Dinglem

@Yubo Hi and welcome to SGL,first thing everyone will need to know is what is your budget as that may narrow down the available mounts to suggest to you. You will idealy require a GEM (German Equitorial Mount) or similar. There are several makes available but knowing how much you would like to spend will help.

Hi @Padraic M I have them both and I ordered some of these https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B005KCGM96/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 as from memory the sesto is a 5.5 to 2.5 and the PPPAV is 5.5 to 2.1. But to be on the safe side I also ordered some of these https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004HTFCYY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I would check for you but I've had to store all my stuff away for the time being.

@powerlordI used an ASI224 as a guide camera and it worked very well.

My new ASI2600MC pro eventually turned up, I've been playing with it learning all about Gain and offset, all new to me having only used a dslr for dso work, It's only 20*300s subs gain 100 offset 50 with 20 flats and 20 flat-darks, I'm hopefully going to get a clear night tonight and will try gain 0 to see what difference there is. It was quickly stcked and processed in PI, please let me know what you think.

@old_eyes I'll need a bigger garage for one of them

@steppenwolf does it ever get to show the desktop with only 16Mb of ram 🤣

Adam, all of us started in this hobby with little or no knowledge of what we were doing or what to expect. I look back at those first images I produced and remember how pleased I was with them, looking at them now they weren't very good, mainly because it took me ages to learn to collimate my newt properly. At least I could fiddle with my scope to get round stars. If I'd bought a frac I'd have assumed it was something I was doing wrong if the stars were funny shapes. Also in these strange times even the cheap end of the market isn't cheap anymore so a polite PM would most likely be appreciated.

@tooth_drlooking at the pictures posted on here and elsewhere I'm looking forward to getting it. I've never used a dedicated astrocam for DSO's so may need some guidance on settings etc.

Sorry @Gerr I should have also mentioned your image, it's really good nicely framed and some good details in every galaxy, well done.

@tooth_dr that's just 1 sub, amazing I can't wait for my 2600MC to turn up, DHL have lost it 😢

oooo I love a widget 👍 And I am also to blame for some shortages, in fact I've been expecting a delivery for the last 2 days of something shiny and red but DHL have let me down both days 🤬

All 4 are brilliant pictures. The brightness and colours of the stars in the double cluster are fantastic but I went for the Veil as I think it's amazing.

Not exactly https://www.firstlightoptics.com/takahashi-fs-60-series-refractor-telescopes/takahashi-fs-60cb-f5-9-doublet-fluorite-apo-refractor.html

Treemendous result 🤣

Mine sits in the sunroom (I know it gets warm) all setup, it's far too heavy to move in one go but I have the scope, guidescope, camera and PPA setup in such a way that I slide it out of the mount in one piece, take the mount out then replace the scope etc. it only takes a few minutes. I then attach the power and laptop and I'm ready to go., probably 10 minutes max.

@smr have you checked out the APT user guide it helps with setup and how to use Focus Aid and Autofocus aid. I have a Sesto focuser and use it very well with APT now I know what I'm doing, after much trial and error and a few rude words 🤬 https://www.astrophotography.app/usersguide/focuser__gear_tab_.htm?ms=AAA%3D&st=MA%3D%3D&sct=MA%3D%3D&mw=MjQw#

@hms_furious your picture looks the same as the one on the Baader website https://www.baader-planetarium.com/en/accessories/optical-accessories/eyepieces/hyperion/bundle-hyperion-universal-zoom-mark-iv-with-hyperion-barlow-2.25x-(8-24mm--3.6-10.7mm).html

That's one place you'd expect good sky quality with no light polution, it maybe a bit tricky getting a stable mount though 🤣

@Leewfc glad you got it working 👍

and for the PA.

Just set mine up ready for tonight and took a screenshot of my settings.

Sorry to state the obvious have you taken the lens cover off as I use the same setup and have no issues.

Sorry I've put this in the wrong place can someone move it to imaging please 🤔

Hi @Tnarius I'm no expert but if galaxies are your main target you will need a more broadband filter like the Idas, as the L-Extreme is designed to capture fairly narrow bands of light in the Ha and O3, more useful on nebulas.

Hi I've been struggling for ages to get an half decent image out of Pixinsight since I purchased it last year. What with the lack of clear nights and spare time to do any astrophotography, I was amazed to notice we would be getting some clear nights and they were at the weekend. I also noticed there would be a near full moon so I bit the bullet and ordered an L-Extreme filter from @FLOand it arrived in 2 days, great service as ever, and none of the promised clouds arrived with it. 👍 So I decided to go for a fairly bright target, I got 5 hours of data, 60*300s subs, darks, flats and dark-flats. This was with my Esprit100 and modded 450D, I use APT for controlling and capturing and PHD2 for guiding. I'm quite pleased with my result, I know I could probably tweak out some more colour/details but everything I seem to do after this point seems to ruin it, so much to learn. Well I'm open to constructive criticism and guidance in how to improve my processing.