tenpinmark

@Paul M You forgot about Saturn in your brief post.

At gain 120 the camera enters in to "HCG" mode which reduces read noise. See HERE for the graphs from the ZWO web site. Trevor Jones gave a review of this camera a while back - worth a quick read - it's HERE - He speaks of "Unity Gain" which in turn is 117, but for the extra 3 units in gain to get in HCG mode and the reduced noise reduction, then I start there and adjust the expose time to suit.

If I understand this correctly, you are slewing the scope from the handset then - if this is the case, you can't PA using the ASIAir as it needs to control the mount. If you get this connection going, a lot of functionality is opened up to you. As a lot of things have moved on since I purchased my EQDIR, I think something along these lines could work - Lynx Astro FTDI EQDIR USB Adapter for Sky-Watcher EQ6 or NEQ6 I'd check with FLO first to be sure As for dew straps, then I've seen these Dew straps from FLO The ASIAir should have come with a splitter cable for the 2.1mm jack if you feel the need for running two of them - saves a power output being used or you could use two outputs and control them separately.

I suspect the due heaters are drawing too much power from the USB bus and this causes the cameras to "disconnect" and in turn, it's not enough power for the heaters to warm up so you notice. As for the PA using the ASIAir - you will need a connection from the ASIAir to the mount or it won't be able to guide, slew etc. On my setup, I have a USB connection to a HITEC Astro EQDIR which in turn plugs into the 9 pin socket on the mount. I have no handset connected to the mount. In addition, from the guide scope to the mount there is the usual ST4 cable for guide corrections. What do you have in terms of connections? You can see my setup here

I've been using the ASIAir for a few months now, so not an expert, but I have had rock solid usage out of mine. I'd suggest starting with the why the cameras are disconnecting. So a few questions on this: Are they plugged in directly via USB or via a hub? Is the ASI Air powering them? Does it drop the cameras only after slewing (or during) - i.e. are the cables being pulled while in motion? What power supply are you using? Does it have enough power for everything? All this needs a decent power supply, even the slightest drop causes all sorts of horrid issues which will drive you nuts. Due straps plugged in via USB - I've not seen these before and I wonder if theses are causing power drop issues which means you lose the cameras? I'd go for the ones you can plug into the 2.1mm jack and use the ASIAir to control them. As for polar alignment - I now only use the ASIAir to do this so no more squatting under a tripod/mount to look through the polar scope - it's really simple to do

I forgot to add a star based image from last night - so here is a single image to start with of C49 (Rosette Nebula). Other than convert from FITS to JPEG nothing else has been done but at least you can see what I am working with to start with. Off to go learn how to "post process" the images and I hope to see some redness appear.

First off, Hello and hope 2021 works out better for you than 2020! I thought I'd start a new thread here to introduce myself, show what I'm up too and well, chart my progress in imaging. About me - Let's say I'm longish in the tooth, but still a beginner. What do I mean? I started some 14-15 years ago and have tried all different kinds of setups to image with. I've used more than a few meters of tape, converters and adapters galore, computers large and small, odd ball software titles etc to grab an image. Back in those days, mega pixel cameras cost more than a kidney. Pretty sure there was no "complete solutions" from any single vendor for all the required components. I've a shelf full of "modified" web cams too. Hell, I feel I could make some serious money with these if I were to put them back together again. Many an hour standing out in the freezing cold and never really making a decent image compared to what you see today. Anyhow, I parked my scopes and found some other ways to spend money (If you thought this hobby was expensive you should try marine aquariums!) Back in March/April time frame last year, I dusted off my scopes again, and re-purposed a Raspberry PI I had to have a play with, purchased a second hand Canon Camera and had a play. All was going OK until on the third night I knocked the USB plug on the camera and since then it no longer speaks - I suspect the socket in the camera has broken. It still takes pictures, just not under computer control. While looking at replacing this camera, I took a long hard look at what I'm wanting to do - been drifting far too long with random purchases here and there which pushes up the frustration levels as nothing works well. In this hobby, working well is important to me as it's cold outside and spending time trouble shooting stuff all the time is not time I spend looking up or capturing images. What did I do? Well, I've invested in the ZWO platform and just love how simple it is to use, hook together and get stuff done. First off, I had this November 2020 setup which was me using what I had while waiting for some parts to come into stock from FLO. I was not happy with this and decided to use the 130PDS as the scope and have now morphed into this setup: NEQ6 mount 130PDS ZWO ASIAIR ZWO ASI294MC Pro ZWO EAF and temperature sensor ZWO AIR120MM Mini ZWO Mini Guide Scope HiTec ASTRO EQDIR Dew heating Strap Celestron Lithium 13.2Ah power tank Custom crafted steel plate for mounting ASIAIR After putting all this together, I've waited for a clear night to start playing which it was on and off for a few hours last night. First impressions of the setup left me impressed on just how simple this can be. Within what was only a few minutes, I had it assembled, PA, focused and guiding - OK, so maybe 20 - 25 minutes due to those nasty bolts for alignment - they are going to be replaced! What's Next? Well, I'm not worried about the collimation for now and yes I have "pacman" stars but I want to spend time gathering images and learn how to process them. When this is starting to take effect, I'll look into the tuning the scope - one step at a time and right now, I want to get something back for the investment I have made. Look forward to chatting more here as and when Stay safe all Mark

In the dark, you shouldn't be able to see the writing ... but I agree, the OCD in me is twitching like mad right now

I've had one of these devices for a few months now (new to this game). I'm powering an NEQ6 mount, ASI 294MC Pro, EAF, ASI120MM and a dew strap through the ASI Air from a Celestron 13.2Ah power tank. Shame yours is broken - they are amazing devices and I hope you come to love it.

I remember those days well as my first scope was a second hand LX200GPS 8". My first attempt was on a freezing cold, crystal clear night. Fingers numb as hell, feet like blocks of ice! I was lucky that evening. My first "star" I tried to get aligned on and in focus turned out to be Saturn - can you imagine how that felt! Well, the rest is history. A word of warning though - this hobby can get expensive really, really quickly. Take care with purchases, don't buy cheap eye pieces - there is no cheerful when buying cheap. A couple of things to consider - if you want to view the moon, get a "moon filter" - sounds stupid, but at these magnifications, it's as bright as hell and secondly if you live in an area that gets dew, I'd suggest getting either a dew shield or straps. Nothing like dew to cut short a clear sky session! (a dew shield can be made cheaply though if you are that way inclined) Have the best of fun out here on clear nights, and back here on overcast nights

I'm just getting used to all of this. I bought my first "true" deep space camera and waiting for my guide scope to arrive so I can ditch that awful Antars lump of junk which I;m use as a make shift guide scope. With such a bright full moon up there, I thought I'd take the opportunity to get used to the kit before the moonless clear night roll in 😆😆 I've managed to nail the polar alignment I think, guiding seems sorted, taking images is very simple, just need to sort out this flip so i can leave it overnight.

Thanks Wim for the information. I'll look at how to extend past the transit. Must be a setting in the ASIair somewhere for this?

I hope someone can help me out here as I don't quite understand something. Tonight I managed to get going with my new ASIair Pro hooked up to my NEQ6. I polar aligned, slewed over to M33, got tracking going and started an image run that would take 3 hours. I saw that it said it was going to perform a meridian flip about 1.5 hours into the run which I could not work out why. The photo of the setup is pointing North, so the camera and scopes are on the East side and M33 would be above, but behind me if that makes sense. Anyhow, when the system decided to flip, it failed - see screen shot of the tablet. It just loops through this over and over again. The mount never moves and looking at the mount position and where it want to go, it would have been a very small move I expect. I thought the mount would have rotated towards where I'm standing to take the photo (south of the mount) and for it to keep rotating towards the legs, then M33 would have been heading East(!?) So, any ideas as to whats happening or have I got the whole concept wrong? I have enabled the flip on the ASIair, but being very new to this, I may not have every setting correct. Thanks for any help you can give me. Mark