Thalestris24

Those tripods look quite good but nobody seems to have them and they're rather expensive. I'll try the supplied Al one - maybe it will do... Thanks

Still quite heavy then...

Tripod weight?

Thanks, though I can't really mess about with building materials in the flat... Louise

I don't see how a eq3 pro would fit to one? How much does the tripod weigh (on their own)? £200 is an awful lot to pay just for a tripod... Thanks Louise

They look the same as the heq5 tripod, which I already have. Thanks Louise

Wooden tripods seem very expensive and I can't find the one you mention? Thanks Louise

Hmm… Maybe I'll unpack it and actually try it out. It always just seemed like it's too flimsy. Thanks Alan Louise

I currently have my EQ3 Synscan mounted on a HEQ5 tripod and it's very happy on there. The only trouble is it's a bit heavy for me. OTOH the supplied aluminium tripod, though light, seems too flimsy. Anyone know if there's something in between? I had been looking at the iOptron SmartEQ but decided it's probably not good enough for reliable imaging. However, the 1.25" steel tripod is lighter than the 1.75" one but might still be ok. iOptron also do 1.5" tripods but don't know if they can be adapted for SW mounts or how much they weigh. Now if only I could get a similar tripod for the EQ3 - any ideas anyone? Thanks Louise

I wish I had a balcony!

Hiya Oh ok. It's anyway always difficult to part with cash for something that doesn't have lots of positive reviews. I actually discarded the flimsy aluminium eq3 mount and put the head on an heq5 mount - much sturdier but quite a bit heavier. The eq3 head on its own weighs 4.6kg, the heq5 tripod is 5.6kg. Plus, say 2kg for a scope plus 2kg cw. So it's around 15kg overall and it's just too heavy for little me! The Smart EQ is only 2.8kg + 2.7kg for tripod plus the other 4kg < 10kg which I can probably manage without breaking my neck going down the stairs... Laptop can go in a backpack. Obviously, one only gets what one pays for, though the smart EQ Pro is a similar price to the eq3 synscan. My flat is getting cluttered with too many mounts here and there! However, I've been stuck using them from indoors and I've had enough of that now. So one more might be the answer... I do wish there was an astro showroom nearby but there isn't. I sometimes wish I had a car but I don't. If only I had more muscles but I think it's a bit late in the day to contemplate bodybuilding, lol. Thanks Louise

Hi Tommo I realise this is a slightly old thread... Was just wondering if you ever got a Smart EQ Pro? I'm currently looking at this too as I want something lightweight that I can easily carry up and down stairs (I've been trying to find some way of doing this for the last 5 years!). I've already got the SW EQ£ Synscan Pro and it's quite good value. However, it's still a bit too heavy for me - I need to get down two flights of stairs in one go... If anyone else has anything to say about this mount, that would be useful! Thanks Louise

Do you have one? How is it for you? No, I want something small and light - but slightly better than a Star Adventurer (which I have but it's never worked properly for me and, in some respects, is hard to use anyway). Flo sell these iOptron's and I'd get a new one. Thanks Louise

Thanks for the comment but I really want to hear from someone who has/used one. Louise

This ioptron : https://www.firstlightoptics.com/ioptron-mounts/ioptron-smarteq-pro-goto-equatorial-mount.html#specifications Any pros/cons re imaging with it (small frac)? Thanks 🙂 Louise

Thanks, though my images aren't very good. I've built a Lowspec 2 spectrometer and, if I can get it working, I'll probably just do some spectroscopy instead. Failing that, I'll abandon this hobby altogether. Regards Louise

A few stars more from 16th April: NGC6743 8x120s NGC6823 4x180s crop NGC6834 5x120s crop NGC6885 3x120s NGC6940 3 x 120s Louise

Hi Paul, if you don't need much current (<=100mA) then the little 78L05 will do There may be other alternatives if you need higher current. https://components101.com/78l05-pinout-equivalent-datasheet Louise

Thanks for the mentions. One reason I started with using platesolving was because I was unable to do a proper Polar or star alignment. I've always been severely limited by only being able to image via an open window in my flat, and under terrible skies with awful LP! I can never produce decent long exposure images from here, not even with narrowband 😞 Nowadays, I just do short exposure live stacking with SharpCap and a mono camera, but still use platesolving to locate targets. Louise

It's still a work in progress and put to one side for now

Good luck with your build! Louise

These are taken with my TS APO 80mm and GPCAM3 178M, mount = Heq5. All from April 21st. Not quite first light with the 183M but I've not done much imaging at all this year so far. Captured in SharpCap Pro 3.2, 64 bit. Stacked with a separate master flat in dss, tweaked a bit in Paint.NET M27 3 x 189s resized to 40% M56 2x120s resized to 40% M57 10 x 120s resized to 40% M57 crop NGC6834 4x120s + 30x30s resized to 40% NGC6834 crop NGC6885 5x180s NGC6940 10x180s Some subs seem to have artefacts which are probably a flats issue or could be local LP gradients. Louise

I never even bothered trying the rubbish aluminium tripod - put it straight on a HEQ5 one Louise

it was just late night musing on my part! 😄 Louise

Most stars aren't exactly black bodies cf spectrometry. I feel the pursuit of some sort of 'accurate' colour rendering in astrophotography is a neverending minefield - perhaps akin to a Mandelbrot Set!! Don't forget to take into account atmospheric extinction, monitor calibration, ambient light, and what your eyes actually see (how are you going to know for sure?). Surely a simple, approximately accurate but satisfying, pretty, coloured picture will do the job? Will anybody really care that much otherwise? Me, I mostly stick to monochrome/luminance these days - so much easier, especially when life is so short! Louise