DeCosta

Hi thanks for that. I think I'm going to start cooling to -5°. I spoke to FLO in the UK and they advised that I remove and microwave the dessicant filters myself as it is a straight forward job. I did that this afternoon successfully. I noticed a greasy mark right in the centre of the sensor but I haven't got anything to clean it with out here. I travel back to UK on Weds where I'll get some cleaning swabs and bring them back out here in June. Thanks for your help.

William, Great explanation. I am returning to the UK on Wednesday so I will be packing everything away now until June. Considering taking the camera back to the UK and sending it into FLO or somewhere it can get a good look over. I bought the camera second hand 2 years ago and I guess its 4-5 years old. Maybe worth getting it cleaned and "serviced" by professionals. Once again thanks for your advice. Keith

Thanks for the reply. I have to admit I wasn't aware of dessicant in the camera but I have done a little more research and the artefacts in the images definitely point to condensation and ice.and get worse over time. I keep my set up in Fuerteventura and image from a roof terrace. The rig is covered with a big weatherproof cover during the day so the camera is getting quite warm. Then late afternoon I cool to -15° and remove the cover . So the camera is going from very warm to very cold in about 20 mins. Looks like I'll be taking the camera back to the UK to try and change the dessicant. I don't think I'd have found this out without your advice. Many Thanks Keith Gaskin

Hi everyone, I have been trying to capture an HDR HaRGB version of Orion Nebula. I have captured some reasonable data a couple of weeks ago. Last night I tried again but from about 9.00 onwards as Orion got below 35° and closer to the moon the images deteriorated. I noticed dark rings in the nebulosity and graininess as I zoomed in. I am guessing its noise? I don't know whether calibration and noise removal will save this data or if I just ditch the 3 hours of data and try again next year? I've attached a screenshot which you can zoom in to see the problem. FYI m using an ASI294mm Any advice would be appreciated Many Thanks Keith Gaskin

Wow great feedback. TBH it's been quite painful but I've learnt a massive amount. I think my previous DSO projects have all been suffering the same problems so this hopefully is a big step up in quality of my image capture. Thanks again !!!

Hi all, Thanks for your feedback. I have taken your advice and made the changes. I reseated the items on the imaging train and experimented with the back focus with the adjustable 6aiii. I have used ASTAP to get some tilt and HFD stats. I have attached an Ha sub and an OIII sub with ASTAP pics and the PI subframe selector stats. I think I've got some improvement. Still some eccentricity but maybe a bit more work on guiding. I made the guiding changes as recommended and then forgot to run the guide assist !! I've attached the guide log. The clouds rolled in so I only managed 7 frames. Any feedback would be great. As always thanks for your help. Much appreciated. 2023-11-02_210444_NGC6888_300sec_2x2_filter5_Ha_frame1_-15C_gain_200__.fit 2023-11-02_211457_NGC6888_300sec_2x2_filter6_OIII_frame1_-15C_gain_200__.fit PHD2_GuideLog_2023-11-02_194527.txt

Hi AstroMuni, Is that bad? I have some clear sky here forecast tonight so I am going to adjust the backfocus tonight on the adjustable 6aiii and test. But if its purely down to the tilt then I will need to try and adjust the camera sensor I guess. I have taken previous advice and reassembled the imaging train in case something is not seating correctly. You mentioned ASTAP that's what I use for platesolving. I'll have a look at that in terms of tilt. Thanks for your help.

Olly,Alacant, Great feedback. Will try out your suggestions. I'd love to get the eccentricity sorted. Fingers crossed for some clear sky. I'll feedback.

Olly,Alacant, Great feedback. Will try out your suggestions. I'd love to get the eccentricity sorted. Fingers crossed for some clear sky. I'll feedback.

Hi, I think it's the 0.8 6aiii threaded reducer/flattener. I'm guessing if my back focus needs increasing then that will increase the area of the image that is in focus? I cropped my M31 by .65% so that the edges of the image were removed. The resulting zoomed in image came in at 0.42 eccentricity. So I'm wondering if the biggest change would be back focus? I've found a 0.5mm and 0.1mm spacer in my stuff that I'm going to try on next clear night.

OK understood. I'll give it a try. I've moved my whole rig from the UK to my holiday apartment in Fuerteventura Canary Islands better skies and warmer. Only trouble is there are no equipment retailers or Amazon delivery out here. I'll have to get some spacers in the UK and bring them out in January when I'm back. Thanks for the great information and it's a relief that things aren't as disastrous as I first thought. Ive got several hours of data on both targets which I was considering ditching. I might be able to get Pixinsight to do its magic and make the best of it. Many thanks to both of you.

Wow thanks for the quick feedback. So are the tilt and the backspacing the same issue or are they related? I guess I can get some thin spacers to increase the back spacing and try to improve that way. But tilt not sure how that gets addressed?

Hi, I am a relative newbie on the steep learning curve. I have a William Optics FLT91 and a ZWO ASI294mm. with a WO 0.8 reducer. Astrodon filterset and an EQ6R pro mount. I am having trouble with my images. They are not looking great at all. The stars seem to deteriorate in one direction to the corner of the image. its not consistent in that its worse in one corner than others. After some frames on NGC 6888 I rotated my camera the other night when imaging M31 and I noticed that the same issue occured but in a different area. I have spent hours trying to understand PHD2 guiding. I'm using PPEC in RA and Lowpass in DEC. The guide assistant was complaining about Dec Backlash and as a result Dec backlash compensation was switched which tbh made the guiding worse. I have tightened up backlash on the mount in RA and Dec. - there was some backlash evident on both. Guide scope is focused. Tried 2,3,4 second guide exposures. I have tightened up focus tube on main scope where there was a small amount of movement. Autofocus seems to be running really well. Very nice V curve. My cable management is untidy, but I have taken any pressure off the imaging train with hooks and wire. Scope is balanced accurately when everything is connected. As a beginner I am learning a lot but am still way out of my depth on this stuff. I'm wondering if there is a problem with the alignment of the camera/reducer/scope? I have stripped the rig down cleaned everything and put it back together but no joy. I've attached two not very good images and also a section of my M31 guide graph before the clouds started coming in. I've got a feeling I'm doing something stupid, but any advice would be appreciated. 2023-10-25_010155_M31_300sec_2x2_filter5_Ha_frame3_-14C_gain_200__.fit2023-10-24_215740_NGC6888_300sec_2x2_filter5_Ha_frame12_-15C_gain_200__.fit Thanks

Yes pretty obvious thing to do on reflection. . Just created an SGP forum account and registered the topic. Thanks for the response.

Hi everyone I am a newbie with just a few projects completed. I use SGP and I always seem to get the attached message when I start up SGP. I've trawled the internet with no success. Can anyone advise if this is important and if it is impact my imaging? How do I resolve it? Many Thanks Keith ,