Explaining my current Telescope setup! 🔭

[@ianrwin]

Watching this from the west coast of the US, falling asleep on my porch waiting for a meridian flip. Cheers 🍻

[@DylanODonnell]

I know the struggle .. good luck 🫡

[@ianrwin]

Welp, got lucky, fell asleep and the sequence ran without a hitch, woke up to the sunrise.

[@matthewbrown8679]

Where are you at? I'm in SoCal

[@DylanODonnell]

@@ianrwinexcellent :)

[@ianrwin]

@@matthewbrown8679 up in the bay area, taking shots in between foggy nights 🙂

[@briantheprimateastro]

Yeah man, your photos over this past winter have been awesome. Great clean looking captures!

[@DylanODonnell]

Thx Brian !

[@ryanmichaelhaley]

Holy crap, clean that lens! (I hear at the end you did, good job, haha) But seriously, I've always loved your setup. I have the little brother, an 8" EdgeHD and EQ6-R Pro, on a dolly that I roll out to the driveway. Your setup is certainly the next step up, as soon as my wife approves me getting an observatory dome. I am not an OAG guy though, I am doing just fine with my guide scope, plus it looks cool. I am a bit of a ZWO fanboy though, with the ASIAIR, ASI Cameras, and ZWO EAF. I doubt the ASIAIR can manage an observatory dome though, so I think if you're going to go the dome route, you must use a PC. Won't be a problem though, since everything stays set up, all the time.

[@DylanODonnell]

I credit the OAG for my perfectly round stars :) It's lovely. Good luck with your upgrades!

[@ryanmichaelhaley]

@@DylanODonnell I have good stars too though. I have an OAG setup, but I just don't use it. Maybe at your focal length, it becomes necessary. For me, I think the real trick is a rock solid polar alignment, I aim for less than 1' of total offset. I polar align every session (I have to without a pier).

[@TheNewForestObservatory]

For the sticky hand controller button - try a WARM (not hot) hair dryer over the front for a few minutes.

[@leotexas3485]

I watched some videos from Astro Backyard and he recommended your content. I'm looking for as much insight as I can gather for the EdgeHD 11 before I purchase it. Thank you for this!

[@JeffFishman]

Cool video, thanks. I image with refractors only (at this point), but thinking about a 9.25” Edge on top of my AM5….. Just might go larger on a refractor and keep it simple.

[@KevinRudd-w8s]

Very impressive set up Dylan. I would really like an proper observatory like that but don't have the space. I am currently seting up my EQ6-R Pro mount permanently outside though as I'm getting a bit too old to be lugging this around my back yard in the middle of the night, especially in winter. I also have a couple of grab and go rigs as well, one that uses a Star Adventurer GTi ( currently using this mostly with my Lunt LS50 Ha for solar imaging ) and I just bought a Wave 100i for use with my Red Cat 51 and William Optics GT81 scopes. Luckily my back yard is reasonably shielded from the wind, especially those comming from a Northerly direction which we tend to get a lot of in my part of the UK. Each of my scopes is set up ready to use so all I have to do is clip it on to the mount and connect to the power supply. As we don't get many clear skies where I live, when ever possible I like to run more than one rig.

[@aw7425]

Thank you Dr Dylan

[@anthonyhaynes8738]

I'm currently at work but I can't wait to watch it. Could you post a video weekly showing what something is a the sky visually how to find it and unique features about the said object

[@DylanODonnell]

I actually do a weekly radio show Tuesday 6:45 on ABC radio (north coast) talking about what’s happening in space :) it’s local but you could tune in online from anywhere.

[@JarrodMcKitterick]

Have you covered what you use for safety monitoring? Would like something to tell me when clouds/rain are incoming. Also on the fence when it comes to dome or roll off roof. Would need it to close up automagically.

[@DylanODonnell]

I have a cloud watcher but it’s on the Fritz right now.

[@Mrpaulgs]

Interesting tour of your setup. I have a similar setup except I have the budget Skywatcher model CQ350. I am also really trying to make f10 on the C11 work imaging the Bubble Nebula. I have about 12 hours of data - time to see if it's any good. Like you I am going to switch over to planet mode for Jupiter. I am looking forward to your impressions of the other focuser.

[@user-ku4yk4ut4z]

Dylan Have you noticed any issue using Fast filters with a NON fast scope ? I would recommend an ASG photon cage for your setup with all those items in your image train getting your sensor Flat to the Image train is crucial ... I put one one my RASA 11v2 and it allows me to have Back focus within 2microns and tilt less than 3microns in any corner almost perfect and it has made my images 100% better!! Your bat images is really good..looks like it is 3D

[@DylanODonnell]

Thanks for the tip! Haven’t noticed any tilt at all with this setup .. everything is as tight as a nuns nasty! And the high speed filters work great at f7 too :)

[@johnmcbryde715]

loved that goood looong look at your rig, makes me wanna get my rig out for some fun.

[@johnrobertson1953]

Good video, Dylan! You didn’t mention hyperstar. The best, top of the list addition to my 8HD. Haven’t looked back!

[@DylanODonnell]

Nice !

[@indysbike3014]

Always wondered how the dome window knows where the telescope is pointed and does it track together with the mount?

[@DylanODonnell]

Yeh the dome knows it’s at 180 degrees when it hits the home position then extrapolate from that. If the scope moves to a new point in the sky the dome driver calculates the differences and rotates the dome +\- from that starting degree. It knows what degree it is at all times then returns to home to charge :)

[@zorg1396]

Hi Dylan, new to your channel and must admit it's great - positive and inspiring! This time I didn't fall asleep at all :D But have question about your setup in regards of pixel size or better to say, sampling. I myself have this 11" SCT reduced down to 1860mm and on 2.4um pixels I find it very oversampled under my european Bortle 3-4 sky (~1-2" seeing); which makes it a 0.33"/pixel resolution (my guiding is usually 0.4" - 0.5" on AM5). Judging by the 3.76um pixels and no reducer on your setup, you have even higher resolution of 0.28"/pixel. What sky (and guiding) do you have down there in Byron Bay that you can afford this kind of detail? Cheers, Zorg.

[@DylanODonnell]

Hey thanks! Yes I bin this setup 2x2 .. still great resolution after drizzling and the sampling is better. I think I’m bottle 2.5!

[@Peter57808]

Thank you for this, its maybe rekindled my astrophotography interest! My scope has been sadly neglected for some time. Its an edge hd 14 on an losmandy G11 mount. I await with bated breath for your recommendations on an image train for this on planets!

[@DylanODonnell]

Ohhhh tidy!

[@julienfernandez9133]

Thanks Dylan for all your content ! I definitely recommend the Pegasus focusers (they really have 0 backlash), it’s the best I’ve used. I also use the ZWO EAF, but it took a lot of effort to make it work on my SCT…

[@DylanODonnell]

Thanks! I have the q focuser .. I’m just waiting for the bracket :)

[@dominator4376]

Would you want an automatic camera rotator on the image train so you could do multiple objects in a night session? And would an automatic camera rotator fit in the available back spacing? Thanks. K

[@DylanODonnell]

On a fast scope a rotator would be nice. But my use case is that I’ll spend weeks on a single photo as a minimum. So I change rotation like I change my underpants. Every couple of weeks.

[@sianikolaou5440]

Regarding your dome issue - have you looked into configuring Pushover in NINA? You could then add "Send failures to Pushover" in the trigger section of your Advance Sequence from something specific from the Done control options. I have only started using Pushover (still on trial period) and "love" getting notifications of PHD2 guiding failures to the Pushover App on my phone.

[@DylanODonnell]

That sounds great actually! Not sure Nina knows anything about the shutter charge state but it sounds cool anyway :)

[@RadgeCanary]

I see lots of articles and videos about setting deep foundations for a pier in an observatory. You have a pillar/tripod. Do you find that it's stable enough (obviously I guess, from your results). What is your observatory set on?

[@DylanODonnell]

Yep! I’m on record as saying piers don’t matter really. If I had a deep stable pier I estimate the difference to my image quality would be precisely zero! I poured my own concrete slab :)

[@tmrdarkstar85]

I run my setup off a Lenovo m710q picked up an off lease for $100 off amazon. Does the job perfectly the only thing i had to add was a 1tb external ssd so I can easily grab the data and take it to my processing pc. Do you not need to run dew heaters down there Dylan? I still have my C8 I started with because of you but I find myself running my Stellaruve 80mm Apo triplet more. I added a Pegasus Astro SCT Focus cube V2 to mine. I think the main reason it doesn't get many photons anymore is because the season it really shines with up here its been clouds or rain. Maybe my fall and winter will be different this year

[@DylanODonnell]

Yep we’re in the sub tropics so it’s gets really wet and humid ! Also thankfully the obs is connected with high speed Ethernet so no need to move drives .. I could probably save direct over the network to inside!

[@murraymacd]

Love you taking us around your observatory Dylan. Thank you. Perfect timing as the UK Astro show is tomorrow. … Looks like you need to send the cleaners in to the observatory though. What a mess! And those cables. Dear oh dear! 😂

[@DylanODonnell]

Only a few leaves and dead animals haha

[@matthewbrown8679]

I have an esatto 2 focuser that I'm using with an edgehd 14 (that I'll be selling soon). It moves the imaging train rather than the mirror. It leaves me tight on back focus space, but it works well. I can keep the ideal mirror position and use the mirror locks. I'm definitely an esatto fan

[@DylanODonnell]

I have about 10mm space left though, do you have less in the image train overall? Sounds cool :)

[@matthewbrown8679]

I have to economize a lot more than you do since the optical path length of the focuser is around 60 mm. I use a qhy600 m camera with a zwo filter wheel, and large ZWO OAG. My adapters have to be minimal. The focuser itself doesn't have much of a movement range. There is a low profile version of the esatto.

[@ronm6585]

Thanks Dylan.

[@morgan_bowe]

Awesome work Dylan 😁👍

[@BobJohnsonSince1970]

Cool setup, Dylan. You should suggest to Nexdome that they should develop a solar-powered charging system for the shutter motor. Solar panel on roof of dome, low profile cables to the motor. No flip-floppy contacts to fail.

[@DylanODonnell]

Agree!

[@HillCountryDemo]

Dylan, what is the Bortle score for you observatory site?

[@DylanODonnell]

About 2.5 maybe?

[@scottrk4930]

First , thank you for all you do for us with Astrophotography ! Second , are you looking at getting a 14" EdgeHD ? , and lastly , have a look at Dave's Astrophotography Vlog around the 3yrs ago spot for "NexDome Shutter Charger Modification" Video . Maybe there will be an AHA ! moment for you . Who Knows ? Dave has a lot of great stuff on his Site too . Cheers !

[@DylanODonnell]

C14 is the dream!

[@blobrana8515]

Watch out for Auroras tonight! Might happen 2 nights running

[@DylanODonnell]

I saw the news! 👍🏼

[@astroattorney]

Question, why not the Celestron focus motor? I have one on each of my SCT6", 8" and now 11".

[@DylanODonnell]

I used v1 and it had an issue where it didn’t fit with the reducer .. it was fine really and I liked it but I was forced to change.

[@astroattorney]

@@DylanODonnell It certainly does like to get in the way. I'm considering plunking down a bag of dough for an Esatto 2" which is still cheaper than the Baader Alpine focuser and Steel drive motor system.

[@luboinchina3013]

Finderscope as a counterbalance measure to offset for that EAF

[@DylanODonnell]

Haha

[@IslandSkyPhotography]

I can actually attest to the increased number of fireballs in the spring! When I first got my 8SE, I was out probably at least twice a week all night imaging (no autoguiding yet, so I was babysitting my NexStar alt/az while I took hundreds of 8 second subs). Anyway, there were quite a few nights where I saw a super bright white fireball streak across the sky (always going east to west for some reason - probably a coincidence). And they were massive! I always made a note of it in my notebook and didn’t even realize I haven’t seen any since May. The more you know. 🌈

[@DylanODonnell]

Amazing!

[@DJRonnieG]

Love the dome, but I settled for a good cover. As for the PC, I kind-of went HAM and built a fairly modern AMD rig (I stuffed a mobo into an outdoor electrical box)... I use it for video encoding when I'm not imaging in order to avoid heating-up my living space. That Dell you got is a lot more economical lol. Keep up the good work.

[@DylanODonnell]

Overkill is good :)

[@markredburn]

Just been to the IAS in UK and got a 2.5x powermate for my HD11. (Thanks for that recommendation) getting ready for some planets! Or cloud watching. 😅

[@messianicmuse]

I have 80 backlash with my v2 EAF with redcat 71. Still prefer my ROR than that design, but I'm a lot older. Too tight for me. I could still image with a secondary roller with wind. I use ZWO cameras, but playing with my Sony camera the next couple of nights. Great video Dylan!

[@DylanODonnell]

Thx Peter !

[@alexdixon265]

Dylan, what’s your opinion on SkyWatcher vs Celestron mounts? Obviously your Eq8-Rh pro has no real equivalent, but what about the lower payload mounts?

[@DylanODonnell]

The cgx was a game changer for my astro.. it’s a good mount but needs maintenance over time. (Maintenance over my pay grade)

[@blobrana8515]

Can you make a video showing how to locate T Coronae Borealis and why we should be looking out for it. ?

[@Vventimiglia1984]

Great Video, may I ask what OAG are you using? It looked like the Celestron - I use the same and am wondering what adapaters you got that are compatible with it aside from the ones that come in the box?

[@DylanODonnell]

Yep the Celestron OAG .. I’ve Frankensteined some adapters in the chain to make it work! One of them is linked in the video :)

[@siberx4]

They should make a Qi charging setup for that dome shutter so there's no fiddly contacts to corrode and worry about; just a pair of discs that close in proximity and then it charges wirelessly.

[@adamg-502]

Star Stuff: Come for the astro, stay for the nihilism. Out of curiosity, since you have the dehumidifier that runs all the time and other things inside that are always powered on, did you just run an extension cord from your house power out to the dome? If so, have you ever calculated how much it costs per month to keep all that gear running? Seems like an observatory like that could be a really good use case for a small off-grid solar power/battery combo so you could observe the stars with power from our own star.

[@DylanODonnell]

Never calculated but most stuff is off when I’m not using it (apart from the web cams and dehumidifier) .. the whole house on solar would be the dream, one day :) .. if I had to guess maybe $50 per month?

[@adamg-502]

@@DylanODonnell Yeah whole house solar would be awesome but it's still really expensive for solar on that scale. I started out small and my patio/grilling area is running off solar with a portable solar generator from Bluetti. I don't know the conversion rates with your monopoly money and potential shipping costs, but you might be able to get an ROI in like a year if you were to do something similar with a standalone system

[@pantoqwerty]

@@DylanODonnell could put the odd TP-Link Tapo P110 power monitoring smart plug at various points in the chain to monitor consumption and allow for smart control. They have a phone app or can connect to Home Assistant, but that’s another rabbit hole.

[@pompeymonkey3271]

HOw viable would it be to connect a wireless charger to your shutter? It seems the charge rate is slow, but the dome shutter is closed most of the time anyway...

[@DylanODonnell]

I think the first improvement would be to make the battery LiON .. it would be lighter! Wireless sounds viable though.

[@johnmccormack8257]

I'd like to see a video of your front glass / image train cleaning processes (if you haven't already done one). 👌

[@DylanODonnell]

My process for cleaning the front glass so far has involved buying a bigger telescope and selling the old one. The results are incredible!

[@johnmccormack8257]

@@DylanODonnell 🤣

[@gspinin]

How did you like the 9.25 edge hd?

[@DylanODonnell]

Loved it :) amazing scope !

[@carlosespada6202]

Hi Dylan. Why the 0.7 Reducer instead of the Hyperstar v4? i´m in that dilemma with my C11" HD

[@carlosespada6202]

Dylan or anyone else...

[@DylanODonnell]

Oh I’ll get hyperstar v4 eventually, it’s just that I have the rasa 11 too so it’s not a priority :)

[@keeplookingup911]

It would be cool if they start making mounts which requires no guiding. Self sufficient and accurate in tracking and locating. If they can use GPS to polar align. That would be awesome...

[@DylanODonnell]

Agree!

[@johnknight7293]

It *is* hard to GOTO to planets, I agree - but why? We know where they are and we can sync fairly close by so it ought to work, surely.

[@DylanODonnell]

I'm formulating a response :)

[@dinomonaco2665]

Nice rig, Dylan. I can only dream to be able to afford a similar setup. I’m dreaming right now what Richey-Chretien 14 would look like under that dome of yours. 😉

[@DylanODonnell]

Me too!

[@Steve_The_Ignorant_Astronomer]

Good day mate , question,,,,, I see you have a heated dew ring , I do to but I don't use mine, reason , when I first got scope I put the ring on and when I saw my images I was horrified to see my stars were oblong. I thought it was a telescope and I was very upset about it and then I realized that when I shut the do ring off my stars came back to oval shape and it happened again when I turn the ring on. So right now I don't use it Tell me how are you powering it like how much heat you putting in?. I thought it was a great idea when I bought it but right now I have a heated due shield. Anyway love your videos I met you at neaf, anyway looking forward to what you're answer is anyway bye and have a good day

[@DylanODonnell]

Hi Steve! in the CPWI software I have the Dew Heater Ring set to a mere 6% . manual power . works great :)

[@Steve_The_Ignorant_Astronomer]

So you only do it to 6% ?? That is enough for a big scope ?? I have to try again I know I was putting much more heat into it ... All I have here are problems of late.. I have an EQ6rPro and I have settling problems in one direction. Went back to the shop ,came back still have the same problems , so so frustrating....

[@hcic9860]

I have seen countless streaks across the night skies that last few months. Sidenote: When I look at Jupiter thru my 8" Meade SCT it looks like I'm seeing 5 moons instead of 4 Galilean moons. Am I just seeing a star and thinking it's a Moon? There's definitely 5 points of light there, and I can see no difference between the light of the 5th from any of the other 4

[@DylanODonnell]

Jupiter has like 40+ moons so it’s not impossible!

[@svtskys62]

how do you keep bugs and insects away? i know ants like to eat electronics lol

[@DylanODonnell]

Bug powder ! Once a year treatment.

[@bakerfx4968]

As a northern hemisphere heathen it’s weird to hear you talk about this time of year as spring lol

[@DylanODonnell]

You’ll have your turn 😂

[@ziggyfrnds]

I've read that Saturn's rings are going to disappear for some time for us around March 2025 as they will be edge-on from our point of view, I wonder what astrologers will make of that 😀 Jokes aside I don't care for their opinion but I do hope you can document a bit of this happening through your awesome setup. Thanks for sharing!

[@DylanODonnell]

Yep I think Saturn next !

[@svtskys62]

also, how did you learn to do all this? id love to have something like this one day but im not tech savy or have any idea about half of the stuff you talked about AHAHAH

[@DylanODonnell]

I bought stuff that was way too complicated for me then spent years figuring it out :)

[@johnmcbryde715]

i got rig envy...

[@TheNewForestObservatory]

Just go straight to 2:40 - you're welcome :)

[@kleasal86]

I don't see a beer holder?

[@murraymacd]

😂

[@DylanODonnell]

The PC will fit at least 2 schooners comfortably atop!

[@The_Vinceable]

Hehe I wish my setup was like yours but my better half appreciates that it isn’t 😂

[@LittleHubble]

Hii

[@ThePred2009]

you could probably run your entire setup on a raspberry pi.

[@DylanODonnell]

I reckon I could !

[@caleb8239]

I'm a little disappointed in High Point Scientific. Recently I wanted to use your link to get a pricey new QSI camera but apparently HPS doesn't sell them despite being listed as a dealer.

[@DylanODonnell]

Stock problem or QSI one?

[@uriahheep8470]

None of that is ADHD friendly. I just point my dob at what the hell I want to see.

[@DylanODonnell]

Haha

[@Thomas-dm3cf]

Your an evil man Dylan, I started watching your videos 2 months ago and now I have a quattro 150p and a hole in my bank account. At least its dry at my house, about 90k north of Byron so enjoy the humidity champ💋.

[@DylanODonnell]

Hey I disclaimed at the start that it's not my fault! hehe

[@aroxchannel]

I only watch your videos for the nihilism.

[@SarahMathsAstro]

Big fan of the astronomy/ astrophotography as well as the humor and nihilism lol.

[@lachezarkrastev7123]

Dude, every time I see this great dome and equipment with the open for moisture floor drives me crazy. Please, do not show it ever again, because I could get a heart attack or some mad rage incident - please be more responsible to your subscribers 😉😉😉 ... but really WTF???

[@SonsofChivalry]

Visual 🤢🤮