michael8554

The focal length of the AR80 is 640mm. So roughly measure 640mm from the front glass elements. That will give you an approximate idea of where the camera sensor needs to be located to be in focus. The M50 with the usual long T2 Adapter will measure 55mm from the sensor to the end of the adapter. Then add a stock-length extension, using the OTA focuser to make the total spacing correct. You can roughly focus during the day on a distant landmark. Use daytime camera settings and LiveView. Then fine tune on the moon (fast exposures), and then stars. Michael

Instructions on how to Custom White Balance are in the camera instruction manual. When you download the .CR2 Raw files to editing software you have a choice of whether or not to apply that custom WB to the images. For astro use I don't bother with a custom WB, I just adjust the images in editing software, PhotoShop etc. For daytime snaps the custom WB gives acceptable results, but I do give them a tweak. Michael

Well done ! Just to repeat for anyone else contemplating a diy mod. If (as recommended in the written Honis instructions) you mark a line on the ribbon cables with a thin Sharpie where they enter the sockets, you can see if they are crooked or not fully reinserted. "Also I did not glue down the torque screws connected to the sensor he says it might change focus. Will this happen and if so how fast." You'll have to explain what you mean by "glue". The tilt of the sensor is adjusted at the factory, apparently they always need slight adjustment by tightening the Torx screws by different amounts. Hopefully you measured the different Torx screw positions, otherwise you'll have Sensor Tilt. If you haven't moved the sensor towards the shutter, or added a clear or Baader filter to compensate for the removal of the LPF2 filter, then Autofocus on lenses will be incorrect. And manual focusing through the viewfinder. And lenses may not manually reach infinity focus. On a telescope, focus with LiveView will always be correct. Michael

There are approx 50 guide pulses shown in the Target. At say 2 secs exposure that's only about 2 minutes of guiding. During that period guiding might have been correcting the first half of your PE curve. And correcting a bit of Dec drift. The Y-Axis on the Guide Graph is too coarse to see what's going on, try setting it to show +/-3 Arcsecs. Michael

"I'm fairly certain I have all ribbon cables put back in correctly but not 100% sure I guess, " Did you mark the ribbon cable insertion depth with a Sharpie, as recommended in the written instructions ? I've sometimes missed attaching the single Sensor Cleaning ribbon on the LPF-1 filter. Might stop the camera working if you forgot to disable that before modding. "a few small plastic bits fell off around the sd card any bettery doors and one under the rubber to the top right of the screen," Put this one down to experience for the next camera.....:-< Michael

I've use cheap Chinese DC Couplers for years. Only problem I've had was a particularly thin cable getting frayed where it went through the rubber flap at the side of the battery box. This one looks to have a decent cable. Michael

Had you left LiveView on ? Michael

If you only want to take programmed sequences of long exposures, downloaded to the PC or memory card, then the EOS Utilities that comes with the camera will suffice. That's what I do with my modded 6D. Michael

Hi Andrew "my imaging set up resolution was 0.47”/px and my guider resolution was 2.97”/px. " Seems reasonable to me. If you want to know whether it's guiding or optics, you have to start with a single short sub, stretched if necessary, to eliminate guide errors. Which of your scopes was this image taken with ? Guessing from the pixel scale it's the SCT. So it might be coma and a bit of tilt, looking at the image. Michael

Updating some drivers shouldn't have caused this problem with the mount. Which drivers were they ? Or were you updating the firmware ? That might well cause problems. Michael

Hope you find the problem. But in any case, wouldn't the focuser tube be better supported on the bearings, so have less chance of sagging, if it was almost fully retracted, and a suitable extension added ? Michael

Check in Task Manager that there aren't multiple instances of Canon Utilities running. Latest W10 version of Canon Utilities ? https://pdisp01.c-wss.com/gdl/WWUFORedirectTarget.do?id=MDIwMDAwNjY2MDAx&cmp=ABR&lang=EN Try with the Canon's WiFi disabled, I'm not sure if that conflicts. Nothing installed as Administrator ? Michael

What lens/OTA were you using ? Did your images from last night look like they had poorer focus ? As you said, you can only set to the best figure, and factors you can't see such as the Jet Stream and high altitude cloud may be causing the higher reading. Or the onset of dew ? Michael

You tested without a star diagonal ? Otherwise has to be a loose element that periodically unjams itself, but not when APM tested it :-< Michael

As elp said. 1. If you're planetary imaging, you will be capturing high framerate video from the camera. Most if not all guiding progs require long exposure mode, not video mode. 2. If you're long exposure imaging of galaxies etc the reverse occurs. The guiding prog takes a 1 to 4 second exposure, and then sends a correction pulse to the mount. But the uninterrupted exposure required for the galaxy may well be several minutes. S-BIG used to make cameras with a second smaller guide chip by the side of the main chip, a form of Off Axis guiding Michael

Theoretical 40 Amps @ 12V should be enough for several devices. Are you using adequately sized cables for the length of run ? Michael

I wasn't suggesting your equipment was in any danger. Your BBQ cover could move in strong winds and rain could get into that socket. Or dew, BBQ covers are good generators. Michael

Does the date 2022-10-01 = 10th January ? Or, you've shown the iOptron and PC time, but what is the time in NINA ? Michael

This one of those examples where there is the proper way to do it, such as : Armoured cable from an RCD in the consumer unit (fuse box) to a IP rated enclosure by the mount. Or a fairly safe and practical way such as the OP proposes. Anthony, IMO your non-IP rated socket protected by a BBQ cover is really pushing your luck. Michael

Yes try the PHD2 PPEC algorithm at a fixed 122 secs. From the log I see Norm rates RA = 18.1"/s @ dec 0, Dec = 14.8"/s At mount settings of RA Guide Speed = 13.5 a-s/s, Dec Guide Speed = 13.5 a-s/s, I'm really not sure of the effect of the calculated RA guide rate being more than sidereal rate. But pretty aggressive guide rates, perhaps try a lower RA and Dec mount setting and see what happens ? Guide figures on the last session were good RA = 0.36arcsecs, Dec = 0.34arcsecs. Though reported PA error was 11.2arcmins at Dec = 66.2 The previous run was 3.7arcmins at Dec = 22.8 Tripod shifting ? Michael

From the GuideLog, the final guide session was good RA = 0.37arcsec, Dec = 0.34arcsec, So stars should be round, but images show elongation predominately in Dec ! "but it made it easier to find a star with decent SNR." " but the SNR was too low to bother with" Does that mean that you are choosing stars instead of PHD2 ? a) so long as the star that PHD2 autoselects shows "SNR" on the toolbar in green, then PHD2 is happy, no need to look for "better" stars. b) manual selection disables MultiStar, not a problem if the OAG only gives you one star. You don't seem to be Calibrating at +/-20 from Dec = 0 ? Dec = 66.2 deg, Dec = 31.8 deg, Michael

From distant memory the FT232R may need two rounds of installation. Click on the symbol that has the exclamation mark and "Update Driver" Michael

"Now, when I switch it on it no longer asks me for the date and time but goes straight to 2-star align after I select standard time." I don't know what you mean by selecting standard time. The instructions to change the time are: 1. Press ENTER to begin the alignment process. 2.The hand control will prompt the user to set the mount to its index position. Move the telescope mount, either manually or with the hand control, so the index marked in both R.A. and Dec are aligned. Press ENTER to continue. • The hand control will then display the last entered local time, time zone and date. • Use the Up/Down keys (10) to view the current parameters. • Press ENTER to accept the current parameters. • Press BACK to enter current date, time and location information into the hand control. 3. The following information will be displayed: • Location – The hand control will display a list of cities to choose from. Choose the city from the database that is closest to your current observing site. The city you choose will be remembered in the hand control’s memory so that it will be automatically displayed the next time an alignment is done. Alternatively, if you know the exact longitude and latitude of your observing site, it can be entered directly into the hand control and remembered for future use as well. To choose a location city: • Use the Up and Down scroll keys to choose between City Database and Custom Site. City Database will allow you to select the closest city to your observing site from a list of either international or U.S. location. Custom Site allows you to enter the exact longitude and latitude of your observing site. Select City Database and press ENTER. • The hand control will allow you to choose from either U.S. or international locations. For a listing of U.S. locations by state and then by city, press ENTER while United States is displayed. For international locations, use the Up or Down scroll key to select International and press ENTER. • Use the Up and Down Scroll buttons to choose your current state (or country if an International location was selected) from the alphabetical listing and press ENTER. • Use the Up and Down Scroll buttons to choose the closest city to your location from the displayed list and press ENTER. • Time – Enter the current local time for your area. You can enter either the local time (i.e., 08:00), or you can enter military time (i.e., 20:00). • Select PM or AM. If military time was entered, the hand control will bypass this step. • Choose between Standard time or Daylight Savings time. Use the Up and Down scroll buttons (10) to toggle between options. • Select the time zone that you are observing from. Again, use the Up and Down buttons (10) to scroll through the choices. Refer to Time Zone map in Appendix for more information. • Date – Enter the month, day and year of your observing session. Note: Updating Your Location – Since you may not need to update your observing location as often as the date and time, it is not displayed each time you update the date and time. To update your city, press BACK at any time when updating your date and time. Continue to press BACK to change the state, country or to add longitude/latitude coordinates.

Hi Ray The image is formed about where the white lines converge, and the camera sensor is roughly where the black line is. EDIT: The ads for 200P's show the extension with a eyepiece in it, so I assumed that worked as per my diagram. But Adam may have the real story. Michael

Well done Marvin Supernovae are random events, so you were lucky to be pointing at the right place, apparently in the "Red Bull" constellation . Quite a bright one......... 😆 Michael