Thalestris24

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

The op was asking how to fit an oag to a dslr with an mpcc, Tinker! I don't think he can afford, or wants to spend on, a ccd... Louise

Hi You might be able to do it with a different e.g. cc that has more backfocus (75mm) which gives you an extra 20mm to play with That one does increase focal length somewhat. Are you sure you need an oag? Louise

Hi John I think they do the extension tubes separately... I'm having second thoughts now anyway (see above). I'm now thinking I could achieve galaxy imaging with scopes I already have plus maybe a zwo camera. I'll delay making any decisions until the New Year (when I have some more money!). I just bought an apo refractor which should arrive by Monday so that will keep me busy - weather permitting! Thanks for the reply and info. Louise

Hi Peter Ok - thanks for the tip! I think I might experiment with my 150pds + a ed barlow before splashing out on yet another scope. That way I can get 1500mm albeit at f10 (rather than f9) but at least I can see how I might get on with long fl guiding and imaging. Mind you, the currently discounted RC from TS I linked to does seem a bargain and I also like the idea of a shorter tube.. Louise

Hi Chris It sounds quite stable, though (re johnrt above)? Looks like I'd need one of these too? Anyway, I'm thinking about it! Thanks Louise

I'm quite tempted by a 6" version especially as I frequently feel the lure of galaxies TS have a bit of a discount on the GSO version at the moment. Any differences between the AA and GSO versions? I'm a bit concerned by the f9 though, yet I'd need the fl for galaxies. Any thoughts? How challenging are they to collimate compared to an f5 newt? Thanks Louise

Yeah,, I meant difficult to do the PA with but it might be ok. Good luck! Louise