Zhumell Z8: First Light review

Zhumell Z8: FIRST LIGHT Review.

By HASEEB MODI


FIRST LIGHT ON A Z8.

( This is only a perspective from my own personal viewpoint and this review / writer is in no way affiliated or connected with Zhumell ).

To begin with, thanks to each and everyone of you who contributed towards all my questions.

Right, so my friend from U.S.A., came in today morning and carried with him a large long box.  Lugging around with this huge box itself is a severe test of friendship but my friend even went to the extent of sewing up a “leather case” for the Optical tube box using black finished leather.  A friend indeed.

The base material and accessories were in his suitcase as he had them opened up to carry it along more easily.  I got them in the evening, all bubble wrapped.

I did not know where to start but my children felt the best way would be to unzip the leather case and take a look inside.  What I saw made me skip a beat. The OTA was not only long, but the diameter blew me away.  Thoughts running in my mind were, “how in heaven’s am I going to carry this two flights of stairs without knocking something”?

But first, we needed to unpack each and every component and make a list of what was needed and what came as additional accessories.

Additional Accessories:

1.     Right Angle Correct Image finder scope.
2.    30mm 2” Plossl / 9mm 1.25” Plossl.
3.    Laser Collimator.
4.    Battery holder with wires connected for the rear fan.
5.    Two large bearings. ( Here I was a bit disappointed as earlier videos showed “silver bearings” whereas mine came with black knobs ).
6.    Moon filter.

Don’t want to go into details of the base assembly and what was needed as I am sure almost all of you would be aware.
The base assembly was not difficult and with the help of Zhumell’s website video, we were able to assemble without issues.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS:

As I inspected each and every piece, the only thoughts running through my mind were, “ how am I going to carry this two flights of stairs?” This worry turned into genuine concern after assembly, eyeing the huge OTA and the heavy base. ( For beginners like me, kindly note, unless you are in good shape and physique, this Z8 is going to be an issue if you don’t have an escalator or a backyard ).

However, the excitement of seeing something this big actually made my expectations soar. The build quality, material used was superb.
Collimation was a breeze and in fact, this particular piece survived the long haul from U.S. to India in extremely good shape.  Here I wish to once again add the care taken by my good American buddy.

I lifted the base assembly and though weighty, was manageable. The OTA, a little less weighty but cumbersome to hold was another affair, what with four steep turns to manuveur the long tube ( 4 ft.).

We couldn’t wait for dinner time. My children and wife were excited and so was I. At sharp 2130 hrs, with my wife’s help, sharing the burden of carrying the assembly while I carried the OTA, we set off on our first astronomic adventure. The skies were beckoning and we were keen.


FIRST LIGHT:

The terrace was empty and the skies clear. Not a hint of cloud though the “light bowl” effect of the city glow was evident. To make matters worse, a neighbor two blocks away decided to keep his outside tube light on for the night, directly below Orion.
I first set my sights on Sirius and then on Orion. I used the 30 mm Plossl. Sirius appeared to be “flat” with a black hole right in the middle and four paned.  Question: Is this something to tell me that my collimation was accurate? I remember reading somewhere if the collimation is “off”, Sirius would appear flowery.

The RACI ( Right Angle Correct Image ) is an excellent accompaniment though getting it to align with the eyepiece takes some doing.

The Orion Nebula appeared dim and not very bright. I started becoming a bit desperate. Was I doing something wrong? Then I loosened the bottom screw and voila! The Crayford focuser started to move up and down and the Stars changed from dim to diamonds.  From here on, I was halfway towards achieving Nirvana.  I changed the eyepiece to 9mm Plossl.

My children and wife took turns. Sirius was very bright with four sharp glitters of light streaking across from four points.  My wife was ecstatic. My children were okay. I was neutral.

Then we watched the Orion and with the knowledge of “focusing”, was able to see a nice graying cloud with four stars inside a bigger source of light. My children loved it.

My daughter wanted me to train the scope on some particular star which appeared to have hues of light. Accidentally, while trying to move down from Sirius, I hit upon a cluster of stars and immediately everyone started to gaze in awe. It was a terrific sight to behold.

My son all this time kept talking about Saturn and the time when it would hit the Zenith. There were two bright stars on my left and one more a little way more towards south east. We weren’t able to figure out which one was Saturn but in anycase, my first ideal was to get a good hold of this 8” Dob and seek out some more clarifications.
2300 hrs and we were still hunting for galaxies when we again hit upon a cluster of stars in a globular fashion which my son promptly told me was M45.  I thought this was the best time to turn my sight and try to see Saturn.

The bottom most yellow stars out of the three was a fake. The uppermost one was difficult to focus. I was tired and felt my family though happy with the sights, were definitely not jumping over the moon.   My daughter then took over and tried to focus on the middle yellowish object. She then asked me to look through the eyepiece.

Nirvana! Instant and pure nirvana. Money well spent and the advice from this forum golden. This image of what we saw will be etched in our memories forever. It was unbelievable and breathtaking. We were in awe and as if a home run was scored, in unison we started clapping.
Saturn was not only clear, it was crystal clear. We could see six moons at least and the rings were amazing. It had that two tone yellow / crimson colours and my wife remarked, “ we got our money’s worth” and that says it all on the capabilities of this wonderful 8 inch Dobsonian.

Haseeb Modi

APM 100ED SEMI APO REVIEW

By Haseeb Modi

Having owned three different types of scope systems, I always wondered about a Bino-scope or rather the views through one. Bino-scopes are no different from Binoculars except of course they are much larger in aperture, have the provision of Helical focusers to change eyepieces of different magnifications.  This makes an APM doublet a very high powered, magnifying instrument with wide field refractor like views.  In fact an APM can be termed as two doublets combined to form a single three dimensional image. 

The images of course are not really three dimensional but gives you an added depth, making objects appear almost 3D like and High definition for added effect.

These instruments do not come cheap. In fact they are expensive and only those fortunate enough to own them know the value of their money well spent.  I am fortunate in the sense I have a friend who owns probably enough scopes, mounts, eyepieces and accessories to open a mini telescope store.  He is the passionate astronomer and a kind one at that.  His favourite possession was the APM 100ED, at least till he offered me to take it at differed payment.  He of course is still passionate about binocular telescopes and in fact bought a new one, i.e., a Vixen BT-81S.

Back to the APM 100, here are the official specs:- 

SPECIFICATIONS:

Manufacturer: APM 
Model: 100 mm ED binocular
Magnification: 25x
Magnification: 50x
Objective Diameter: 100 mm 
Prism: BAK4 Prisms 
Optical Design: 2-element ED-semi apo
Coatings: FMC
Focal length: 500mm 
Exit Pupil diameter: at 25x: 4 mm
Exit Pupil diameter: at 50x: 2 mm
Field of view: at 25x: 2.9°
Field of view: at 50x: 1.47°
Dimensions: 510 x 230 x 133 mm 
Weight: 7200 gr.

The binocular is well crafted and the tubing seems perfectly smooth and aerodynamic in appearance, almost like two mini turbo jets.   Painted black with flecks of metallic dust.  The images may not do justice to both its looks and volume but this APM is huge for those who may not yet have experienced large telescopes or binoculars. The optics consists of 2-element ED with each fully multi- coated resides within the strong tubing.  According to APM,  each and every piece that comes out of the factory is checked, tested and then shipped, I would expect collimation to hold for the lifetime of the user. 

Now with such types of binocular scopes, Mounts plays a pivotal ( pardon the pun ) part. The Mount needs to be sturdy and the Tripod holding the Mount sturdier. The minimum payload for a mount head should be on par with 8 kgs or more with the Tripod’s payload being in excess of 12 kgs. You will then have a Mount capable of not only holding the APM 100ED but also reducing dampening times caused by sudden movements or vibrations or strong wind. 

The APM 100ED Semi-Apo comes shipped in an aluminium case with foam fitted inside with the APM nestled nicely in it. There are a couple of inserts for eyepieces which come as part of the package, i.e., 20mm and 10mm APM eyepieces.  These eyepieces are quite nice and adequate for sessions with your binocular scope. The 45 degree diagonal is a personal choice but serves for easier viewing while seated.  I am used to 90 degree diagonals so hopefully I get used to this as well.

The  Helical focusers are simple and work flawlessly. The eyepiece gets inserted and there is a knurled ring to lock them in place. You then turn the focuser in the same direction both ways to achieve focus.

Now having an APM 100 sitting next to you with clear skies above with three quarter Moon, Jupiter, Orion, Pleiades and a thousand other celestial objects in the night skies beckoning, it is all too easy to get carried away and go for a quick round. I tried this handheld and soon gave up, I knew it wasn’t possible but still.  A thought struck me. Why not utilize the focus rails on my Manfrotto 055XPROB? It just might work. It did albeit for a very short time.

After ensuring all the locks were tightened and the quick release plate firm, I took the APM for a second quick round. Feeling my excitement, my family joined me.

With the APM 100 pointed roughly 30 deg East towards the Moon and with the 20mm eyepiece, the Moon was incredibly detailed and seemed to ‘hang’ in space. I changed eyepieces to 10mm and this was even more detailed with the Moon well within the Field of view. The craters, riles all sprung up with a bit more clarity. Moreover, the moonlight was not hurting the eyes. My wife, daughter and son all took their turn and were equally astonished.

Next was Jupiter. The mighty planet was small but detailed with four of its moons shining away.  However in my case the view seemed to be that of two Jupiter’s but in the case of my family, they all felt nothing of the sort. I know there could be collimation issues at high magnifications ( in terms of binoculars, 50x is pretty high ) on brighter objects and perhaps this may have been the case with my eyes.  Anyway, I swung the mount towards NGC 869, the Double cluster and the beauty of both clusters within the field of view and like diamonds hanging in space will not be lost on you. I doubt if any one single telescope would afford such a view.  I then became a bit too overconfident and swung the mount towards the Zenith to view Pleiades.  This is where both the Tripod and Mount started to show their limitations and the jerky movements did not warrant I push them any further. However, I did manage with the help of my son and daughter to hold the APM 100 in place for a few jerky seconds and the Pleiades almost made me jump.  Globs of star light sprang up making me all the more eager to hold the APM without shaking. The view of seven sisters were in focus, of that I am sure but what surprised me was the nebulosity that was seen surrounding these stars. The whole scene was simply unreal and one has to see it to believe it. Far after we packed up and went to sleep, the blobs of star light were still bouncing in my eyes.

Now all that I need is a good solid Mount head and a Tripod.

Haseeb Modi.

Software for Image processing: ( Is it necessary? ).

Advancement in Camera technology means even those with Point & Shoot cameras or mobile cameras may find instant gratification by the images captured. You see a scene, press the shutter and get instant results. Some of these cameras also provide for in-camera post processing or "Filters".  Some DSLR's offer in-camera Raw processing as well. 

Now at some point, many of us would have asked ourselves the question:, Why do people spend on processing software like Photoshop or Paintshop or similiar? Its not as if our photos were going to win a Pulitzer or make for a wedding portfolio.  In short, unless consumers pay to get a copy of what we shoot, why bother with processing and why not just be content with the instant gratification we see on our little LCD screens?.

The answer may not be that simple even though there is nothing wrong in simply enjoying the benefits of digital photography without the hassle of processing.  So why then post processing software and even more bewildering, why pay for software which costs considerable amounts?

There are two types of software available for processing images:

      

1.    Free

2.       Not free

The first option is in the form of freeware, i.e., software that can be downloaded free of cost to process your pictures like GIMP for eg.  Even your normal Operating System comes pre-packaged with an image processing software like ‘Paint’.

The second option of Processing software can range anywhere from $25 to $1000 and more.  The competition is such, aside from the top two names in photo processing software, there are other coders who have established a good footing in the world of photography and sell software at reasonable prices.

While the options for processing software may comprise of two options, the category under which we photographers or hobbyists fall under is vast. To simplify, let’s assume these three categories:-

      

1.    Career photography / Professionals ( Purely DSLR high end users with dedicated lenses ).

2.       Hobbyists ( range from Point & shoot to DSLR users ).

3.       Simply because a camera or a mobile with an in-built camera is at hand.

Astro-photographers ( this is a specialized field therefore three categories as above )

While many have made photography their career, most of us are hobbyists and like to take pictures to cherish memories of our vacations, family get together,  children’s vocation, prize functions etc.,

The first category which involves shooting images for a living would definitely mean possessing multiple software and these are people who invest a handsome amount in acquiring various types of software to meet their requirements.  In fact some of them have made such a name for themselves, their photography techniques are often marketed by software brands.

We then have hobbyists who like to enhance their photographs through processing. They may find solace in freeware like Paint or Gimp or go a step further and invest in basic software like Photoshop Elements or Paintshop.

Astro-photographers definitely need at some point to invest in software even though the best astro stacking freeware continues to be Deep Sky Stacker.  For Planetary and Lunar, we have Autostakkert and Registax, perhaps the best two well known freeware brands for such types of imaging. VirtualDub is another freeware which comes handy.  But end of the day, even though DSS or Autostakkert are utilized initially, for stretching or performing delicate use of curves or levels and then try to balance the RGB output, you need software which can work with 16 bit files.  There are many plug-ins in this category alone which people buy and use and find most essential to bring out the subtle details of the fine dusty lanes of a galaxy or spiral arms or the banding on Jupiter or Saturn.

 

Here is an example which illustrates how a  "light frame" looks before and after processing:

As you can see, the details after stacking and stretching or post processing is immense.

 

Back to the topic, when does one feel the need for software?

It is difficult to say but I would safely assume, once we start acquiring images which we feel like sharing, that is when the need for enhancement kicks in. This sets a chain of events in motion.

The first obvious move would hint at Freeware.  Having utilized the Freeware to its fullest, the images simply do not resemble those you see on the internet or your friend’s.  Something is missing and perhaps the Freeware in question does not have all the bells and whistles that is needed to support your creativity?  Quite possible.  There are limitations and Freeware has limited capabilities or else why would anyone spend even $1 if the Freeware can provide for everything? 

Next step up the software chain is to make our first investment in a retail or downloadable version of Photoshop Elements or PaintshopPro or similar.  We then put our images to test against the software and find there is some truth in what the marketing hype suggests. 

The learning curve for certain software processing engines can be quite steep.  Fortunately, even the most limited of software that you pay for come in-built with ‘Presets’  or ‘Auto enhance’.  These presets or auto enhance features require just a click of the mouse button and your pictures are automatically enhanced.  If that does not suit your taste, you have sliders and adjustments which can be used manually.  To help understand further, books and tutorials can be found all over the internet and while the books aren’t free, the tutorials on the internet are.

By this time, what starts out as a simple point and click routine soon develops into a hobby of sorts, one in which your imagination gets migrated into a host of features and enhancements that complement your pictures.  You start getting creative and the next time you take pictures, your mind starts composing various scenes as much as you can allow your mind to imagine. Certain situations require quick decisions and you may not get a second chance.  Most of these hurriedly taken images may or may not come out well.  You back your software to recover or modify these image enough to gain some sort of respectability.  For instance, your image may have been underexposed or overexposed, both of which can be modified by your software.  Some freeware may allow for this but it would be limited.

Once you learn to use your software diligently and intelligently enough to achieve overall better results than what you originally set out to achieve, your investment is justified.  A step further and a bit more learning through various sites and tutorials, you soon yearn to take breathtaking shots to impress your family and friends. You want to amaze yourself with HDR rendered image as well as focus stacking, high key, low key and various other glossary associated with photography.

HDR rendering is simple enough and most of the camera's even have in-built HDR functionality. However even if they don't, you have options via your software.  Some will command that you take three different types of exposures by setting the EV compensation on your camera and then merge all three to create an HDR image.  There are a few well known plug-ins like 'Topaz Adjust' for example which even allow for a single image to be HDR rendered. This is great news for those who feel there is too much involved in taking three images of the same object and then combining them. Worse still you need to take those three images without your camera moving a millimetre.  Therefore imagine a single exposure which can culminate in a high definition render? 

An example of how a single exposure can be converted into HDR:

Masking or working with layers can get tedious for those not too processing savvy or have less time on their hands.  Again there are specialized plug-ins or standalones which can perform these tedious tasks with simple presets and by offering an extremely user friendly algorithm.    

Stitching a series of images is another area where software comes in handy. Especially for those who like to create panoramas or mosaics of the Moon.  While many camera brands provide for software to suit this purpose, you can find intuitve and easy to do freeware readily available like Microsoft's ICE.  Here is an example of the Moon by stitching together nine panels to create a mosaic. This was done with the help of virtualdub and then ICE.

There are many useful tutorials for free spread all over the internet and my favourite is cambridgeincolour.  Just search the one's you feel would compliment your style of shooting and try to follow the step by step procedure. Ensure you have adequate software to achieve what you set out to, at least try to get as close as possible and your images would not look so ordinary or reason for you to delete them often.  You will soon find a hobby which can be creatively fun let alone the accolades that will follow later on. 

I hope you find this little article useful. I by no means am affiliated to any software brands and the names mentioned are those that I own and use on a regular basis.   

Haseeb Modi.

AR 102 EXPLORE SCIENTIFIC REFRACTOR REVIEW.

AR 102 Refractor review.

By Haseeb Modi.

AR 102 the Scope:

Astronomy is a hobby that keeps growing while making you feel younger. Sounds strange but this is a fact.
Consider this. The average age of an Astronomer is around 35 yrs, give or take a few. That would mean, amateur astronomers, ranging from ages 12 - 70 yrs. I know for certain there are amateur astronomers who are well within striking distance of a century.
Now coming to the point, owning a Dobsonian and SCT is fun and continues to be so. However, after reading so much about how a Refractor provides wide-field, rich contrasty views, the insatiable appetite for yet another fling at an instrument was on the cards.
Fortunately, I had a cousin of mine coming down from the States and he was kind enough to accept my request and get me an achromat, i.e., Explore Scientific's AR 102.  First off, this was the cheapest option I could see, and second, Explore Scientific has a good reputation. Besides, I wanted to see what exactly were these wide-field views of a Refractor and lastly, the saddle plate is universally adaptable.



When the scope arrived, I found to my chagrin, the Diagonal was missing. I got this later on with my cousin's help ( I really appreciate all that he did ). The finish was white with a protruding longish dew shield. The paint was high quality and the components were sturdy. The focuser seemed quite smooth and strong enough to hold a 2" diagonal with a heavy eyepiece or camera.  The only issue I had was when the focuser got stuck by the adhesive used on the plastic markings which I had to get rid off. Minor issues aside, the feel was solid. The straight-through 8 x 50 finder was adequate for the purpose and aligning to the scope during daytime was easy enough. Some may think the Finderscope looks misaligned mounted on the scope and indeed that would be one's perception when seeing the scope in its entirety. However, it works and that's that.
The baffling is good enough and the coatings are great. The dew shield ( I always keep it extended ) helps protect the lens from the forces. There are six small collimating screws but the scope came well collimated out of the factory and the star test showed concentric circles both inward and outward focus.



FIRST LIGHT:

This air-spaced doublet has a 663 focal length and f/6.5 focal ratio. It is relatively large with a diameter of 102mm or 4". The highest useful magnification is stated at 220X. I never had a chance to go that high but I did push the scope up to 200X by using an ES 6.7mm 82 degrees eyepiece with a Barlow inserted. Saturn at 200X was completely in focus. A fine focus ring helps in making micro corrections.
Normal views through this Achromat are quite pleasing with only the brightest of objects showing hints of CA or Chromatic Aberration or purple fringing.
What is surprising is the fact that even in extremely light polluted conditions, viewing from within a large city, I was able to see M 31, M 13, M 57, and other Globular clusters. Only faint galaxies or galaxies with less surface brightness would be difficult to find but that is something even an 8" Dobsonian may find difficult to obtain from light-polluted cities. Of course, even an 80mm Refractor will give you pristine views of fainter galaxies provided one takes a trip to the outskirts or to areas with less light pollution.
The Moon and Planets however are excellent to look at. What really stands out in all its beauty viewing from this Achromat Refractor are the Open clusters. Being in the Southern region, we are blessed with the Sagittarius area which forms the bulge of our Milky Way and thousands of stars are visible through the scope even from light-polluted cities. Just ensure the nights are clear with little to no clouds and try to shield your eyes and scope from stray light or neighbors lights.

ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY:

Now an Achromat or a normal doublet is not the ideal choice for imaging. But one has to make do with resources available and none better than an F/6.5 with a short focal length to try my hand at imaging some galaxies. This scope performed within expectations but the purple fringing or purple halos around brighter stars are prominent.  Here's an example:


I had to process this image vigorously to remove the "purple fringing" but could do nothing about reducing star size. In fact, this image is after using Noel Carboni's star tools and star reduction and purple halo reduction around stars. But the image is pretty and more than can be expected with minimal equipment, imaging from inside a light bowl.
Bear in mind though, there are other Doublets with Extra Dispersion or ED glass and with even 65mm aperture, which can make for excellent astrophotography equipment. Their short focal lengths and the focal ratio will help in snaring galaxies, even fainter ones. Only be prepared to take as many "light frames" or "Subs" as possible to stack them later to obtain signal-to-noise reduction as well as enough photons to bring out detail.

( Disclaimer: This review is purely based on my own reading and from my own perspective of AR 102 and I have not affiliated in any way with Explore Scientific ).
Haseeb Modi.

VIXEN BT81S-A Review

By Haseeb Modi

Vixen BT81S-A Astronomical Binoculars:

Fortunate indeed is an amateur astronomer who gets time to spend under the stars rather than sitting and watching soap operas. Even more fortunate is an amateur astronomer who has a friend who is passionate about astronomy and shares his passion with others.  I am of course referring to the ‘Passionate Astronomer’ who owns a plethora of scopes and equipment and has helped others enjoy this wonderful hobby.

If you recall, I had mentioned in my earlier review about him searching for an instrument which he would cherish. While this instrument may still yet elude him, in the interim period, a Vixen BT81S-A came into his possession.  This Japanese built bino scope is a thing of beauty. One glance and you know you have a winner.

The official specifications:

Magnesium Flouride coated, air spaced doublet design offers to dramatically reduce chromatic aberration and leave you with crisp, clear images. Optical coatings fully multi coated with BAK-4 glass and Porro Prism type. Total weight 9 lbs and..

• Focal Ratio F/5.9
• Aperture : 81mm (3.1")
• Focal length - 480mm
• Resolving Power: 1.43 arc secconds
• Features: Carry Handle, Finder Bracket
• Dimensions: 18.9" x 7.4" x 6"
• Warranty: lifetime.

Note the last part, now that is something.

The package comes in two boxes with the box containing the scope within another. Styrofoam protects all sides from bumps while transporting.

I had the opportunity to check out this binocular scope and take some pictures for the readers to see. The construction is solid as usual and the prisms have that clean, high quality look. The front 81mm objectives are even more brilliant and looking through from a light source, I could see all the way without the slightest aberration, dust speck or anything of the sort.

My friend had a Garrett 5000 series head ready on hand to attach at the bottom plate and a 058B Manfrotto heavy tripod. While I have not yet taken a look through, the owner did and according to him, the downgrade in aperture from 100mm to 81mm has not really impacted the views much. In fact these high quality objectives have provided him with good contrast and pinpoint stars with hardly noticeable chromatic aberrations.

I like the Helical focusers, they look well built and smooth to operate. I would assume from the initial observation made by its owner, the collimation is bang on with no fingernail leakage.  I am still new to binocular scopes so would rely on my buddy to tell me in case to the contrary. To me however, this package reeks of all round quality and a keeper for those already accustomed to bino-viewing.

Haseeb Modi.

Polar Alignment for Southern dwellers.

This is the procedure I adopt for an equatorial mount. I have a CG-5:

1. Place Tripod / Mount / Weights.
2. Ensure "Alignment Peg" is roughly pointed towards Polaris.
3. Sight through the Borehole to check if Polaris is visible and centered.
4. Place Scope on saddle plate. Insert Diagonal and eyepiece.
5. Check 'balance' ( very important ) with 4 in place and adjust weight accordingly till the balance is achieved.
6. Make sure Mount is connected to A/C outlet or Powerpack. Switch on mount.
7. Ensure your Latitude scale is as per your location, i.e, N =. Enter your Latitude and Longitude in the remote. ( If you live in extreme Southerly region, you can use Octantis as your South star ).
8. Enter date / time / Zone into your remote. ( Note: This may be slightly different to other brands or make ).
9. Ensure Finderscope is aligned correctly with the eyepiece of your main scope.
10. Start two star alignment. The first or even second time, the stars will not be in the center of your finderscope. Don't worry, just adjust with controller till you have the star centered in both your finderscope and eyepiece.
11. Do a four star calibration. This will basically ensure objects within your eyepiece do not move for hours and will even provide for steady imaging of Planets / Moon though DSO's may require more stringent polar alignment routine.
12. Post back your viewing session or comment on how you go about your polar alignment routine with your set up. Enjoy.

Polar Alignment for Astrophotography:

There are couple of methods, i.e., Drift Alignment and Iterative Alignment. While I found Iterative Alignment provides good results, I am yet to do a drift alignment. However, this alignment procedure that I follow has given me steady results without Auto guiding.  This is not to say Auto guiding is not necessary. For those living under dark skies or have access to dark skies, a good auto guider can be invaluable, helping you image as long as you like.

For this method of mine however, I am limited by severe city light pollution and therefore, even if I had an auto guider, my images would look washed out after two minutes. No point unless I travel to the outskirts.

So coming back to the subject for a simple Polar Alignment for astrophotography, I follow these steps AFTER completing above mentioned points:-

1.  Look for a star like Antares or Capella. Stars very close to the poles will be instantly rejected by the controller so chose your star based on your current sky map.

2.  Enter the name of the chosen Star into your controller, press ENTER and wait for the scope to slew towards this Star. Invariably, even though you got the calibration stars done in the earlier steps and while for visual that is more than adequate, you will find the Polar alignment routine a bit more stringent. The star in question will not be exactly in the center of your eyepiece. More likely towards the edges.

3.  Scroll down on your controller to "Polar Alignment" and "Align Mount". Press ENTER. Follow instructions to center the star in the Finderscope first and then in your eyepiece. ( I just center it in the eyepiece and press ENTER and then ALIGN ). Most folks tend to use high magnifications for getting the star properly centered or even an illuminated reticle.

4.  After you finished centering in both your Finderscope and Eyepiece, press ENTER. The Scope will slew a bit away from the chosen star. In some cases, you may not even find this star in you Finderscope let alone the eyepiece. Not to worry.

5.  The Controller will now ask you to calibrate the Mount with the Alt / Az knobs manually. Keep your Controller aside. Look through the Finderscope and see if you can spot the Star. Usually it will be there and if your initial alignment was good, the star may just be a wee bit outside the eyepiece. Use the adjustment screws to slew the star towards the center of your Finderscope. Look through the eyepiece and see if the Star is now visible. Try to center it in the middle as much as possible. If the screws do not allow you to center the star, you must then use the hinge wing screw on the back of your mount to "raise or lower" the mount. Make small adjustments till the star is in a position, whereby simply turning the Alt / Az screws should now bring the star towards the center of your eyepiece.

Press ENTER and see if your display reads 00.00 / 00.00.  All done. You can now image for up to a minute with a Refractor or up to 3 minute with a Lens piggy backed. Probably more but I never tried due to severe light pollution. But that hasn't put me off Astrophotography. I still continue to capture photons in my camera and feel happy to see the results, however amateurish they may look. But the joy of having achieved something which the eye cannot see in itself is a simple enough reason to enjoy Astrophotography.

Haseeb Modi.

C6-SGT review.

C6-SGT: REVIEW:  



The insatiable appetite for astronomy never ends.  Having started my journey with an 8” Dobsonian,  a journey which both my family and I enjoy endlessly and will continue to do so for the rest of our lives, the need to bring in something different and try to further enhance this wonderful hobby never escaped me. This idea bore fruit after three months of waiting and saving, to finally set my eyes on a brand new C6-SGT from Celestron.

PACKAGE CONTENTS: ( Three boxes ).

1.    Tripod.
2.    Mount head.
3.    Spreader tray.
4.    Nexstar Remote.
5.    E-Lux 25mm Celestron.
6.    C6 OTA with Starbright XLT coatings.
7.    Diagonal – 1.25”.
8.    Two instruction manuals.
9.    The Sky Planetarium CD.
10.    DC Car Adapter.
11.    Finderscope. ( note: Bracket for the finderscope comes attached ).
12.    Caps for all, i.e., eyepiece / diagonal / OTA.
13.    Weights – 11 lbs.


CG-5: THE MOUNT:

My first introduction to a German Equatorial Mount.  There were moments of dread, fearing the worst on the trails of a complicated EQ mount. However, once my family and I set eyes on the Mount itself,  all was forgotten.  My two children quickly made a check list while my wife and I started to assemble the Tripod.  With directions from my children, the assembling of the CG-5 was done clinically and efficiently.  It took us under 30 minutes.

Initially, I extended the legs fully and to my surprise, the mount was a good 6’.  The legs are a beefy 2” stainless steel and once the legs were collapsed, the CG-5 looked  quite solid.  I would daresay, this mount would easily hold an 8” Reflector or a 6” Refractor.  In our case however,  the mount was more than adequate for the C6 OTA. At the back of my mind, I had already begun calculating the accumulated weights of a DSLR at Prime Focus or heavy Eyepieces like the Baader Hyperion 8mm or an Explore Scientific 11mm coupled with a Televue Barlow.  Newcomers like me,  interested in casual astrophotography, would do well to keep this at the back of their mind, i.e., accumulated weight.

In my estimate, the mount with Tripod and weights should be near to 19 kgs.  If one needs to carry this singly, the head could be separated and the Tripod legs closed for easy transport.

First timers who need to deal with an EQ mount should not feel overwhelmed, but at the same time, read the “Manual” provided thoroughly and practice both alignment as well as get acclimatized by knowing exactly where ‘on the field must use’ items like Clutches / Declination axis etc., are positioned so that your session goes smoothly.

One important point to note here is, the CG-5 is designed with a 30-60 degree Latitude. What this basically means is that astronomers using this in the Southern Hemisphere or right on or near to the North Pole would have some limitations for accurate Polar Aligning. There are workarounds though in locations which are somewhere less than 30 degree Latitude.  In this regard, I wish to thank both TEL and ARTIC EDDIE of Cloudy Nights for their valuable inputs at the Celestron forums.

The mount comes factory assembled with the “Alignment Peg”  between the Tripod legs.  NOT on the North Leg as one would think.  In my case, this worked perfectly as I didn’t require to relocate the Alignment Peg.  All I did was to loosen two bolts and remove the bracket from the front along with the screw.  This enabled me to lower the mount scale by another   13 degrees,  thus giving me  a 17 degree latitude.  My Latitude is N 13, therefore I would require to slightly adjust the South Leg by extending it and attaching a weight to avoid tipping over.  ( Hope Celestron  realize their clientele is not limited to just areas between Latitude 30-60 degrees, but worldwide ).

For our friends in the Southern Hemisphere, the star Octantis can be used for alignment though there are many who are adept in finding solutions with wedges and custom machined parts.  I am not one of them though.




NEXSTAR REMOTE:

Initially worked well during mock alignment, when suddenly I had a scare when the message “Transmit Data” appeared.  A few posts later and thanks to members at Cloudy Nights again, I was able to overcome this. It was a simple matter of obtaining an RS 232 cable with an Adapter to suit your OS and by finding the requisite ‘Port’, connect to Celestron’s website and download the latest firmware. It worked and so far the Remote is doing fine. I also upgraded the Firmware for Motor Control so that both the Remote as well as the motors are in tune with each other.

Slewing to an object while doing a mock alignment seemed quite smooth with a bit of whining noise which is to be expected and not something which should wake up your neighbours.  Later on I reduced the speed to 2 degree which helped lower the noise.

The LCD is clear and the buttons are well spaced out.  The red illuminated remote does not spoil your night adaptation.  Again I would suggest you thoroughly read the manual to get familiar with the various button controls, even though each one has got markings for their intended purpose.

OTA / ACCESSORIES:

The C6 looks quite modest, actually bigger than the pictures you see on the website and or in this review, but quite manageable.  Celestron is clearly marked with a sticker on top stating “Starbright XLT”.

The bracket for the Finderscope comes installed from the factory and all you need to do is insert the Finderscope and use the three screws provided to tighten and align.  Though aligning is easy, craning of the neck to view is not.  Therefore, if one wishes to upgrade, a nice little RACI would be a welcome addition.

The backside of the OTA has a protruded grey knob which is the “Focusing knob” and works well. The diagonal however is something you would want to keep aside and upgrade almost instantly.  My Baader Hyperion eyepiece could not be inserted completely and I had to leave the left side screw loose to accommodate it.  Not good.

Any good SCT  2” diagonal with 1.25” adapter or an Astrotech’s award winning  1.25” diagonal would be the immediate thing to do.  I am hopefully waiting for this to arrive soon.

The Celestron E-Lux 25mm eyepiece however fits well on this stock adapter and the eyepiece itself looks quite good with adequate eye relief and wide field of view.

The knurled ring at the back of the OTA provides for tightening or holding a focuser or camera at Prime focus.

ALIGNMENT:

Mock alignment is one thing. Going out to the field and see a sparsely star lit sky from a light polluted city dome is another.  Monsoon season coupled with a bright Moon do not help matters either. Patience wears out quickly and here’s where one must exercise diligence and determination.

A couple of nights with no rain though still partially cloudy, we took the C6-SGT for our first outing.  Our Latitude and Longitude was entered, alongwith time, date, standard time, zone 5 ( in my case ) and a two star align started.  Though the scope itself seems to point at the requisite Star, both the Finderscope and the eyepiece failed to spot it. Fine tuning with the arrow keys to center the Star/s in the Finderscope first and then the Eyepiece, yielded results somewhat okay though not perfect.

Tracking did not seem to hold up after a minute with the object slowly drifting out of view.  Once again, with the help of feedback from seasoned members and their input on trying a ‘Calibration routine”, decided to wait for a night when the cloud cover would be less or non-existent with no rain.

Yesterday was such a night.  Faith seemed to aid me as well as Polaris was visible, just above the horizon. I quickly lined up the Tripod with the Alignment Peg pointed straight at Polaris. Opened up the Polar finder caps and eyeballed Polaris.  Used the Azimuth / Altitude screws to bring it in center and then fired up the motor.

I decided a two star align followed by four star Calibration routine.  As the hand controller gives you choices in case you have trees / buildings blocking your view, I did not worry about this. Everything went smoothly and by the time I got to the third calibration star, both the Finderscope as well as the Eyepiece had the object in view.  By the fourth calibration star, things were beginning to look spot on.

FIRST LIGHT:

Hit ‘M’ on the Nexstar and entered ‘042’. Lo and behold, M 42 was dead-on.  The stars in the trapezium looked like jewels and the nebula itself appeared quite clear.  I was fearing the views between my 8” compared to this 6” would be somewhat anti-climactic. They were not and while still cannot compare to an 8”, not exactly a let- down either.  I was using a 14mm Meade 5000 super Plossl with 60 degree FoV.

Next we entered M 31 and the scope slewed right there for the great galaxy to be visible in the eyepiece. With a full Moon quite close to the vicinity, we could still see M 31, probably due to its magnitude of less than 4.00.

We then slewed back to M 42 and I decided to give Prime Focus a go. Inserted a T2i at Prime Focus and through the viewfinder, focused on Orion’s great Nebula and started testing.
Thirty seconds showed some trailing. Twenty seconds did not show much trailing, I therefore, settled on twenty five seconds.  Ten light frames later, we were astonished to see the Great Nebula’s color and profile light up the camera’s preview window. It was exhilarating and perhaps the highlight of this basic astrograph equipment.  We then slewed to a few open clusters like M 36 / M 37 and they were all bang in the center. Clouds were rolling in and we had to wrap up the session.

To add, views of Jupiter were crisp with the Barge clearly seen.  Moon was glittering to say the least with all the craters showing up with clarity. The XLT coatings do seem to live up to its name.

For all the trials and tribulations, mainly due to my location, overcoming these kind of hurdles,  adds to the excitement, especially when you pull out something which you always dreamed off.  Nothing spectacular  but at the same time, something to show and talk about.  As long as newcomers to astrophotography learn to understand the limitations of this basic set-up and are prepared  to  undertake this journey, the adventure would be both exciting and rewarding.

For more serious astrophotography, there are many add-on’s to this mount like a Radial Glider, Polar Finder scope, Auto-guiders etc.,

Clear Skies!

Disclaimer:  I am not affiliated / associated with any brand names or vendors mentioned here in this review.

Haseeb Modi.

P.S: I wish to thank all those who guided me in this process of alignment, figuring out on how to overcome my latitude scale and giving some extremely helpful tips on Polar alignment.

Please visit www.indianstronomer.net