tooth_dr

Thanks again Steve for encouraging me to give it another go with Starnet++. I dont have PI, but managed to get it working via the CMD prompt menu and some fiddling around. I'll update this post when I get the data processed.

I downloaded Starnet but couldn’t work out how to use it/load it. But if reading to do now. Cheers.

Thanks Steve. I think it looks a bit of mess now I see it again. I used straton to remove the stars and added them back in at the end. The background started to go awry and it never recovered! The Sii was surprisingly clear. I think the almost full moon might explain the excess background noise.

This is an image I took over the past two evenings. I took Ha the first night as the Moon was out, and the last night I took some Si and Oiii before the Moon was too high, and finished off with Ha until it got cloudy. Equipment: EQ6, Takahashi Epsilon 180ed, Atik 383L+, 2" Optolong Ha.Oiii.Sii filters, finderguider with ASI120MM Ha = 39 x300s / Oiii = 9 x 300s / Sii = 8 x 300s with a total integration time of 4 hours and 40 minutes As I've progressed through the processing, things have a got a little out of control as usual. Here it is anyway: CS Adam EDITED to add revised version, using Starnet++ (BOTTOM IMAGE)

I have to say I found a dual rig quite simple to run once set up and aligned - APT easily does multicamera dithering, and exposures etc. You need two of everything, so that is double the weight and cost. @carastro Carole I'm curious about your issues with cone error and meridian flips. I would have taken images before and after a flip and never moved anything, and never came across an issues. What did you notice that needed adjusting? I have to say that must have been very frustrating indeed. Edit - if not a permanent set up I wouldnt even consider it!

With the amount of trouble you’ve had I’m surprised you want double the headache?! With regards to the pc, there is absolutely no need for anything fancy. My dual rig run perfectly fine on a 2008 dual core 4GB pc that I bought for £28 on eBay

Thanks Mick. Keep yours coming too, I always enjoy looking at them.

Very nice, not something you see every day!

Thanks David. It was a bit scary as the secondary moved freely in my hand 😭 the Tak collimating tube and EP really helped.

It makes sense! For example the CCD chip isn’t perpendicular to the camera optical axis ie tilted.

Thanks David. I have read up a bit on it and it says to try to get an image without nebulosity in it, so I'll maybe fire off a few shorter subs later on this evening. This was my second time collimating any sort of scope, and my first time with a fast reflector.

I processed one of last nights images in CCD inspector. It looks even but any comments would be welcome as I don't know what are a good range of values. Thanks Adam.

It’s been a while since used my DSLR with an MPCC but I thought the EOS M48 adapter got you there exactly? All the stars looks a little eggy so your spacing isn’t quite right. What’s the scopes collimation like also?

Collimation ! When I bought the scope it had been collimated by Orion so I never looked at it closely. This evening I stuck the Tak collimating tube and EP into the scope to find the secondary out of alignment. When I went to loosen the three locking bolts to make adjustments they weren’t event threaded up finger tight, just sitting loose. No wonder it wasn’t collimated any more! I fiddled about for a couple of hours and finally got this. Too late to setup tonight for imaging, will try tomorrow.

I'll chip in here. These were taken using a Maplin regulated powersupply, rated 6-8Amps, and I've measured it and it delivers 14v. It is 2 years old.

Beautiful pictures and a beautiful daughter. My oldest girl is six and I know how much fun they are (most of the time 😂)

That is really something else! My favourite transit pic by a long shot.

I like it! Good solution to your problem whilst still looking normal.

Took me a while to realise that it's actually on top of that pipe!

Wow! thats pretty high, even a fan is bound to help?

I would love to have done the whole thing, but I'm just grateful to have seen it at all. This is 9 frames, I think roughly 1 minute between exposures. Baader WL filter paper, ED80, Nikon D800E, layers manually in PS. Thanks for looking Adam

Very nice! I enjoyed this build thread.

Couple more here

Very nice shot. It's now totally totally tramping it down. So my 15 minutes of imaging are over