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Everything posted by recceranger
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I totally disagree with you here I'm afraid. Yes, open forum is fine to express an opinion with regards to the performance (or lack of) of equipment. However, when it comes to the private business between paying customer and supplier, then those matters should not be open source. So I'm sorry, you are incorrect. I hope this clarifies it for you
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Some customer/supplier correspondence is better in private message don’t you think
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Milky Way rising
recceranger replied to recceranger's topic in Imaging - Widefield, Special Events and Comets
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Got a clear night last evening so I headed out to Sennybridge. I’ve got two lots of data, 40 x 60 Sec tracked which I’m still processing, and 60 x 8 Sec untracked. The latter of which has had some basic processing and is attached. Settings for untracked: 8 Sec at ISO 3200 for 60 frames. 10 x Darks. Equipment: Nikon D7500 and Samyang 35mm f1.4 stopped down to f2.0. Composition: Foreground is the Drovers Arms building on the edge of Sennybridge Military Training Area. Sky is the Sagittarius region of Milky Way. Stacked in Sequator and edited in Photoshop. Tracked image to follow!😃💪👍
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As I said in OP, buy cheap buy twice
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I’m really beginning to question the build quality and reliability of Skywatcher products, especially their mounts. 1. Firstly, my recently purchased Star Adventurer GTI has major issues with the RA access, resulting in very poor performance when guiding. I’m very lucky if I can get the error below 2.00. There is about a cm of play when the RA axis is locked and although I’ve recently tightened this using the small screw under the weight bar, the guiding remains poor. 2. Secondly, the motherboard on my AZ EQ6 Pro mount malfunctioned requiring me to purchase a new on and have it fitted at the cost of £200+. 3. Third, one of the bolds on my AZ EQ6 saddle sheered off (please see attached image). I’m only glad it didn’t happen when mounting my Esprit 120! I’ve had to purchase an ADM saddle as I know longer trust the Skywatcher version. 4. Lastly, one of the small hexagonal lug screws that attach my Esprit 120 focuser plate was fused when I took it out of the box. This seems like a minor issue, but because I can’t remove it, I cannot fit my EAF. This means I can’t get max automation when using my scope. Although SW glass is superb, the finishing to their products isn’t high quality at all. I think I’ll try a new manufacturer going forward. It’s the old saying; buy cheap by twice.
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Hi Carole, both myself and the Mrs have been to La Palma a few times and we often go to the observatory. For the most part is accessible to the public (and private vehicles) up to a certain time before it gets dark. The road that circumvents the observatory is the LP-4 and it’s open to public access 24hrs per day. There are numerous observation points (view points) all along the route so if you want to do some stargazing or imaging it is fine. We usually hire a car and self drive for more flexibility. It takes about 3hrs depending on where on the island you are staying. If you are visiting during the day, you can literally drive right through the observatory all the way to the highest summit of the volcano and get some spectacular views, including of the numerous telescopes.
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Hi Steve, I’ll check with the Mrs. She bought me the mount for last Christmas and she usually purchases from FLO. I’ll come back to you and TY
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It’s a fragile mount. I’ve used mine for six sessions and I now have about a cm give in the RA axis when fully locked down. Backlash is now horrendous and guiding almost impossible. I also have the Star Adventurer 2i and it’s been operating perfectly for the past 2 years. I think the design and build quality of the GTI is questionable at best.
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Quick update. Unfortunately none of the procedures worked. I’ve sent mount head back to RVO for an investigation. Hopefully I get it sorted. TY Malc👍
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I've been using my D7500 for a couple of years for both wide field Milky Way and AP via scope. Images have been great, but lately the images are very poor, even under decent seeing conditions. I'm getting an extreme green/yellow hue across the entire image. I have experienced this before, but to a much less severe degree and always been able to correct colour balance in PP. However, as the two images attached will show, this is something different altogether. Has anyone encountered similar? The first image is a tracked single 60 sec exposure at ISO 800 (f2.8) using a Samyang 14mm ED. The second image is 32 x stacked using Sequator.
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Hi Malc, Thank you! That’s great advice. I’ll try with the PC as per your guidance and see how it goes. Hopefully I get a result and can crack on without need for replacement parts etc. I’ll keep you and others updated 👍
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Hi Malc, I tried both Baud settings with both my EQMOD cable and a USB port cable. Neither worked. This was via two different ASIAIR’s, the latter of which are working perfectly. When I was doing the PA routine, the mount done its 60 degrees tilt in RA and the plate solving was completed. From that point on, whenever I selected an object to GOTO, only the Dec axis would work. This was also the case when I send a command for the mount to go to home position. I needed to manually adjust the RA position. I got in touch with RVO and they believe the motherboard is at fault. I’m sending it in to let them take a look and if needed fit a new one before testing. If it is the motherboard I’m not impressed. I purchased brand new two years ago and due to my working overseas, I reckon I’ve used it a max of a dozen times. I’d say the build quality is questionable, but I’ll reserve judgement until RVO take a look
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Hi Jeremy, yes sir. Power is fine. I’ve been around the track a few times over last couple of years regarding power to the Sky Watcher mount. I’m on top of it in that regard, but this appears to be something else all together.
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All setup last night for the first clear night in eons. About to test my brand new triplet in M13. When attempting to use my AZ EQ6 I ran into an unusual issue. My mount RA axis would not function properly. It was being controlled by my ASIAIR Plus and although it would do a 60 degree rotation when doing a PA routine; when I attempted to go to a target, only Dec worked. When I attempted to go to home position, again only the Dec axis moved. At first, I thought it maybe a ASAIR plus problem, but when I setup my ASAIR mini, I encountered the same issue. Both my ASAIR's work fine with my other mount. Then I thought about power as these Sky Watcher mounts are temperamental if the correct flow isn’t available. But this wasn’t the issue either. I attempted to use the Sync Scan hand controller to try and identify the issue, but I got an error message stating "Caution - both axis nonresponsive" (please see attached image). Therefore, I interpret as a mount hardware issue. Any advice or guidance would be greatly appreciated.
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Thanks guys, that’s been very helpful. I’m putting a ring clamp onto the camera and lens mount. I wanted to be sure I wasn’t obstructing anything vital👍
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Hi Adam. Total mount payload tolerance is 5kg: The equipment seen on the images I posted weigh in as follows (rounded up to account for other accessories such as dew straps etc) is: OTA - 2.2kg, Flattener - 0.2kg, ASIAIR - 0.2kg, ASI533MC Pro - 0.5kg, ZWO Mini Guide Scope - 0.5kg, ASI 120MM Mini camera - 0.6kg. Total payload weight 4.2kg. Regards RA, my guiding was spot on and although CW was right at end of shaft, the rig was in perfect balance. As per my OP, a fantastic portable setup. Rick
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It’s superb. As robust at controlling an imaging session as the ASIAIR plus. 👍
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New portable setup getting its first go tonight. No doubt plenty of gremlins to iron out! Star Adventure GTI ; Manfrotto Tripod; ASIAIR Mini; WO Zenithstar 61, ASI 533MC Pro; ZWO Mini Guidescope and camera; L-eXtreme LP filter.