michael8554

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

Remarkable combination of heavy engineering and micro engineering. Did Michael Fish make the weather report ? Good explanations for the layman of how telescopes work. Yes, application of a simple audio noise filter would have been good. Michael

I straight-away thought PE, but as you said, the middle image has stars that are separated, not linked. Diff Flexture, the focuser sagging or guidescope flexing seems a possibility - is it me or does focus look off ? "guiding was around RMS 0.60 for the session." The GuideLog would show if guiding was good for every exposure. Michael

"You're so vain, you probably think this (post) is about you............." 😆 Michael

Hi Neil "when I slew manually at a motor rate of 5 or 6, the backlash is 'more or less' gone, however, when at a faster rate, it is quite severe and I can't get rid of it. " In what way are you seeing Backlash in this situation ? Michael

GuideLog for 13th looked good. Similar RA and Dec errors should mean round stars. You could try Binning the guidecam, which will up the pixel scale and increase sensitivity. Which would allow you to reduce the 3 sec exposure time, as MultiStar compensates for "Chasing the Seeing" to a degree. Michael

Coma and Tilt. But you should be looking at a single short exposure, to eliminate tracking/guiding errors. Michael

Bin 2: Will make the camera more sensitive. Will double the image scale. Michael