michael8554

Yes it would help to know which mount you have. My AE MegaWedge is made from 15mm steel. "Could this be accurate enough to allow tracking?" If you only want to track, you don't need a wedge, the Alt/Az mount will do that already. If you want to guide, then Polar Mode on a wedge is best. You will need a method of adjusting the Alt and Az of the wedge, even if it's made to sub-millimeter tolerances. To get a PA error of no worse than 5 arcmins. Michael

If you're using PHD2 to guide, the PHD2 Calibration Assistant will slew the mount to near south and Dec = 0 before Calibration starts. PHD2 will then automatically adjust the RA guiding to match the higher Dec of the target you eventually GoTo. So if the guidescope is pointing considerably far off Dec = 0 when the mount is at Dec = 0, that might affect how well PHD2 guides RA on the target. Pointing the guidecam at Dec = 0 will still confuse, as PHD2 will still calculate based on the Dec of the mount. Michael

Thanks kobu, I'll try that newer driver on my LodeStar X2, weather permitting :-< Michael

Castor thinks it's a load of Pollux........... Michael

Decathlon do rubber coated weights. Make "cotton reel" adapters from wood dowel. Michael

High Skip I have a LodeStar X2 and have never seen the interlace problem associated with this camera's sensor. I use the "Starlight Xpress SXV" driver, not the "Starlight Xpress LodeStar (ASCOM), with an OAG, and no Binning. Michael

Hi Bruce I hope you get some answers here, but the Meade section of the US "Cloudy Nights" forum has Meade experts lurking. To control the LX90 remotely you don't need a camera, just the right cables and software. Michael

I'd be interested to know: If it is the short FL version, how bad was it at 105mm ? Michael

Hi Ian Allegedly these Meade FR's come in two identical looking flavours. Measure its focal length by focusing the sun (what sun ? 😆 ) onto a wall. If it's around 210mm, adjust for best star shape in the corners, starting at 105mm Back Focus. If the FL is about 135mm, start at 85mm Back Focus. Michael

You should already have inline fuses for your mount and other equipment. If the peltier has a fault it shouldn't harm your mount if connected in parallel. But an unfused short in the peltier circuit could lead to thermal runaway. Michael

I've converted many Canon DSLRs, and used to measure the sensor-to-mounting plate distance at the three Torx screws with a digital micrometer rig. Now I mark the screws and mounting plate, and record how many Torx "points" it takes to fully tighten each one. On reassembly, fully tighten, then back off the required amount. Michael

My intuition is that with a Bahtinov, a point source is best, not an Extended Object like a planet. Why ? I but would expect the 6 spikes to be ill-defined on a planet. Michael

Best to focus on a star, not a planet, with the Bahtinov Mask. Michael

Nice. But why not the usual red leds, to help preserve night vision ? Michael

I like William's explanation. Though your post heading talks of Collimation too. If that is badly out, not just the focus, I would start with a Collimation with a high-power eyepiece. Michael

The GPS won't pickup satellites indoors. Michael

Does the shutter fire with no lens or T-Ring attached ? Have you set exposure and focus to manual ? The camera may be trying to connect to an autofocus lens. Michael

As wookie said. A lot will depend on how light-polluted your sky is. Michael

If the telescope has the two rings that clamp around it, and the bar they attach to. Then you should be able to attach the bar to the moveable head of the Velbon tripod. But I don't believe that would be stable and safe enough. I think realistically you need a new or used Equatorial or Alt/Alt mount and tripod. Michael

Facebook said ? Be prepared for reports of hordes of zombies stumbling around during Totality, because they've forgotten to take their solar spectacles off........ 😆 Michael

The room looks like the King's Observatory at Kew. Commissioned in 1769 by King George III, who was interested in astronomy. To observe the Transit of Venus, predicted to occur that year. https://www.kingsobservatory.co.uk/ Michael

The Altair Astro Starwave 66 ED-R is a Refractor with a focal length of 400mm. Measure 400mm from the doublet front element. That's where the scope focuses, that point does not move when you alter the focuser. The focuser merely moves the camera or eyepiece to that focus position. You may need Extensions to place your camera or eyepiece at that focus point, if the focuser runs out of range. Michael

Found them. In one of the earlier boxes. What idiot put them there.......... ? Michael

I've been replacing the five suspect capacitors in a Classic LX200, which requires some disassembly. I keep the groups of screws in separate closed boxes, but the tiny screws that hold the RA and Dec boards onto the motor are nowhere to be found. I remember removing them, after that it's a blank :-< Michael

Two possibilities: 1. You have guiding with RA and Dec errors very similar RA = 0.33arcsecs, Dec = 0.36arcsecs. That should yield round stars. But I notice a 1 arcsec spike in RA and Dec, so what are your RA and Dec Peak errors ? 2. Diff Flex occurs when you have good guiding figures - so the guidescope is being well guided. But if the guidescope is wobbling, such as due to soft-tipped screws in the guidescope rings, or a wobbly Finder used as a guidescope, or cables dragging. Then the imaging scope is not being guided the same as the guidescope. Remember your imaging camera has pixels with dimensions in um. A wobble less than the diameter of a human hair will elongate a star image. Michael