hckrnws

Hey HN, I wanted to share a video on three hardware modifications I made to my telescope that have made a night-and-day difference in my astrophotography. For a while, I felt like I'd hit a plateau with my image quality, and the issues weren't things I could fix in software. The video walks through the 'why' and 'how' of each mod: 3d printing a Bahtinov mask: To get much sharper, more consistent focus across the frame. Flocking the tube: To dramatically increase contrast by killing stray light reflections inside the scope. Adding light shield and baffle: To reduce stray light from entering my telescope and spoiling the images. I tried to show the real-world results with before-and-after image comparisons. These were all relatively low-cost, DIY-friendly projects that had a much bigger impact than I expected. Happy to answer any questions about the process or the gear here!"

My first bahtinov mask I just made out of some scrap cardboard - worked a treat.

Now I just use an autofocuser (pegasusastro focuscube), which I find gives identical results, and didn’t cost the world either (€130) - plus has the benefit that as the scope cools down through the night I’m not constantly having to stop imaging to refocus.

Good to know this as I use a bog standard very basic focuser and do it manually.

I also did my first one out of cardboard!

At the edit for the light shield, all I could think of is how he needs a light shield on that window and maybe flock his room to knock back all of that stray light from washing out his image.

From the accent, I'd say that you might have more than your share of nights where the temps dip below dew point. Adding a heater to the tube will help avoid the mirrors fogging up. It's much warmer in my part of the world, so dew points are rarely an issue. However, that extra warmth tends to make the seeing much less clear. I'm going to risk it during next weekend's dark skies. I'm spending money on it, so that pretty much guarantees cloudy conditions.

No I don't even use a dew heater because it's warm here. I am imaging from Turkey where skies are blue and it does tend to be windy as I'm near the sea.

I flocked a camera lens recently (specifically, a teleconverter) - much the same process, just smaller scale. I wonder why they don't just manufacture them like this in the first place?

That's a very good question, I believe in the case of telescopes it's to offer them at a cheaper price.

price

this is mine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnmwdfzYTbU

I was having problems with focus flop on this short refractor, so i printed a sleeve that attaches to a linear bearing on the losmandy plate.

the setup has several more 3d printed changes since I recorded this. The 'car' that carries the camera is longer and has two rails now.

I'm pretty sure this is novel. Its completely eliminated focus flop without spending like 3k on a nightcrawler.

Nice video. Same exposure/stacking/filtering/conditions in the before and afters? Cave nebula shows a big difference in results

Tried to keep them as near as possible but not exactly the same no. I still think the differences can be shown comparatively though.

Yeah in any case they're great pics. Will definitely try the flocking suggestion.

Amazing work mate! Your work makes me want to get involved with astrophotography

This way madness lies. So you buy a telescope and a camera. Then you need a telescope for your telescope with a new camera to use for guided tracking. Then you want another telescope because the first one isn’t just right. Do you keep the first one, or sell it to help pay for the new one. This depends on if you’re single or married. If married, you’ll probably sell the first one, or at least tell her that’s what you will do. Eventually. Now you have 3 telescopes, but need a fourth to guide the new scope. Oh, and a new camera. Oh, and a new mount. Now you need a new SUV to carry it all. Then you’ll notice that every dark sky you have free time, it’ll be cloudy. Every dark sky you don’t have free time, it will be crystal clear.

You’ve been warned! So was I. The madness has clearly set in

Very true mate. Fortunately, I have a very clear sky and maybe 300 plus days when it's crystal clear. It is a rabbit hole I was warned but didn't listen!

The flocking is interesting.

This is how Vantablack (OMG evil) and the funny cunts like Black 4.0 who fought back works... in my head. They are carbon nano-tubes.

I bought Musou Black from Japan online, it wasn't a crazy price. They do get damaged if touched and do have some hazards .

Any who, cool video, I sent it to my telescope nerd friends. It's nice to be iteratively improving things. It's a great way to save money and understand the tech before you might buy a more expensive model.

vantablack is not an option because it has a tendency to flake off and hit the glass.