DanLXIX

That's good to know thanks.

I could probably correct the lens aberrations on the final image in Lightroom because that has lens correction, so I think I'll give this a go

I want to do some wide(r) field shots and I was looking at something around 80mm to buy when it occurred to me I have something in this range already, but it's not a scope. Has anyone had decent results from using a zoom lens?

It's not a great time of year to be trying this now I suppose given where I live dusk is already 10pm, but I was considering buying a dual mount so I can put my DLSR with my Sigma 120-400mm next to my guidescope. The Sigma has a zoom ring lock so creep shouldn't be a problem but will I have any other issues?

I was considering the EQ6-R, which I thought was an improvement on the EQ5 in a number of respects. I had also considered switching to OAG before changing much else to get better tracking possibilities. Any thoughts on that?

As to camera before OTA, I understand that thought - and I want to do widefield and small targets, which doesn't make it simpler 

My tracking is OK right now, although PHD works hard to do it. I'm going to overhaul my mount this summer which I hope will help.

I'm starting to consider my next steps. I've not remotely exhausted my 150PDS at the moment but I do feel that over the next year or so I'll want to upgrade. Rather than doing it in one big step I had thought I'd do it in steps.

The first thing I know I want to change is the mount. I'm right on the weight limit now of my EQ5 so I thought this was the place to start, but there is no point in buying a mount without having a reasonable idea about what is going to sit on it even though I've sort of assumed that going for something like an EQ6 makes the choices after that much simpler. My last purchase is likely to be the camera as I have my DLSR and use it for other things as well, so given I don't really do much visual, what would what would be a good choice of OTA type/size in the mid priced range that would be good with DLSR and then eventually a proper camera? I'm not setting a budget as such, but I don't have unlimited funds

I know this is very open ended so I'm more than happy to get quite different suggestions that give me scope for investigation.

That video looks useful, I'll jump into that this week and have another go thanks

At the moment for deep sky stuff I'm using DSS, Photoshop and Lightroom - mainly because I already have the Adobe apps. I find the process in PS OK but fiddly and I thought I'd take a look at PI because I'd heard a lot about its power. 

That's good to know. I'm still not sure if it's the right thing for me. I need to put more time in on it but the trial clock is ticking.

I've been using the SynScanPro app on my laptop for a while now. I've never looked at EQMOD because I was always connecting to the mount via the SW WiFi module. I've now got connected via cable so I'm looking at EQMOD. My question is, is there a good reason to switch?

I'm used to the SynScanPro app, and I connect CDC, BYN, Stellarium etc no problem, so do I gain anything from going down a new route?

Maybe I should have also said that I downloaded the driver from here and the date on the driver is March 21 so I would say Prolific are keeping it up to date.

Well I didn't get a result with the drivers from Skywatcher - device manager saw the mount but with an error, but I went and got the latest Prolific drivers and after a baud change and a reboot, all is working.

EDIT: I should add that I tested it via the Synscan Pro app. I haven't been using EQMOD because I was connected on the WiFi module, but I'm now going to explore that.

Thank you Malc, I'll take a look at that this weekend and see what happens. 

Yeah, Wi-Fi was unplugged when I tested and the device manager doesn't see a thing when you plug it in. 

I also ran the Synscan app but that didn't see anything, which is not surprising given device manager couldn't either. 

I had to replace my old motor control box just before Christmas, and the new one has a USB socket on it. I've been using the WiFI adapter for a while so I didn't put any effort into exploring this, but it would actually be useful to be able to be online at the same time as controlling the mount so I thought I'd try plugging it in - the PC doesn't recognise anything on the USB when I do.

Now I haven't checked another cable because I don't actually have another one and I don't have any other USB A connected equipment to test the cable, so before I go chasing this down a deeper hole has anyone successfully connected one of these new boxes with USB?

OK aside from the moon, which is so easy of course, I've not done any planetary because I use a DLSR. Quite a few years ago I modified a Microsoft Lifecam to try it out, but it's taken me until now to dig it out of the box and try it.

Last night I just thought I'd stick it in a Barlow and point it at Mars to see if it even worked. Captured a minute in Sharpcap and ran it through Registax to get this. THis is the first time I've tried this, and I haven't really read up any details on the process, so I'm sure this is not the way to do it. It was just a test run though. Compared to what I see others getting this is dire, but I'm happy that the camera mod worked I suppose. I assume this is about as good as can be achieved with a camera like this?

I'd like to do this with better results, so what would be a good way to head camera wise that will work on my 150PDS, but not break the bank?

16 hours ago, Tangoringo said:

Can I recommend the book Mastering Pixinsight by Rogelio Andreo? It’s available as pdf and/or hard copy and it’s a very good way to get in to and, more importantly, understand  the Pixinsight processes. Mastering Pixinsight HTH’s

Ian

That could be good Ian, thanks. Any idea how out of date the books are, and do they keep the PDF version up to date?

Ah thank you so much, that's got me going again

Thanks for the suggestions. I've set the RAW parameters like this but it made no difference. I can't find the DeBayer parameters on the WBPP script - I've seen this mentioned in a YouTube video with a different version of this script, but where is it?

I've just installed the demo of PI, and knowing its reputation for being difficult to work with I decided I was going to follow some tutorials on YouTube.

My first issue is pretty much every tutorial seems to be done on an older version that I'm on, so right from the start things don't look the same... And don't appear to work the same either.  I can't get past the stacking phase using the weighted batch processing tool because every tutorial that is showing DSLR comes up with a final image in RGB mode, but all I get it a greyscale. I've tried to fiddle around with the RAW settings, but here is the second issue because the things I've found show an older version.

Basically, I'm stuck and can't final anything to get me through this first step. Can anyone help?

20 minutes ago, Laurieast said:

What was your exposure on the Rosetta? I gave it 48 minutes 60 sec subs at iso 800 and got very little out of it. 

80 minutes exposure (20 x 4 minute subs) at ISO 640

A run of a few clear nights gave me the chance to have a go at a few targets. I'm a little disappointed with the Rosette Nebula in some ways. I really found it difficult to get any colour out of it - it was easier to get more colour out of stretching just one of the photos. Any idea why?

The Croc's Eye and Leo Triplet I thought 'd try to see if the guiding gave me a change to get more detail out of them.

Any feedback on these would be most welcome.

Not sure now many more nights I'll get until October now.

If you are making one, how long would you aim for? Is it a case of the longer the better? 

Thanks for that. I only expected limited ability but I never thought about the ZWO camera. I'll get a film filter and have a play. 

I'm wanting to have a go a solar imaging this year, I've never done anything at all with solar. With the gear in my signature, what would I be able to achieve and what filters would be best to get?

Is there any benefit to adding a dew shield like this one to my 150PDS to help reduce the chance of light artefacts from neighbouring lights?

I realise these are more for dew control on refractors, but do they help with light on a newt?

It's quite remarkable what you can get from a quick snap really. This is a single 300 second exposure. I wasn't trying to do a proper capture on this because I was setting some things up so this was actually a test shot. I tried to get a few more but the clouds came in. All I've done is stretched it in Photoshop and tweaked it in Lightroom.

I'm looking forward to doing this again properly