Thalestris24

Hi I managed to remove the covers ok though I think it was a little awkward. I seem to remember one of the screws was difficult to access but could just about manage it with some rotation of the axis. There is a 'side mounted' screw just above the latitude scale which obviously has to be undone in order to properly remove the RA motor cover. There was a clear, sticky grease on the cogs but I don't think it's the cause of any problems. I adjusted the motors to minimize backlash but it's still there I have a suspicion that the problem could be elsewhere. It's hard to judge balance and east heaviness with all the stiction! Apart from that I really like the mount. I might be brave and try and undo it all... Louise

Yeah, would be nice to have an Astrobaby-style guide. I suppose the avx will be similar-ish... I have a lot of backlash on mine on both axes. I've adjusted the motor gears but it hasn't really helped. Not sure what other adjustments are available. I suppose I could just undo it and see. I also get a lot of stiction in both axes - not sure how much it's characteristic of the mount. Louise

Hi I know it's a bit of a quiet time but was wondering if there's anyone about who might know where I might find info about stripping down and servicing an AVX? I've not been able to find anything via Google but feel there must be something, somewhere! Thanks Louise

If an heq5 could stay precisely on track by itself then we wouldn't have to worry about guiding it! Louise

Hi all Quick question... Anyone know if there's a batch command in IRIS for converting .cr2 to .fit? (for mono stacking in dss). I can load and save a single file ok but it's a bit tedious to do that for lots of files... Thanks in advance Louise

Hi Herra Was that with a UV pass filter? (Yes, it is very quiet... I suppose lots of people have packed up for the summer already. I think some people left a while back because they didn't like the 'new' forum. Such is life! Louise

Hi Sorry for the confusion! My bad - have a rotten cold at the moment But, as I said, you can see for yourself in Stellarium Louise

Hi If your camera (sensor) is oriented along RA/DEC the framing won't change over time. You can check for yourself in Stellarium if you set up the framing tool with your scope and sensor data. Louise

Hi Just to add... I would use Stellarium to frame a target e.g. Then use platesolving to centre on a suitable point. Job done Louise

Hi It's a good idea to display the star profile (from the view menu). PHD2 will flash up 'Sat' for saturated if the selected star is too bright/exposure too long. Auto select works quite well for a given exposure time - around 2-3 secs works well for me Louise

Hi The message refers to the star you had selected. Maybe some cloud came over and you lost it? Maybe it's just a case of selecting a high snr star else could be that your drifting off faster than PHD2 can correct. The guide log should have useful info... Louise

The cheapo SW autofocuser works great on mine It gives very fine control over focus adjustments and holds focus very well - one of my best upgrades! Louise

The cc spec is 55mm +/- 1mm. I seem to recall that using a low profile t-ring can give the wrong spacing. Looking at your last image I don't think you have coma now but, yes, can see a lot of hot pixels! Yeah, sometimes t-rings seem to have a tendency to fall apart - very annoying! Louise

I suppose it's really only worth attempting for a dslr (large sensor) where the equivalent mono camera is rather expensive. I wouldn't consider doing it myself but would pay someone with expertise to do it for me Louise

Hi T-ring could cause problems - make sure it's the recommended one! Louise

Hi You will probably want a coma corrector at some point - whether you want a reducing one like the SW is a matter of choice. I have a Baader MPCC mk III on my 130pds - it's a good coma corrector but not a reducer. The SW one can cause problems with the 130pds (focus tube ingress) but the Baader is fine. If it's just the neighbour lights you can maybe politely ask them to switch them off when you're imaging. Alternately, point your scope well away or erect a screen. Lp filters work by filtering out particular wavelengths e.g. sodium light. If the lp is white light (including the Moon) then you can't really filter it. As more and more streetlight is being made white light then lp filters are becoming less useful. Where I am my scope has to point directly towards some yellow street lights plus one only a few meters away :(. So I have an Idas Hutech lps which helps (doesn't eliminate but allows me to take longer subs than otherwise). All the best Louise

Hi again I looked up your Panasonic camera - it appears to have 3.77 x 3.77 micron pixels. It has a bulb mode but only seems to allow a max of 2 min exposures? If that's the case you should be able to achieve that without guiding. At the moment you'll be imaging at 1.33"/pixel (assuming you have the SW 0.9 reducer/cc) but guiding at 6.62"/pixel. Even with sub pixel guiding that doesn't seem such a good match (though it might be doable - I'm no expert!). With the qhy5l-ii mono you'd be guiding at 4.80"/pixel which would be much better as well as being more sensitive - and it's the same price :). Also, you might be better off getting a second hand Canon EOS that will let you do very long exposures. Just my opinion! Louise

Hi The qhy5l-ii mono would be a better guide cam, I think, but never mind. There was a PHD sticky which gave info about calculating pixel scales but it's disappeared for now, at least.. There are various configurations possible. Usually people use ST4 for simplicity in which case there is a camera ST4 to mount autoguide port cable (supplied with the camera). However, if you want to control the mount from a laptop you need the usb-serial to hand controller cable. Then if you want to guide you also need the camera usb to laptop cable. So just the two cables needed. Louise

Hi I think the ST4 connection is just for guide corrections so you'd need the usb-serial cable for slewing and platesolving. However, you could manage by just using the hand controller. I never have - I prefer to just use a laptop Any reason you went for the qhy5-ii rather than the qhy5l-ii mono? The latter has smaller pixels and higher qe I imagine your Panasonic has small pixels? Louise

Hi I bought the 60mm guide scope without rings and attached it to a dovetail bar using pipe clamps Here is a pic showing a 9x50 finder guider attached to an Al bar so a similar setup: Probably proper clamp shells would be better but they're expensive for what they are! Louise ps 60mm guiedscope is in the background!

Not posted on here in a while tho not had many imaging opportunities anyway... Did this M3 on NYE and last night, 4 x 360s and 6 x 480s with the 130pds/qhy8l and mostly processed in Startools. I never seem to quite get nice pin sharp stars... Also, there are some odd lighter patches at the bottom of the image (and the top!). If I try and get rid of the I start losing the fainter stars... Anyway, I think this counts as a work in progress Resized to about 50%: And a crop resized to 60%: Louise

Do you mean pulls to one side when balancing in DEC? Maybe you were trying to balance with the tube rings slackened off too much? Obviously then the tube will rotate because of the weight of the focusser + camera. You need some tension in the tube ring tighteners. I use an Altair Astro 60mm straight guidescope + qhy5l-II mono (or Altair Astro GPCam mono) with mine. I have the guidescope fixed to a dovetail and then bolted to the tube rings - nice and solid! You could use a 50mm finder instead - a bit cheaper but the Skywatcher one needs an adapter to fit the guide cam. Louise

Hi Jason One way to balance the scope is to do it off the mount using a piece of dowel as a fulcrum. That lets you find the DEC balance point which you can mark with some sticky point or whatever. You can than attach the scope to the mount with the balance point centered on the dovetail holder. However, sometimes it needs a counterweight attached at the mirror end though, in your case, it may not. It's a good idea to have the focus tube centered and pointing down i.e. in line with the counterweight bar. Balancing in RA is usually straightforward though you might want to arrange it to be slightly 'east heavy'. It sounds like you're not using a guidescope? Hope you can get to try it tonight! Good luck! Louise