D4N

Yep the on-camera option is telling PHD to use the ST4 port on the camera to send guiding commands to the mount, if you don't plug it in it won't work.

Yes goto is great, it was interesting starting out with an EQ2 mount but I quickly learnt to hate it. You have a good scope and mount combo that is fast to set up once you learn a few stars and get used to pressing the right buttons. For me it wasn't so much the goto that I wanted as the tracking. I can find thing pretty well but I don't want to be tracking manually at high magnification and I also like the fact that I can show my kids stuff through it whereas with a manual mount there isn't much chance of that. The encoders also mean that if they nudge it the alignment isn't lost.

Congrats on a great new scope, sounds like aperture fever is starting to set in already I was umming and ah'ing over which size to go for and went for the 300, they start getting really heavy as you increase the aperture and I don't think anything bigger would fit in my car so I'm happy... for now I don't like the finder either, but I can play be with it for pointing at he star at the start of the goto alignment as after that the caps go on and it doesn't get used again. Most of my EP's don't fit in the rack as the are too wide, I just put them back in the box. I think if you are setting it up roughly the same time each night the same alignment stars should be visible. The 2 star alignment works well for me, the bright star alignment rarely works as it always seems to pick ones behind trees.

Assuming you have it well focused Venus you will only see the phases and Mars is to far away to see any detail at the moment unless you have a really big scope. I would suggest pointing the scope at the sword below Orion's Belt as you will get a great view of the Orion Nebula then.

Well done getting an eq2 to guide, I like the ingenuity It looks to me like that is a Parabolic mirror, the strange shape on the stars is coma. This is quite normal on a reflector and a corrector lens needs to be used to get rid of it. A non parabolic mirror would manifest itself as differing focal positions for stars in the centre compared to the edges, all of your stars appear to be at the same focus. I would suggest a bahnitov mask (you can make these yourself) to make sure the focus is actually right. DSS can kill colour, it has been a while since I have used it though so a bit hard to remember the best way to stop that from happening. In addition to the weight mentioned by DP above you can fill the tripod legs with sand as this dampens vibrations. It s very difficult to PA an eq2 as there is no polar scope, I guess you could drift align but it won't be easy.

The NT150 is f8 so quite slow for imaging, the NT203 is f5 so more suitable in that respect. The larger aperture will also give brighter views visually. Whether either is truly suitable for imaging with though mainly depends on what mount you put it on, the quality of the mount is vital for getting astro images. A word of warning, astro imaging can get very expensive!

I would always be concerned about buying a scope if the person selling it has it set up for looking at the ground! However it is entirely possible it could be a nice little scope once you get it set up properly, there are a lot of bits wrong or missing in the image but hopefully they are included and the seller just didn't know how to put it all together.

I think the mono camera will require a longer exposure to get out of the read noise due to the loss of the micro lenses, with four times as many photo sites picking up on the Ha light it should still have a higher total sensitivity but individual pixels are less sensitive so more prone to being swamped in noise. I dare say that the mono camera may fare better when cooled as the noise level should be so much lower. I'm a big fan of cooled cameras DIY or otherwise the difference in the noise is astounding.

Does the HEQ5 start tracking if you turn it on with no handset connected? My mount does that. Quick way to check the mount works if it does.

An alternate edging I use in my garden is tree branches. Not sure if that's any help but I had three silver birch trees that are no longer obstructing my skyline but instead providing decorative edgings for my lawn!

Ideally you would dig it out and fit a drainage pipe but that would be a lot of work. If you go for gravel a layer of teram membrane underneath will stop the weeds taking root, they will still try to grow but their roots won't be in the soil so they are really easy to pull up. I have some wooden steps but these can get a bit slippy when it is frosty. My concrete paving slabs don't tend to be slippy though. The gravel is definitely the best for non slip but not fun to walk on bare foot. I guess the easiest way would be to get some edging stones to hold the teram down over whatever is already there then just cover it in gravel. I think personally I would dig up the turf but if you want to avoid the work I doubt the grass would be able to grow through the membrane. I have had a membrane down in my garden for over ten years end never had anything grow up through it. Weeds do try to grow on top of it but they are sickly things that never grow too big and are easy to pull up.

Theoretically yes, however the camera and subject would need to be identically placed between the two images. Since you need to remove the UV blocking filter I think this would be impractical for most purposes.

That is normal if you take the IR cut filter out without replacing it. You either need to put another piece of glass in its place or move the sensor closer to the lens if you want to use normal camera lenses at infinity focus. /Dan Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Just finished making one of these for my scope, so far very impressed with it /Dan Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

If it was flying via Charles de Gaulle then your out of luck, they have a machine there that all baggage must pass through, it is similar to the machines that they use to crush cars. At least that's my experience of flying through that place! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk