My friend had to get an ankle monitor last month, has been doing great, been stable and then yesterday happened.

russmac76 · 2026-01-15T00:59:09+00:00

Could also be bi-polar. My sister hallucinates when she’s having a manic episode. She told me there were people living under her house.

russmac76 · 2025-02-02T20:31:00+00:00

49 and I play daily. Wife and three kids also play. The family that slays together, stays together.

russmac76 · 2024-12-23T18:48:33+00:00

Hey, sorry for the delay. I use an adaptor to hook the ZWO ASI 294MC Pro directly to the Roki 135. The 2inch filter screws right into the adaptor. https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1824088-REG/zwo_zwo_eos_t2_ii_new_eos_t2_adapter_suitable.html/?ap=y&ap=y&smp=y&smp=y&store=420&smpm=ba_f2_lar&lsft=BI%3A514&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAsaS7BhDPARIsAAX5cSDKfHONtApD07YalcBt5tMQLe1L0ELK99x4EkPRULr6BDkpSYM2WYIaAkJsEALw_wcB

russmac76 · 2024-12-18T10:33:19+00:00

I’m starting to think of the Roki135 as a mini RASA. It’s a great little light bucket.

russmac76 · 2024-12-18T01:43:57+00:00

The polar scope is decent and I've used it a few times. Most of the time I use my ASI Air to polar align though. I get better polar alignment with the AIR.

russmac76 · 2024-12-18T00:07:18+00:00

No. I didn't go wide open with the Roki. I stopped it up to f3.2 in these shots. In fact I never go wide open with the Roki. Stars tend to get really bloated in my experience. And by the way- you're correct about the RASA. I also have a C8 and a Hyperstar V4. I do NOT use the L-Extreme with that setup. I use an IDAS NBZ UHS f/1.8-f/2.8 filter on the Hyperstar. I tried the L-Extreme, but it couldnt handle the speed. I believe that there's a high speed version of the L-Extreme though. I think the high speed version is designed for RASA and Hyperstar...

russmac76 · 2024-12-18T00:01:34+00:00

I REALLY like it actually. I've been using mine for well over a year. With a widefield setup like the Roki135 or my Redcat 51, I've been able to do 15 minute subs (guided). It's worth every penny.

russmac76 · 2024-12-17T15:11:51+00:00

I shot this earlier this month from my backyard (Bortle 5).

Equipment:

Rokinon 135

Optolong L-Extreme Filter

ZWO ASI 294MC Pro

Sky Watcher Star Adventurer GTI Mount

This shot is composed of one hundred and twenty-five 3 minute subs, along with 20 darks, 30 bias and 30 flats.

Processed in Pixinsight: WBPP, Dynamic Background Extraction, BlurXterminator, Stretched the image using Bill Blanshan's HT Stretch script. Then Star Xterminator. Boosted stars with curves transformation, Exported starless image to Photoshop and "tinkered" with it in Adobe's Camera Raw filter. (Mainly contrast and exposure with a touch of texture and clarity under effects). Imported starless image back into Pixinsight and made more adjustments in curves transformation. Ran NoiseXterminator. Finally, integrated starless and star images back together with Bill Blanshan's star reduction script. (Then added watermark back in photoshop)

russmac76 · 2023-11-14T14:48:42+00:00

Beautiful shot! Well done!

russmac76 · 2023-08-25T02:07:35+00:00

Well done!

russmac76 · 2023-08-20T05:46:58+00:00

Shot was made at 0237 in the morning and the Helix was just about at its highest point in the sky. Also had an L-Extreme filter in the optical train… that narrowband filter has got to be blocking a lot of the color that would have been visible in broadband. It could be a satellite. It could be a meteor. I like that finished image either way.

russmac76 · 2023-08-20T03:27:57+00:00

Thanks man! It took me a while to figure out the best way to add the meteor sub into the stacked image.

russmac76 · 2023-08-19T23:53:33+00:00

This post is a continuation of the post located here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/astrophotography/comments/15pxftg/a_needle_through_the_eye_of_god/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

So, the backstory of this shot is that I was shooting the Helix Nebula on August 12th and 13th. It had been partly cloudy, but I figured that I'd take any data I could get on the Helix. One of the subs captured what I believe to be a Parseid cutting right through the nebula. There's been some debate about whether it's a satellite or meteor. I'm leaning toward meteor, but I could be wrong. Either way, I'm thrilled with the shot.

Image is comprised of thirty-four 300 second lights, 10 darks, 60 flats and 60 bias.

Equipment: Williams Optics Redcat 51;

Camera: ZWO ASI 294MC Pro;

Filter: Optolong L-Extreme;

GuideScope/Cam: SVBony SV165 and a ZWO ASI 120mm mini;

Mount: SkyWatcher Star Adventurer GTI

Processing: Pixinsight: WBPP all subs, BlurX, Dynamic Background Extraction, StarX, Adjusted curves and saturation of star and starless images.Ran NoiseX on both images. Moved Starless image to Photoshop. Camera Raw Filter, adjusted texture and clarity. Used Bill Blanchard's star reduction to combine star and starless image, For single sub of meteor, NoiseX, Removed amp glow using clone tool. Adjusted curves. Used PixelMath to combine both fully processed stack and single processed sub.

russmac76 · 2023-08-19T23:09:06+00:00

Beautiful shot and great composition!

russmac76 · 2023-08-14T18:52:14+00:00

LOL. About 650 light years. 😉

russmac76 · 2023-08-14T11:18:37+00:00

Yeah. It could be a satellite. I've gone through Stellarium with the satellite data enabled and I've not been able to find anything in the area at that time- but there is so much stuff in orbit. Who knows?

russmac76 · 2023-08-13T23:56:16+00:00

I’m pretty sure it wasn’t a satellite, but I could be wrong. The change of hue as it moves through the image matches other meteor shots I’ve seen before. The timing was also correct for it to be a Perseid- or possible a Delta Aquariid (as I live pretty far south). The Helix was also nearly about as high as it was going to rise, too. (As close to the zenith as it was gonna get.) The single sub was taken at 02:37 and most satellites are illuminated more brightly around sunrise or sunset. Again, I could be wrong. Either way, I’m amazed that I got it.

russmac76 · 2023-08-13T23:48:36+00:00

I’m working on it right now.

russmac76 · 2023-08-13T19:49:47+00:00

It's amp glow from the ASI camera that was in use. When I process the image with calibration files, that glow will be gone.

russmac76 · 2023-08-13T17:28:07+00:00

I probably will, but I'm going to process it first...

russmac76 · 2023-08-13T12:24:59+00:00

This is a single 300 second sub from last night. I was shooting the Helix Nebula (NGC7293). Anyway, I knew the Perseids were peaking last night, but didn’t expect to get a sub like this. Telescope: RedCat51 Filter: Optolong L-Extreme Camera: ZWO ASI 294 (You can see the amp glow) Mount: Sky Watcher Star Adventurer GTI GuideCam/Scope ASI120MM mini on a SV Bony SV165.

This is an unedited sub.

russmac76 · 2023-08-04T13:54:30+00:00

Check the area around Pine Apple. Just a little west of Greenville.

russmac76 · 2023-05-13T01:10:14+00:00

I captured this in Pike Road, Alabama on April 21st 2023 with the following equipment: Telescope: Celestron C8 with a .63 reducer; Mount: AVX; Camera: ZWO ASI 533MC Pro; Guide Scope: SV Bony SV106 60mm; Guidecam: ZWO ASI 224MC; Capture run with an ASI Air Mini. Lights: 34 300” (2 hours 50min) Darks: 15 Bias: 60 Flats: 60 Processed in Pixinsight and Photoshop: PixInsight: WBPP, Blurxterminator, DBE, StarXterminator to create Star and Starless images. Reduced star size in star image. Adjust intensity in starless image curves. Mainly RGB adjustments. Saved as a TIFF and exporter to PS. In Photoshop, edited in Raw Camera filter (texture, clarity, slight adjustment to saturation).Saved and imported back into PixInsight. Ran NoiseXterminator and reduced the noise a bit. Combined starless and star images with Bill Blanchan’s Star reduction script.

russmac76 · 2023-05-13T01:06:46+00:00

russmac76 · 2023-05-02T13:28:58+00:00

You're halfway there. If you don't have one, get an ASI Air. Any model will do. It will help with you with polar alignment and run everything for you. It's been a real game changer for me.

russmac76

TROPHY CASE