Jump to content

SkySurveyBanner.jpg.21855908fce40597655603b6c9af720d.jpg

  • entries
    6
  • comments
    11
  • views
    2,299

Entries in this blog

Unboxing and set up

Unboxing The mount arrives in one double-boxed package. Inside were five boxes of various sizes, designed to fill the full space. This did mean that two of the boxes were significantly over sized for their contents, but these were protected with padding. There are good unboxing videos already available such as the one below so I did not take photographs. There are two large boxes, for the tripod (including eyepiece tray) and the mount (including hand controller in a neat litt

Filroden

Filroden

Need guidance

Another short clear window in the early evening let me practise set up and alignment of the new AVX mount again. I ran through my new alignment process, including calibrating the StarSense to the OTA. I then repeated the process and the handset reported a final PA accuracy of 30" in Dec and 3' in RA. However, (and with clouds rapidly moving over) I managed to take another sequence of 30, 60, 90, 120 and 180 second shots to test tracking. Here's the 180s (which is heavily affected by high clouds)

Filroden

Filroden

Second light, a little wobbly

The forecast was spot on for a change. Clear all afternoon into the evening, clouding over later. So it was worth a good run at fixing the issues I had with my first attempt at polar aligning the new AVX mount and maybe, finally, getting some subs. I've noticed a few extra things this time: the tripod is much lighter than the Evolution one. They share the same legs so it's just down to the mounting plate and the accessory tray being much smaller. It's a one hand job rather than two fo

Filroden

Filroden

First light, first fail

The weather started to promise some clear spells throughout the day with increasing areas of blue sky visible. The forecast suggested the clouds would thin at lower levels with some high haze until late evening when a new band of clouds would move over. So I took the chance and decided to do a full set up and trial run at aligning the new Celestron AVX. Having already set it up once, though without connecting any of the electronics, I decided to work from my memorised check list. Moving all

Filroden

Filroden

An Evolution

Although this has been posted elsewhere I think it might be useful to show how my imaging has (hopefully) improved as I gained experience/equipment.   A Year of DSO Imaging with an Alt/Az Well, I seem to have attempted my first DSO images in December 15 and January 16 so it's been just over a year of trying to image with the Alt/Az mount. My first DSO target was M42 which I've shared previously but my next target was the Rosette Nebula which I don't think I've shared. I tho

Filroden

Filroden

Background

After over a year of owning and using a Celestron Evolution mount, initially with the 9.25" SCT for visual and planetary imaging, but more recently with a Skywatcher Esprit 80 for DSO imaging, I finally took the step of ordering a Celestron Advanced VX mount, taking advantage of the ridiculous sale price at @FLO. I'd always been hesitant to move to an EQ mount even though I knew it's advantages for imaging. Just the thought of all that extra set up gave me a cold sweat. I loved the ease of

Filroden

Filroden

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.