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  1. Past hour
  2. @Stu the whole point of musical chairs is that when the music stops, you remove a chair. Not add one!
  3. Super setup. All you need now is a backpack
  4. Damn… I couldn’t work out why all the sunspots were disappearing and now I know why!!!
  5. It doesn't mean because some people disagree with your point of view that they are ' part of today's crowd of know it all astronomers (who) just don't like to be told ufortunately! '. The fact you have resorted to such insults does no credit to yourself or your arguments.
  6. Still difficult to understand whats happening. You could have a look and share the last image which failed to solve. Nina stores failed solves in this path: %localappdata%\NINA\Failed Share that image so we can have look If the folder is empty, force a fail by keeping the cap on the telescope. Then check the dimension in pixels of this image. Han (I'm traveling so it could take some time before I respond)
  7. MarsG76

    Deep Sky Imaging

    Collection of my Deep Space objects. These images have been take through a 8" SCT, 80mm refractor or various lenses using a full spectrum modded and cooled Canon 40D or a QHY268M ColdMOS astro camera (as stated in the description of each photo).
  8. Today
  9. There are several mounts that I have owned in the past, let go, and now wish that I still had. The Vixen GP is one of those 😬 I had a black one, as made for Celestron by Vixen. I'm not a huge fan of EQ mounts but the GP just does it "right" for a 4 inch frac:
  10. If only it was as easy the other way around. I can be imaging in under 10 minutes with my permanent dual rig, but it takes 45 minutes to lug my 16” flextube Dob out of the garage, dismantle the back gate to get it into the garden and re-collimate. That’s why the latter is going to be converted to a compact truss tube design.
  11. Great collection, they are such good mounts. I have the GP and GP-DX for a very long time now, both still going strong 👍
  12. I watched Ed's vid one more time and there is no doubt in my mind that the complainers about it did not listen to what he was saying in his review ! There wasn't one derogatory remark about anyone owning the SS just an honest general analysis of what you had and its capabilities vs value, at this point in time and he also pointed out several times that at some point, but not now, these developers / manufacturers will get to a stage where conventional AP will become a back seat rider but not now ! Ed was / is right on the $'s and he did it in a nice, gentle and fun sort of way but todays crowd of no it all astronomers just don't like to be told, unfortunately ! PS: Even though I own 2 SS's and had a DII he is absolutely correct but like many I want to play with them now and Ed says he appreciates that, if you listen closely ! PPS: While I am waiting for better !
  13. FLO sell Astrozap Baader filters to fit a large variety of apertures… but that’s far more expensive than making your own. They also have solar film.
  14. I do my own head in sometimes, changing things around and selling things I then regret selling. I have lost count of how many Vixen EQ mounts I’ve had. I think two GPs, a GP2, two GP-DXs, two Sphinx’, an SP and an Atlux! Craziness! I think the one I enjoyed most was a GP which was beautifully fettled, with simple dual axis drives and I had it setup permanently in the garden. I used it alot for lunar and solar observing. I do really enjoy the Skysensor 2000PC controllers; I re bought a DX with SS2k quite a while back but really haven’t used it much. Now that I have the AZ100 with motor kit, if I want Goto, I use that, so I’m now playing musical mounts again! Current EQ mounts: GP2 with single axis drive GP-DX with SS2K I guess I’m trying to get back to a simple dual axis driven Vixen GP, so this is the crazy process I’m going through….. I have just bought and received a lovely GP in excellent condition. I’ve sold and delivered my GP-DX with SS2k. I have bought a black SP with green Vixen MT1 motors and DD-1 controller. I have now put the motors from the SP on my GP and also fitted the ADM saddle upgrade, with a 1.25” saddle to avoid marring my dovetails, and so I get back to a dual axis driven, lightweight EQ for the FC100/FL102S. I will then sell the SP without motors and the GP2 and be back to one EQ mount which will hopefully get a decent amount of use. Someone please make the madness stop now!! 🤪🤪
  15. Hi Ags! Yeah both of those were mentioned above. The thing is I've already got so much equipment and I don't really want to add even more to the pile! I'm only in a 1 bed flat so don't have a lot of room. I really want to be able to use the eq3 pro (pictured above) which I can just about manage to carry. Having said that, I'll have to try and see if I can carry it down the stairs and back up again,,, If that's ok, and as I said, I think I might try the Synscan wifi first and see how I get on and if I can get reliable wifi communication ok. Louise
  16. Very true John, Although I must point out that I'm not looking for any guarantees, even if it may come across that way 😉, and I can understand it might. I'm looking for a 'balance of probabilities', based on gathering as much data as I can from reviews, speaking to knowledgeable people such as yourself and looking at lots of images. I know there is no guarantee (this applies to many things in life), but I also know from years of experience that lack of preparation usually leads to failure too. 😉 I am grateful for your advise and everyone else here, and for all your patience! 👍😊
  17. I'm wanting to build an electronic focuser and whilst there are plans available I figure it would be a good idea to actually try and understand electronics and programming (my job now involves both). Won't be building a focuser with this, but will at least understand it a bit better. I get stressed doing things without understanding why I'm doing it. Figure this would be a good place to start. Figure with the lack of clear skies I can spend an hour or so a night doing the projects.
  18. Welcome back Louise! It might not be what you are looking for exactly, but I recently invested in an ultra portable setup based on the HEM15 and AsiAir Mini. Both are really impressive and the Air would be my recommendation for armchair imaging. Coupled with a small scope and guidescope and a lightweight tripod, the setup is an easy lift. The Air can do all sky polar aligning so you may not need Polaris.
  19. Hey everyone so I have an Apertura 6in f/5 Newtonian and I cannot seem to find a solar filter for it, I decided to just buy some solar film and make my own but it may not be large enough, any ideas?
  20. I've previously spent a ton of money and years trying to image through an open window. Had some success but it was very limiting. Now that I've moved there is a small possibility of carrying a limited amount of stuff downstairs. It might still not work very well for me but I'll give it a go. Louise
  21. Handily the app doesn't let you save a corrected file as a fit. I'm just about to try as an unstretched, auto WBed tiff. loading an un-autostretched but auto WBed tif into affinity now shows all three channels but they’re too far from the left (which makes sense…I guess…if they’re not stretched). The pain in the bum thing is you can only load the fits in singly to the asi viewer before saving them out… And there doesn't seem to be a way in the capture app to specify what WB to use.
  22. This is one of the reasons I've kept my setups so they fit into one bag, tripod in hand. Totally understand. It's so frustrating at times I might even consider a ZWO Seestar for total hassle free imaging within it's limitations.
  23. Louise, if you want the luxury of sitting in your room and imaging on a low budget then the RPi is the way to go. You can purchase an RPi for less than £100 and get either a free build such as Astroarch (astroberry has stopped providing updates hence didnt recommend) or Stellarmate ($59) which comes with an app to run on your phone or tablet. If you dont have a computer I would suggest getting a tablet and connecting to the RPi with browser. Its possible to do this with a phone but I find the screen is too small. I use the HEQ5 pro with the RPI and have been using this combo for a few years now.
  24. I used to use APT but then switched to Sharpcap. At the moment I don't know if wifi will work between my flat and downstairs, and outside. I think I'll I'll try the Synscan wifi module first as it's cheap and is a low power device. If it has to be remote then setup will be a bit of faffing around (polar alignment etc.) though, as I say, I'd prefer standalone if I can get it! It's mainly about not having to carry too much down two flights of stairs, through the security door and then back up again. I really want a single journey to take everything. I'll just have to try things and see, I suppose. Louise
  25. Not even if you save the corrected WB flat as a new file?
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