WolfieGlos

It certainly is a learning curve I'm still learning 3 years down the line.... Yes, you can control the mount with the controller that comes with it, which will allow you to use GoTo and locate your desired target - very useful for visual. If using for AP, you would then need to manually operate the camera (intervalometer or computer controlled). However, if you intend on controlling the mount with Laptop / ASIAIR, you will need an EQDIR cable (which isn't supplied with the mount) to replace the hand-controller and allow the mount to be controlled by external software. The cable will connect into the same socket on the mount. The software will also allow control of the camera, other accessories (i.e. filter wheels, electronic focusers, rotators, etc, if you go this route down the line), as well as guiding which will allow dithering. Dithering will reduce/remove walking noise by moving the telescope by X amount of pixels - as you'll be using a DSLR, dithering is essential. Here's an example, and another, which ruins your images. Whilst dithering is taking place, the software would stop the camera from imaging, complete the dither, and then resume. Using the hand-controller, I don't believe you can do this. You may be able to image with the EQ6 without guiding, you would be limited on sub length depending on your polar alignment accuracy but as I've got the HEQ5 and always use guiding, I can't really offer any exact knowledge on this subject. Guiding software, PHD2, is free to download and use. Here is a cheap guide scope+camera bundle, I still use it now and it is mounted into a simple finder shoe or a carry handle if it comes with it (I think the Z73 does come with one, but check especially if buying second hand). If not, you might need to buy a separate finder shoe if the Z73 doesn't come with one, or the WO dedicated scope + camera.

Hi, welcome to SGL 🙂 That's a great start, a mount like that will do you very well and future proof you for all but the heaviest scopes. Have you considered other accessories; such as: Power supply to mount (+cables) Guiding scope+camera Mount / camera control (ASIAIR or Laptop with software such as NINA/APT, etc) If you're buying from FLO, they can advise the exact items you will require for your setup - i.e. which cables, etc. Absolutely, yes, you do need the flattener. Unless you intend to crop the image to just the centre portion, full-frame images (like say M33 Andromeda Galaxy at your focal length) will look really poor from the stars. Here's an example from CN from a quick search showing the effect without the flattener. I don't own a WO scope, but the dedicated flattener also includes a built-in camera rotator to frame your target correctly, and also backfocus adjustment. You can also usually buy flattener/reducers - which flatten the field into the corners, but also reduce the focal length - and increasing the speed of the aperture. I'm not sure if this is offered for the Z73, but a faster aperture is worth considering. I can't comment on the diagonals or eyepieces as I am purely an imager, but I'm sure other SGL members will be along to advise on those 🙂

Oh yes, I forgot about that. Sometimes you can get lucky and manually locate the target in 20 minutes....I think my worst was over an hour trying to locate it, with plate solving via wifi from a camera to a phone. Then add framing the target into the equation... I do not miss that. At all. Total waste of time. I even recall at one point I was considering upgrading the wedge to the William Optics version because the SW one was so wobbly. By which time, you've spent the money for an EQ mount, with GoTo. I forget who it was, but someone had a video and was using the SA2i with a Sigma 150-600 lens....and it was suggested that they were using it at 600mm! Absolutely ridiculous.

I can offer some real world experience here. I used to use the Star Adventurer 2i with the Skywatcher Evostar 72ED, mounted on a carbon fibre tripod. The 72ED was lighter than the Evolux you have listed, and the 2i really struggled at times, even with a guidescope. It was generally fine for 1 minute subs (GUIDED), but at 2 or 3 minutes I had a scrappage rate (due to stars trailing in the images) of anything between 10-40% depending on accuracy, wind, etc. As soon as I bought a HEQ5, that scrappage rate dropped to zero. I followed various Youtube reviews/videos where people used this successfully. And whilst I did get success with it, it was more effort than it was worth, and so I would really recommend against getting the 2i with any form of scope. Widefield camera lenses or possibly a Redcat at 250mm maybe. I haven't used the GTI, but because it has the same capacity as the 2i, I can only imagine it being similar, although DEC guiding might assist.

Wow, that's really bad with no calibrations at all. Is the camera still in the free returns or warranty period? If you purchased it from FLO I would get in contact with them, they might be able to offer specific advise or possibly exchange it for a one that works if it is indeed faulty. I had to do this with a ZWO electronic focuser last year and they were really good about it - even dispatched the replacement on the same day of receiving the duff one (which was a dead motor on arrival). One thought I've had; did you shoot this with an offset value again? I know @LandyJon said above that it would make minimal difference (thanks for the explanation by the way ), but that's the only real difference I can see between my 585mc and yours in the capture settings (scope and coma corrector aside - mines a 102ED refactor with 0.8 reducer). From my earlier post, I captured 1 hour of subs on the Horsehead with the 585mc + Askar Ha/OIII dualband filter with the Full Moon the other night - more of a test than anything else - but it's nearly the same area of sky as your M42, and below is what I got (with flats and darkflats) - no vertical banding is present. This was 20 x 180s at gain 252, with a basic stretch.

Wow, lots of detail in that especially the core of M78. Nicely framed with the Bogeyman too.

Wow, thanks Olly. Thanks Carole! Got there in the end. Thanks Michael. Thanks sinbad!

Nice work, nice detail to the core at full res, and those small magenta details in the arms really give it some depth.

Isn't it in the core of the rosette? Great image Rodd, amazing amount of detail in there 👍 I'd love to know where you keep getting all of this clear sky time from ...

Thanks Olly, it looks much better with the colour balance tweak by reducing the cyans - I think that that's done it. Much better colour in the Ha, and also boosted the blue in the core of M78 as you described. Worked a charm 😁 Look forward to seeing how you get on with my stack 🙂

Thanks Olly, I see what you mean in the Ha area. I’ll take a look later. Happy to share the linear stack if you wanted a go at the devil target 😉

That’s a nice image of the coat hanger Lee, look at the colour in that background of stars! I hope I’m not hijacking pie’s thread, but do you shoot flats for each of filters? If so, do you do it with an integrated/moveable flat panel, or do you shoot them after the session? Im currently in a similar boat to 900SL was in his thread and the cost of mono seems to keep adding up - which may be relevant for pie in the future if he’s thinking of mono. If I went for the 533mm pro with 1.25” LRGB filters and EFW it’s currently circa £1500, but with a moveable flat panel (deep sky dad) it’s more like £2000. That’s without narrowband filters. For that money alone, a 2600mc with dual band Ha/OIII and SII/OIII filters seems more reasonable! Back on topic, another guide for M42 is this one on sky at night, that I used the first time I imaged M42. It may or may not be of use depending how you get on with those excellent guides Olly linked.

Thanks Olly! I couldn't agree more, and I too had read somewhere that this was a difficult one (it may have been on CN a while back), so when the nebula showed up really well after only 1 hour of imaging I thought someone had been over exaggerating. What they probably had meant, was the actual post-processing. Thanks for the critique, I revisited the data for this and you are right, I seem to have lost a lot of detail in the core of the nebula along the way. I suspect this was the histogram / GHS stretches whilst trying to bring out the dust. Whilst I did protect the highlights in the GHS, it wasn't enough and was possibly already lost on the partial histogram stretch beforehand, so it looks like I missed this all along. Good spot - and thanks 👍 I also noticed whilst doing this that the stars at the core had changed from orange to pure white, so that adds a tad more colour to it as well. Instead of processing from scratch, I've applied some basic stretches to the original data and masked+brushed it into the area affected. I can see myself re-visiting this one for processing again in the future. Whilst I feel I have a good image, I don't feel like it's quite there and I can't put my finger on why at the minute.

Agree with everyone else, that’s a great first image. Well done 👏 Onikkinen posted an example before I found mine to link, but here’s an example I did without the blown core. Although it is a bit brighter, I can’t recall if I used masks for this, but it’s just about getting a natural look to it. The aim is to try and show the trapezium cluster of stars at its core - which will only really be visible if the core isn’t blown. Look forward to more of your work 🙂

I’m currently imaging with my 585mc with a triband filter, gain 252 180s subs. I’ll let you know if I get any of this banding. I’ve used it briefly back in November with a near full Moon with a UV/IR cut and it didn’t show up. Both that session and the one I’m running right now, are with my 102ed refractor. A few thoughts; 1) Could it be high level cloud passing in some of your frames? Does it still show up if you try stacking, say, 10 frames from the start of the session? 2) How often are you dithering, and what settings are you using? The vertical band almost makes it look like walking noise, but I wouldn’t expect to see it running vertically. 3) What’s the offset value for? I’m fairly new to my 585mc astrocam myself, and I’ve just checked my imaging settings in NINA and it’s set to 1.

Hi Steve, Thank you for that, and I note your review notes the caps are quite loose - and so are the ones I have! I have found that the caps seem to fit better on one side than the other, but I wouldn’t trust them out and about. Poor weather has stopped me trying them out much since my OP, and even though tonight was clear earlier…with a Full Moon of course. Although I was able to spot two of Jupiters Galilean Moons to its NW - which I see are Europa/Io (almost on top of one another) and Ganymede.

That is a seriously nice image of M33, and the Ha details are splendidly detailed. All of those hours from different scopes, cameras and filters over the years have paid off 👍

No, this cant be right…I thought space was black… That’s an incredible amount of dust, I kind of agree I prefer the original but the fact it’s there in your data, I say flaunt it. I suppose it wouldn’t seem “as bad” if the FOV was a lot larger, a 12 panel mosaic across Auriga should do it Goran 😉

Thanks tomato 🙂 I used your image in the showcase thread for processing inspiration on the nebula itself, that was a great image you produced 👍

Agreed - it's nicely framed, and you can really sense the spider closing in on it's prey! Nice work.

Thanks Roy! Sadly I think you're right, possibly clear here tonight for a few hours, but a near full Moon is no good.

Absolutely this, it's amazing how much all of the "accessories" (which are "essential") add up to. Guidescope + camera - ZWO Scope+Camera £229 , SW Scope + ZWO Camera £319 (currently on offer) . Power supply - assume this is already in place for the mount, and now the new camera? If not, consider leads and a possible portable power pack if you want flexibility. UV/IR Filter for the imaging camera for broadband targets. If going with a dualband filter like @Clarkey mentions, note this should be used for emission nebula, and not for galaxies. Dew heaters and controller. Focuser - bahtinov mask (cheaper) or spending for an electronic version . Note you will get a bahtinov mask with most (or all?) William Optic scopes on the dust cap. I've generally linked ZWO products on the basis you have a 2600mc PRO, and this would allow you to link up with the ASIAIR in the future if you wanted wireless control with a phone/tablet instead of a laptop. There are other options too - ZWO products included. If the 2k budget is for scope and accessories, you can save on processing software to start with by using free software and "learning the ropes". Stacking can be done in Deep Sky Stacker, ASTAP or Siril. Processing in Siril or GIMP (or a combination of both). Others are available 🙂 Astro Pixel Processor I think is around £75 and PixInsight is circa £250 but PI is generally viewed as the "gold standard". Both of those paid softwares do come with a free trial though. Hope that helps.

Well the clouds (and rain) persist here, so I decided to go back and tidy this one up a bit after noticing a bit too much green in the original image. I also managed to reduce the noise (particularly in the dust) and also boosted the saturation for Barnards Loop. Still undecided whether to pump in more hours on this one, then again some clear skies would be a starting point. Either way, I'm happier with this version, hopefully you all agree 🙂 Thanks for looking. Also added to OP.

Oh I didn’t notice that you said you have liveview on continuously. That is unusual. Apologies. If you opt to use NINA (or APT, Backyard EOS, etc) then I don’t think they will allow the liveview to be in use since the camera is operated by a laptop. I’ve never tried it but that would be my suspicion.

Wow, that's insane. And 800 hours from dark sky sites as well. Clearly he took inspiration from Olly with his recent Orion to Monoceros mosaic🙂