3,7 тыс.Год назад
How I stack and process photos of the International Space Station
How I photograph the International Space Station
Просмотров 28 тыс.Год назад
How I photograph the International Space Station
They are an excellent company, thanks for sharing your story. Clear skies
❤ thanx you rally know what you doing Keep it up ❤
Thank you so much. I recently received a Lunt 60t as a gift. Your video will really help, though I have the zwo120mm cam with a smaller sensor. I also have the 533mc pro.
What an amazing gift! You’ll love it. Glad the videos were helpful!
Thanks for the video! ❤
Really glad you liked it!
It clouded over about 30 minutes after it started for me 🤪😭 This looks great Ivana
Haha thanks, can’t believe I actually saw something from Brighton for once!
Great share, a WO Cat is definitely on my bucket list. It's great to know that they stand behind their products. Looking forward to seeing the images you get with it. Clear Skies
Thanks for watching! 😊
Interesting thabk you. I didn’t realise that refractors suffered with pinched optics ( I’ve only ever had Newtonians)
How much I've wanted to get into planetary also. This video's been very interesting and your insights into your choices. Would you say you would've picked a long Newtonion over the Cassegrain style if you had space? That multiply pixels by 5 for focal ratio is a golden nugget of information!
Ruzeen! Thanks! And you should absolutely get into planetary. Didn’t I see a classical Cassegrain and a 180 Mak on your Instagram? Personally, if space was no issue, yes I’d probably go for a large GoTo dobsonian, they are relatively cheaper when larger, much brighter, easier to bring to a good focal ratio, and less bothered by temperature change. But I do love my SCT 😊
@CellistOnTheRoof thanks for the reply! Thanks for following me on IG! You're correct on both counts. Both were review kit. The classical cassegrain were nice scopes and open front so they would cool faster I love an SCT purely because of the front element is crazy. I love the look of an SCT. I've always had a consideration for them but I feel I can't really see the planets from my garden unfortunately. North facing garden, house to the south 😅
Ah that’s a shame! Yes anything but north would be better. If you do feel like you can go somewhere, at least SCTs and Maks are more easily portable and the imaging doesn’t take too long. Thanks for watching 😊
Thanks Cellist, fixed my AT60ED !
Wow! What was the issue and what did you do?
Great video, and very well presented…good info too, you have a new subscriber…👍🏻
Thank you!
Glad you got the telescope fixed & it's good that William optics went out on a limb to get it fixed & even by paying the courier charges to. Another company I can recommend is Pegasus astro as I bought a powerbox which failed after only the second time of using it. I emailed them & got a response within 24 hours firstly I did what they asked to see if I could fix the issue but I couldn't so they paid fro a courier to pick it up & sent to Greece for them to fix. In just over a week it was back in my possession & working great so 10 out of 10 for their customer service.
I have a WO White Cat 51 and a GT81 which are now five and seven years old respectively. I have never experienced any problems but it's nice to know their customer service seems to be of a high standard in case I ever need assistance. Anyway glad you got the problem sorted, I'm sure you'll soon be capturing some great images with that set up. Clear Skies
Glad you got the telescope fixed! Now, if only we could submit a service request for those cloudy nights. Happy imaging!
Thanks!
You should be glad it was a WO telescope and not a ZWO. ZWO support is bad. Unless you have a dealer pushing the issue on your behalf, you just get ignored.
Yes unfortunately their reputation is widely known. I’m not sure I’d go for a ZWO scope. From friends’ experiences, if a company is difficult to work with, the dealers start pushing back on returns as well.
Here in the UK the dealer is legally responsible if the product fails in the normal guarantee period or is supplied in a defective condition. I have to say the dealers of astro gear I use have always been very good although I've never had that many problems and the ones I have had have been software related which have been sorted by talking with the dealers help desk. I must say, the negative stories I read about ZWO's after sales customer service has put me off buying their mounts and more expensive cameras and I probably wouldn't buy their scopes either. I do use their gear on my Cat51 grab and go rig and it works ok. ZWOs other problem is they try to lock you into their eco system with their ASIair controllers, I have one and it is easy to use but of course I can't use it with my none ZWO cameras, focusers etc,. So my other set ups use either Eagle or Stellarmate Pro controllers, I prefer the Eagle but they are rather expensive.
@@CellistOnTheRoof I have issues with a still under warranty AM5. After a few useless " try this, try that" in phd2, I was ghosted. I could not even get a reply to get new belts. I am now convinced their business model is "no repair, let the customer buy a new one".
Good to know. Thanks. Glad you have your wonderful scope back to enjoy. I purchased an older WO Zenithstar scope and had a question about it. I emailed WO and William Yang himself responded immediately. I was totally impressed with this support
Wow! Now that’s service, haha!
opened my eyes thankyou
Great video 🔥
Thanks!
I have also had a very good experience with needing to get a Redcat fixed, so much so that I went for the FLT91 as well which is a fantastic scope. WO for the win!
I use a Zenithstar 61 and my stars look exactly like yours did in the earlier pics. I had never heard of pinched optics, I assumed it was the flattener being the wrong distance from the sensor.
It seems like it’s really not that uncommon! Maybe try one or two things from here and see if that fixes it?
Went through all this with my GT-71 but wasn’t fixable. Never had these issues with any other scopes, just William Pinched Optics.
Oh, early on someone commiserated with me about their ed80 that had the exact same stars!
@@CellistOnTheRoof Sometimes it’s just luck. However, there was an awful lot of GT-71 and ZS-73 owners in the same boat as me along with unsatisfactory responses from WO. This was years ago so things change/improve.
I really hope so! I don’t know enough about telescope making and why this happens to an otherwise solid kit, but if there’s nothing in place to catch this before the scope is shipped out, then this kind of customer service is needed afterwards.
@@CellistOnTheRoof Glad to see things have improved. I have a RC51 and that’s been solid and a keeper.
I had a bad WO FLT-91 stars were terrible except in the middle of the FOV. It wasn’t a back-focus issue. WO just sent me a new flattener. Didn’t fix it. I sold the scope. 😂
Interesting. I knew pinched optics could be a problem for reflectors but I wasn't aware that it could be a problem for refractors.
Good. outcome in the end, even with high end optics you can get rogue products,good to see William Optics stand by their customers..clear skies
Thanks!
Thank you for this! I'm not sure I would have figured this out without you (and yet I STILL had several "oh shit, did I just break this" moments).
I’m really happy it was helpful! You should have seen me trying it the first time 😁
Hi, nice video! I owned a RedCat 51, and a friend of mine owned a 71. We both had the same problems as you. WO sent us the same email with the same instructions, but that didn’t work. Here in Germany, we have many well-known and experienced companies that can collimate all kinds of scopes (like Wellenform). However, none of them want to work with a RedCat (or the new Pleiades series). After that, we reached out to our dealer, who contacted WO directly. They also didn’t respond to the complaint at first, and he had to send a second email. Only then did they ask for the scope to be sent back to the manufacturer in Asia. My friend's 71 worked fine after collimation by the manufacturer. Mine was slightly better, but the problem was still visible. Wellenform told us that the issue lies in the corrector at the end of the tube, which can't be collimated. You have to send it back, they take the scope apart, and usually replace the corrector. But if they install a new corrector with the same issue, you'll still have the same star problems (as I did with my 51). After that, I returned the RedCat and got an Askar FRA300 Pro, which works fine. I talked to my dealer and other dealers. They often have to return WO scopes-not just the RedCat or Pleiades series, but also the regular apos. Askar, for example, doesn’t have these issues, is cheaper, and offers the same (or even better) performance. I like the Cat series. I think the design is cool and the specs are great. But I would never buy a scope again with so many problems that can't be fixed by myself, the dealer, or by a company specialized in collimation... Greetings from Germany, Brian
Like you, I've had amazing experience with WO. I had an issue with my FL156 and sent it back to them. I was impressed with how quickly they repaired it. They certainly stand behind their telescopes.
Good to hear!
Expedition to Antarctica ?????
Ha, yes! It was a recreational one, still, an incredible experience! The camping was definitely one to remember 😁
Thx for this. Seriously looking into getting a WO cat and it's good to get a first hand report on customer service. I was wondering if you could comment about your upgrade from the 51 to the 61. Was it worth it and why? I liked your insights on the portability of the C8 vs. the C9.25.
Hi! I think I should say first that the 61 was definitely more of an indulgence than a need, the difference in aperture is not really that big. But it has a kitty in a space helmet on it, and it makes me happy, which is what I want from a hobby! I use a ZWO ASI533, which is their more popular camera and the same pixel size as the 2600, which is the most commonly used one. With that combo, I definitely see an improvement. The 61 also frames some of the most popular targets very well - great FOV for Pleiades, Heart, Andromeda etc. However, my 51 was the old style with helical focuser which could then be detached and rotated around, making the scope absolutely tiny and much easier to, for example, fly with. The WIFD design is definitely a technical improvement though, so you could argue they have different use case scenarios. I’d say if you want to travel and do wider field, and you’re open to getting something in the 70-80mm mark for smaller targets, the 51 is a great choice. If you’re only getting one, the 61 is great. If they come out with a 71 SpaceCat, I may get that too and make a comparison!
@CellistOnTheRoof I must agree with you the cat logo! My cat usually keeps me company when I'm imaging around my home. I've been looking at the improvements with the newer model and was unaware that the front could not be reversed. Good to know. I'm imaging with an ASI585 as of now. Not knowing how much I would get into AP, I chose something midway between DSO and a planetary camera. I'm happy so far with my DSO imaging, but planetary not so much! That's the reason I started following your channel. Wide field imaging so intrigues me and has me looking at the cat series of scopes along with a 533 or 2600 camera. Anyway, thanks for your response and your informative videos!
Good that you got this sorted eventually! Money spent on equipment is valuable when it comes to after service.
Right? I’m genuinely not praising WO for doing something above and beyond - this sort of service should be the norm and it’s positive!
What an annoyance and hassle, but handled with patience and good-humour! Glad it was resolved so well by WO - the results speak for themselves.
Thanks! Yes I’m really happy with stars now - time to work on my DSO imaging 😊
This should have been dealt with at Williams Optics with proper quality control not by customers to find out
Ideally, yes. Practically, in my experience, things like this happen with everything.
This isn't a Takahashi. In the astronomy world there aren't many things you can buy where there is a 100% guarantee the one you receive won't have a problem. The real issue is how they respond when there is a problem. I have two WO scopes (51 and 71) with absolutely no problems.
And problems "reads" poor quality control
And problems are poor quality control, especially the optics of a high end Telescope with pinched optics which is a result of poor quality assembly control.
This sort of thing happens all the time regardless of price and product type, but it's how the manufacturer deals with these issues that matters so well done William Optics. Looking forward to seeing the images you take with this🙂
Agreed, I really hope this is their norm. I’ve already done some DSO imaging this summer and really enjoyed it 😊 Thanks!
Exactly. Mistakes happen. A company should be judged on how they respond to such problems. I had a different issue with my Redcat 51, but the response was similar to yours.
Really glad to hear it! I’m happy with how it was dealt with, this to me should be the standard.
I captured it as well it was wonderfull
Very nice. I'm glad you were able to photograph it. I know you often have weather issues there. Here the weathers normally good, but the light pollution is terrible. I was unable to get the scope out to view the eclipse, so seeing your photograph is the next best thing. Clear Skies
Thanks! I have the added pleasure of being boxed in by buildings so this was taken about five minutes before it disappeared from view. I’m super pleased I managed to see it! Thankfully, planets and the Moon aren’t affected by light pollution much, otherwise I’d struggle too.
Nice acquisition. I've been considering buying one myself for IR imaging. I have the 585MC at present.
Excellent, thanks! 👍
Well captured 👍. I was clouded out.
Ah shame! That’s my life here, can’t believe I actually saw a celestial event from Brighton 😄
Where are you live
Good evening, very nice video, congratulations!!! Can we apply the technique of editing the final image in photoshop to all the photos that have come out of a simple telescope? unfortunately I still haven't been able to get the Lunt.
Hi, thanks and glad you liked it! So which part of the editing do you mean and what images are you getting now? I think the edit would work for any black and white hydrogen alpha image, but can’t speak for white light or color images!
Great advice for a beginner like me. Got my first pleasing result of Saturn using my 127mm MAK. Thanks
OMG Thank you for this. I could not for the life of me find those inner screws! The PDF just shows them as if they are already out and about.
Absolute Genius! Works a treat!
Could be an empty satellite with no one in it
Well done
There is a focuser tension screw where the EAF brackets need to be mounted. The instructions do not say to remove it and to use the hole to screw in the brackets, but that seemed like the only option. Is that correct or does the focuser tension screw need to be there?
Personally to me it wasn’t perfectly clear in the diagram, but I used that screw as a mounting point for the EAF bracket, making sure it’s not too tight. It doesn’t technically say not to remove it - just not to overtighten it!
Very helpful, thank you.
My 10 inch Meade is heavy, more than that its blessed awkward to line up the stud that threads into the base. I 3d printed a tray that matched the shape of the base and screwed onto the tripod head. Its now so much easier to put the scope up onto the tripod and it feels safe. Years ago in anothe rlife in Massachusets I used Celestron and hated the mount set up. I machined a coupler that allowed the scope to just drop onto the tripod. I am certain an adapter could be printed that would make youir life far easier. Any way enough waffle.
HI, Im in Crawley with a 10 inch Meade SCT and the viewing is no better. I fully agree with you regarding the huge range of cameras available from just one maker. I have just ordered a ZWO camera but fully intend on continuing using my modified webcam and modified DSLR as backups. Great videos thank you.
Hi, almost-neighbour! Yes we aren’t blessed when it comes to skies, but we do what we can. Hope the new camera treats you well.
Hey you have the camera I just bought! I'm hoping to learn how to get good planetary images. I just got my first scope (it's only 500mm). It looks like you have a great setup. I will watch through your other videos to see what I can learn. I have tons of deepspace tools, but none for planetary (in fact: all planets are completely excluded from nina 😢).