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| Night Sky Photography - Page 10 | |
| An Equatorial Mount: My lucky day! | Rate Topic |
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| Posted: Thu Aug 29th, 2019 02:49 |
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91st Post |
jk
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Robert wrote:OK, gradually getting this together. Here are the images. Like these three best. Well done looks like you are well setup now.
____________________ Still learning after all these years! https://nikondslr.uk/gallery_view.php?user=2&folderid=none |
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| Posted: Thu Aug 29th, 2019 03:25 |
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92nd Post |
chrisbet
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Great photos but not convinced about including the signpost! Any idea what the curved dotted trail in the 2nd pic is? Plane? Meteor?
____________________ If it is broken it was probably me .... |
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| Posted: Thu Aug 29th, 2019 03:36 |
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93rd Post |
Robert
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Thanks JK, my setup is maturing, I will take a look a the UV power Pack later that will make the setup tool-free, quicker, easier and safer, I'm not keen on taking lead acid batteries into the field, in the dark, clambering over gates and suchlike. Also it would make it easier (lighter) to take the rig to less accessible locations, although the astro head is by far the heaviest and most cumbersome bit. I went out last night but as soon as I parked up the clouds came rolling in. We have windmills in the hills nearby, I had intended to use a couple as a feature with the Milky Way behind but it was not to be. I want to get a feel for the exposure using the MC-36, it's a totally different technique because it allows me to close the lens down some and reduce the ISO to much lower levels. I still need to assess that compared with wide open lens and high ISO but shorter exposures. I suppose it's a bit like birders and TC's or longer lenses. The 16mm seems to improve about f/8.0, wide open the stars towards the outer edges of the image seem to take on a triangular appearance with severe CA. The triangles seem to point towards the centre of the image. I haven't noticed this with the D3 but the higher resolution of the D800 reveals it clearly, so that is another reason to stop down some. The lower resolution of the D3 largely masks the effect. There are no clear skies forecast for the next week or 10 days, beyond that it's anybodies guess, by then the moon will be bright again. 
____________________ Robert. |
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| Posted: Thu Aug 29th, 2019 04:42 |
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94th Post |
Robert
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chrisbet wrote:Great photos but not convinced about including the signpost! Thanks Chris, these shots are only me trying to get a handle on the D800, 16mm fisheye and the MC-36 combo. I try to include a land based structure or feature like a tree, church or maybe a viaduct in my night sky images. To me plain pictures of the starry sky lack a subject, they make a nice background. Unless of course you can get close in to nebula or other spectacular night sky features but that really requires a telescope, which ramps up the cost, astronomically... Once I get a good feel for the combo and have refined my technique a bit, I plan to take some starry background photos of some of my favourite locations, Coniston Water - East side, the Ribblehead Viaduct, an old rail bridge near Sedburgh, various churches, etc. As I drive around I am constantly looking for suitable subjects, sometimes they have snags, like security lights which only manifest themselves on the night... Which was the case when I made a planned shoot at Ravenglass railway station, permissions obtained, all set up perfectly, once it was properly dark and I started taking the photos, security lights started coming on in one of the building every few minutes, totally ruined my picture. I did eventually get there, I grafted in a sky from one I had taken at nearby Wastwater the week before, same sky, different day!  After (more than) a bit of work with photoshop...  This is Ribblehead Viaduct with a little added extra from Eric. Viaduct and star-trails were mine, Eric added the train!  Might not be a wonderful example from my trip to Scotland in May, but it's different...  Another... The Skye Bridge.  The reason I included the signpost was to give me some idea of how the ambient light works with the starry sky background. Dotted line = plane. Curved track is due the curvature of field caused by fisheye lens. To be honest I hadn't noticed it! LOL My current glasses are rubbish, mind you, what can you expect @ 98 pence for TWO pairs of glasses! Now that is specsavers! One day when I can afford it I plan to get another two pairs of a different spec, that might be better, I don't think these are powerful enough. Sorry to go on and on... Just getting carried away! 
____________________ Robert. |
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| Posted: Thu Aug 29th, 2019 04:58 |
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95th Post |
jk
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If you want proper dark skies without light pollution then I guess you need to go to southern Chile or Hawaii. https://www.lightpollutionmap.info/#zoom=0.8786276236983241&lat=-414578&lon=-20009004&layers=B0FFFFFTFFFFF
____________________ Still learning after all these years! https://nikondslr.uk/gallery_view.php?user=2&folderid=none |
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| Posted: Thu Aug 29th, 2019 06:17 |
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96th Post |
Robert
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Thanks JK, that's a very handy map, bookmarked already! It confirms my expectation that North West Scotland is the closest I am likely to get to a dark sky. It's just getting there when there are clear skies.  Kielder is affected by Glasgow and Newcastle, quite noticeable on a dark clear night It's my understanding that major cities like Glasgow can pollute the darkness for more than two hundred miles around. In the South West Lake District National Park where I am lucky enough to live, just North of Barrow, we have green to grey rating. As you can see from the first image in my last set, the Sellafield nuclear plant (Seascale, or Calder Hall), the whiter patch to the left, is a powerful source of light pollution, from just one plant, albeit a very large one. The more orange patch to the right is Whitehaven and Workington. It's interesting to see that the West coast of the Isle of Mull seems to have a good rating... That's 'only' 320 miles from here. Mmmm.
____________________ Robert. |
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| Posted: Thu Aug 29th, 2019 15:23 |
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97th Post |
jk
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Teeheeeheee, how about getting above the clouds with a trip to Scafell Pike? Actually if you were cunning just drive to Wasdale Head hotel/pub and go into the field that is on the path to Scafell/ Scafell Pike and set up there. Good refreshments available on tap!
____________________ Still learning after all these years! https://nikondslr.uk/gallery_view.php?user=2&folderid=none |
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| Posted: Thu Aug 29th, 2019 15:49 |
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98th Post |
Robert
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jk wrote:The motor will drive well off the powerpack that you made for use for your Nichai UV light. Double utility. I have re-opened the UV lamp powerpack, while I could adapt it, it's main feature is the LED Driver in which which you guided me in the construction. I would have to completely re-design the internal circuitry, it works and is reliable. I don't want to mess with it. However, I have had an idea... Now the D3 is no longer my front line camera, I could use D3, EN-EL4 batteries and connect to them via the Chinese charger you sent with the D3. By removing the charging circuitry from the charger module and connecting a cable directly to the battery output terminals I could mount it on the back of the Astro Mount controller, or mount it in a small white box with the controller so I could use some of my EN-EL4 batteries to power the Astro Mount. Perhaps include a small switchable 3 Watt instrument bulb to provide heating for the battery. They seem to suffer badly from the cold and this rig will very likely be used in the cold more than in the warm. If not the EN-EL4 batteries, I have another good set of three 18650 cells sitting on the shelf in front of me from my dismantled D1 batteries. 
____________________ Robert. |
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| Posted: Thu Aug 29th, 2019 16:11 |
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99th Post |
jk
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I cant remember now if your 18650 batteries are tagged cells or ones like normal AA batteries with spring connections. A single 18650 will power a LED bulb for many hours. 18650 battery is rated at 3.4-3.7volts. To power your Astromount motor you need 12-25volts I think. This is the equivalent of about 5 of the 18650 batteries (18v) in series. You need three batteries only if you need 10-12volts Note: series, not parallel. So for 6 cells you can have two independent power supplies. However since the light will only be used occasionally then you can use 5 batteries in series but tap into the first battery only of the series for your light.
____________________ Still learning after all these years! https://nikondslr.uk/gallery_view.php?user=2&folderid=none |
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| Posted: Thu Aug 29th, 2019 16:54 |
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100th Post |
Robert
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The Vixen Astro Mount motor is rated at 5 Volts. The controller has a voltage stabiliser chip which can accept up to 36 Volts and reduce it to 5. The excess voltage is absorbed by a primitive galvanised steel heat sink, might be better replaced with aluminium or copper. My spare 18650 cells are tagged but one tag on one cell had broken off, the spot welds have failed. I would not attempt to re-attach it by soldering. The other two cells could have their tags removed so I could end up with three un-tagged cells, which could be recharged individually in an individual cell (as opposed to bundled cells) 18650 charger. Another possibility occurs to me, I have a good supply of Makita 18 Volt professional power tool batteries, I could easily get a broken drill or other suitable tool and cannibalise the battery mount. These batteries have capacities of 3Ah and 4Ah, well more than enough to power the Astro Mount for days, weeks even! Why, oh why, are all these batteries different. The cells inside are largely the same, as are the voltages, yet each manufacturer has their own proprietary style of attachment and termination.
____________________ Robert. |
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