Hals

M31 20x120 sec subs, no filter, taken as the Moon was starting to get a bit too high for comfort and the sky getting lighter. Overall I'm happy with this considering. NGC 6992 again 20x120 sec subs, no filter. Needs a lot more integration time, a first attempt and the start of an ongoing project.

Ah! Thanks, I do eventually intend to connect APT up to the mount at some stage, it's just I've only x2 USB ports on my laptop these will both be used for my camera's. Looks like a USB hub is on the shopping list! Thanks again.

I'll be using APT for planning my subs and using PHD2 for guiding. I don't have EQ Mod installed so I'm using the Synscan hand controller for locating objects, which I'm happy with and comfortable using. My question is will it be ok to use just the hand controller to locate my objects then use APT\PHD2 for the previously mentioned uses only? ie: I won't have to connect APT to my mount?

DeepSky Stacker for stacking, the rest with Photoshop or at a push, GIMP.

A bit more processing, a bit noisy but at least I caught the Crescent Nebula, albeit faintly !

https://www.mpb.com/en-uk/used-equipment/used-photo-and-video/used-digital-slr-cameras/ Often have some good deals on used gear 😀

Here's my initial test shoot from last night, uncropped, 20 lights, 10 darks, 10 bias no flats: unguided 30 sec exposure with manual focus without a Bahtinov mask (it's in the post). It's just a random area of sky in Cygnus I didn't target anything just wanted to see how the stars were. I think they're pretty much round right to the edge. Very quickly processed but I'm happy with the result so far. I was hoping for a good result with the WO Z71 but dreading stretched stars or trailing. Now for some proper targets...Onwards and upwards.

So, after some research and much YouTubing I’ve pulled the trigger on a William Optics Z71 Star II Quad APO Astrograph. Should fulfil my needs for wide field with fast and quality optics. I’ll be doing shorter unguided subs initially then later I’ll get an autoguider rig for it. I feel like I’ve taken the red pill and am about to fall down the rabbit hole 😀

Portability is a criteria, I know the ED80 is pretty portable but I'm edging for the WO partly because I have the option of a good deal with it and its superior (IMHO) build quality and finish. I'll let you know which one I get eventually !

That’s what I thought 👍

It’s a Canon 80D DSLR.

Torn between these two for wide field imaging. Can anyone with experience of either offer a good comparison, pro's & cons etc. I'm leaning towards the ZS61 at the moment and whichever one I get will do me for a few years.

Compared to my shed, that's a show house !!! 😆

Excellent solution guys !

The star you mention is mag 12.9 and is a good test of both your optics and the sky conditions as you’ll only see it a relatively high magnification.

Just been looking at Venus and Mercury through the 10-inch Dob. Venus is a beautifully thin crescent and Mercury a tiny copper coloured gibbous disk. Glad I managed to catch them before they drop below the trees to my west. Also got a very thin crescent Moon so a nice prelude to tonight's session.

Having absolutely zero woodworking skills I'm watching this build with interest. I've looked at quite a few designs and frankly I'm not up to making one. Period. I know my limitations. Think I'll have to go down the commercial route and buy one somewhere. Good luck with this project you have my admiration.