Good to know about Ron and the upcoming project(s)
While I was having back and forth discussions with Takahashi Europe for the 160ed, they have been quite clear about the fact that currently the best (and maybe the only...) option is the LEO. They are not recommending anything else (for now). Let's see what the future brings.
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Daniel Carter:
My new camera will be here Tuesday and the filters should be here Wednesday or Thursday. The Ondigo arrived yesterday and I should see the OAG soon too. Now I get to hurry up and wait for Optec.
As an aside, I was talking to Ron today and he reconsidering the Litecrawler for our Epsilons when he makes the next batch. He is going to try and make the drawtube shorter since they are 1/4 of an inch too tall.
Ron not only needs to get the drawtube right, but he also needs to get the drawtube completely squared. Not to put harm on his name or products, since I love Ron and own 3 of his NiteCrawlers, I know a number of people that have had to send them back (myself included) due to mis-collimation from the factory. Mine was off, by 1/8 of an inch (3.175 mm) which is not acceptable at all on the E160ED.
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Daniel Carter:
@Bill Long
Are those masks an improvement over the ones that shipped with the Indigo?
Mine only shipped with donut style holders. Maybe they are shipping with masks now.
I can confirm that the Indigo ships with the donut holders and no masks. I downloaded the STL you provided and I'll have my friend print some out for me (I just have to provide adult liquid refreshment).
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I installed the Noctura Fan Bill mentioned earlier in this thread. It made a tremendous difference on star profile. My measured eccentricity went from 0.6 down to below 0.4. My FWHM reduced by about 20% as well. This eliminated the problem where stars had a slight teardrop shape or tail.
For anyone who decides to get this scope the fan upgrade is MANDATORY if you are seeking the best stars possible. It's also extremely cheap to make the upgrade. A few 3D printed parts and a $15 fan.
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Daniel Carter:
My new camera will be here Tuesday and the filters should be here Wednesday or Thursday. The Ondigo arrived yesterday and I should see the OAG soon too. Now I get to hurry up and wait for Optec.
As an aside, I was talking to Ron today and he reconsidering the Litecrawler for our Epsilons when he makes the next batch. He is going to try and make the drawtube shorter since they are 1/4 of an inch too tall.
Ron not only needs to get the drawtube right, but he also needs to get the drawtube completely squared. Not to put harm on his name or products, since I love Ron and own 3 of his NiteCrawlers, I know a number of people that have had to send them back (myself included) due to mis-collimation from the factory. Mine was off, by 1/8 of an inch (3.175 mm) which is not acceptable at all on the E160ED.
I had a litecrawler on a Newt a couple of years ago. I could not rotate without losing axial alignment. I ended up collimating the drawtube myself by removing the primary cell and shooting a laser from the drawtube at the secondary at a wall target about 12 feet away. It was not an easy process, but I was able to make it much better.
My advice to people, unless they absolutely need a rotator (remote) is to simply avoid it. The precision required with the epsilon is magnitudes greater than a typical refractor. I'd get the Optec LEO and simply manually rotate. I verified with the Tak tools that rotating the upper flange (manually) is precise and retains axial alignment.
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I had a litecrawler on a Newt a couple of years ago. I could not rotate without losing axial alignment. I ended up collimating the drawtube myself by removing the primary cell and shooting a laser from the drawtube at the secondary at a wall target about 12 feet away. It was not an easy process, but I was able to make it much better.
My advice to people, unless they absolutely need a rotator (remote) is to simply avoid it. The precision required with the epsilon is magnitudes greater than a typical refractor. I'd get the Optec LEO and simply manually rotate. I verified with the Tak tools that rotating the upper flange (manually) is precise and retains axial alignment.
I don't think I would personally want to use a rotator on something as precise as the Epsilons. However, it would be nice for people to know their options if they do have that requirement for remote systems. I would think that trying to collimate a focuser drawtube on a fast scope would be...tedious (better you than me!!).
For people that are setting up theirs for a remote rig having the information available in one place could be helpful.
I would be weary of adding something like the Pegasus Falcon or other rotator due to dealing with the possible introduction of tilt into the system. I would imagine that it would be difficult to narrow down issues if you started off with that in your image train.
From everything I've gathered, simple is better when it comes to the Epsilons...due to the precision of these scopes anything placed in the image train needs to be rock solid and less is better (i.e. I wouldn't want to cobble together multiple adapters to get to the backspacing required if using a OSC camera. I would look into getting an adapter from Precise Parts that meets the requirements for getting the correct backspacing).
I know this thread is for the E-160's but for those that may have an E-180, would you consider the Optec Gemini? I know they make adapters for the Epsilon 180 that use the existing Tak baseplate. From what I have seen on Optec's website, the adapter that screws onto the baseplate provides the 4300 dovetail that the Gemini would mount to (it does look nice though - I attached a picture from Optec's site). I would think that you may run into the same issue as the Nitecrawler in trying to make sure the focuser is aligned properly. If I can convince one of my friends to sell me his E-180 I'll try this out and provide some feedback. He has the 2.5" Newt Focuser from Moonlite installed on it and he has not been impressed with the results he has been getting. I have the Gemini on hand which I got for my 12.5" iDK so I just need the 180 to test. More on this to follow (maybe).
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To Bill Long:
Bill, could you provide a bit more detail on how you mounted the Noctura fan on the back of your 160ED? In particular did you use some sort of adapter between the hole pattern on the back of the telescope and the fan or any kind of vibration isolation material?
Thanks,
Bob Fugate
Hi Bob,
I used this 3D Printed solution:
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4734957
4 M4x30 mm screws are needed. I clipped off the motherboard connector and plugged the red and black wires into a 2.1x5.5mm barrel jack to power it from the Ultimate Powerbox. The yellow wire you can ignore. I just clipped it further down so it was out of the way.
No vibration mitigation was needed. The Noctua fans have anti vibration measures built in. It comes with standoffs but those aren't needed.
Bill
What exact Noctua fan model do you use?
Thanks!
Yuexiao
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Yuexiao Shen:
To Bill Long:
Bill, could you provide a bit more detail on how you mounted the Noctura fan on the back of your 160ED? In particular did you use some sort of adapter between the hole pattern on the back of the telescope and the fan or any kind of vibration isolation material?
Thanks,
Bob Fugate
Hi Bob,
I used this 3D Printed solution:
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4734957
4 M4x30 mm screws are needed. I clipped off the motherboard connector and plugged the red and black wires into a 2.1x5.5mm barrel jack to power it from the Ultimate Powerbox. The yellow wire you can ignore. I just clipped it further down so it was out of the way.
No vibration mitigation was needed. The Noctua fans have anti vibration measures built in. It comes with standoffs but those aren't needed.
Bill
What exact Noctua fan model do you use?
Thanks!
Yuexiao
I had it printed in bright orange. Here are the parts before installation. I still need to solder the barrel plug on the fan.
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Be sure to use the extension wire the fan came with if you plan to route it to a top mounted Pegasus Box.
I did not need to solder anything, but whatever works!  |
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Be sure to use the extension wire the fan came with if you plan to route it to a top mounted Pegasus Box.
I did not need to solder anything, but whatever works!
I was planning on adding a plug near the fan and just run an extension from the Power Box down to the fan. I have several power extension cables of various lengths that I've made.
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Hi guys.
Winter is coming. Are you using some heating for the secondary mirror and if yes what typ of?
Cheers
CS
Attila
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Kaptas Attila:
Hi guys.
Winter is coming. Are you using some heating for the secondary mirror and if yes what typ of?
Cheers
CS
Attila
I use a custom Astrozap E160 dew shield that is 10" in length instead of their normal size. It sits back 1" on the front of the scope, so it meets Taks requirements for not impacting field performance. I have tested it with and without the shield, and there is no difference.
Get the fan mod on the back of the scope, and I doubt dew will ever be a problem, if it is -- you can turn the fan around and have it blow into the scope, but if you do that -- test out some filters so you dont just blow dead bugs into your scope.
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Kaptas Attila:
Hi guys.
Winter is coming. Are you using some heating for the secondary mirror and if yes what typ of?
Cheers
CS
Attila
I use a custom Astrozap E160 dew shield that is 10" in length instead of their normal size. It sits back 1" on the front of the scope, so it meets Taks requirements for not impacting field performance. I have tested it with and without the shield, and there is no difference.
Get the fan mod on the back of the scope, and I doubt dew will ever be a problem, if it is -- you can turn the fan around and have it blow into the scope, but if you do that -- test out some filters so you dont just blow dead bugs into your scope.
and for the primary mirror
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And for the primary mirror?
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@ Bill : are you aware of anyone using a motorized dust cap along with a shield ?
I still haven't figure this out but my plan would be to have something to fight the dew and at the same time remotely open and close the OTA to protect it against dirt, etc (and of course to get my darks, flats, etc.)
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Aygen:
@ Bill : are you aware of anyone using a motorized dust cap along with a shield ?
I still haven't figure this out but my plan would be to have something to fight the dew and at the same time remotely open and close the OTA to protect it against dirt, etc (and of course to get my darks, flats, etc.)
I dont think it is useful at all, adding weight for such little return is not something I would suggest.
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Thanks for your kind suggestion. I will need to think about it. I am a bit lazy these days  , hence the wish to have the motorized dust cap.
Best,
A.
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Kaptas Attila:
Hi guys.
Winter is coming. Are you using some heating for the secondary mirror and if yes what typ of?
Cheers
CS
Attila
I'm in Vermont and my winters can be brutal. Often at or below -30C on imaging nights.
I used to inage with a newt a few years ago and dew and ice had been a big problem on both mirrors. I heated both.
In the summer I have very high humidity. I used the heated dew shield the other night when it was so wet by morning that my observatory was drenched and the mirrors were completely dry.
Hoping that the shield and the primary mirror fan will be enough in the winter. I think they will.
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Aygen:
Thanks for your kind suggestion. I will need to think about it. I am a bit lazy these days , hence the wish to have the motorized dust cap.
Best,
A.
You might get away with a heated dew strip. I'm using the shield but just a heat band at the end of the ota is worth testing. Then you could use something like flip flat or something. (not made anymore?)
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Aygen:
Thanks for your kind suggestion. I will need to think about it. I am a bit lazy these days , hence the wish to have the motorized dust cap.
Best,
A.
You might get away with a heated dew strip. I'm using the shield but just a heat band at the end of the ota is worth testing. Then you could use something like flip flat or something. (not made anymore?)
Thank you, Chris. Exactly what I will test, i.e. to use a heated dew strip and decide whether or not to use a shield.
I am interested in the "Gemini SnapCap" which can be used also for taking flats.
But I first need to get the "banana" - expected to get by end of this year.
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Aygen:
Aygen:
Thanks for your kind suggestion. I will need to think about it. I am a bit lazy these days , hence the wish to have the motorized dust cap.
Best,
A.
You might get away with a heated dew strip. I'm using the shield but just a heat band at the end of the ota is worth testing. Then you could use something like flip flat or something. (not made anymore?)
Thank you, Chris. Exactly what I will test, i.e. to use a heated dew strip and decide whether or not to use a shield.
I am interested in the "Gemini SnapCap" which can be used also for taking flats.
But I first need to get the "banana" - expected to get by end of this year.
I would avoid any light panels for flats with this beast. You can certainly try, but panels can be particularly problematic especially with fast newts. Sky flats at dawn or dusk will best mimic the behavior of light fall-off... Obviously anything is worth testing, but I would caution against spending hundreds of dollars for a flat panel for this scope.
PS- I have not tried using a panel with this scope, but I used to image with a newt at f4, as well as reduced to f2.8. I abandoned flat panel flats years ago and use voyager to automate my dawn flats. I was using spik-a-flat too... which is pretty much the gold standard for panels.
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I am using Lacerta Flatfield Box which csn be dimmed, i newer had problem with my 160. I am usig NINA flat wizard. Doing a great job.
somebody using Dew shield flexible one or hard 3 d printed? Maybe beginning of september i am gonna have my optec!
looking forward and really exciting!
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I didn't now that might be problematic with fast scope  - Sure, It wouldn't be a smart choice to invest money in something that wouldn't give acceptable results.
Since I am too using Voyager, your way of doing might be the solution. Thank you !!
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4.88
11.02
3.58
20.43
1.51
1.51
