My Solar Setup

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Martin_S
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My Solar Setup

Post by Martin_S »

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After weeks of unfavorable skies in Brisbane, Australia. I finally got a chance to do some captures .Here are some pictures of my solar setup , and my DIY motor focuser . My backyard faces north so I have my Telescope outside the window of my study. The mount is controlled via the Synscan app on my phone. Camera is connected along with mount power cable and focuser cable through the security screen on the window That has a drain fitting with a frog flap. The camera wears a little hat made from a beer can holder as it gets hot in our sub tropical location today the camera got up to 45 degrees Celsius. The solar Images were taken today and are a great example of my poor photoshop skills.

Martin
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H alpha : ,Skywatcher 120mm F8 open frame refractor, a tilted 2" 7nm H-alpha filter as a sub energy rejection filter, Baader TZ4 telecentric focal extender, Player One energy rejection filter, Combo Quark Chromosphere, Naked PST etalon for double stacking, ASI74mm camera
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Re: My Solar Setup

Post by Carbon60 »

Nice setup, Martin. Remote controlled to keep you in the cool :)

It looks to be a beautiful location too.

Stu.


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Re: My Solar Setup

Post by MAURITS »

Martin, very nice setup and great captures.


Regards,
Maurits

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Martin_S
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Re: My Solar Setup

Post by Martin_S »

Thank's Stu and Maurits, my latitude is 27.30 degrees South so the sun is always at a decent elevation the only downside is the heat and flies. At night it's mozzies . So I do all my observations remotely from my study .

Martin


H alpha : ,Skywatcher 120mm F8 open frame refractor, a tilted 2" 7nm H-alpha filter as a sub energy rejection filter, Baader TZ4 telecentric focal extender, Player One energy rejection filter, Combo Quark Chromosphere, Naked PST etalon for double stacking, ASI74mm camera
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Re: My Solar Setup

Post by FMEnage »

Cool setup ! Martin


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Re: My Solar Setup

Post by PDB »

Hello Martin,

that's a good setup. These scope trolleys are very convenient. Have a similir one but had to upgrade the wheels to a bigger version (have to roll over uneven ground). I marked 2 places on the ground were to pace the soutern (in your case suppos the northern) support screws. So after one polar align the mount is always correctly oriented.
How did you make the support for the motor? Is that 3D printed? I never connect the belt to the reduction knob. These tend to be very fragile and stepper motors have much torque. (Since you already have a reduction on the belt, and with stepper motors you can reduce the step rate that is probably enough. (or a geared stepper motor)
So now you can't drink beer anymore since you gave the can holder another job. Sensors can get fairly hot, especially the Sony ones. On a warm day in the Sun I notice also ~40°C, and warm here is not what you have in Australia. Would a small ventilator do a better job? You might have covered the vent holes in the cam.

Anyway the pics are good. And so is the location. Now an SSSM and a plugin to control captures and you can take a swim while capturing :lol:

Regards,

Paul


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Re: My Solar Setup

Post by robert »

Lovely setup and report, poolside!
Robert


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Re: My Solar Setup

Post by marktownley »

Nice images! Good pictures of your setup and yard too!


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Re: My Solar Setup

Post by Martin_S »

Hi Paul ,

thank you for your comments.The focusing motor mount was made from a block of nylon, I have a Mini lathe and mill so I make a lot of my own parts.The motor is controlled by a LED dimmer and uses a 5 volt supply from a usb port, the belt is a very loose slip fit so it will slip once it meets any resistance. The motor focus is only used for fine tuning when I am inside my study .
A better cooling system for the camera is my next cloudy day project

Cheers

Martin


H alpha : ,Skywatcher 120mm F8 open frame refractor, a tilted 2" 7nm H-alpha filter as a sub energy rejection filter, Baader TZ4 telecentric focal extender, Player One energy rejection filter, Combo Quark Chromosphere, Naked PST etalon for double stacking, ASI74mm camera
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Re: My Solar Setup

Post by eroel »

Martin:
Nice solar shots and nice setup and place.
Best regards,
Eric.


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Re: My Solar Setup

Post by Montana »

What a great series of shots :bow :hamster: I do like the idea of the remote set up especially if you can solar observe from in the pool as well :)

Alexandra


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