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Hi peeps. FINALLY, I have been imaging over this last week with my modified spc900 and had some glorious shots of jupiter and moon and various nebula. Really was excited about it but my Canon camera just wouldnt play ball. Anyhow last night I took 5 x 4min exposures on the Pleiades and here is the result. May not be great but im sure happy with it, couldnt seem to get anything in focus prior to this and when I did I had bloated egg shaped stars. Anyhow thanks to all of you thats helped me finally get to this stage over the last 6mths. Rich T

There seems to he a lot of people doing this on SGL, your not the only one that's intrigued buddy. Think you definatley need LE on webcam but have heard good feedback on this, if it works will save a lot of extra weight on the mount. Managed to do this in polar scope just really need to incorporate into viewfinder, come on peeps spill some beans ha ha. Rich t

Hi Just attempting to pick someones brain with this, I was wandering whether anyone has done this (ie used finderscope as guider with webcam)and what parts are needed to do the job(specifically to SW 200 ref). Everytime i pop to B&Q i but some form of plumbing equipment but still no such luck. Thanks

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Thanks Todd. I will give it a go, need to get another battery for it next. Have you managed any shots of nebulae yet, im really keen on getting a shot of the horses head in orion when weather allows, its going to be my second target. Rich T

Hi I have eventually brought a Canon 10D with a couple of lenses i can squeeze f/4 out of. I am very, very new to this sort of camera there are so many options. Anyhow im apparently supposed to be taking night shots in bulb mode, but bulb mode only allows me a high f/32, no good presumably for night shots the results where poor to say the least. I also noticed it was very hard to take a photo of the moon with LE as it was over-exposed as soon as you go greater than a 1.5 sec exposure. ISO has ranged from 800 to 1600 with varying effects. Wandered whether any of you guys/girls could help me on this, ie whats the best setup (exp, iso, f3/f4, bulb not bulb?)for the camera to take a picture of stars and lunar. I have a remote for it and did try a 5min exposure, just wasnt very good at all. Still waiting for my adapter, hopefully be with me Tuesday so can connect to scope. Thanks folks. Rich T

Hi neil, It does seem to be slightly out of focus but im also siding towards the camera settings, try reducing the shutter speed as im sure i can see a slight blur on the craters. As a secondry option you could try a tele-extender with the 20mm eyepiece or maybe a baader skyglow filter, it really makes the images crisper and also darkens the background. Is it the 130 Parabolic mirror version you have? Rich T

Thanks Jim, So i take it you have managed to find an adapter that allows you to insert the spc900 into the spotter on your scope? or are you using a seperate refractor? Thanks Rich T

Hi I have a 200pds and heq5 pro(syntrek)and trying to use cartes du ciel on my laptop for tracking etc. I have polar aligned at bottom of garden so i could see star in circle so thought all would be well when i ventured to top of garden and tried slewing to various stars. However once there it all went wrong, i tried originally to slew to the moon but it seemed to be pointing at the earths core! even i know it isnt there ha ha. I have setup eqmod from gps figures from my mobile im roughly in the region of 52deg n and -2 west, the same data was put into CDC but having no luck in succesfully slewing to an object. I tried tinkering with these and it did make a difference but still no where near. Clock in CDC is setup to same as PC and the objects look roughly correct on CDC's map. This maybe also a silly question but on the HEQ5 mount i presume the N has to be pointing in the direction of NCP(though cant actually see it from top of garden)or have i got this wrong? Any help will be most appreciated cant seem to find a document on this. Thanks again peoples. Rich T

Hi, Just received my 200Pds and HEQ5 pro package just have a small question regarding the supplied 28mm eyepiece. I setup the mount and scope for a quick viewing of the moon with the supplied 8mm 2" ep, for about an hour I couldnt get the ep in focus. After looking at the accesories that came with the telescope I noticed an adapter that again was 2" in diameter, it appears that this allows you to put in-line filters inside. Once inserted prior to the ep and inserted into the telescope it appeared that I could now focus (actually quite amazed with what I saw). My question is does the 28mm ep need this adapter infront of it as there seemed to be no way of getting focus without it, but seems a little odd that i cant just drop the ep in the scope and start viewing. Thankyou folks. Rich T

Hello people, Just wanted to pick your brains (again!). Im trying to take a leap into astrophotography and purchased HEQ5 Pro mount and 200pds, ive also picked up(friends rate)a cannon 10d and currently in the process of the LXMod on the SPC900. Anyhow, i intend to use the scopes spotter as a guide (with the spc900 inserted into ep)and use the cannon camera for photos. Is it as simple as using the EQMOD (usb1), Camera(usb2) and spotter(spc900 usb3)using PHD to guide or am i missing something? I just wanted to know so im ready to setup once everything eventually arrives (and works). If so I do have an old refractor in the loft somewhere that could be used to aid guiding but understand I would have to change dovetail and although very light(and cheap)not sure whether the HEQ5 could deal with the weight on the mount with all the accesories loaded? Thankyou Rich T

Hello, Having problems connecting my HEQ5 Syntrek to my PC via Eqmod via win7 and Vista. Same cable seems to work on old laptop so wandered whether i am missing something with regards to installing on Win7 or Vista(both Ultimate)? Thankyou. Rt

Hello Newstar1, Glad your enjoying it. If your camera has a thread hole on bas then this may do the trick, a bit fidly but I have seen some good results with it. ScopeTeknix ScopeTeknix DigiPix lightweight digital camera adaptor Good luck. Rt

Thanks Michael, I have managed to get this to work on an old laptop which is good, shows theres no problem with my wiring now. However My homepc is defeating me, i have Xp, Win7 and Vista ultimate on there and I cannot get this to work for some reason, Win7 is practically a clean and new install, this makes me believe the USB on the PC is the problem, however it recognises the TTL as a Comms port and had no other issues with any other USB device. One of those headscratchers. Thanks for your help Rich T

Hi guys, I have a HEQ5 Syntrek mount with EQmod and all the necessary software (ASCOM, drivers for cable, EQASCOM, stellarium, cartes du ciel). Problem is i connect cable and the pc is recognising it as a comms port (18) set baud at 9600 but once plugged into mount no joy. Im getting ASCOM to use device and connected status on a driver called EQMOD Sim Telescope but no joy with EQ5 driver, once in either of these software packages it is not tracking (motors making no noise at all) im sure ive missed something on my PC but cannot find a guide for this at all. Please please help i would be eternally grateful. Thankyou RT

Sorry 2nd to this it also seems the Direct SLR attatchment on 200PDS is no longer part of the package, again if anyone can tell me different I would love to know. Thanks Rich

Hello, 2mths ago I nearly ordered a HEQ5 mount, unfortunatley due to car problems that didnt permit me to purchase at the time. However, im now looking to purchase but everything has changed seemingly regarding the mount. The price has increased by at least £50 AND im being told its no longer available(ie pro on)and worst of all, companies are telling me it no longer has a polar scope. I cant ever get through to the company dispatching these but the above is what im told from one company, another tells me there has been no specification alterations(please feel free to look at descriptions yourself they are now vary sparse). I wandered whether any one can spread some light onto this for me because its got me totally confused. Thankyou. Rich

Thats awesome! The story suggests that is an 8.5" sope but that looks double that to me. Amazing though, how on earth would you track the hubble scope as its travelling so fast?

Hi, Looking for anyone that knows of a possible repair company that will repair this old Meade reflector telescope. All is in order apart from a mirror that has succumb to a bit of age weathering. The mirror is 16" so its rather on the large side. Just wandering whether any of you guys could help direct me to a suitable company that may perform such a repair, or able to supply similar mirror. Also at approx 32kgs would an EQ6 hold this weight? Thankyou

Hello, Finally ordered a heq5 syntrek and 200pds, 2mths in waiting and cant wait. Whilst waiting managed to mod my Phillips webcam for LX and amp off, make a cable so I can control mount with laptop(stellarium)and my best friend ever has gave me a good deal on a canon 10d. Also have a x3 barlow(x2 on the way)the standard 25 wide angle lens, a 10mm and 5mm plossl. Im eventually going to mod the finderscope to receive the webcam for tracking but thats in near future. Anyhow, my first point of target is going to be the orion nebula in-particular the horses head and NGC2024 the flame(probably optimistic i know)and I would consider this money well spent. Im just wandering what filter is best suited to this task(if any)and in general for both DSO's and Planetry observing is there an all round filter that suits these tasks, as, as the song goes 'moneys to tight to mention'. Thanks guys.

I here ya, thats exactly what im doing with scopes n skies. I have to send letter to them from consumer direct which will help. I must say the only place I intend to buy anything from is FLO from now on, everyone is so helpful there and there prices are very good to.

Hello, Just thought I would mention this. i have had nothing but bad dealings with this company so far, and what is worse you will spend an age trying to get in touch with someone there to talk about your order. I recentley aquired a Skywatcher 130p from Scopes N Skies after waiting two weeks for what was then promised next day delivery I had changed my mind on the type of scope I was after. Now they retail at £174 inc free delivery (or so it states). After returning my scope I was going to replace with a HEQ5 mount, but as it was said to me 'may aswell burn a fiver mate' which really isnt profesional in my opinion. I therefore arranged a refund, 12 days later i finally received it for the amount of £155. This is apparent now that its not free delivery and thats been taken off the price. I have to say imo stay away from this company, they seem to also own Pulsar Optical. Sorry to sound negative but wouldnt want anyone else to go through this, particularly if you need to get in touch with them. Rich T

Thanks todd8137, just tried seems to install when opened hangs and then crashes. Oh well, sharpcap seems to work well so will stick to that. Thanks again.

Hello, I have just brought this kit, flashed it fine and showing as SPC900 on computer, however im struggling to get hold of the VLounge software that actually works, the one off the website crashes on opening, can i ask where you obtained Vlounge from? Thankyou Rich T

Hello, Looking for the above mount and just putting the question out there to see if anyone is interested in a sale. thankyou.