MartinB

Adrian, I've just checked. Gain 150 and offset 40

Very true!

Regarding the spots, they are just dust bunnies on your chip, Nothing to be too anxious about. They are images crying out for flats!

You need the spacing between the reducer and the camera chip. Because it isn't a flattener you can vary the spacing. The recommended for the specified reduction is 85mm. Obviously you normally arrange things so that your filter wheel, OAG and any other stuff fit in the space but even then you often have to use spacers. In my case with my 10" LX200 I usually use an AO unit with OAG and a QSI with built in filter wheel but still have to add to the distance.

The ccdt67 doesn't flatten the field and is very well made. The main problem I have found is a little image tilt due to the weight of the extended optical train.

Ah! Just seen it on youtube, brilliant!

This is wonderful Gav. Last night I did a talk on discovering the night sky to my U3A astro group. I wish I had seen this before, it would have been great. I would have thought youtube would be the best place for it on social media

Yes I recently bought a new one from FLO. I have been doing some imaging with a widefield set up using a 200mm Canon lens with an ASI 1600 pro. My CGEM is a bit overkill for this set up and also I like to use that mount for observing with my 10" LX200 SCT, so EQ35-pro is both for widefield imaging and for carrying my ED120 for visual. I haven't used it yet for imaging but it has been fine for visual, it is much easier to take out into the garden than the CGEM, it seems to support the ED120 nicely, the polar scope gives a reasonably close alignment and the goto is accurate. I have tweaked the backlash a bit which is very easy to do. I have a small problem which I still have to sort - there is a sticking point close to the E to W meridian when manually slewing RA with the clutch released (nothing to do with the worm gear tweaks). It has full SyncScan capability including use of EqMod It's a great set up for grab and go visual and short focal length imaging. It sits nicely between an HEQ5 and a Star Adventurer. A mount of this size is always worth having!

Exactly! It makes a huge difference.

Thank you Olly. I'm really enjoying this setup, I think it is the small pixels that make it work.

Thank you Peter and Michael

Thank you Carole? Thanks Barry, yes it's a very nice lens, good for full frame so it isn't over extended by the ASI 1600. Focusing at F2.8 takes a bit of care but an old Bahtinov mask I had for a WO ZS66 fits it perfectly. Yes Adrian, it's a straight Hubble palette. Most people seem to dislike any green and obliterate it but I like to leave some in the image since it is actually the colour assigned to the most dominant element, I have attenuated it a little though! Thanks Dave!

OIII is affected much more than sii or ha. Even the few OIII with a clear sky had big gradients from the moon, but still more useable than broadband.

This has been captured over the past few weeks using my little widefield setup. Hasn't it been a nightmare lately for those of us in the UK!!? I got a dollop of Ha one night and then I have been slowly trying to gather OIII and SII data. Getting a cloud free frame has been like panning for gold, and don't get me going on the moon!! ASI 1600 pro with Baader 7nm filters and a Canon 200mm L @ F2.8 30x5mins Ha, 7x5mins OIII (30+ subs jettisoned) SII 20x5mins (20 subs jettisoned) Captured with SGP, calibrated and combined with Maxim and processed in PS So the lack of data shows but time to move on. I like the field of view though. Have included the Ha mono as well, just wish I hadn't plonked it in the middle of the frame, I would have liked to show more of the faint stuff off to the right.

Beautiful image, love the colour and great work with the tidal stream, sure evidence of a nice dark sky

Looking good Alan. Good luck with the colour

Looks a very smart and well thought out piece of kit. I think it will be going head to head with something like the Canon 200mm F2.8 (which retails at around £700) which I am currently using with an ASI 1600 pro and EFW for wide field astroimaging. With the small small pixel size of modern cameras be they DSLR or astro cameras this focal length is extremely useful and permits lovely wide field views without sacrificing too much resolution, certainly a good alternative to mosaics. If I didn't have the 200mm lens (along with a x1.4 extender offering 280mm) I would definitely be interested. The Canon is an awesome performer though, even at F2.8, focusing needs some care and a steady hand but isn't too difficult. It isn't as sexy as that Red Cat though!