oldannie

I agree Ian - pity about the price but I've had my MGEN 11 for around 5 years and it's worked brilliantly for all that time. Annie

Tring Astronomy still have the MGEN 11 for sale but no doubt not for much longer. The friend I have is a very experienced astronomer/imager and he says he just can't get consistent results from it. He does use long focal lengths , much longer than my 530mm though am not sure this is relevant. I think I'll try and press him for a few more details. Thanks for the response Ian - much appreciated. Annie

Sorry the topic should read MGEN 111 not 11!!

Not sure have posted under the right topic? I've been using the MGEN 11 stand alone guider to great effect for a number of years and now want to buy a spare. The MGEN 111 is the new model but a friend has recently upgraded from the 11 and is not impressed as yet by the 111. I assume the 11 is not going to be available to buy new for much longer so wondered if anyone used the 111?

I've had a small Pulsar observatory for about five years now and whilst I can't compare it with any other design it has worked admirably for my needs. My husband did the base and I bought a Rigel Pier on which to mount my gear. The company who delivered it assembled it on site. It's not automated and I don't image remotely. I haven't yet minded going to the obsey to move the dome from time to time but I guess the time will come...... If we had more clear nights that time would come more quickly I guess. It's kept my equipment weatherproof though I do run a dehumidifier which I thought long and hard about but now wouldn't like to be without it . I bought the pulsar with one storage bay - I may have preferred two in retrospect. All in all it's been worth its weight in gold. Hope your choice works out well. Pam

I have the book and on page 9, the Foreword, Steve says ' The vast majority of the content of this book centres on two programs, Adobe Photoshop and to a much lesser extent, Maxim DL.' Hope this helps Annie

Am going to have to go through all these things. I think I shall initially make sure everything is tight enough which is something I should have done after a summer lay off! Will certainly consider backlash and periodic error. Thanks again Annie

That makes sense Michael, for a while I had better results doing a two star alignment with stars near my target as like you it's normally one target a night. Will try your suggestion though. In the meantime I now have star trailing on two or three of my images - to me that suggests something is moving though not sure how to start diagnosing it!! Thanks for the suggestion Michael - much appreciated. Annie

I've started to have alignment problems with my NEQ6 and synscan. Am aware that there could be a number of causes. I don't think it's an optical problem but some kind of mechanical problem. Until now I have always done a three star alignment and wonder if it's significant that it is the third alignment star that is now never anywhere to be seen? I have re polar aligned using polemaster as usual and done a factory reset so am looking for the next issue to consider. So frustrating on clear nights to take over an hour to align and find my target!! Annie

The MGEN 11 guider has been superseded by the MGEN 111, I have been using the MGEN 11 for a number of years with a lot of success . Am I right in assuming I am too late to buy another new MGEN 11? Annie

I should have said thanks for the info though - that's useful to know Lee.

Thanks Lee - just solved the problem. Had my dunces cap on and simply named my project without specifying a location!!! Process template now saved as a template. Annie

I want to create a template of the processes I will normally use in Pixinsight and assumed I would just open them onto my desk top and then save them as a project but when I do this am getting an error message: Win32 error - access denied. Am I doing something wrong? Thanks Annie

If you want to spend some money try Adam Block's Pixinsight tutorials - he does two: Fundamentals and Horizons. Have got the first one and think it exceptionally good and comprehensive. A lot of hours of video tuition which means you can run Pixinsight alongside and follow what he is doing. All in all very well presented and very clear explanations. Annie

I use Lacerta MGEN as a stand alone guider so not sure Sharpcap Pro would be appropriate? Am not convinced that polar alignment is the cause of the poor alignment as polemaster has always seemed a pretty good tool. Have always tried to avoid too much computer involvement as I fear if I move in that direction I shall be moving beyond my level of competence! However I suppose nothing ventured nothing gained!! Annie

ok - will have a look at that. Thanks. Annie

At the end of last season I was beginning to despair about alignment issues and with the prospect of a few clear nights thought I would try and rectify the issue but am far from clear about the cause. I image with Takahashi 106, Atik 460 on NEQ6 which I control using the handset. I polar align using polemaster and as far as I can tell it's accurate. I three star align though usually have to search for stars as they are often low and left in my capture software - Artemis. Any target was usually very low. I was thinking about doing a factory reset? I also wonder if I slew to an alignment star but instead of using the handset to centre it what would happen if I centre it manually using the the altitude and azimuth adjustments? Might that redress the issue? Annie

That's a piece of work to be very proud of Carole - love the processing. Annie

Sorry Ken!! Have had a look at all the suggestions and have to say the Feather touch is very tempting and as am now in my 70's - what the hell!! Am now looking at motors - any suggestions in that direction? Annie

Am going to have a look at the Revelation. If by any chance I don't find it satisfactory I can always go for the expensive option. Thanks for the suggestions guys - much appreciated Annie

Am planning to buy a C9.25 specifically for lunar/planetary imaging and will be using it on my HEQ5 with a ZWOASI74. I want to add some kind of focuser to this set up but not sure what to consider so would appreciate some advice. Although my DIY skills have improved since I started deep sky imaging they're not great so looking for something fairly straightforward. Budget is not a huge issue. (but not limitless!!) Annie

Have only just got APP and found this on their site : Complete LRGB Tutorial of NGC292, The Small Magellanic Cloud. Annie

I usually stack in DSS and process in photoshop but recently bought Registar and used it for the first time yesterday as I have some Ha, LRGB subs (taken over several nights) of M101 which I would like to align and combine. All the LRGB subs are 300sec, 1x1 binning and imaged through Baader 7nm filters. The Ha subs are 600secs, binning 1x1 using Chroma 3nm filter. Am happy with the process of aligning and cropping/padding each channel in Registar but am confused about combining each channel and then aligning the Ha and Luminance with the RGB file. If I use DSS to stack each channel a 32 bit tif file is produced which Registar will not open. I get the following message ' Please ensure the file has not been compressed using a proprietary compression scheme' ? Thanks Annie

Super image and nicely presented. Annie

Am hoping the forecast is right for tonight so am intending to use my 3nm Ha filter for the first time as part of my luminance. If I was using a 7nm filter I would collect 7/8 x600secs. Should I collect more with my 3nm? Probably a naive question!! Annie