Category Archives: Astronomy

Astro EQ conversion of EQ3-2

Posted on August 27, 2014 by james

I decided today that it’s about time I extracted a digit and got on with converting my old EQ3-2 “Sky Scan 2001” mount to GOTO using Tom Carpenter’s rather nice AstroEQ box. Although I already have the aftermarket motors fitted, … Continue reading →

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Shoddy Coronado PST build quality

Posted on August 26, 2014 by james

The constant rain this weekend meant indoor activity was called for, so I started work on my new PST mod to move the BF5 filter closer to the camera in an attempt to reduce or perhaps even completely remove the … Continue reading →

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Coronado PST eyepiece holder disassembly part 2

Posted on August 20, 2014 by james

I got brave this evening and disassembled the eyepiece holder to the point I’d reached as described a few days ago. I then examined the BF5 housing and decided that it appeared to fit into the eyepiece holder from the … Continue reading →

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Coronado PST eyepiece holder disassembly

Posted on August 15, 2014 by james

Following on from my thoughts that I might have to move the blocking filter on my modded PST closer to the camera sensor, I decided to take it apart to see what I might be dealing with.  Though I’ve got … Continue reading →

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Another possible PST mod

Posted on August 14, 2014 by james

My PST has been repeatedly modded and now looks like this: (though now with the addition of a motor to the focuser.) I have been pondering of late however on the amount of vignetting that occurs when imaging and what … Continue reading →

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FireWire/IIDC over USB camera support in oaCapture

Posted on August 14, 2014 by james

I’ve had a cheap little Point Grey monochrome USB Firefly MV camera sitting about for some time. I don’t know if they’re still around, but they used to sell on ebay for not very much. Point Grey are one of … Continue reading →

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AZ3 mount saddle and counterweight mod

Posted on August 14, 2014 by james

There are a couple of things about my AZ3 that I’ve never been happy with. The first is that it has fittings for scope rings rather than a saddle for a dovetail which is a pain if you want to … Continue reading →

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ASI120MM-S first impressions

Posted on August 14, 2014 by james

The ASI120MM-S (and ASI120MC-S) are new versions of the ASI120MM (and ASI120MC) cameras from ZWO with a new USB3 interface rather than the USB2 interface in the original models. Mine arrived a few weeks ago though I’ve had no chance … Continue reading →

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Support for Imaging Source cameras on OSX in oaCapture

Posted on August 14, 2014 by james

I’ve done a fair bit of hacking on Ken Tossell’s userspace UVC camera library of late, adding support for bulk mode transfers, extending support for some other features and fixing a few bugs.  That doesn’t necessarily help me on Linux, … Continue reading →

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Planetary imaging on a MacBook/OSX

Posted on August 13, 2014 by james

Well, ok, so I’ve not actually done it, but it should at least now be possible using oaCapture. Using a bundle of bits from the macports repository I now have oaCapture building on 64-bit OSX and it appears to work … Continue reading →

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