What did you do today (2015)

[Brian Rice 1Participant @brianrice1]

Got peppered with hale stones more like golf balls hoch

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

> my current camera is a Fuji Finepics 9500 bridge camera or would a webcam be an easier means of getting pictures.

All my experience so far is just with my bridge camera, any comments here are just a precis of what I have read elsewhere.

10x optical zoom is plenty for imaging constellations and things like the M42 galaxy, with the 2x digital on top you should be able to get the moons of jupiter. Your long exposures and higher ASA (if they can be combined) might get you some of the larger/brighter deep space objects.

Lots of people take photos through the eyepiece but any attempt I've made at this has been poor even in daylight. You need a very rigid setup and would probably need tracking for long exposures.

The recommendation I have been give is to use a a webcam adapted to fit like an eyepiece, use it to record AVIs and then stack them with either of the free programs Registax or Astrostakker.

This works well for planets apparently, I hope to have a go soon.

Neil

[martin perman 1Participant @martinperman1]

Thank you all for that, can you suggest a starter Telescope.

Martin P

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Hi Martin, if you don't need an equatorial mount I see the Skywatcher Heritage 130P namechecked over and again as an ideal starter scope.

Neil

[robjon44Participant @robjon44]

went to my preferred car boot, found a box of largely engineering items, bagged 2 M10 taps new in packaging, 0 BA & 3 BA british made split dies, thirteen sixteenths size, half inch x 26 tpi brass british made split die, one & a half inch size, coincidentally for a repair job I started the day before, 5 new ECLIPSE bi metallic 24 tpi hack saw blades, and finally 3 6mm high cobalt twist drills with split points, £3 for all of it, bargain!

[martin perman 1Participant @martinperman1]

Good evening Neil, At the moment all I want is a means of looking at the stars, an equatorial mount can come later, I do have a friend who used to make programmable mounts and I will approach him for his view point.

I will look on the internet for a skywatcher Heritage 130P

Thanks for your assistance, there maybe more questions.

Martin P

[pgk pgkParticipant @pgkpgk17461]

Like a lot of these things it comes down to a combo of budget and personal circumstances – where you live from the viewppint of haze and light pollution, how fit and eager you are if it's heavier kit and then primary interest..deep sky/planets/moon and indeed photos or not.

I think there's a lot to commend the go-to mounts particularly if trying to view of partial cloud nights when you can get frustrated tracking and losing the object.

When I was playing the only cheap eyepiece cameras were a poor 640×480 res but Id guess were well to cheap over-HD stuff now and the software for stacking and false colouring will be way beter. A long enough cable and you can set things up outside and sit in the warm with a PC and a cuppa .

I must admit that the joys of freezing my buns off at 2am mid winter in a london suburb or driving out to biggin hill to reduce light pollution did detract from the pleasure. And if you're out on beachy head with the kit the suicide patrol still checks on you……

[martin perman 1Participant @martinperman1]

I am fortunate that I live in a village with very few street lamps, there are two in my crescent, one at each end.The nearest towns are 4 -5 miles east and west of me so there is no real light polution.

Martin P

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

I hesitate to recommend another forum, but 'stargazers lounge' has some amazing shots taken even in urban locations.

Anyway I got an hour this evening. Despite a very obvious layer of haze I saw Jupiter and the moon. The moon was stunning – the peak in the middle of tycho was clearly a little cone and the detail along the terminator was incredible. As for Jupiter, I could see the two main bands then pale bands outside them and then darker zones. Occasionally just the hint of structure in the bands.

I thought I saw the red spot, but it looked very small and dark, so I checked and the red spot is behind at the moment and what I saw was the shadow of Ganymede! The red spot is about 8 times as big!

Wow!

Neil

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

I got a 30 power spotting scope off a stall at the local farmers market($NZ5), mounted it on my camcorder tripod and the other night took it out and had a look at Jupiter, and although it was within a few degrees of the moon, I saw for the first time the moons, just faint pin pricks of light.

Ian S C

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

I was just fiddling with the wedge off the top of my tripod and a random satellite cable fitting -the type that's just a sleeve that screws on to the cable. Randomly discovered that the cable fitting is 1/4" BSW and fits the tripod screw perfectly,. Now isn't that useful to know… well, it's been a long day and it's only 2:50.

Neil

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by Neil Wyatt on 01/04/2015 14:50:50:

… Randomly discovered that the cable fitting is 1/4" BSW and fits the tripod screw perfectly,.

.

… Or maybe 1/4" UNC

[given what we already know about the ISO standard for tripod screws].

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tripod_(photography)#Screw_thread

MichaelG.

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 01/04/2015 15:06:50

[Brian O’ConnorParticipant @brianoconnor49474]

Fitted a dash-cam to my car today and am amazed at the quality of the HD video from such a tiny camera. But what really blows my mind is the physical size of memory these days, the 32Gb memory in the camera is the size of a fingernail. When I first started in electronics a single bit of memory was formed by a double triode connected as an Eccles-Jordan flip-flop. To make a 32Gb memory out of these, ignoring all of the ancillary circuits, would require 4,800,000,000 amps at 12v just for the heaters, which would probably make my battery struggle a bit.

B

[martin perman 1Participant @martinperman1]

Neil, Michael,

The tripod fitting on Camera's is 1/4" Whit its a standard that been there for years.

Martin P

[NJHParticipant @njh]

Quite right Martin. It is, and I think always has been, 1/4 in BSW

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Martin & NJH have you read Michael's link , seems you are abit behind the times

J

[martin perman 1Participant @martinperman1]

Jason,

All I can say is that many years ago I belonged to a Photography Club and we had a camera manufacturer at one meeting and he told us what the thread was and that is what I've stuck to, 1/4 whit.

My latest camera is not that old and the tripod fits nicely so assumed its still the same and I've had no reason to believe otherwise.

Martin P

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Martin and NJH

This has been discussed at length, on a previous thread [sorry for the inevitable pun]

… I was proved wrong there … and you are wrong here.

MichaelG.

[Clive HartlandParticipant @clivehartland94829]

I have often found cameras with an insert where the smaller thread is 1/4 Whit form and the insert a larger thread , perhaps 3/8 whit? What i have never seen is a tripod with the larger thread?

On fixing threads for Large Instruments like a theodolite the fixing thread is 5/8 Whit, but a thread used on aircraft for fixing Instruments for alignment is 11/16 UNC which to all intents and purposes is identical.

Clive

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by Clive Hartland on 01/04/2015 19:42:29:

I have often found cameras with an insert where the smaller thread is 1/4 Whit form and the insert a larger thread , perhaps 3/8 whit? What i have never seen is a tripod with the larger thread?

.

Plenty available, Clive

Gitzo and Manfrotto are a good place to start looking.

MichaelG.

[NJHParticipant @njh]

Michael G (and Jason)

I would not argue with your research which, as always, is immaculate!

From a practical photographers point of view though 1/4 BSW is the norm. I have many ( probably far too many !) cameras and 1/4 BSW fits the bushes in all these from a venerable medium format Bronica to a 25 Megapixel Sony (which really ought to make the tea as well as take pictures!.) The thing is though that a precision "engineering" fit between tripod bush / screw is not required. I certainly do not mount my cameras directly onto the tripod but to a mounting plate which can be mounted or released from the tripod very quickly and is retained in place by a quick release cam action. There is probably quite a bit of latitude in the thread size and, provided that the camera is held securely to the plate, the absolute size is unimportant. Like Martin I too was told by a manufacturer that 1/4 BSW was the standard – so if that's wrong then, in a practical sense at least, this does not matter and I'm far more likely to remember that 1/4 BSW fits.

So Michael you say that I'm wrong and in that you echo comments made from time to time by my wife. I couldn't possibly disagree!

Regards

Norman

 

Edited By NJH on 01/04/2015 20:12:12

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Norman,

… I can assure you that I was equally, and painfully wrong:

Here is one of the previous discussions.

And here, another … with my closing remark.

MichaelG.

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 01/04/2015 20:20:57

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

I'm surprised no one commented on the aptness of "Sir Joseph must be turning in his Grave", perhaps we were all exhausted by that point in the discussion!

Neil

[Steve WithnellParticipant @stevewithnell34426]

Posted by Brian O'Connor on 01/04/2015 17:08:35:

Fitted a dash-cam to my car today and am amazed at the quality of the HD video from such a tiny camera. But what really blows my mind is the physical size of memory these days, the 32Gb memory in the camera is the size of a fingernail. When I first started in electronics a single bit of memory was formed by a double triode connected as an Eccles-Jordan flip-flop. To make a 32Gb memory out of these, ignoring all of the ancillary circuits, would require 4,800,000,000 amps at 12v just for the heaters, which would probably make my battery struggle a bit.

B

If the MTBF of each triode was 10,000 hours the memory would have an MTBF of 1mS…ignoring power supply failure.

At least the electricity bill wouldn't be quite so bad.

Size wise – 2 Million cubic metres and 64,000 tonnes , ignoring all cabling and chassiswork

Assuming of course I can add up…which is only sometimes true

Steve

Steve

[Les Jones 1Participant @lesjones1]

Hi Steve,  (Correction I should have addressed these comments to Brian O'Connor. )
I would have thought the valves would have had 6.3 volt heaters. I was thinking of something like a 6SN7 octal double triode. Or were you thinking of the more modern 6J6 (ECC91) (B7G base) While writing this the ECC81 (12AT7 ) with the B9A base came into my mind. As this has two filaments if connected in series that would explain your figure of 12 volts for filaments.

Les.

Edited By Les Jones 1 on 01/04/2015 22:48:36

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