Matt S

I do, I was also struggling to find some good Mac based tools so I’ve ended up using crossover to run AutoStakkert and RegiStax. I’ve tried the new Wavesharp project that’s been based off RegiStax, as at least that runs natively - but it’s not really a replacement yet. Also tried LuckyStackWorker as a native option, but Ive not been able to get as good results with it yet (although I still don’t really know how to use it). Thanks @vlaiv - at some point can you write a book on all this please 😁 I’ve got some more footage from that night without the Barlow too, I’ve not got round to processing yet - I’ll make a point to do some comparisons when I’ve finished.

I feel like I can still do better, and I’m sure additional shots and de-rotating would also improve things - but I’ve yet to learn that side of things! After swapping the RPi for the MacBook it was a lot easier to play with focus etc. The weather and seeing looked good so I dashed late with Jupiter high. Equipment: Skymax - 127 ASI678 2xBarlow processed with: Autostakkert Registaxx Affinity Photo

Still learning the ropes with this, but here’s my first serious attempt at Jupiter. 10/9/23. Equipment Skymax-127 2x Barlow ASI 678 RPI4 / Astroberry firecapture This one was the best 24% (I can’t remember how many frames I got) Processing autostakkert Lucky Stack Worker (for 0322) and Registax (for 0746) Affinity Photo Thoughts: I think I shot for too long, probably for over a minute - more like 2/3 The RPI / Firecapture setup is nice and small, but the frame rate felt kinda slow using an iPad for viewing the preview to judge focus was tough, there was quite a lot of lag between adjusting focus and seeing the preview update it was nice and warm out, but although clear this possibly made for more wobble? I’ve seen some others post some much smoother/detailed images of Jupiter using the 127, so it must be doable… I guess I need to get some more nights out!

Thanks everyone - bit of a learning curve to see what I can/can’t manage with my setup really. I’d never intended it to be a DSO setup, but it’s got me interested now… so I figured I’d dabble whilst I’ve lost the planets from my current location. I’d been going with the idea of getting a Svbony 503 after seeing someone use that on a Eq3 with good (to me) results.. I would of course like a new mount but that will be further down the road. I’ll check out using a camera lens - I may have something usable. I tried again on M81 with some tweaks/longer exposures - but as you guys said, that’s when the tracking fell apart and things started trailing. I did however have a little more success with M3, although I found taking exposures over 20s more punishing than 30+ seconds pointing at M81 - I’m not quite sure why, possible the mount angle / wind, or possibly the difference in the target. I still think my focus is off, I’ll need to figure out what I’m doing there - and I have a LOT to read/learn on what I should be doing to capture / process shots - but anyway, here’s my 2nd attempt at shooting anything other than a planet. Nothing as lovely as I’ve seen you all produce, but it’s a little progress for me, so I’m pleased (it’s also nice having my scope solve and point then switching to visual - much more accurate than my go-to).

A new post as this feels like a better place than my previous thread. I think I’ve got a reasonable plate solving setup now (albeit, it can still fail if it gets to a sot with few visible stars). I spent a bit of time trying to image M18, but had issues trying to process these in Siril (not enough stars, and when I relaxed this, it ended up rejecting 99 of the 100. I ended up stacking in Affinity, but I’m not seeing to much right now. As this was a first run / seeing if things were working attempt I didn’t shoot any darks/flats etc, only lights. A mix of 10, 20, 30 and 60s subs. I’ve attached a single Fits from one of what I thought looked a better shot… I guess my question is from anyone with more experience than me is - does this look any good (for a single shot)? equipment: Skymax 127 Asi678mc EQ3-2 / Ekos (unguided) m81.tiff M_81_Light_001.fits

Thanks all, some of those tips certainly helped. I found a slightly better star field of view to begin with and then spent some time with gain/focus to try and get a good starting shot. For some reason I’m struggling to find the focus unless I add the camera to the diagonal, but that may just be luck. Live/video made seemed useless to me here. Solving worked this time until a third hop where it simply couldn’t see enough stars again, but at this point M81 was in the frame so that was good enough for now . Still need to process my data, and I only shot lights (I’ve only been shooting plants so far) but this seems like a good starting point. I was finding it hard to tell if things were focused correctly, if anyone uses a similar setup and has some advice on that side of things I’d love to hear your advice.

Would anyone be able to offer me any advice on this? I had the chance last night to get everything running for the first time, and whilst it took me a good hour to figure out my focus was way off before seeing any stars, I couldn’t get a plate solve to work. Equipment: EQ3-2 mount (Goto) Skymax 127 Raspberrry Pi / Astroberry ASI678mc So Ekos/Kstars is running fine on the Pi, and I’ve added my mount, camera details and scope to Ekos. Slewing to a rough target works fine, but is obviously off. I’d seen others have been able to plate solve with the Skymax 127 - so thought I’d give it a go. Unfortunately I keep getting told there aren’t, sufficient stars. I’ve downloaded the recommended index files (although haven’t downloaded all the LARGE optional ones), but I’d like to get any advice on what I could/should try? Upping the gain more? Downloading all the optional index files?

I’ll second a vote for binoculars if you’re looking to spend ~£100. On my last camping trip I only had room for some binos, and it was great. Fast to just head out the tent and get some wide field views whenever - with my pair (not really Astro ones) I can still pick out the moons of Jupiter and the bulges where the disk of Saturn would show on a larger instrument. Some great views of the Milky Way and clusters too. If you pushed the budget a little, this is a pretty small scope that FLO recommends: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/beginner-telescopes/ursa-major-102mm-tabletop-dobsonian-telescope.html I can’t speak from experience, but I’d imagine it would provide some reasonable views (and you’d avoid having shake from holding binoculars).

Thanks - I’d not actually thought it was the camera (it’s pretty new, and ‘looked’ clean). Will give the window a blow/clean and see if that improves things.

These seem to be ruining my shots now - the attached is the laptop view of my scope/camera pointed at the moon. With the barlow attached the spots are much more obvious and darker. should I be doing any flat type frames to remove these? Or should I get on with cleaning. The scope is a Skymax-127, so luckily it’s just the front glass that’s the most likely source… but I imagine it’s going to be a constant battle if I’m constantly needing to clean?!

I’ve been attempting some shots tonight too… I cant wait for the occultation though unfortunately. Nice shot! will have to see what I managed to gather tomorrow

Thanks @Cosmic Geoff, You’re right - I did mean to include some of that information but I must have forgotten. Scope: Skymax-127 Camera: ASI678 / no Barlow ROI: 640X472 Processed in Autostakkert, Registax for sharpening and Affinity Photo for some small colour / contrast adjustments. Still learning my way around things - I didn’t realise there was an option to correct the flip in Registax, I’ll check that out!

Be gentle, this was my first outing at trying this: Stacked: sharpened: I seem to have got fringing or some sort of effect going on to the right, is this a focus thing or a seeing/stacking issue?

This is the first time I’m using this type of camera/setup so there’s plenty of things giving me questions right now… I’ve now got hold of an ASI678 which I’m using with my Skymax 127 for some lunar / planetary shots, but on my test run to see how things worked I noticed some little disks/blobs on my preview screen, and wasn’t sure if they would be an issue, or how to tackle them. Quite hard to see in the screenshot - they were clearer when moving the scope around over the brighter parts of the moon. I’ve circled one. I was a bit unsure if I had good focus, an probably ended up stacking probably far too many frames… I just sort of picked a spot in the middle of the quality graph but I’m finding the disks hard to spot in my stacked/sharpened image: I’m fairly pleased it’s this, but I’m also not experienced with what issues I should be looking for. Will these little disks likely get removed in stacking etc, or should I be doing something else?

I’ve had a shot at this using the usb/printer type cable (my controller has the usb port on it), however when I start up the server in EKos I get the following error in the log: [ERROR] Serial read error: Timeout error. anyone have any ideas on this? It sounds like it’s looking to use the serial port farther than the USB - but that’s the limit of my understanding. Maybe I should buy the eqmod lead and try that… figured I’d try the USB route first and save £30!