Category Archives: Equipment

MiniWASP major upgrade 17/02/2022

I have just completed a major upgrade to the MiniWASP array, specifically the 2 Canon 200mm f#2.8 prime lenses. You can now see there are a pair of red cameras on the back instead of the usual black ones. These … Continue reading

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Collimating the Hyperstar 4

In my opinion the Hyperstar 4 is a most amazing piece of kit, and it is beyond me why anyone entering astrophotography for the first time wouldn’t consider this as their route to entry. But there is a caveat. To … Continue reading

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Out until 3:00 a.m. last night – the joy of astrophotography.

Well last night was an extremely rare, beautiful clear and Moonless night. I had 2 main things to get on with, one get the array in the North Dome polar aligned and all the cameras/scopes set up ready for imaging, … Continue reading

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A 10-year Journey on Speed or Why the Hyperstar Really is a High-Speed Imaging System.

No not amphetamines speed, but f# speed, a poorly understood but absolutely critical optical system parameter. It has been a very difficult decision for me to make on how to tell this story. I have had clues about what’s been … Continue reading

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Another adopter of the light box for flats

Peter Rusling has also used one of the Amazon supplied light panels for taking flats.  He says: “I’ve bought one of these excellent panels and thought I’d share that the light USB L4S version will mount safely on a £15 … Continue reading

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CCDInspector results of Hyperstar III collimation

A few posts below I gave a procedure on collimating your imaging camera to a Hyperstar III.  On reflection I thought that this could be considered as so much “hot air” without results to prove the procedure actually works.  So … Continue reading

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Amazing light panel for flats

A friend on one of the astronomy forums asked me if these would be any good for taking flats: Any good?  They are utterly superb!!!!!!!!!!!!  AND they are cheap!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  AND you can get an A3 or even an A2 panel … Continue reading

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Sometimes rainy days are useful for getting jobs done

I had an electric focuser lying around so with a pulley and timing belt from Radiospares I put together an electric focuser rig for the Canon 5D MkII and the 100mm macro lens that took the mega-wide-field Virgo/Coma galaxies shot. … Continue reading

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Robofocus – unbelievable service!

I ordered a Robofocus unit for the TS 80mm triplet APO last Friday after lunch – and it arrived at 2:00 p.m. today (Monday) – and that’s all the way from the States!!  Unbelievable speed of delivery – well done … Continue reading

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A new camera for the Hyperstar III

Well I don’t think there is going to be much let up in the rain for a good few months now – I have just received a new camera for the Hyperstar III.  For quite a while now I have … Continue reading

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