Skipper Billy

I think I am going to reset it back to factory and do a loooong 'Guiding Assistant' run. It has always behaved impeccably and I think I must have inadvertently altered something but for the life of me I cant figure out what.

@Adreneline Cheers!

Oooh - I didnt know there is a delay feature - I will have to investigate! Cheers.

Cheers. I took the opportunity of a semi clear night to recheck the PA - we had 5 earthquakes last week. It was nearly a degree out. All good after that at around ~0.4 RMS Still guiding on the edge of a star though!

Out of all the challenges that imaging presents us with, guiding isnt normally an issue for me. But tonight - nothing has been changed but PHD2 is all over the place..... Keeps telling me that the star has been lost - even though I can clearly see the star on the screen When it does guide its auto choosing a ridiculously dim star Then its massively overcorrecting giving a see saw graph More often than not it is choosing to guide on the edge or just off the edge of a star Multi star guiding isnt playing - it is just choosing one star I have uninstalled the prog and reinstalled the latest version - just the same Anyone have any ideas ??? I am imaging Meyers Nebula (IC2169), good seeing and transparency, not windy.

It will work just fine and additionally provide extra stability for your tripod. The GT1 wont pull anything like 5 amps. Cant comment on the Jackery - never used one. Good luck with the eclipse!

Many years ago I tried all sorts of guide cameras and eventually settled on the orginal Lodestar. Like you, after a few years later I felt the need for an upgrade and tried a few options from ZWO etc but the best performer - by far - was the new Lodestar. https://www.firstlightoptics.com/starlight-xpress-cameras/starlight-xpress-mono-lodestar-pro.html

If you need even more clearance then a pair of these bolted to the plate on the mount would give you another 10mm or so. https://www.firstlightoptics.com/adm-vixen-type-v-series/adm_vdpa_adaptor.html

This might help you.....

Sometimes the blindingly obvious us exactly that - blinding!

It looks like the two plates are simply bolted together ??

Wee update in case anyone else has the same problem and reads this. I found the way in Pixinsight to make a Cosmetic Correction script that WBPP can be pointed at that once created, removes the dead pixel lines to perfection on every single sub automatically. It worked an absolute treat!!!

Thank you! 🙂

Cheers Damian - I am a Pixinsight user but I will have a look at APP - it sounds interesting!

Thanks Adam I dither every frame so it makes sense that it moves about. I will remake the cal frames. I was just so excited to be able to the obsy roof and grab a clear night after being laid up for months! 🙂 Interesting that they can sometimes vanish over time ! All the best David

Thanks Dave I just had a horrid feeling that this problem had appeared suddenly and that the camera was breathing its last! All the best. David

PS - I have just checked the other image I have made and the lines are in that one too but very much fainter - the only difference is the photos above were just 120 seconds - the other image is a narrowband image and the subs were 600 seconds and the lines are barely percetible. Not sure if that helps??

In one of the two images I have produced so far this season I have noticed these horrible vertical lines as shown in the attached two images. Red and green were taken before the meridian and appeared at the top left of the image and the blue was taken after the meridian and appeared bottom right of the image. Given that the colour of the lines matches the filters I am thinking its a camera problem. Its a 5 year old Atik 16200 mono CCD and a full set of bias, flats and darks were used to calibrate the image although they are 'library' calibration frames and were taken about a year ago. Maybe a new set of calibration frames would cure it or maybe my camera is on its way out??? Any pointers or suggestions most welcome! (I have deliberately overstretched the images to make it easier to see the lines)

🙂 🙂

When our home insurance was due for renewal I shopped around with a specific requirement of a good level of cover for outbuildings and the contents. We were originally with Halifax and a phone conversation with them at renewal time produced their Platinum policy which gives £25k cover for outbuildings and the contents. I was very clear about my gear in the observatory and provided details and photos etc. This and cover for a named electric bike worth 3k and two named items of my wifes jewellery resulted in a premium increase of about £60. How much of that was for the obsy and the bike and the jewellery and natural annual inflation I cant tell you but I think we pay about £400 a year for the above which now also includes full accidental damage cover and all the usual stuff for a large 4 bed detached house with multiple outbuildings etc which I thought was very reasonable although we do live in an area where you could hold a reign of terror with a balloon on a stick 🙂 Having said all of that - we have never made a claim - yet!

Hi I cant answer your question but just wanted to give the heads up that you are joing a thread that is well over 4 years old. You might get more responses by starting a new thread. Good luck.

I 'think' I wrote 'Keep at it mate' but my Morse Code is quite rusty!!

-.- . . .--. ....... .- - ....... .. - ....... -- .- - . -.-.-- !! 😀

Better than Starnet2 ??

Thank you! I am well on the mend thanks. 12 weeks ago I couldnt walk 200 meters. Today I have just got back from a 7 mile walk up Ben Cruachan with 1300 feet of ascent in a blizzard!!