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I have a Raspberry Pi zero with a Pi NoIR (sic) camera in my observatory, but it is not really sensitive enough to show anything. I bought an IR illuminator and the combination works well.
Of course you don’t really want to use an IR illuminator (as you already know) as the cameras might pick it up.
I only use this if I want to film something, not for normal observing.
Callum
It’s difficult to compare against previous era’s but I think the current S&T is a good read and worth the money. Possibly nearing its best.
I have a digital subscription, so not subject to the vagaries of stock at the local WH Smith, or the postal system. I’m currently reading the December 2021 issue which hit my inbox a couple of weeks ago.
Callum
Hi Nick,
I had an email from S&T a few weeks back concerning their new fulfilment partner (i guess they mean the people that send out the magazine).
I’ll paste their message below – hope this helps…
Callum
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We listen to you! Due to customer service issues with Sky & Telescope magazine, we started to look for a new magazine fulfillment partner in April 2021. After reviewing proposals and meeting with vendors, we are very excited to announce that we have selected Omeda as our new fulfillment partner.We are currently in the final phase of our transition to Omeda. Starting with the December 2021 issue, fulfillment will be handled by Omeda.To ensure complete and accurate data transfer from our prior vendor to Omeda, we will not be updating any fulfillment data online until September 16th. However, the Omeda customer service team will be available to assist you beginning on September 7th.We are now in very good hands. We have a great customer service team and our customer service team lead is Jill Unger. Customer service hours are Monday through Friday from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm CT. Our toll free customer service line will remain the same (800-253-0245). Our new local number is 847-559-7369. You can also contact the customer service team by email at skyandtelescope@omeda.com.While we will be forwarding all mail from our prior vendor, we want to provide the new postal address to you here. Please feel free to start using this address if you prefer communicating with us in writing.New Mailing Address:Sky & Telescope MagazinePO BOX 219Lincolnshire, IL, 60069-9806USAOnline access to our subscription landing pages will be available by September 17th. We have taken full advantage of this transition to improve user experience of the subscription landing page and payment processing systems. We now expand our subscription payment options to include PayPal.We have undertaken extensive steps to ensure there will be no interruption of service to our community. Any subscription that is due to expire with the December issue will be given a one-month complimentary extension. This extension should cover any payment delays due to mail forwarding or delivery issues. Additionally, we have made provisions to ensure that access to our subscription app will be available without interruption of service.Thanks for being a Sky & Telescope subscriber and we look forward to ongoing enhancements to our services and the magazine in the coming years.My LX200 mount failed but not with the same problem – it would slew on one axis but not move at all on the other.
I, and a friend who does some mechanical telescope work, searched for someone to look at it to repair, but we could not find anyone to look at it.
In the end I had my friend de-fork it, and put a Losmandy doovetail on, so I could mount on a G11.
Callum
There are certainly a lot of anecdotal stories from Orkney of people who have heard the aurora.
Rebecca Marr of the Uni of the Highlands and Islands writes:
Many accounts talk of the sound of the lights. The Sami name guovsahasat has been translated by some as ‘the light you can hear’. A 1906 dissertation on the lights by Lane Cooper says:
‘It is a very general belief in certain countries – for instance in the Orkneys, in Finmark, and among the Indians of the territories around Hudson Bay – that the aurora is accompanied by a particular sound, somewhat resembling the rustling of silk. The Lapps, who also believe in the existence of this sound, compare it to the ‘cracking’ which may be heard in the joints of the reindeer when in movement.’
Callum
Have these listed at £48 for 30 x 30 cm
http://www.scientificmirrors.co.uk/front%20surface%20mirrors.html
Callum
You should find that the BAA is an affiliate organisation, so any BAA member would be able to join the AAS as an amateur member.
Callum
Hi John – happy new year to you too!
I recently purchased an Ultrastar Pro – which is an upgrade to the Ultrastar. I understand that the main changes with the Pro versions are to do with the electronics; faster downloads and lower read noise. And they now come in a blue body!
The Lodestar Pro uses the same CCD as the Lodestar X2 – but that is a different CCD to the original Lodestar. Whether this chip has fewer hot pixels I could not say… You could try emailing Starlight Xpress – they are usually helpful.
Callum
It all really depends on what you want to do – but short focal length refractors are a popular starting point for imaging. The wider field of view will be more forgiving of tracking errors, and many are a good match to a DSLR.
As Paul says – a good tracking mount is essential. And GOTO is useful. If you can get good 30s exposures which you can stack you will find a huge range of potential targets in reach.
Callum
As Shaprcap only works on Windows, I use PHD2 on my MacBook, with my 50mm EvoGuide and ZWO 290MM camera, and PHD2’s Polar Drift Alignment – it works really well too.
15 arc-seconds is pretty impressive, though!
Callum
“No phosphine in the atmosphere of Venus” https://arxiv.org/abs/2010.14305
Hi Grant,
I think the SBIG driver does bit twiddling with the parallel port directly that the converters don’t support.
Callum
There is a guy in the US that made a parallel port for a raspberry pi and updated the Sbig drivers for INDI to use it, and possibly other Linux LPT drivers.
I don’t think he has any solutions for Windoze world though.
Checkout https://github.com/garlick?tab=repositories
Only other solution really is to find an old Win 7 PC.
Cheers,
CallumThanks Ray,
I am using a Mac / Catalina too – and this was posted with Firefox.
I dont seem to be getting your porblem though (i am getting a coiuple of my own!).
We will investiage further
Thanks,
CallumHi Ray,
are you using a PC, Mac, iPad? And what browser (IE, Edge, Chrome, Safari, etc.)?
And are you accessing the site through http://www.britastro.org or britastro.org ?
(if you try the other do you get the same problem?)Thanks,
CallumHi Paul,
I think I just followed the instructions and it worked out ok. I thin I had home-brew installed already though.
Good luck!
Callum
If you are wanting to image planets / Moon you probably need to connect the camera to your laptop.
There is a MacOs version of Firecapture that works well for me.If you want to connect by WiFi you’ll need some sort of computer attached to the camera – something like a Raspberry Pi with INDI or Indigo installed can work if you want to take longer exposures. But does not really work well streaming video.
Or you can connect a ‘standard’ computer to the camera and use some sort of remote access app (like VNC) to control it remotely via wifi.Hope this helps.
Callum
