Jonk

I must admit, I don't remember but probably yes!

Not a great photo, but it's all I have..

I once had a SW 300pds on mine in eq mode and it worked fine with a couple of counterweights.

Maybe the default debayer setting has changed? If you know the bayer matrix pattern, set it to that (rggb for example) rather than use auto. Have you changed any drivers? Check the fits header for the pattern. Also, it may be worth splitting the rgb into individual mono channels for processing then combine them later to a colour image.

Seeing is a huge part of it, but even moving the mount by say 1 FOV width for the next mosaic panel, the results instantly change - you can see that by the star mass graph after what PHD thought was a dither command. Ok, I see what you mean - this could not be explained with any guarantee - it could be seeing, it could be mechanical (more likely), contrail, it could have been a bird or something across the guiding FOV even. If you're getting good results, and when you get bad results you can do something given the information to improve those results, largely the numbers / graphs are not definitive. A key point I guess is to match or better your guiding scale to your imaging scale and understand what improvements you can make, and what is outside of your control. Do I remember you having a Mesu? How's it doing gerenally?

The peaks in this particular case might be +-2", but given I don't have PEC applied, that's ok. The RMS value is a function of RA and DEC errors, so remove those couple of peaks, the RMS will likely be only a fraction lower. People have often mentioned that the graph itself is not the only thing to rely on - no-one wil have a flat graph in reality, but the RMS value is probably the most reliable bit of info to use, coupled with knowing what's going on elsewhere (seeing, pixel scales etc). Understanding why things are doing what they are is more important than just looing at a grpah and saying hey, it's perfect. Which I suppose is ironic as the program started out as push here dummy and you weren't expected to know what was going on. Here's part of the 30 minute ha sub that this guiding produced (stf and screen grab at 1:1, little bit of tilt to sort out)- no surprise really given the imaging scale. Moral of the story, if the results look good (remembering that round stars does not mean good guiding) and we have a vague understanding of what it's doing, therefore pointing towards improvements that need to be made, then all is well. Does multi star improve guiding? I don't know, but it appears to in the numbers displayed.

After as 30 minute sub, it slewed to the next panel in this particular mosaic, and the guiding result over 1 worm revoultion is completely different and much cleaner. I guess what I'm trying to say is don't worry about the nitty gritty as there's too much outside of our control!

Just tried the blue target thing, yes it's a bookmark so good to know if I ever see it! I've also just started a run with the az-eq6 and oag, with multi star on and after 1 worm rev (8 minutes) I'm showing steady seeing and 0.77" RMS. As you can see, it was brilliant for 2 minutes, then a bit choppy for 4 or so minutes. Conditions + 'cheap' mount mechanics, so no surprise really. But it's of no real consequence to me for this setup really, as I'm imaging at 3.2"pp anyway! The mount needs to be stripped and tuned at some point, so that may improve things.

How's that for a capture! Oumuamua's back and has been caught during an autofocus run!

Not sure but isn’t the blue target an option in the crosshairs? Just a guess without switching a pc on... Also, 2 seconds might be too quick, try 4 or 5 seconds without saturating stars and you may find it improves things?

Maybe do a comparison between a sub without multi star and new sub with (just turn the option on / off in PHD). I set up my AZ-EQ6 to test something last night with a misty sky and the seeing was incredible, PHD2 reported 0.5" RMS with multi star on.

I did something very similar a few years ago, but sadly it went to the tip when we moved house.

I don’t think I have an exact past moment that got me hooked, but I have vague memories of looking through my grandad’s telescope when I was probably about 10, mainly at the moon. Since then, I’ve always loved space, especially films like Star Wars and that sort of thing growing up in the 80s. I always enjoyed taking photos, especially when digital cameras first came about and I suppose linking the love of photography and the love of space gives me what I love doing today, astro imaging of various flavours. So I suppose I have my late grandad to thank.

Exactly! But do it in all directions.

Not really a great imaging opportunity, rather a 'for the record' image seeing as the weather will be awful tomorrow.

If it’s fungus, giving it a good dose of UV (sunlight) should help stop more growth?

You’re welcome @ZS1RA. Good looking setup! You can drift align, albeit it will take time to be very accurate but once you’ve done it once, mark the tripod position on the balcony, leaving everything else set up as best you can so you always get it very close to alignment each time. A little tweak here and there may be enough.

It dropped to 0.58" RMS for a while, probably conditions, and it has dithered a few times since the screenshot above.

I've been running multi star for about an hour, and it's reporting 0.65" RMS. not sure if this is an improvement, as the sky conditions aren't great and I'm only on a temp tripod setup.

Another reason for a non flip pier!

Has anyone assembled the recent version of this? Not sure what the + version brings over the non +, wind speed? Looks good in the fact it can be installed at the end of a lan cable rather than usb. I might give it a go.

I’ve just read this elsewhere, and certainly worth mentioning. In the guiding tab of advanced configuration, check your “Reverse DEC output after meridian flip” setting before and after installing the development version. Apparently the setting might be changed so it should be checked. I suppose this advice should be followed for all settings after an upgrade.

I’ll have a nose, thanks. I don’t trust many sites but then they’ll never be accurate, just close! Best way is to have look yourself at the sky!

Yeh I was but don’t worry, no need to apologise! I’ve used the openweathermap api to see weather information in Sgpro, and am curious to try some alternatives.

I thought it was 2 skins with an air gap in between, with a honeycomb structure as the ‘meat in the sandwich’?