Rasa 11" - Sleeving Optics and Flocking OTA
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- Опубликовано: 23 янв 2025
- Trying to further improve the optical train and OTA output, by installing a 3DPrinted Flocked sleeve into the optical train, and also flocking the internal of the Rasa 11" telescope.
A challenging but fun project and think has seen an improvement on initial test done.
For the mods;
The 3D Printed sleeve was printed using Bambu Lab PLA-CF Filament
The paint used was the Musou Black and the flocking fabric was the glued backing IR Flock material, both sourced from the MusouBlack website.
I had been putting this off for months, had actually ordered the material in July 2023 and only just got round to tackling this now in June 2024! Took a long time to commit to tackling this!
Clear skies!
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I upload my images to Telescopius, and you can find my profile at:
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My other social locations are;
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The main equipment I use is;
Celestron CGX mount
Celestron CGX-L mount
Celestron Edge 11
Celestron RASA 11
Lunt LS80MTB1800C Solar Scope
Bresser 8" Newtonian
Bresser AR90s/500
ZWO ASI2600MC-P Colour cameras
ZWO 60/280 guidescope
ZWO ASI120mm guide camera
ZWO ASI174mini guide camera
ZWO ASI174mm planetary camera
Unihedron Sky Quality Meter (SQM)
NexDome Observatory
#Astrophotography #DavesAstrophotography #Cyprus
Nice job Dave! I’d never get it back together🤣 Brave man👍 Clear😊 skies!
Cheers Simon, I was dreading doing this, hence the reasons it took 11 months from ordering the material to actually executing the task!
Really interesting stuff - I've always been rather skeptical of flocking, but I think it looks like it was worthwhile.
The initial test looks pretty promising, i guess a longer session with more optimal calibration frames will also further improve things. Time will tell i guess. It certainly does look a lot different inside the OTA now, so less stray light must surely be better!
An idea to paint the entire inside of the observatory matt black maybe?
Are there coatings on the glass/mirrors etc that are causing reflections, or is it purely light leakage. And do the best in the world pieces of kit do the same?
Yep, I'm not an astrophotowhatsitname dude.
Sure have considered lining the inside of the observatory or painting black. There is so much light emitting from all the various electronics in the obo, in particular the blue leds for status/bluetooth connections etc on the victron solar gear that are really bright. There is also the network ports on the pcs, the router etc. that also light up. I have to start covering them over and see what difference it makes. AS everything effeccctively bounces around the dome roof and ends up probably back in the telescope. Another thing that can have an impact is the IR lights on the cameras, but I usually force them into day mode when imaging which turns them off.
Great Video, I think Luke from Lukomatico Chanel, had similar issues with his RASA, and solved it with a 3D printed baffle part he designed and fitted, maybe worth asking him..👍🏻
Thanks, yes Luke had the same problems, he and Jeff H both did videos about it. It was quite timely as their videos were just after I purchased the materials for this.
Nice work Dave I do find it a bit laughable that Celestron supply sub standard camera adapters considering what the RASA 11 costs so I've kinda learned to live with the vignetting on mine but they really should supply an M54 threaded unit I reckon. Regarding the flocking we did mine last year & as it's permanently set up in the observatory over the summer months the temperature inside went over 40 degrees C which caused the flocking material to become unstuck so it might be worth keeping an eye on that as I've no idea how hot it gets inside yours unless you have an air con unit keeping it cool throughout the day.
Clear skies!!
Cheers for the heads up, well today its 36'C in the observatory, and summer not here yet!
Ouch fingers crossed it will be ok
Great job.
Thank you, will eventually get round to doing the Edge11 as well I think.
Brave stuff Dave ! Can you take images with and without a Filter ? Quite a while back James Lamb had issues with donuts and rings that turned out to be filters and filter holders plus the wheel . Might be completely different or not . Question , did you collimate the scope after your upgrades ? Cheers .
Hi Scott, yes, I can take images without a filter installed, II think I did that test previously. After I upgraded to the UFC, I did spend time doing the tilt, back spacing and collimation check, then last night also rechecked the collimation, it was all good, I still need to recheck with the aberration inspection the tilt /back focus, but the test images looked ok in the corners so, if it is out, it isn't by much. Once I get a bit more time, will do another thorough check of everything, but still a couple tests I want to do for light leaks and reflections. might even go back inside the OTA again and flock the baffle tube at the back of the OTA and the front corrector element. Time will tell. :-D
@@DavesAstrophotography Hi Dave , cheers for the reply . Another few questions if we can...does the Flocking have a "nap" as in a direction to its fibres ? Were all the pieces installed with the "nap" facing the same way ? Lastly , what did you use to do a final clean of the Flocking ? Maybe a lint roller or something ? Thanks again !
@@scottrk4930 I don't think it has a specific direction, i ran one of those sticky lint rollers over it to remove any loose material/dust etc and lift the fibres.
Given the amount of money that we pay for a RASA, WHY aren't they already extra flat black inside? Isn't this just common sense? Why does the end-user have to fix a brand-new telescope?
I guess that their R&D experts don't see the additional cost adding the return value. I no idea how much it would cost to do at factory level.
That's a great result Dave. A lot of work but the images speak for themselves.
Cheers Pete, see how it is longer term, with better calibration frames and longer sessions under better conditions