SteveNickolls

Really sorry to hear of your problem with the SA mount, and that it is out of warranty too. My first thought was whether the clutch mechanism was not working properly. A locked over tightened clutch is a known issue (which I have had) and you might experience the RA just moving and not being held by the clutch properly. How to free the clutch is in this video from SkyWatcher- As you need to re-position the polar reticle with the 6 o'clock at the bottom of the reticle view before each night's imaging I am now very careful to tighten but not over tighten the clutch to avoid the binding problem. I've gone to the length of placing a sticker on my mount so I remember which way to loosen the clutch-doh! I have also come across this site which might prove interesting-http://astrofriend.eu/astronomy/projects/project-star-adventurer-repair/project-star-adventurer-repair.html There are a number of degreasing/regreasing actions you can take and adjustments to the gearing. Anything on the Internet discussing a similar issue? Also, https://www.darkframeoptics.com/page/tuning do a repair/tuning service at cost. You could enquire as to the likely issue in case they have come across this before. I hope one of these ideas helps you to overcome the problem so you can use your mount. Best Regards, Steve

Hiya, Lovely M42 and good news on the extended exposure time you've achieved :-) :-) Don't have anything as good or fast as your 200-400mm f/4 lens at those FL's but my rather standard 75-300mm, which is a probably lot lighter I'll grant has allowed me to take 180 second exposures at ISO 400 f/5.6 at 300mm. That is without any guiding. I've found that when polar aligning with the SA mount to complete alignment when the SAM app shows Polaris just on a division (or half way between divisions), that way you get as accurate a polar alignment as possible. You will probably need to use the bracket and counterweight to improve balance with your camera and lens. My camera and the 75-300mm lens combined weigh in at 1,164g. Good luck with your imaging! Cheers, Steve

Thanks, I've just looked it up and it sounds quite a size, 3 degrees or so. I need to check it is visible for long enough from where I image from as I have houses and a tree that can block my view. Thanks again for the heads up. Cheers, Steve P.S. Can't see it on Stellarium but found it on the Internet. how can something so large be missing... :-)

On the evenings of the 8th and 11th of December I was able using the SA mount, Canon 600D DSLR and 85mm lens to image the Flaming Star Nebula region in Auriga and was able to marry the sets of images in DSS and subsequently process in StarTools. The following image results from just over 6 hours of light frames (a record for me). In total there were 21 x240s light frames taken plus 22 x300s, 15 x420s and 4 x480s light frames at ISO 200 f/2. Longer exposures were able to be taken as the object rose in the sky. Additionally 20 x240s dark frames plus 40 x300s, 17 x420s and 16 x480s dark frames plus x50 flat and bias frames were also stacked. DSS was used to stack the frames and StarTools to process the resulting image. The two larger open clusters are M36 and M38. To the lower left corner are three patches of nebulosity (Sharpless 2-232 and 231 and 233). The lighter belt around 2-232 can be seen running from the 7 to 1 o'clock position. Weather permitting I hope to have another go this time using my Samyang 135mm lens. Cheers, Steve

I'm sure you will find it a splendid little mount, it has its quirks but it is a quality piece of equipment. Best Regards, Steve

Hi, I can't say if it's definitely that red led finder but any really will do the job. I use an old adapter between the camera hot shoe and led finder. Again this is an old adapter accessory of mine, there will be lots on the Internet, here's one source (but there will be others)-https://www.astroshop.eu/other-astro-photo-accessories/lacerta-adapter-for-attaching-red-dot-finder-to-a-hot-shoe/p,46909 Cheers, Steve

Hi, You don't have to use the green plate and counterweight unless you think weight-wise and FL-wise it is needed. With a camera and small FL lens you could just use the adapter fitted into the mount and your pan head or (better) ball head to hold your camera and lens. My set up might show this better than I can explain, but ignore the fact i'm not using the wedge- Hope this makes sense. Good luck and enjoy your SA. Cheers, Steve

Lovely image and please do post again :-) In sharing everybody triumphs. Cheers, Steve

Hi Max, Thanks for your reply. I'm thinking you ought to be able to get longer exposures from the mount but without actually owning one I'm at arms length to give specific advice. I have the earlier Skywatcher mount, the Synscan Alt-Az and reading through Joe Ashley's book, "Astro-photography on the Go Using Short Exposures with Light Mounts" https://www.firstlightoptics.com/books/astrophotography-on-the-go-book.html I did a number of tweaks that allowed, depending upon the position of the object, 60 second exposures with usually all good frames but which fell off suddenly at 70 seconds. That was with a 2.5kg 102mm SkyWatcher Startravel achromat. I would really have expected the new mount to be a better performer than the old type. I found that keeping the telescope/camera 'bottom heavy' actually stabilized imaging against wobbles and I added a 3kg house brick onto the eyepiece tray, again to improve rigidity. I just realised I don't know how heavy your equipment is compared to the capability of the mount, nor am I familiar with your type of telescope. 500mm FL is not excessive. In his book Joe mentions that aiming for two hours of sub exposures is an ideal but in this country and with field rotation to take into account that is not always possible. Certain targets like globular clusters don't need so much exposure to reveal their detail. I would suggest either taking more dark frames (say x50) or taking none at all. I've tried both in the past and because our camera's have no temperature control you can potentially do more harm than good using dark frames taken at temperatures wildly different to your light frames. Flat frames are always useful to take as are bias frames. One other factor is the level of light pollution where you live. If you have dark skies that is a definite plus as your signal to noise ratio will be higher and that's mostly what we are trying to achieve with all the exposures taken. Good luck with more attempts. Cheers, Steve

Well done. As you get experience across all the aspects of Alt-Az imaging, that's getting to know your equipment, the stacking requirements and processing software techniques your images will come on in leaps and bounds. There's capability in StarTools to make stars rounder and separate nebulosity from the starry background, treat both and recompose together. Intrigued what exposure lengths you might be able to wring from the AZ GTi :-) Do keep posting. Good luck and clear, dark skies. Best Regards, Steve P.S. Have taken your image and in StarTools used the REPAIR module to make the stars rounder, the HEAL and LAYER modules to separate the nebulosity and stars, process the nebulosity and re-combine and used the FILTER module ('fringe killer' filter technique) to remove the blue haloes. If you have the StarTools Unofficial Manual these processes can be found on p127-8, p83-90 and p98-9 respectively. The resulting image is below. I think longer/more exposures will help bring out more nebulosity and blue colour.

Cracking images, can you tell us the fuller imaging details, camera, lens, number of exposures etc? Cheers, steve

Here's the latest imaging of the Heart and Soul Nebulae region using the SA mount taken on 24.11.2017, this time taking 5 minute individual exposures. Equipment used was my Canon 600D DSLR with clip-in Astronomik UHC filter and 85mm lens at f/2 ISO 200. x25 300 second light frames plus x16 dark frames were taken and stacked with x50 flat and bias frames. The exif temperatures recorded for the frames were virtually constant at around 15 degrees C while the outside air temperature was 1 degree C. Adding the extra minute exposure reveals a lot more nebulosity and less noise. Frames stacked using DSS and processed in StarTools. Cheers, Steve

45s at f2 is the most the local light pollution allows before the image whites out. I now have a UHC filter to try out :-D Cheers, Steve

Here's a cropped image of the Sadr region in Cygnus taken earlier this year on 19.9.2017 using the Canon 600D DSLR with my 135mm Samyang f/2 lens on the SA mount. Image from x70 forty five second light exposures at ISO 400 plus x20 dark frames and x50 flat and bias frames. All frames stacked in DSS and processed using StarTools. Cheers, Steve

A good site concerning lenses here-http://www.astropix.com/html/i_astrop/lenses.html Some excellent lenses reviewed here-https://www.lenstip.com/lenses_reviews.html Cheers, Steve

No, having a dark sky will help with taking longer images though. Cheers, Steve

Thanks for your post. I've had my Star Adventurer (SA) mount since April and can vouch for it's usefulness and capability. I have a Canon 600D DSLR and under dark skies this August on holiday took the following image- This was with my Samyang 135mm lens at f/2, ISO 1600 and made up from x8 180 second exposures plus x10 dark frames and x50 each flat and bias frames stacked in Deep sky Stacker and processed in StarTools. Back home I struggle against the local light pollution and last week obtained an Astronomik UHC clip in filter allowing me to take 240 second exposures of the Heart and Soul Nebulae region on the 17th November and I am pleased with the result. This is using my 85mm lens at f/2- This is made from x30 light exposures at 240 seconds, ISO 200 and stacked with x16 dark frames and x50 flat and x57 bias frames. Again stacked in DSS and processed using StarTools. The SA mount is very good and can be recommended. Good luck, Steve

So sorry to hear you are under the weather, get well soon to take advantage of the next clear precious night! I am out capturing but (and I have to admit) it's using an EQ Star Adventurer mount. I still hold alt-Az imaging dear though. Cheers, Steve