Butchless1

I just received my AZ GTI yesterday and set it up last night. Agree the instructions are woefully lacking and could do with some basic images of the set up alignment. The techniques that worked for me first time, was as follows. I set up the mount with a tripod where I have 1 leg to north as an easy reference. Then I alignment the mount with the scope on the left and pointing north away from me. Then using brightest star alignment I select the one I want to use, and then select Polaris as my next star in order( I use this as essentially it should go back to where it ca

Hi All Ive just purchased one of these mounts myself as per the thread below this one. Does anyone know of a good PSU unit that I can purchase to run off mains, as for the most part this will be powered via a mains line from the house, except when I'm using remotely. Just want to make sure I don't blow it before I start.. Many Thanks Nick

Finally plumped for the bresser as well! Now if we could shift those clouds

Thanks geoff ive been looking at the bresser as a more grab and go option as it’s at a more ‘disposable’ price

Well camera arrived and just waiting for the clouds to part

I asked a similar question last week and was moved to the Video Astronomy thread. Got some good answers, check out the threads from last week in that forum

That's the kind of idea, just a quick imaging setup, I know from quick trials with Sharpcap and the Altair Capture you can live stack the image, so I'm going to try this on some Nebula to see how I go on...though biggest issue is getting a clear night in the North of the UK at the moment (snowing outside) Will let you know how I get on! Nick

Thanks for the feedback Decided to go with the Mono option as I'm also looking at using it as a possible guidescope in future so opted for the Altair GPCAM AR0130M as this looked to be a reasonable priced entry and allow me to view to show the children on the bigger screen Appreciate the comments Nick

Hi I'm looking for a simple usb camera to view objects through a laptop to show my family what we can see on a bigger screen. I'm not aiming for something for DSO but just to show the various smudges, clusters and planets as I would see at the eyepiece I'm wondering what anyone uses for such a purpose? Any advice appreciated Thanks Nick

Many thanks will have a look

Hi I'm looking for a second hand Altair Astro ED 70 Starwave travel scope if anyone is looking to offload one? This is for a small portable visual refractor and start out for astrophotography Thanks Nick

Choice of scope is a very difficult subject. As I thought in future I may want to go imaging (on a limited budget) I opted for the SW-150 PDS this way I get the ability to do imaging in the future. But I also found the dual stage focuser to be really great and more accurate for fine focussing for visual. The key will be on what do you really want to see and how far you may take the hobby. Enjoy whichever route you do Nick

Hi All Apologies if my question seems tedious, but I'm struggling to get my head around a setup I'm thinking of building. I want to guide a 150PDS or 80mm Refractor with my DSLR attached and I'm looking at getting an Altair starwave guiding setup to drive my motor driven EQ5 My question is, if I plug the CCD camera direct from the ST4 port to an enhanced skywatcher drive unit via the ST4 port, do I still need guiding software direct via the camera ST4 port, basically negating the need for a separate GPUSB hub., ie planning on using PHD2 Many thanks for any advice. N

Many Thanks MIke. Its a toss up between doing this or just buying a new dedicated tripod. As always I start trying to do something simple and end up wanting more from what I was originally trying to set out to achieve. Good to know its possible if I go that way though Cheers Nick

Hi, I was wondering if anyone knows if you can fit the AZ5 alt az head mount onto a EQ5 tripod? I'm trying to avoid buying yet another tripod if possible. Any advice appreciated Nick