DaveS

I can believe it, this is heavy enough. Thinking of hiring an engine hoist to get it onto the mount, though I can lift it without too much effort.

Thanks for the vote of confidence Olly, I think I'm starting to get there. I agree about separate processing of the stars and fuzzies. I think AA7 can't do layers though this version can do masking. Not having PS, I may re-install the latest GIMP which can do layers, or possibly use Stratton to produce a starless version then by subtraction a fuzzies only version and process separately. More to investigate and learn about. Onwards and Upwards!

Unboxing (Uncrating) thread in Disscusion > Whole Set-Ups.

"Unboxing" seems too feeble a term for this. As posted in the Lounge, This arrived just after midday Getting it into my conservatory nearly did my back in so had to give it a rest before proceeding. Removing the cover (Six very long screws revealed lots of bubble wrap Concerned about getting the 'scope out safely I put a folded duvet (The one I had for SGL19) ready to cushion the floor After heaving it out of the packing (Heavy, but not unmanageable) the 'scope was revealed in all its pristine glory. On the back is a Starlight Instruments Feather Touch focuser, plus connection for the internal dew heater. I think that will do for now. There was also an envelope with instructions for collimation, and a small package with a spacing tool and ronchi grating to get the spacing correct (OOUK specify +/- 1 mm), and the adaptors for the Moravian G3 16200 that's going on it. Phew! More photos will follow when I get it on the mount.

Well the M&S delivery came, but so did this A bit too big to go through the letter box . Wonder what's inside? This might be a clue Unboxing to follow when my back has recovered.

I shouldn't worry too much. Most dovetails don't have adjustment screws, using shims if anything. A good sky model will take care of cone error. Even if imaging it's not usually a problem, and your kit list looks visual. Just enjoy the hobby.

17 1/2 hours data Processing as in the image in the Deep Sky Imaging thread. This is the "full fat" PNG version Left unrotated to fit screens more easily.

Yes, very good choice of palette.

No, pay a bit more at get a real, if basic, 'scope. I think something like that might be more likely to put them off astronomy.

'Phoned M&S, the package arrived at DPD after the van had left. Story of my life. At least they have refunded the extra I paid and rescheduled for tomorrow.

My first thought (Probably wrong) would be to check the alignment of the focuser, as the two mirrors could be in alignment, but if the focuser is skewed that would throw everything else out.

Snap! Got one for my SA set up ready for SGL19, and we know what happened to that. DPD man was supposed to deliver M&S thermals for the same event, but nothing on the van, now got to find out where it is. Annoyed as I'd paid extra for a timed delivery.

Very fine M33, I found this to be quite a difficult target, the surface brightness is very low. I think your saturation is spot on, I'm always wary of over saturated blue / yellow galaxies (But that's just me, YMMV). How about adding some H-alpha? There's a lot of it in this target so well worth capturing.

Thanks, yes there are loads of faint fuzzies lurking in the background. At some point I may try to plate-solve this and see what turns up.

Wow, looks like going to the Epsilon was the right move, the M42 has so much detail it boggles the mind, especially for such a short integration. Loads of detail in M31 too!

Many thanks, this has felt like a marathon. I haven't worked this hard on an image before, just been content to "Bodgit and Scarper", partly due to living in a dispiritingly light polluted location. Now I have dark skies I feel it's worth making the effort, which is starting to pay off. Onward and upward.

Very nice, not seen this galaxy before. As you say, not a lot to get a handle on.

Thanks guys. Yes, I tried this in Ruislip, and even worked the data up into an image but the whole lot was so embarrassingly bad that I dumped it. Now tentatively looking forward to "Galaxy Season" Hopefully by then I'll have added the ODK12 / G3 16200 to my armorey.

Weird, moody, love it!

And just got my refund email 👍 Thanks FLO.

Oh [lots of very bad removed words] I was really looking forward to this, having missed the last two through circumstance and my own stupidity. Was looking forward to meeting up with members again, and some new ones, @AdeKing especially. Well, at least I'll save some money on the baking I was going to do, got a batch of choc chip shortbread in the oven now, and was planning loads of fudge (As we would need the calories in the cold). TBH, looking at the weather forecasts I'm not that surprised, just gutted.

And to save anyone having to work it out, the plate scale is 1.03"pp, which is probably as fine (If not finer) as the local conditions can bare. The mount can guide to *much* finer than this BTW.

Thanks guys. Moving from SQI 18.5 or so in Ruislip to 21.66 (est) has made a huge difference to my imaging, galaxies are now worth imaging, though I think I've never captured this much data on any target before. The tools now available in AstroArt 7 make me reluctant to purchase a PI license, as I think I can do pretty much everything I want to in one package. PI might have *more* tools, but I'm asking myself if I *need* them.

Well, 17 1/2 hour but who's quibbling about that. I know it's dangerous to say "Final" about anything but I think I've taken this as far as I want to since I'm now into diminishing returns. This is 3 hours each Red, Green and Blue plus 8 1/2 hour Luminance. Anything more from here will be in the processing. TS 130mm f/7 Apo Triplet, TS 2 1/2" flattener, Baader LRGB filters and SX Trius 694 on an ASA DDM60 mount. Capture in Maxim DL6 with mount control and encoder guiding in ASA software, in a 21.66 location. Processing in AstroArt 7. Sigma Stacking with Bias only (Due to multiple filter changes and cleaning making Flats problematic) followed by alignment of the unstretched stacks, then Luminance given DDP and a light Deconvolution, Maximum Entropy with Gaus PSF. Unstretched R, G, B stacks into Trichromy followed by DDP and a moderate Saturation Boost then LRGB synthesis. Finally cropped to get rid of alignment edges and a Gradient Removal, Adaptive Subtract to get rid of a Green / Magenta gradient (Only visible with huge screen stretch). Phew! C&C welcome as always. It's not going to challenge either @ollypenrice or @kirkster501 for the title of best Stephan and Deer, but I'm not unhappy with it.

Ah, thanks Francis I thought it might be a filter issue. Will be interesting to see how the stars come out with the filter the right way round.