Thorney

Hello. Please someone correct me if I am wrong but yes the upgrade will be worth it. I haven’t done mine yet but will be when time allows. I believe it makes tracking smoother and reduces the backlash as the gears can have play in them.

I use the ASIair, I went straight to that when I started imaging so I have no experience with a laptop and unable to compare. However I find the ASIair easy to use for polar align, controlling the camera, target find and guiding. I connect to a heq5 pro with a EQMOD cable so you don’t need the hand controller. The DSLR plugs in via usb and can be controlled easily. As mentioned earlier I cannot compare to a laptop but you’ll have your pros and cons but for me I would recommend.

I’m in the same situation as you. I have a Redcat but also looking for something with a longer focal length so will be following this topic for ideas. It also depends what mount you’re using though as the weight issue comes into account.

What I normally do is In the levels histogram you can select the colour channels individually instead of RGB. So go into the red channel and move the left hand slider over to just before the data then do the same with green and blue. The data should be roughly together and will balance the colour out.

I use a L extreme with a 600D. It’s a great filter and works very well. Sometimes I think the filter is a bit much for the camera though, not sure if it’s just down to me, sensor temperature being high and seeing conditions I’m still well in the early stages of post processing so haven’t figured out how to separate the channels for a false HOO yet. Hopefully I’ll be getting a OSC camera soon so looking forward to using it with that.

I use the ASIair and as far as I’m aware when clouds roll in you’ll get a message to say guide star lost, the mount still tracks but unguided then when the asi can pick the guide star up again it will continue to guide. I have no experience with imaging and guiding with a laptop as I haven’t been doing it long but I find the ASIair very easy to use.

I have seen a few examples of people doing this and with tutorials on other software programs but none on photoshop. As I only use PS myself I’m keen to see if and how the workflow can be done. Hopefully someone has an answer.

I mainly use an app called ‘Sky Live’ then I’ll check Clear Out Side and Apple weather to compare. I will always end up going back to Sky Live as it seems to be the most accurate.

I may be wrong on this but once you load all your images into DSS from the first night there will be a tab at the bottom to make another group. Then load your images from the second night into that group and so on.

Taken a few nights ago with my Redcat 51, Stock 600D, heq5 pro mount. Just over 3 hours of data. Think my tracking was slightly out as the stars aren’t sharp but happy with my first attempt.

Gone galaxy hunting with the little Redcat. Not the best at 250mm but it’s all I’ve got at the moment. The second image is a preview from the ASIair

I haven’t done it yet but I am planning on leaving my equipment running over night. As already said, I’ll make sure the cables are clear from snagging, no rain and everything is safe. I’m sure it will all be fine though.

Shot on my 200p dob 10 frames stacked and processed

Had my first go at stacking and processing the moon last night. Shot with a Redcat 51, Canon 600D, Star Adventurer. pipp, Autostakkert, Photoshop

I have a Canon 600D and you can zoom in on live view so I would say you can do the same. I normally just stick my ISO way up zoom in on the star and focus that way. Failing that just take a 1 second exposure with the mask on and zoom in that way to see the spikes and make minor adjustments until focused.

Already have my tickets for it. Looking like a clear night for me on Thursday though which is typical.

Ok thanks for that. I’ll take a look and have another go.

My first time capturing this target after many failed attempts. This is 3 hours and 40 minutes over 2 nights under a full moon. ISO1600 300s and 240s exposures. I used Darks/Flats/Bias for both sessions and dithered for the first night. Shot with a Canon 600D. RedCat 51. Optolong L Extreme filter. HEQ5 pro. ZWO120mm guide camera and scope. ASIair pro I feel as I've over done it on the noise reduction though as I was trying to eliminate the redness is the sky, but every time I done a stretch it would come back? (I'm not even sure what it is) Does anyone know what this could be or is this normal? Any other advice or criticism would be much appreciated. Thanks

All the ports were turned on so I turned off the ones I wasn’t using and set the dew straps to about 60%. As for the ST4 cable, I always thought I needed it? I won’t connect that next time then. One less thing to get tangled. I managed to guide again last night so I’m hoping the problem has sorted it’s self.

I think they only save in the auto run mode. They will save as FITS on the sd card but if you save them on the camera they will still be in RAW

The mount is connected to the ASIair with a EQMOD cable, ST4 from the guide camera to the mount and usb from guide camera to ASIair. My DSLR is connected with a USB and the Dew straps were connected via the DC 12v ports. I have set up tonight and everything seems to be working ok. I haven’t got the dew straps connected though so I am thinking these could of been the problem or it’s just a coincidence. I shall try with these tomorrow and see what happens then. Thank you all for the advice and help.

These look similar to my settings apart from the focal length to the guide scope. I assume you are using a different one to me? Also my Auto restore calibration was off as I think I have been doing that manually. I shall be double checking this though. Thanks

I’m using 2 AC/DC 12v 5A. One to power the mount and the other to power the ASIair. These are then connected to an extension lead which is then connected to an outdoor socket.

Thank you all for the reply’s. The mount was connected to the mains as was the ASIair. I normally just control the mount, guide camera and main camera through the ASIair but last night I also connected 2 dew straps into the port. So maybe these could of been affecting the power? As for the focus that seemed fine as it was selecting the stars for guiding, I even knocked it slightly out of focus and selected my own stars but still wouldn’t work. The none movement on the RA for 60 degrees was for the polar alignment but once that worked I was able to slew to the targets without a problem. From then is when I tried to set up guiding. I’m not entirely sure how much the mount moved in the 60 steps as each time was different and I was getting rather frustrated with it all. Off the top of my head I can’t remember what my settings were but I did turn up the aggressiveness on them all but still had no luck. I shall attempt again but with out the dew straps connect as this seemed to work before. Failing that I can try guiding on the Star Adventurer and if that works then I know it must be something with my HEQ5? Thanks again for your comments.

So last night i went to set up the auto guiding. I’m using the ZWO 120 mini with guide scope, heq5 pro mount and the ASIair pro. All my settings were the same as previous sessions expected the focus seemed to be the best I’ve had it. Chose a star and after about 60 steps west I get a notification saying calibration failed star did not move enough. I tried this a fair few times but kept getting the same results. I then change a few settings and chose a couple other stars but to no joy. I read somewhere that I could of been focusing on a hot pixel but I believe this wasn’t the case. My cables were all attached properly so don’t think these were the issue either. On the other hand tho I did have my dew heaters plugged into the ASIair for the first time and that an issue with the mount when I tried to polar align. The mount was trying to turn 60 degrees in the RA, the motor was running but the mount wouldn’t move. After a few tweaks I did sort this problem, so I’m unsure if this could of affected the guiding? Has anyone had the same or similar issues? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks