TiffsAndAstro

Bodes and cigar also 13x60sec I'm guessing there's some tilt in this and m51 above, maybe and/or coma. Will try a proper 2 or 3 hours on one target tonight, clouds permitting. Though now I've seen it, I will have to try and image the smile face at the of markarians chain 😁

I can only seem to unscrew it and the front element comes away with the hood. Also the inside of the front element was dirty. Front of the front element also needs a clean but I cant reach it down the front of the dew shield. The threads look a bit rusty and janky too.

ok so looking at my longer sub guide test shots, im hoping the guiding drops were wind and/or focus related. I focused it in the afternoon and it was way, way out when i tried guiding. i focused it more but possibly not enough. Also clouds. i did manage to get 13x60sec (both guided? lol) of m51 and cigar galaxy. my previous best image of m51 was 2 hours on a £10 40 year old 200mm (cropped in ) 13x60sec seems a decent start with my new stuff - just a quick stretch.

taking photos of bode's galaxy right now. after focusing for 3ppa used the manual focus target and using bahtinov mask seem perfectly lined up crosses (which im a tad suspicious at). my 1st sub had trails, but my second looked spot on. not tried to get guiding going yet as i want to run 20 x 60 sec subs on bodes and then maybe an hour on m51 if clear skies last that long. is there any other quick test i should run so that people on here could spot any obvious problems? 3ppa was a bit of a pain but i ran a second one went well. ********** ok trail i thought i saw might be a double star *********** holy f&^£*&^g [removed word]. this dummy pressed here and magical guiding has seemed to happen. even though i focused it in daylight i really had to wind the guide scope focus a lot before stars showing. when i calibrate snr was about 20, now im guiding as i do some increasing exposure time tests its about 13 to 14. i didn't recalibrate when i sequenced m51 though. when the test subs are done, i'll try and do a proper hour maybe two until clouds on m51, dithering (gonna guess at a number for now) full calibration frames, and see how it looks compared to my previous best effort (mirror lens lol).... ill post some screenshots tomorroasd in case any insights can be gleaned, but im a happy chappy so far subs look crap. will try re calibrating gudining before i try a proper go at m51

ah i thought it slid up/down ty so much

Does the dew shield actually detach from this? is it non detachable on later models? cos all mine seems to do is unscrew with the front element. i don't want to try and slide it with too much force....

Should I be looking at getting a UV/ir cut filter to use with an evostar 72ed + flattener with unmodded 600d? If so, would I still use it if I get an astro cam like the zwo585? Would any UV/ir filter also filter light pollution? I'm bortle6. I get gradients at lower targets but siril seems at least ok at removing them. Lastly (for now, sorry) would I use this on every type of target galaxy/emission/reflection nebula?

Ty I was dreading back focus issues, but as far as I can tell it's ball park with what seems like room to move focus tube in and out when I use bahtinov mask. will try get everything connected to Nina tonight/tomorrow and take a chance dodging clouds

Will check portrait mode I think it will be ok. The tripod is ok for what it is, sky watcher 1.75 inch steel replacement will be here tomorrow or Monday

I'm thick skinned and not easily offended. Would welcome any even vaguely constructive criticism. I'm here to learn

Omg Ty so much Your focus knobs axis is 90 degrees to your dovetail, like how mine arrived in the case but I rotated the tube rings so they're not as in pic below. It's ok for me to do what I have, right?

Can't balance it with the vixen dovetail I bought as an extra so no pics for a few days until I return the short dovetail for the longer one I originally ordered. Or find a weight and somehow attach it to the front but not keen. Pretty annoying though, especially as I can see some blue sky peeking through and could have tested ok this might not be quite accurate as I might be able to slide the tube forward a little in it's tube rings. Stay tuned for more exciting updates Seems balanced now, just without the wiring

By Jove I think I've found where it should be, but a second opinion would be welcome

I think this is my plan, but I'll mark it once I've balanced it. Famous ladt words, but balancing my dslr was no problem, but it's not a lot of mass. I'm guessing it will be trickier with my new stuff

Will have a look at the finder shoe ty

When I manage get a pic of it in a couple of hours, I'd suggest wearing shades before viewing

yeah in a perfect world i might be able to do that but not right now. ill break it down into bits but leave guide scope/cam and flattenter in place. the flattener is pushed in so that the little rim in gripped by the screws on the scope itself. the focuser is out a little. im guessing i will have to adjust this a little when i can test it on stars. it was surprisingly easy to get into focus on a quick test, so im a little skeptical i've done it 100% correctly not sure about my guide cam though. nina picks it up in equipment/camera tab though. are you plugged into an asi air there? my wiring is not as near ;( we have a surprisingly similar set up. will post a pic if get it all mounted later.

It was in the case my evolux 72ed arrived in. I don't think there are any in the telescope itself, so it looks like a freebie

ok lol so maybe i'm over confident but that was easy enough. i push the flattener in almost all the way until the lip is past t he locking screws. i'd moved the focus tube (i think correct term) out a bit via the focus knobs. after that i can easily focus past and back a power line tower maybe 3/4 mile away. im hoping that's close enough. next dumb question: if i leave the flattener attached to the scope, it won't fit in the nice case it comes with so the case is really only for medium to long term and i should leave everything set up as much as i can? also i don't see anywhere in nina to set the guide scope focal length. do i need to install PHD2 because it looks like its included within nina already? i focused the guide scope and cam via the asi tool seems ok.

Oops for title meant to say this screw Any screw aficionado recognise this one? Think it has a small hex socket on top.

Well it's arrived but slight hiccup. I'll deffo try in daylight, no reason I can use my mount and point it at a distant power line, focus on that. Then use fine focus with my bahtinov mask on a bright star to get it spot on. In a few weeks when there maybe a clear sky. I can deffo get the guide scope and camera going in the meantime. I will probably be tempted to try imaging something with the guide scope and cam lol.

I was just about to chuck a couple of toilet roll tubes in recycling Stuff should arrive before twelve so soon see how I get on

Ty so much this, will attempt follow it with my stuff. Bit apprehensive about it tbh

So mine must be the long tube version, too? Which means less of my image train will be hanging on a bit tighter so maybe less chance of tilt? I won't be doing any rotating for a little while as I get used to this thing.

If you mean me, sure Once it arrives and I've laid out my telescope adjustment hammers. sadly, the vixen dovetail won't colour coordinate with my mount, so we may have to shield out eyes oh yeah, and wires. Lots of wires. And if proper tripod hasn't arrived, imagine my £5 flea market tripod is an amazing one, robot hewn out of carbotanium. And gold.