rcwinter

I use the 220mm which works well, nice and sensitive and reasonable size chip, the 174 is an awesome camera which would do the job, overkill yes for the smaller OAG but the OAG L is fine, however the 174 can be used for planetry work and is brill with solar which i use mine on , not so good for DS as the chip is noisy like the 183mm but all useable , the 174 is great expand its use if you go that way to make it worth the expense hope that helps a little, BTW the 294 is a nice camera enjoy. Rich

Likewise, nice one Paul 👍👍

Cracking stuff Nigella, been so busy over the past few months done no solar work at all, it looks so active now I realiy must get out there and have a session or two, three four. Rich

I have bought and sold on cloudy nights for some years, not had a problem yet, I mostly buy electronics or stuff I know will stand the trip, I have imported optical kit, telescopes and the like, so far now problems, but you do hear horror stories, the only frustrating thing I find is that often CN members and AM often do not like sending out of the US, they just feel unsafe or they are likely to loose out money wise with transfer costs etc, best way to get things done is to make them feel confident about you, buying kit in of course please be aware of import and handling fees which can and often will add to the cost in most cases, occasionally things come straight through but generally there will be handling fee which can be painful in its self. All in all a little faith and all is good, be sure to ask for further information and some extra images of your choosing, a picture from a certain position with often help, remember scammers feed on both sides of the pond, just be sure your happy and have good communication with the seller, tracking for items is good nowadays, the USPS app allows you to track it all the way, be sure to ask for the tracking to be available hope that helps a bit Richard Southampton UK

Getting ready for a solar session, roof open, warming up Daystar

if you follow the link below you will be able to enter your scope details, camera, reducer and it will display the suggested field of view for the setup https://www.12dstring.me.uk/fovcalc.php hope that helps Rich

Beautiful image, masses of detail , excellent work 👌👍

Cracking image, congrates 👍

The detail is absolutely superb, just love it Rich

Superb images, just love them, so much detail, The bottom left area looks like the face of a seal , just my thought than you for sharing Rich, sunny Southampton

Awesome indeed , most excellent 👍

Hi Nigella it was cloudy here this morning and cleared for a while this afternoon, took some time to enjoy love the screen grab Richard

Hi Pete You will to go through Baader for SS repairs Rich

Like many I managed to get a look in around midday and the cloud rushed past making it virually impossible to stay focused, I managed just one image Very active in that region and a joy to see such activity as it has been pants for ages Roll on summer when its a liitle higher and not just above the roof line Rich

Hi Steve Nicely done, I had a look earlier this week, still to process the images, which I will do later this weekend. Rich

As has been said it’s amp glow I am afraid, the 294 and 183 have plenty, I had the 294 myself Even when you reduce the exposures so it hardly notices, when you stack it up it will be there, unless you remove the noise it will be always there Darks as said are a must for these cameras. Rich

It looks like just star trails, possible wobble, for static camera exposures you need to apply the 500 rule , link below https://astrobackyard.com/the-500-rule/ that will help you gauge what you can and can’t do to avoid trailing, nice effort , congrates Richard

The ASI 174MM is the one to use, or equivalent, super fast frame rate, excellent resolution, I have one and have found it just as I have stated, not cheap but excellent at it job. Rich

If you can find an Astral 500 it’s a far better scope and mount

Very nice, I like it, congrates on a great effort, the SA was working well

Looks like Micky Mouse to me Rich

Hi I would suggest you look here for info on the 416XT http://www.skymtn.com/mapug-astronomy/MAPUG/ArhvList.htm Richard

There is a device called a Duncan mask that may help with that, you can even make one yourself and follow the tutorial. Mind you, you do not know what position the set screws are at, so it may be wise to check in case you go to far and a screw detaches I use a set of bobs knobs which allow finger adjustment rather than a screwdriver, but it’s what you prefer if you were local I would do it for you but you may not be close by kind regards Richard Southampton

Hi Nigella Nicely done, I love the colours etc, nice and sharp, I have the Altair version of the CAK, still to use, however I will try harder, yesterday for us was cloudy until after midday, I decided to run up the scope, but failed to get a good focus, due to many factors, weather, turbulence, rising heat from buildings, and when I took off the ERF I found humidity between the ERF and objective as welll, note to self, must run dew heater on really chilly days, humidity was really high. Superb images Richard

I liked it so much I got one😊