Dark Raven

Nice and sharp all the way to the edge. Well done.

Camera comes with 0mm M54-M48 adapter You can also ask ZWO https://m.facebook.com/ZwoDesignAstronomyCameras

I have to travel for my imaging sesions and I use Lowepro Pro Trekker BP 550 AW II It is airplane cabin carry on compatible and I have taken it on planes, trains, buses and car rides. I also wrap most of the gear in bubble wrap. It fits my full AP set up with AM5, RC51 and 18Ah battery. Few pics below It also fits my bigger scope but barely Pelican and alike cases are the best way to go.

The more I look at it, the more I like it, conceptually that is. This should be standard for all AP set ups. Price wise, good dual V and D saddle goes for 180 to 210. Pegasus powerbox advance is 259. So, 399 for Powerbox saddle and 45 for adapter puck comes quite similar and in that respect could be digestible. Happy to pay for convenience of avoiding potentially expensive cable snags. However, ASIAIR Plus 32G is 330 and 256G is 419 and this is where it fails. You will have a saddle on your mount anyway and with ZWO ASIAIR Plus you will have immensely more functionality but little less power (10A vs 6A). This might be viable for all non ZWO set ups with N.I.N.A. and RPI Indi server / KSTARS or strllarmate scenarios if you have abundance of nerves to deal with instabilities.

While looking for something else I stumbled upon this pricey but interesting Pegasus saddle -power box combo. The Saddle Powerbox has similar features to the Pocket Powerbox Advance and can be attached directly to the NYX-101 mount or other mounts on the market. Optional pucks for mounts from other suppliers. The Saddle Powerbox can be placed directly on the NYX-101 mount. An additional puck is required for other types of mounts. Currently the Saddle Powerbox supports the following mounts: ZWO-AM5 mount. NEQ6 and EQ6-R mounts. RST 135 and RST 300 mounts. Features: 4 x 12 V DC outputs for your devices (a single channel to switch all four outputs on and off via software) 10 amps total output current Integrated active USB3 hub - 2 x USB3 ports and 2 x USB2 ports available 1 x Power USB connection (up to 3 amps) - suitable for the power supply of the Raspberry PI 3/4 2 channels with PWM for dew protection heaters - 5.5/2.1 m outputs (power adjustable via software), 2 adapter cables 5.5/ 2.1 to RCA included Built-in humidity and temperature sensor Automatic setting of dew protection heating channels Power, current and input voltage meter Reverse polarity protection USB/PC controlled or standalone operation, ready to use Lightweight and extremely compact aluminum body Losmandy and Vixen clamp https://www.firstlightoptics.com/pegasus-astro/pegasus-saddle-powerbox-for-nyx-101.html

The one and only, master of image processing Adam Block and his Dimensions of Photoshop. All others have learned here. Permanently reduced at only $50. https://www.adamblockstudios.com/categories/dimensionsofphotoshop On sale at Baader Planetarium https://www.baader-planetarium.com/en/schnaeppchen?___from_store=en Item: 1335050 You can't get anywhere else this much knowledge for €20 and you will not be sorry.

Welcome to the RC51 club. It is fine and durable instrument. I'm sure you you will have amazing time with it. AM3 would probably be more suited as AM5 is a bit of an overkill but they work well together. If you polar align well enough, guiding will be spot on and you'll have sharp stars across the entire field. I went with uncooled ASI585MC at 2.9 um in order to reduce the undersampling and avoid the need for large, heavy battery while backpacking. In hindsight, perhaps it was over cautious on my part. I'll go wider with my next cam and I'm sure 533 will give you great results. Do show what you get with it.

Congratulations and welcome to the club. I'm not from the UK so my recent import experience may not be relevant. All was handled by the FedEx. Darleen and Roland were quite helpful and accommodating. In my case the accessories increased the price by 1/3 of the OTA. Telecompressor, camera adapters, rings, diagonal, barlow, adds up quite a bit. Here you can see what to expect when it arrives: https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/395115-astro-physics-110mm-f6-starfire-gtx/?do=findComment&comment=4385162 Hope you go through with the purchase. I have not regretted it, just want more opportunities to use it.

Full review is in. This will make a perfect widefield grab 'n' go setup with RC51 and AM3.

Not sure if it was already posted. Thought it would be interesting here. Structurally, the whole thing is constructed from 10 mm thick aluminium plates that were cut with a waterjet and subsequently milled to finish. On the electronics side, a custom PCB was produced, with a pair of TMC2130-based stepper drivers, controlled by a teensy 4.0. The simple design was constructed with Eagle PCB, and can be found on the Alkaid project GitHub, together with details of the frame and a suitable copy of the OnStep telescope controller firmware. Some 3D-printed side panels hold the electronics in place and box-in the internals giving the mount a tidy. kind of industrial look. One important metric for any such mount, is the total weight, which [Alan] reports as being around 5.5 kg which is less than half that of an HEQ-5 mount, without its counterbalances. Hopefully, it is heavy enough to dampen out any vibrations transmitted from the tripod, but testing will prove that one way or the other. DIY equatorial mount with HarmonicDrive

ZWO published new AM3 video. I hope they start with deliveries.

For remote multi night imaging sessions with full AP cooled camera and dew bands, I decided on Ecoflow Delta 2 just to be sure. Yes, it does cost significantly more but this way I am at peace regarding power. On single night local imaging I can run multi rig full AP setups. Again without power concerns. So far I am fully content with performance, capacity and portability. Delta 2 has other benefits for in home use as well. Whatever you decide to go with, make sure to use LiFePo4 battery chemistry. For Ecoflow it means River 2 or Delta 2 range. It has significantly more charge cycles and does not have thermal runaway issues of regilar Li Ion batteries.

I can only speak about the Redcat 51. It works really well together with AM5 and I have used them in combination as mobile setup for about a year now. AM5 is a bit of overkill for RC51 and heavy for longer hiking or backpacking. Certanly doable but heavy if you include battery and all other accessories. AM3 would be quite sufficient. Fits nicely in the carry on backpack. I have taken them on plains, trains and car rides many times. On the plane the biggest issue is the size/capacity of airline allowed battery. I love the Petzval design so no issues with back focus. Setting up is a breeze, from all in backpack to imaging (setup, PA, focus, slew) in under ten minutes. If you have option take a look at RedCat 61 with new WIFD focuser. Improvement for EAF compared to helical focuser. I have never regretted going for RC51.

Well done!

ZWO ASI6200MC PRO This will need tremendous amount of storage and time to process. Added ASI120MM on the left and ASI585MC on the right for comparison.

I was wondering the the same, guess we will find out after the summer. Still missing proper M54 distancers. 120MM on the left and 585MC on the right. Will need to go after long exposure targets as I am bringing "only" 2 TB of storage with me. Hope it will be enough.

It appears that ZWO ASI2600MC DUO guids just fine with dual-narrow-band filters down to f10. Unfortunately it appears mine will not arrive before I leave for Summer vacation.

Hi @FLO, Any confirmation on the delivery date? Your site states 7-10 days. How realistic is that? Thank you in advance. Best regards, DR

First tests are in. Guiding appears to be OK for f6 and faster with 3nm dual band filters and 28mm image circle. Slower scopes to be tested next.

For visual with AM5 in EQ mode I use guider as main camera on ASIARIR Plus and after that plate solving. Works like a charm. Good polar alignment mitigates drift but I usually switch targets far before any tracking drift becomes apparent.

I managed to get out several times this week to have some fun with the new Astro Physics 110 STARFIRE GTX and take few expositions. Did some visual as well. First lets start with handling. In full AP setup OTA and ZWO AM5 mount are light enough to be carried in one hand. Not easy at 18.3 kg (without the battery) but doable due to large and comfortable top handle. This has proven as a key in usability. Makes transportation and setup a breeze. Given that the OTA with rings and handle does not fit in Pelican AIR 1535 it came in, I chose to try transporting OTA it all assembled, only disconnecting cables and removing it from the mount. It was quite clear this week and setting up took only few minutes each time. Best polar alignment I achieved ever. Double checked it just to be sure, but it was spot on without any need for intervention. Focusing and guiding were spectacular last night. The M101 supernova SN 2023ixf was visible in preview. All set up and taking exposures. Below is a .png export of 285 Lights, gain 252 with ZWO ASI585MC and all calibrations totalling exactly 8h 0m 0s of exposure. Work in progress, stacked and stretched without proper processing. Need to remove stars, further stretch, saturate, de-noise... The very first night I tried the Pelican nebula, IC5070, same settings and calibrations but only 22 lights totalling 44 min of exposure. I was trying to get proper distancing to achieve back focus, but it was obvious something was off. I had to improvise, as all my spacers are M48/M42 for WO RedCat 51. Proper M54 spacers are on order together with new camera. Luckily, ZWO EOS lens adapter has M54/M42 stepdown, so now it was just down to getting the right distance. Made few single exposures of the M4, 1 light, 60 sec exposure, no calibration. Toward the end of night the moon was rising, again single exposure. Visual back with MaxBright 2" mirror diagonal gave nice views of Moon, Venus, Jupiter and Jupiter's Moons. Moon through the eyepiece with mobile phone All in all, Astro-Physics StarFire 110GTX is exquisite optical instrument. That will enable a long and joyful growth path that I can not wait take and share with all of you.

ZWO 2600MC DUO Unbox. I have mine on order for some time now and looking forward to getting it.

I see Visnjan, I hit "like"... Malo nas je, al´ nas ima...

First Contact Polymer seems awesome for optical instruments and all sorts of telescopes. Did not have the chance to use it so far myself. "Somewhat" pricey, but seems powerful and does not damage your optics. Leaving it here for future reference. Telescopes: Refractors, SCT, Dobs, etc. (photoniccleaning.com) Refractor demo (short video): Full Astro World TV show with discussions and demos (long video)... Hope someone finds it useful.

Don't forget to show us when you make it.