Mycro

Hello Everyone. After playing for the first time in my apartment a few months ago with the scope (from the balcony in a bortle location without proper collimation), I had the first proper attempt at taking some pictures. I Should have sticked to one target, but I was so excited that I dispersed myself. I Still have to learn how to process, to plan ahead my exposures and some tweaks to do in the scope. I am using the EQM-35 pro, guided with an xbox livecam and a 30mm guide scope (I have trouble finding stars, but I tried 300s exposures without any stretching on the stars). The Imaging Camera is a Canon 2000d unmoded with the Baader MPCC comma corrector. M31 - 90 x 120s at ISO 1600 M42 - 30 x 30s at ISO 1600 + 30 x 60s at iso 1600 M45 - 20 x 180s at ISO 1600. All Stacked in DSS and processed with GIMP. For all of them I took 10 darks, 10 Flats and 10 Bias. I Havent tried diethering yet, since I believe I will have some things to solve regarding backlash with my mount. I can tel right away that andromeda core was blown up, and i didn't process it right to make the transition more smoth. For M42, at least those stars could be improved. M45 was done in a hurry, and I think I pushed the contrast too hard. I wold apreciate any comment on where to improve so I can go in the right direction. PS - The day before this pictures, I spent all day trying to distance properly the spider vanes, to collimate etc... and at night I could not achieve focus. I Thought I have messed something up. Tried to collimate at night again pushing the mirror fwd making things worst before I took everything back inside just to find out that... I left the eyepiece extender in the focuser and that was the reason I was not focusing. Stupid mistake but lesson learned. Glad It was nothing I messed up trying to olimate.

My comma corrector arrived today. At this time of the year with this scope and a canon 2000d unmoded and without filters, what would be your favourite targets to try out?

Hello everyone! New Owner of a 130pds here. I am reading as much as I can from this topic, and I hope to tweek some things in my scope in the future. For now I am still learning how to guide my EQM-35pro (with a moded Xbox livecam), and still without the comma corrector. Here is my first light with this telescope between clouds, while learning to guide, in a 10th flor flat at a bortle 9 location. 48x60s subs ISO400 with a EOS2000d, Mount - EQM35-pro. Guiding SV165 and Xbox Livecam. Half the subs where unguided. Processed in DSS and GIMP (learning also).

Thank you vlaiv. I went to the 130pds in the end. Next steps are guiding and the comma corrector. For the comma corrector I am going for the Baader MPCC Mark III. As for Guiding, I am trying to decide if a mini guide scope like the svbony sv165 will be enough or if I need something else.

Hello! I Am about to by a new telescope, and for budget reasons, I have already limited choices. I Know the best of two worlds is impossible, but I like to play a bit in the astrophotography world, and also sometimes just visualy observing with my daughter. I Can by at almost the same price the Skywatcher 130pds and the Skywatcher 150pds. The thing is, my mount is the Skywatcher EQM-35 pro. Rationaly, if it was only for Astrophotography, the 130pds would be the right choice, because the 150pds would be in the wheight limit for deep sky astrophotography, although better (but not good) for planetary. As far as I can see, if I went to the 150pds, It would not be perfect for astrophoto, but it could be done with good conditions and patiance knowing I would trow away som subs avery session. I would have a better experience visualy and have the potential to spot some more details in planets. If I went to the 130pds the astrophoto experience would be better, but I would never have the potencial to have the same experience visualy and for planets. I Know in the future a coma corrector is a must have, and I would have to invest in guiding (for now I have been learning guiding with a moded Xbox webcam, and recorded with it the PEC correction curve I am using with the mount). The questin is: Would the 150pds be such a frustration in astrophoto that I could regret not going for the 130pds? Or the tradeoff for some frustration in astrophoto could be OK since if I went to the 130 there were things It would be impossible to do? I am very patient since I am used to do things without the right equipment. It should be way better than the konus 114/900 that I have that the dovetail has to sit sidewais in the mount, that I had to change the mirror position, etc... (I am used to colimate), or the celestron travelscope.I Leave you guys with my first andromeda talen with a Canon 2000d and the 75-300mm kit lens.

Ok, I Found out how to record the PEC Curve, and I can use my mouse buttons as you used your joystick. It would be great if I could use everything in the same operating system. I used Kstars/EKOS because it was the solution that I managed to integrate everything. Using Windows I think I will use APT, and Cartes du Ciel. The only thing missing is some kind of Alignment software that supports the DSLR so I don't need do chance SO all the time. Am I correct thinking that most of the time the polar alignment I get from software + camera will be better than with the polar scope and I will benefit more by changing SO to polar align than to use the polar scope to aling and not changing SO?

Thank you very much endlessky. I will have to dig a bit more. I haven't found any information regarding PEC training without guiding, but I will try to explore the software it's self to see if I can figure it out. I was polar aligning with the dslr with kstars/ekos polar aligning assistant. If I polar align in linux, park, and get back to windows could I still use the pec curve or is it possible that the parking could be a little different and I could loose sync? Besides sharpcap I don't know more possibilities to polar align with the camera in windows because Sharpcap doesn't support the dslr, And ekos was working great.

Hi, I have an EQM-35 pro that I use unguided. I'm fine tuning wich software to use, and for now the combination I like best is to use kstars/ekos in linux to align, an control mount/camera, and process in windows. As for imaging, my tracking is suffering from periodic error and for now that is my limiting factor for exposure times. I know with the hand controller I could PEC train my mount, but I would have to track with the hand controller as the info is stored there. Is that right? In windows I read that you could PEC train while guiding. Is there a way to train without a guide camera? Is there any way I could PEC train and track with my linux setup? Thanks. PS - I Know Autoguiding is the way to go, but for now I have to make the best of what I Have.

Thank you, lets see in the next oportunity if it was not luck. I Will definitly try to push the exposure to the limits. With 120s ISO 1600 the histogram showed the graph a bit less than in the first quarter (maby at 20% of the Histogram). Both times I Thought they were aligned the same. That is Wy I asket If I shoud notice a difference between the hand controller tracking and the ASCOM tracking. Regarding one of my questions in the first post about the 130PDS / 150PDS for my mount, I Just read that the 130PDS doesn't focus with the DSLR. For that reason the 150PDS would be better. Will the EQM-35 Pro manage the weight?

Thanks Mcbarret, One more question if someone can help. Having this picture been taken with the Travelscope and the Canon 2000d, witch is not a full frame, do you think the ISO should have been higher?

Hello Guys!! I Have been following this forum for some years, and finally after 7 years here is my first post. I Have bougth an EQM-35 pro mount, and here are my first two pictures using this mount, a Canon 2000d, and a Celestron Travelscope 70. I know it does not have the quality you are used to, but I'm verry happy with them. M81 and M82 Was a Mix of 20x60s ISO 800 + 20x30s ISO 1600 + 9x120s ISO 800, with no darks or flats. It was my first time polar aligning and tracking, so I did not know how far I could go in terms of exposure. The last 9x120s were taken at the end of the night when I was trying to see if I could get to 120s. I Found out I still didn't have star trails so I took a few. In that day I Think with the alignment I Had I could go a little more. As Far as M51, I Tried 60x120s ISO 1600 with 20 Flats and no darks (I Tried Dithering with APT). I Could See right away that the tracking was not as good as the other day, and about 2/3 of the way I found out I had dew in the scope lens. Both were stacked with DSS and processed in GIMP. Abouth the tracking/alignment, The first one that was tracking very well I used only Synscan Hand Controller to control the mount. The second one I Connected the mount directly to the computer (no hand controller), and I used Cartes du Ciel, and APT. Can there be a difference in tracking with these two methods, or I can discard that and assume my polar alignment was not so good at the second one? I Aligned using the polar scope, and bothe times I Thought It was spot on where It should be in the polar scope. Second Question Is about the telescope. Obviously I want to upgrade the telescope, but on a very tight budget (as you can se by the time I spent before my first post here with a usable mount). I Had a Newtonian Konus 114/900 for years, but I can't focus the DSLR, that is why I Have to use the Celestron Travelscope 70. Do you think this mount can cope with a Skywatcher 150PDS as I tink I saw some good pictures on Astrobin with this combination, or do you theik is to heavy and I have to go to the 130PDS (I know some day I Will have to get a coma corrector)? Do tou have any other sugestions with a maximum price being the price of the 150PDS? Thanks, Nuno