From: Mark Gaffney <markgaffney@me.com>
Date: February 8, 2010 5:36:19 AM MST
To: Astro_IIDC@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [Astro_IIDC] new filter wheel...! (OT- age and gentlemen) + MARS @ f.61
Hi Alberto,
I`m a little overweight myself & have been since my late 20`s or 30`s. I`m about your weight actually although I`m 6 foot 1 inch tall. Middle age paunch they call it! I get well fed here (still by my mother)... I never entirely left home & since moving to this farm (100 acres) my siblings are constantly returning here from Brisbane where they live & work or down south a couple of hours for my sister Mary. It`s a legacy this early "retirement" I tell myself of attending art school after high school & being basically unemployable-I`ve had jobs but not really as a result of my art training. I`m conscious of my age & the need to make the best of what`s left. I`m often talking to guys on these groups who are senior to me (I imagine) but are not really in the beginning of the twilight time like my Dad (he`s just turned 79)..They`re real inspirations for the amount of knowledge they`ve accumulated..You`re somewhat in advance of me yourself in the knowledge of this hobby!
Yours, Mark.
On 08/02/2010, at 10:03 PM, albe albo wrote:
Am I a gentleman?,
Often i ask for the age even to women and (worse) often ia ask for their weight too. LOL
Since i'm constantly fighting with my weight, trying not to increase it, so often i try to involve even women among my aquaintance-relationship that are slowly slipping into overweight.
I'm not a salutist of course and i'm not thin at all (95 kg since many years) but it is a pity to see how the slow but constant weight increasing can limit the existence itself.
Example: starting at 30yo putting 80 grams x month (only 1 KG year) one reach 50 yo with additional 20 kilos!!!
I know that at the age of 30 it seems that 20 years ahead are a huge period of time but i guess that everyone reached our age (mark 52 and me 53) understand how quickly such period dissolve.
A perverse variation of the relativity.
It seems that some scientist theorized that each human of any age perceive their lived life as unitary value.
Example a period of5 years for a 20 years old man is equivalent to a period of 15 years for a 60 years old man.
Wow i hope that i explained the meaning after translating from italian.
Cheers
Alberto
---------------------------------
PS:while writing i'm processing a very extreme attempt to capture Mars at f.90 (LOL)
This is the first try (reduced at f.61):
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1094920/Mars-Test-f61-Mayer.jpg
this is a single frame from the movie:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1094920/Single-Frame-f90-DMK31-Mayer.jpg
Despite of the exaggerated focal this is the best Mars i captured since now. I reduced it to f. 61 scaling directly the movie because it's a problem for me to detect the good and bad frames at full resolution into a movie of 3.400 dark and noisy frames.
Anywyay it seems that scavenging into such frames could produce stimulating results.
Having the possibility to use a high sensitivity low-noise camera allowing 30 fps with such low light could be really interesting.
Consider that i must capture that Mars at 15 fps with gain over 1000 with more than 25 meters of focal length (the diagonal pattern apperared too)
Ciao to all!
Da: Mark Gaffney <markgaffney@me.com>
A: Astro_IIDC@yahoogroups.com
Inviato: Dom 7 febbraio 2010, 13:01:49
Oggetto: Re: [Astro_IIDC] new filter wheel...!
Hi Alberto, You`re certainly the Gentleman about the ladies age! I think Jane, my sister, has pretty well come to terms with her age (she actually dosen`t achieve the dreaded 50 mark until later in the week anyway!) First I reached the age over two years ago, then another sister Mary did last year so she feels she`s in good company! It is funny to think of us all being so OLD! "All at sea" is perhaps a term that relates to not having your "sea legs" with something or in other words being unfamiliar- hence I wouldn`t know what to make of any Italian being spoken (I needn`t have worried as you say!). Not having your "sea legs" means that funny feeling you get when first on a ship that you`re uncertain on your legs...Hope you get the "drift" of all of this..!
Yours, Mark.
On 07/02/2010, at 9:19 PM, albe albo wrote:
Mark wrote:
We`ve just had my sister`s 50th birthday, so I`ll look at your link after a rest. I hope it`s not in Italian or I`ll be "all at sea"?! It`s pouring rain on & off here-I hope the bad weather can`t last too much longer!?
So now i know that a Ms. Gaffney in Australia is 50 years old. It is a women secret so you shouldn't spread it all around the world. ROFL!
Ok seriously : you wrote that you hope it`s not in Italian or you'll be at the sea...what is that? An idiomatic expression? If translated in italian "I'll be at the sea" has a perfect meaning but we don't use such expression in order to represent something special ...please shed me some light!
Anyway the focal measurement link was only a JPG and (i checked) was written in English by instinct LOL
Ciao!
Alberto
Da: Mark Gaffney <markgaffney@ me.com>
A: Astro_IIDC@yahoogro ups.com
Inviato: Sab 6 febbraio 2010, 11:51:12
Oggetto: Re: [Astro_IIDC] new filter wheel...!
Hi Alberto,
Have you tried Steven Mogg`s 0.6/0.3 reducers? The 0.3 is basically the 0.6 lens with an extension tube & these attach to your camera`s nosepiece. As you know the advantage of the back of scope type of reducer is that it works for both cameras on an OAG. I figure when I`ve got $80 to spare I might buy another for the guide camera & do without the back of scope type reducer-at least as an experiment! As I mentioned your set-up dosen`t involve an OAG-I guess you`re using a guide scope for DSO photography?
We`ve just had my sister`s 50th birthday, so I`ll look at your link after a rest. I hope it`s not in Italian or I`ll be "all at sea"?! It`s pouring rain on & off here-I hope the bad weather can`t last too much longer!?
Mark.
On 06/02/2010, at 8:40 PM, albe albo wrote:
Ok Mark,
the 6.3 is a lot more "forgiving" allowing longer extensions and experiments while the 3.3 is a wild beast LOL.
Now you make me curious to test the 6.3 in order to understand how much it can be "pushed" with acceptable results.
For example i pushed the 3.3. > to 2.8 and seems to work (the focus knob of the scope is almost completely turned CCW) but the vignetting increased a lot.
Unfortunately i have no clear sky since long time so i couldn't do a true session with dark frame, flat field etc.
It is almost one year that i don't do any DSO. (i'm lazy too i confess)
Regarding the focals i can check them on a building that is placed exactly at 1,5 km from my house.
By the way....I wanted to measure the exact point where the C11 gives the "nominal" focal length (2.800 mm).
Putting the visual back + nose i realized i had only 2.652 mm !
So i did some tests: did I published them already on this group?
http://dl.dropbox. com/u/1094920/ ASTRO/100130- MisurazioneFocal e.jpg
Cheers
Alberto
Da: Mark Gaffney <markgaffney@ me.com>
A: Astro_IIDC@yahoogro ups.com
Inviato: Sab 6 febbraio 2010, 01:42:44
Oggetto: Re: [Astro_IIDC] new filter wheel...!
Alberto,
I`ve taken the extender tube off the Scorpion camera (just the shorty nosepiece here) & put on the Antares 6.3 x reducer (just for the photo!) & I`m getting 9 cms or about 3 1/2 inches between camera sensor & back of reducer...The Antares may be the best alternative unless I can get my Mogg`s to work..The difference between our set-ups is of course the CRG OAG...Mark.
<P1070475.jpg>
On 06/02/2010, at 7:22 AM, albe albo wrote:
Yes, the TIS AS can reach an hour of exposure but practically i nevew went beyond 3 or 4 minutes because it's difficult to manage the noise.
Most of my DSO images are about 1 minute or 2.
Now i link the pic of my Atik f. 3.3 setup... i gues you are veeeery long unless you have some hidden trick.
http://dl.dropbox. com/u/1094920/ ATIK-DMK- F33.jpg
Cheers
Alberto
Da: Mark Gaffney <markgaffney@ me.com>
A: Astro_IIDC@yahoogro ups.com
Inviato: Ven 5 febbraio 2010, 16:15:24
Oggetto: Re: [Astro_IIDC] new filter wheel...!
By the way Alberto,
I was wondering how you got by the "time exposure" problem with your TIS cameras. Don`t you have to open the shutter for an extended time when doing your pictures of DSO`s? PGR cameras have this option but I thought TIS ones didn`t..?
Mark.
On 05/02/2010, at 9:54 PM, albe albo wrote:
Wow, nice assembly.
In my experience the f3.3 reducer doesn't allow those long extensions.
I have the same atik wheel and the same 3.3 reducer but, in order to use the DMK camera with the 3.3 reducer, i had to attach the camera practically directly on the wheel in addition even the pipe between the reducer and the wheel had to be minimal.
If i remember correctly the total length from the back of the reducer and the camera (including the wheel) had to be approx. 45 mm otherwise the reducer becomes useless.
Do i miss something?
if i understood correctly you didn' test it on the road.
Please let us know!
Cheers
Alberto
Da: Mark Gaffney <markgaffney@ me.com>
A: astro_IIDC@yahoogro ups.com
Inviato: Ven 5 febbraio 2010, 08:12:46
Oggetto: [Astro_IIDC] new filter wheel...! [1 Attachment]
Here`s a picture of my set-up with the new Atik filter wheel..
(perhaps?) I`ve yet to get the LRGB filters, probably a couple of
months away. I had enough T-thread adapters with the 2 different sized
ones that came with my Meade f3.3 reducer & those provided with the
filter wheel to perform basic connections at least. As to how things
work optically..we` ll see! I know with the Meade reducer it took a
good deal of screwing & unscrewing connections in the dark when I
first imaged with it (taking the moon) to get it to work at all. I
also have an Antares f6.3 reducer as well as the Mogg 0.3x to play
with & am pondering whether I should get another Mogg one? At least
they will attach to the camera`s nosepiece independently. The picture
shows the Scorpion 20SO at back..a Mogg adapter which takes the
cameras nosepiece etc. (I forget the serial number)..one of the Meade
T-thread adapters..an Atik one before the filter wheel..the FW..a ring
which came with the Atik another Meade t-thread..the Celestron Radial
Guider, then the Meade f3.3 reducer..I`ll have to write this all down
so I know what goes with what..!
Mark.
