scc

Ulysse,"tu regardes à travers ta série de petits trous une scène relativement éclairée"Peux-tu préciser? A quelle distance de l'oeil placer la feuille de papier (si j'ai bien compris le principe)?

En version photo ça dépend de la sensibilité du film.En numérique, il me semble qu'on peut également choisir la sensibilité?

200/950, ça fait f/4.75.L'obstruction doit être énorme.C'est quoi la marque??

Vixen Ultima 8x56.Elle ne pèsent que 1000 g.Budget: en Belgique elles sont à 276 € chez l'importateur.

Il est à mon sens normal que le réducteur f/3.3 donne une coma d'enfer. Le chip de la ccd doit être aligné dans la zone centrale du champ du réducteur pour éviter cette coma. Normalement, la petite taille de ce chip devrait permettre d'éviter les zones de distorsion.Est-ce dans cette condition que tu as de la coma?

Celestron AS-GT (CG-5 GT) GOTO EQ Mount by Tony Bonanno Click here to email authorOne of the pleasures of amateur astronomy for me is sharing my views of the night sky with friends. I live several miles outside of Santa Fe, New Mexico and am fortunate to have reasonably dark and clear skies. I can haul my gear 50 feet from my front door and have a clear view of much of the night sky. My “star gatherings” were enhanced a couple of years ago by the purchase of my first GOTO system, a Meade LX90. I quickly became a fan of GOTO, and admittedly, have become somewhat spoiled by it. Like many amateurs, I’m always experimenting (to the degree the budget allows) with different types of telescopes and gear. I’ve had 10 different scopes and several different mounts over the past several years. I currently own two 6” Russian maks, a 10” Schmidt-Newtonian, and the LX90. My other scopes ride on a Losmandy GM-8 equatorial mount. I’m very pleased with the GM-8 mount, except for one thing. It doesn’t have GOTO. When I checked out the Gemini GOTO system from Losmandy, I found that the GOTO add-on by itself was as much as the GM-8 mount. This was more than I wanted to spend. I kept thinking of all the reasons it would be nice to have a reasonably portable GOTO equatorial mount; the ability to have GOTO for all my OTA’s, the ease of use for star parties, the amount of time I could spend observing rather than searching; etc. There was just one problem – finding such a mount at a price that wouldn’t break the bank.I thought my quest was over when Meade announced their new LXD55 series with an equatorial GOTO mount and the same AutoStar controller as on my LX90. The price seemed too good to be true. WOW. I placed my order right away. Seven months later my LXD55 arrived. The Schmidt-Newtonian OTA that came with my package proved to be a fine performer. The LXD55 mount was a different story. I won’t go into all the details except to say that I have never been so frustrated with a mount in my entire life. I got rid of the mount and found myself right back where I had started. I still didn’t have a GOTO equatorial mount.During the summer of 2003, I noticed advertisements for Celestron’s new AS-GT series telescopes with an equatorial GOTO mount. I began to wonder if this new mount might be the answer. I was a little gun-shy at this point. Perhaps, there was no suitable answer except saving my money for the Gemini system or perhaps a much larger mount like the Celestron CGE (doesn’t meet my criteria for portability). I cautiously began to research the new AS-GT mount and talked with several dealers. I was pleasantly surprised to hear encouraging remarks about the mount. I ordered one. Price including shipping was $724.00.Initial Observations:First let me qualify my comments by pointing out that I’ve not owned this mount very long at the time of this writing. The mount is a brand new model and I think I’m one of the first customers to take delivery of the “mount only” where no OTA was included (first week of November 2003). Also, I’m not going to attempt to review all the features of Celestron’s GOTO system. That information is readily available on many internet sites and I’m still in the learning mode myself. The following information is provided in the hope that it will be helpful in evaluating the basic suitability of the mount.* The first thing that grabbed my eye was the tripod legs. Large 2” tubular steel. The mount base (which the legs attach to) appears much beefier than the old CG-5 that I owned several years ago.* The mount was easy to assemble. Once assembled, it felt VERY solid. There was very little play in the DEC and RA assemblies. The finish seemed more on a par with my old Vixen Super Polaris than a CG-5.* The mount does not come with a power pack. You need to provide a good 12V power supply. Celestron does provide a 12V cigarette lighter power cable.* The AS-GT does not come with a polar finder scope. You can purchase one as an accessory. Interestingly enough, I have not found this to be a hindrance during setup.* This mount appears less sensitive to accurate polar alignment than my LXD55 mount was. I’ve found that I get good performance just by eyeballing Polaris through the polar axis opening. The GOTO software also has a “polar alignment” routine that can be utilized for greater precision if necessary.* The AS-GT GOTO setup uses three alignment stars (two on one side of your meridian and one on the other side of the meridian). The centering of alignment stars is best approached with the “up” and “right” arrows. This setup routine helps compensate for “cone error” (play in the gears).* The mount uses the same dovetail mounting platform as most other “Vixen” type mounts. Any OTA that fits an older CG-5, LXD55, Vixen, etc., will fit on this mount.I found the AS-GT’s setting circles to be difficult to read (my old eyes perhaps) and of limited functionality.* Celestron delivers the mount with adhesive “index” marks on both axis to indicate “home” position for the GOTO setup. I found the index marks on the Dec axis to be improperly placed (by several degrees). I simply peeled them off and “rolled my own”.* Slewing noise is similar to the LXD55 and my LX90. At the fastest slew rates, it is quite audible. At the slower speeds and during normal tracking, the motors are inaudible to my ears.* The tripod “brace” is definitely a cut above what is usually found on mounts in this price range. It is well made, fits as it should, performs its function very well, and has several nice cutouts to hold eyepieces and other accessories. I also like the fact that the brace fits high on the tripod so I can reach it easily.* The mounting bolt that attaches the tripod and base to the mount works easily and appears to utilize high quality fittings.* My mount was delivered with two 11 lb counterweights.* Celestron includes a plastic Hand Controller holder that snaps onto one of the tripod legs. It works well and is a nice touch.* The “Control Panel” contains an input for 12V power, an on/off switch, and connection ports for the hand controller, the Dec motor, and an Autoguider port. I’ve not used the Autoguider port, but this may prove to be a valuable feature for astro-imagers.* The Hand Controller was responsive and the GOTO system appears to be full featured with numerous utilities, precision modes, and other options. Celestron states that there are over 40,000 objects in the database. Even though I have been using the Meade AutoStar for a couple of years with my LX90, I didn’t have much difficulty “transitioning” to the Celestron GOTO. One fact that does concern me, it that the Celestron firmware is not upgradeable over the internet like the Meade GOTO.* Whether this turns out to be a problem or not remains to be seen.The bottom line:This mount looks like a winner! I’m very pleased with the initial performance of the mount. With a 12.5 lb OTA, the dampening times are fast (generally under 2 seconds). I don’t experience any “jiggles” at the eyepiece - this baby is stable. The mount tracks smoothly without discernible vibration, even at relatively high power. The mount worked, as it should the FIRST time I set it up. After my experience with the LXD55, this was very refreshing! The first night out, I simply entered my site data, followed the prompts on the Hand Controller, did my 3 star alignments, and started a tour of various targets. WOW again! Target in FOV every time using about 60x at the eyepiece, usually near center portion of FOV.My main objective in purchasing this mount was to obtain a relatively portable and stable VISUAL platform with GOTO that can be used with several different optical tube assemblies. At this time, I’m not planning on using the mount for imaging (I’ll use the GM-8 for that). I suspect, however, that the mount will prove to be a capable imager. It will be interesting to see what other users experience.Do I think this mount delivers what Celestron said it would? YES. Does it appear to meet my needs and objectives? Most definitely. Would I recommend this mount to other amateurs looking for a cost effective GOTO that WORKS well? Absolutely!Tony Bonanno Santa Fe, New Mexico USANovember 14, 2003 ____________________ The author has no undisclosed interest in this product, its supplier, or its manufacturer. All photographs are the copyrighted property of the author. UPDATE – December 1, 2003A few more observations and thoughts about this mount.First of all, I should correct the text in the above review where I state the “setup routine helps compensate for “cone error” (play in the gears)”. I was reminded by Mike Swanson that cone error and gear backlash are really two different entities. I should have said “cone error AND gear backlash”. The 3-star alignment using two stars on one side of the meridian and one star on the other side of the meridian compensates for the cone error. Mike helpfully explained that cone error is the difference between the optical axis (the line of sight of the optical tube) and a line that is perfectly perpendicular to the Dec axis. The use of the “up” and “right” direction arrows to center the alignment stars is specifically the routine that compensates for the backlash in the gears.My Experience with the Meade LXD55 10” Schmidt-Newtonian OTA and two Maksutovs on the AS-GT MountI’ve had several folks email me about using this mount with the Meade 10” Schmidt-Newtonian (SN) OTA. I tried using the two together, but my bottom line impression is that it is not an ideal match. Its simply boils down to the weight and size of the 10” SN. It will work, but it’s pushing the limits of the mount. I think it will be fine for strictly visual use as long as one balances the OTA/mount carefully and makes sure the mount base and other fittings are tightened down appropriately. You will need 30-40 lbs of counterweights. The LXD55 10” OTA, with Telrad, eyepiece, dew shield, etc. weigh in at approx 35 lbs. The OTA itself is approximately 37 inches long and 12 inches in diameter. Add a little wind to the observing site and I think you’ll agree that it could be challenging. Everything is relative though. If you managed using the LXD55 10” SN OTA on the LXD55 mount, then you will be pleased to learn that, IMHO, the AS-GT mount is much more stable and a better platform than the original LXD mount. Dampening times are certainly improved.For most of my observing with this mount, I’ve been using two Russian Maksutov OTA’s. One is a short, relatively lightweight (12.5 lb) Intes-Micro Alter 603 6-inch f/10 Maksutov-Cassegrain and the other tube is a relatively large (and lengthy) 22 lb. Intes MN61 f/6 6-inch Maksutov-Newtonian. Both of these OTA’s, even the larger and heavier Mak-Newt, appear to be VERY WELL MATCHED to this mount. With the Mak-Cass, it is necessary to extend the tripod legs to achieve a comfortable viewing position (similar to using an SCT). With the Mak-Newt, the tripod legs are fully collapsed. Interestingly enough, BOTH scopes show excellent dampening times with this mount. Generally between 1 and 2 seconds at the eyepiece ! I suspect that the fact that the tripod is collapsed when using the large Mak-Newt helps keep the dampening times similar. • A Few More Setup and ObservingCommentsApparently the importance of centering the alignment stars using the “up” and “right” direction arrows is fairly important if you wish to obtain good GOTO’s. Several users on the Yahoo Celestron_AS group report that they’ve definitely noticed improved accuracy when strictly following this routine. I’ve also noticed that the leveling of the mount using the built-in bubble level seems to help the accuracy of my GOTO’s. Typically I will setup and do a tour of 20-30 targets during an observing session. I’m finding consistently good GOTO performance (generally within the central 2/3rds of a 26mm eyepiece). There have been a couple of instances when the GOTO slews did not seem to be working properly. I suspect a software glitch rather than a hardware problem. Hitting one of the arrow keys will stop the mount and then pushing the “enter” key seems to put everything back on track without having to re-align. • PC Computer ControlI can confirm that the mount appears to handle the ASCOM PC control platform just fine. Using the free Cartes du Ciel, the mount was responsive to the program’s commands. Be sure to use the proper serial cable for connection to the Hand Controller. The cable plugs into the base of the Hand Controller, NOT the mount itself. I had to also update the BIOS on my Dell 4150 notebook.• Cold Weather OperationI’m not very tolerant of the cold, so about an hour at 18 deg (F) with medium wind was about all I could take for this test. The mount with the 22 lb. Mak-Newt performed well. Every GOTO target (about 20+) was in the FOV of a 26mm eyepiece. Not sure what the wind chill factor was during this session, but it sure felt cold. After about 30 minutes, I did notice that I had to hold the Hand Controller buttons down somewhat longer for the command to execute. The motors seemed to be okay, although a little slower. At one point, the Hand Controller seemed to be unresponsive. I then noticed that the cigarette lighter plug looked like it was not seated all the way in the power supply receptacle. Sure enough, I re-seated the plug and the Hand Controller came back to life. There is no question that the power supply is a critical factor with these electronics, especially with cold temperatures. I also realized that the power cord that came with my mount is ridiculously LONG - probably 25 feet of small gauge wire... I will replace it with something shorter and more substantial soon. I suspect that will also help in the cold weather.Regarding the grease in the mount. I didn’t notice any problem on either axis as a result of the cold. I did notice a little grease along the edge of the DEC mount. It was black and did not appear to be affected by the cold temperature. I don’t think this is the same lubricant that used to cause problems in the older mounts.IMPORTANT ASSEMBLY TIPThere are two threaded holes drilled in the tripod base in which the azimuth adjustment peg can be mounted. This is the peg that the azimuth housing fits over when attaching the mount on the base. It acts as a guide and a “stop” when using the two azimuth adjustment screws to polar align the mount. One of the threaded holes is located BETWEEN the two tripod legs. The other hole is OVER one of the tripod legs. My mount arrived with the peg installed BETWEEN two tripod legs which results in the counterweight bar and weights being situated between the two legs rather than OVER a tripod leg.Celestron advised me that they drilled the base with the two holes so that the counterweight could be positioned between the legs instead of over a tripod leg. They said that this is sometimes necessary with certain setups at low lattitudes so as to avoid interference with the legs. BE AWARE, however, that with the counterweight positioned BETWEEN the legs it could lead to an unstable mount that will readily tip over if you are not paying attention (I learned this lesson the hard way). I found that with the legs fully RETRACTED (for example when using a large Newtonian), with counterweights attached, and WITHOUT an OTA on the mount, that the mount is pretty vulnerable to tipping over with a relatively small nudge or bump (typically while trying to attach your OTA in the dark). I would strongly suggest, just for stability, that you ensure that the alignment peg is installed OVER the tripod leg, not between them. Obviously, if you are located at a low latitude, then there may be some situations with certain OTA’s where you may not have a choice. The peg is easily moved simply by unscrewing it and threading it into the proper position. (See picture). In the current Celestron user’s manual that accompanied my mount, there is no mention of the two mounting positions for the alignment peg. Overall, I continue to be very pleased with this mount.Tony Bonanno Santa Fe, New Mexico Discuss this in the Cloudy Nights Forums

Parce que on ne sait pas si un renvoi d'angle est utilisé. Pour éviter toute confusion, l'image est présentée comme sur une carte céleste. A chacun de l'interpréter suivant le montage qu'il va utiliser: vision directe dans l'instrument (image inversée haut/bas et gauche/droite) ou utilisation d'un renvoi d'angle (image redressées haut/bas mais inversée gauche droite).

Mon chercheur est un Vixen 7 x 50 réticulé éclairé avec prismes de Porro, donnant une image complètement redressée.Il est probablement moins lumineux qu'un chercheur 7x50 non redressé, mais l'avantage est que la recherche d'objet est facilitée car l'image se présente exactement comme sur les cartes célestes.Ceci dit, il m'a coûté la peau des fesses (c'était un échange suite au réglement d'un contentieux avec un magasin d'optique).[Ce message a été modifié par scc (Édité le 30-05-2004).]

Saboteur! (lol lol lol)

Frédogoto,Peux-tu préciser:"Vincent : tu remarqueras que nous n'avons rien mis en cause : ni les mirroirs, ni le mensique; mais des temps de pause 3x supérieurs au temps de références (sur objectif apo , il est vrai) ça laisse songeur."Que signifie "temps de référence sur objectif apo".En photo, le temps de pose est proportionnel à (F/D)².Le Mak a un F/D de 12, il est logique qu'il ait un temps de pose supérieur à une lunette apo de F/D inférieur (donc plus "rapide")

A part ça la mise en station de télescope GOTO est simple...

Ok,J'étais sans doute un peu paresseux avec le F/D de l'ED 80 et tes données .Ce qui m'a induit en erreur c'est ceci:"En réalité la lunette est un peu plus lumineuse sur les étoiles (la lunette doit être à mi chemin entre le Mak 102 et le 127)"

PierreJL,Pour quelqu'un qui n'est pas connaisseur de la marque Orion, il serait peut-être intéressant de spécifier le diamètre de l'"Orion ED".Personnellement je ne connaîs que l'Orion ED 80 qui n'est pas une 600 mm.De quel instrument s'agit-il (une ED en 600 mm chez Orion, c'est une Vixen à l'origine, la ED 114 SS)??

A ton service!

A 2m de focale, le soleil prend à peu près toute la hauteur de 24 mm du négatif.

Vérifie déjà l'état du fusible de protection de la carte.Voir dans ton mode d'emploi.C'est 18 V la tension d'alimentation?

Prendre les photo à haute vitesse permet de figer la turbulence.Si on veut poser à f/10 et utiliser le 1/250è, il faudrait du 400 à 800 ASA.En supposant un filtre Baader visuel, bien sûr.[Ce message a été modifié par scc (Édité le 26-05-2004).]

DarkFireProutNon c'est pas bizarre. Contrairement au cercle de déclinaison, où le 0° doit correspondre à la déclinaison de l'équateur céleste et le 90° à la déclinaison du pôle céleste, le cercle d'AD n'a pas de référence fixe. Le 0h 0m 0s de ce cercle est mobile, il se déplace comme le temps sidéral.C'est pour cela qu'il tourne avec l'axe polaire. L'AD d'un objet est constante (enfin à l'échelle de temps d'une vie humaine elle l'est).

Babar001,Je ne pense pas avoir dénigré le GOTO!En ce qui concerne les efforts "vains", n'oublie pas qu'un objet difficile le reste GOTO ou pas. Ce n'est pas parce que ton GOTO te dit que l'objet est théoriquement dans le champ qu'il est plus facile à trouver.Pour l'heure, mon plaisir reste entier en recherche "manuelle". Le jour ou j'aurai de l'arthrite, peut-être serai-je très content de disposer d'un GOTO!

Ok.Le cercle sur ma GM-8 est verrouillé par une petite vis. Mais on peut toujours la déverrouiller.[Ce message a été modifié par scc (Édité le 25-05-2004).]

Babar001,On t'a oublié!Alors, GOTO ou non GOTO? Il n'y a pas de réponse plus valable qu'une autre à cette question. Personnellement j'aime bien rechercher un objet à l'aide des cartes et par rapport aux étoiles. Le faire au GOTO me laisserait comme une impression de...vide De plus, et c'est toujours personnel, je ne fais pas la course sous les étoiles. Si j'observe 4 objets au lieu de 10, ben tant pis. Ils seront toujours là quand je ne serai plus.C'est ma façon de voir et chacun a la sienne.

Question.Le cercle de déclinaison est-il fixe ou mobile sur les montures Takahashi?

Pierre,As-tu une explication pour le problème de Joël?

Et celui de Losmandy

Le viseur polaire éclairé intégré (avec potentiomètre de réglage sur le tableau de bord) vous subjuguera : grâce à un système de cercles concentriques gradués (réglage date et heure T.U.) rigoureusement centrés, il positionne sans calcul la monture à 2' d'arc près sur le pôle céleste. Là encore quelle différence avec les viseurs polaires concurrents, parfois proposés en option et dont le montage est laissé à l'initiative et à la dextérité du client. Un niveau à bulle intégré permet l'étalonnage rapide de ce même viseur polaire et vous affranchira de la délicate opération de mise à niveau du trépied. Enfin, ce viseur est prévu pour les 2 hémisphères jusqu'en 2030 prenant en compte le mouvement propre de la polaire dû à la précession des équinoxes. Principe d'utilisation : moteur en marche, réticule éclairé 1° réglage de la bague des longitudes maxi -15° Ouest / +15° Est Attention : le signe est inversé par rapport à la convention européenne et américaine 2° réglage niveau à bulle par rotation axe A.D. 3° réglage date et heure T.U. sur réticule 4° mise en place de l'étoile polaire. Temps nécessaire, 1 à 2 minutes avec un peu d'habitude. Le viseur polaire intégré dans l'axe A.D. en usine est parfaitement dans l'axe de la monture, sans risque de déréglage.