JonHigh

Nice. Very keen to get it out. Just wish these clouds would disappear!

Thanks guys. On your recommendation I decided to go for it and bought a Starizona Evo-FF from 365 Astronomy at a very good price. It arrived today so looking forward to clear skies to try it out. 👍🏻

Oh! I did see the Starizona FF mentioned in other posts but didn’t know the back focus distance was 55mm. So that seems to be the way to go. Thank you. Any idea if the quality is as good or better than the SW version? I just don’t want to crop the image really as the whole point is to have the wide field at relatively low cost. If you get where I’m coming from.

Ah. Brilliant. Thank you. I actually have one that I use with my ASI585. I didn’t think about using it for the bigger APS sensor but I’ll give it a go and see. Nothing to lose really. 👍🏻

Hi all. Well after doing a bit of research it would seem that I can’t use my 26c TEC camera with a filter when using the SW FF due to the back focus being 17.5mm. Is there any kind of work around so I can attach my narrowband filters? Was thinking about securing it on the front of the Evoguide somehow but that might cause serious vignetting unless I use Region of Interest but then that would negate the wide field I’m looking for. Can a filter go just in front of the FF? It’s very annoying! Any suggestions would be welcomed.

Hi Malc, Yet another plus one for the Zoom IV. However I find the fixed Hyperion EP’s more pleasing to use especially for the extra FOV at lower powers. All that said it is very convenient to just zoom in on an object and still achieve excellent viewing almost if not on par with the fixed. To my eyes anyway. Plus you aren’t fumbling about in the cold and dark changing eyepieces. I also have the fine tuning rings too which I didn’t mind fumbling around with them but that’s also where the Zoom really proves its worth and found the Zoom was the goto eyepiece. Funnily enough, I also have the 2.25x Barlow which has only been used a couple times. Glad I’m not the only one! 😂 be careful though. It depends what scope you use as you can run out of resolution at higher magnifications.

Very well put together! The time lapse of the clouds were amazing. Was that done in camera? Also the wide shots of the Nebulas were stunning. You have inspired me to use a wide angle lens. 👍🏻

It does look like a hard object to capture. Not sure I would be successful in my Bortle 6 skies! So thanks for sharing.

Must admit, I’ve not heard of this object. How lovely. 👍🏻

Lovely vivid colours. Stars look good too, I personally prefer them to look like they are in the background like this. Very nice!

Same here. In the end I set the backlash in the ZWO driver (mine was 80 steps) and didn’t touch APT. I like to keep things as simple as poss. I didn’t use the backlash aid either. Just trial and error with two bits of paper on the dual focus knobs to work it out! 😂 I just entered 50 steps as an inward final move. At the moment all seems to work very well. 🤞🏻

Awesome!

Yup, I feel your pain. I bought masks specifically designed for my scopes. It did make a difference but it wasn’t night and day. It was more accurate and consistent though. I use both SharpCap and APT but found I preferred SC. I tend zoom in a lot and try to take an average view due to atmospheric disturbances. It can do your head in after a while. All that said I recently moved across to an EAF on my triplet and will not be going back to manual focusing anytime soon! 😂 Still manual with my Mak scopes though!

Are you using a EAF or manual focusing? This is a target I definitely want to take. Especially now I have my reducer! Weather and timing permitting! M45 and The Rosette are next! Lovely image!

Starting out or trying to make sense of it all can be daunting at first but we are all here to help!

Just thought I would include the starless version as you can see the nebulas more clearly in the galaxy. Very cool!

Look forward to seeing that! I have never used my 26c for planetary although taken a couple of the moon.

Hi all. So after many years I never once took a capture of M31 until last night when I actually had about 3.5 hours of clear skies and wasn’t busy with life! Got 63x 3min usable subs at 120 gain using my AA Wave 102 triplet with a recently acquired .8 reducer and a LPRO-Max Filter. Amazing to see nebulosity in another galaxy! Also got a SVBony USB heater off Amazon for the guidescope which was suffering the last time I got my rig out. Very pleased with it. Processed in Siril and PhotoLab 7. Quite pleased with the results…

Hi Roy. Very nice image. When I shot Jupiter I use a very small ROI and could just about see Jupiter so very underexposed when capturing using my ASI585. Definitely, the smaller the ROI the fast the frame rate. 8bit Raw, 2-3mins at 252 gain. I also use PIPP then AS3 then Registax, RGB align, colour balance and wavelets. I never got Drizzle to work very well in AS3!! 20_09_08_pipp_lapl5_ap28 piipp.tiff

Ah. Okay. Reread that! Just as well I didn’t buy an OAG! 😂 I know the atmosphere has been really bad lately taking a serious toll on guiding to the point where I’m thinking what’s the point. 🙄. Mount and guide fighting each other!

That truly is impressive. I have tried taking the Squid but never see it! I must be doing something wrong. May I ask what your setting were?

That is a fantastic image and well controlled core. Thanks for sharing your settings. Interesting to hear that an OAG helped your guiding issues. I have had some problems in guiding recently but put it down to awful atmospherics. Can’t see why I couldn’t try one out but it would be with a frac? I have also experienced the same colour issues doing a two panel mosaic. I found doing both panels in the same night then repeating over a couple of nights seemed to produce more consistent results.

How lovely is that! 10min exposures. I’ve never ventured more than 5. Will be giving that a go if weather permits! 🙄

Thank you for your words of encouragement. After four hours of acquisition time, I only had six useable subs when I imaged the soul nebula on the same night. Yup, looks clear but the seeing isn’t just bad it’s awful!!! I’m sure I would regret selling my equipment just because of the weather and or equipment not working as it should but this hobby doesn’t half challenge ones patience; worth it in the end though!

Ta, I used an Altair Wave 102 with a Hypercam 26c attached.