almcl

Yes, exactly the same experience here. Downloaded the updated version at lunchtime and it runs for a second then exits. I don't actually need it, but a fix would be good!

Thought I'd posted this picture before, but apparently not. Taken more than 60 years ago...

Yes, when selecting stars, you can scroll though a list. Somewhat annoyingly, it only gives the names of stars and often not with the same spellings in any of any of my planetarium programs, which can make working out which one it's offering tricky sometimes. This is fine if you can remember the names of fifty odd stars (I think) but I tend towards alpha Cyg or similar so don't always recognise the one shown and get a bit surprised when the scope points into the trees (of which I have lots) for a target I thought was overhead.

Short answer, yes. The initial 1st star alignment (which you have to do with any sort of mount) may be off a bit - but that can happen with a very accurate polar alignment if the home position is out, but after a two or three star alignment, the goto will be fine. If the polar alignment is massively out the tracking may not be wonderful but the object of interest should still stay in view.

For purely visual use an equatorial doesn't require any 'setting up'. You put the mount down with the north leg facing north (ish) and bolt the scope on. Job done. For visual there's no need to polar align or level it and objects will still remain within the field of view with either tracking motor or hand turned knob.

I don't think your stars are that bad. Not sure what your star detection threshold is set at but when I put your jpeg though DSS with a threshold setting of 32, it finds 85 stars which is more than enough for stacking. The trees may present more of a problem though.

Yes, indeed; the tail of the swan. If you haven't already got one, a planetarium program like Stellarium or Cartes du Ciel (both free) include quite a bit of star lore, names and so on. Sky Safari is quite popular on tablets, but unless you strike lucky on special offers, usually has a cost.

Here you go. I put the processed image into Astrometry.net and this is what it came up with:

Had a very quick go at your image in StarTools, as you mentioned it, and the result is below. I had to crop quite a bit off the bottom to avoid the artefacts that Vlaiv mentions, but there's still lots of stuff in there, I think the Ring nebula (M57) is just about there in Lyra and there's something in the area of the Veil nebula in Cygnus as well. Widefield shots of the Milky Way are great fun, aren't they? So hang on to this one as the first step in this wonderful part of the hobby.

Thank goodness for this wonderful data. It's been perma-cloud here this month. Here's a muted HST palette processed in StarTools 1.7.449:

Need to know a little bit more about your equipment: What mount What camera Are you guiding , if so with what software (If any) You say you can't see Capella, but I don't understand why that means you have to drift align, Capella isn't usually involved in polar alignment?

It's a 20,000 mAh one, but this is way over spec'd for the job it does, it seldom drops below 75% capacity even on 4 hour session.

I power my Canon 700d from an Easy Accumulator power bank which lasts for ages (longer than me, anyway), but while the dummy battery is fine, it needs a power converter to step up the 5.2 volt output from the USB power bank to the 8 volts the Canon needs. Of course if you are doing this via the mains adapter you won't need to bother with that.

There's lots of info on flats both here and on-line. One simple guide (if you are using Deep Sky Stacker) is on the page here http://deepskystacker.free.fr/english/faq.htm Once you get used to doing them it only takes a couple of minutes.

If you haven't started using flats, you may find they help? And darks on an uncooled camera may introduce more noise than they suppress. There is a more up-to-date version of StarTools available (1.7.440 at the moment) and the new wipe module may be able to help if you try the vignetting preset.

Don't assume an Astro modded DSLR can't also be used for daytime photography. I got my Astro Modded DSLR from Juan at Cheap Astrophotography and it's fine for day time use: image 1 image 2 I've been using it for AP for almost 6 years now and am only just getting to the limits of what it can do (OK, so I'm a slow learner!) but I don't regret going with a DSLR at all. Some targets I only get 12 minutes of data on, but it still gives a usable image : image3

Could you say a little more about your set up? Assume you are guiding (since you are dithering) ? What software are you using? What imaging scope, what guiding scope, what imaging camera, what guiding camera? How is guide scope mounted? None of these may be relevant or all of them may be involved.

Here's a second attempt (sufficiently different, I hope!) Processed in StarTools 1.7.439

Not sure if this will prove relevant, but what is the dither scale set to in PHD2 (Brain, Global tab) ?

Wow! Been looking forward to this and it doesn't disappoint, does it? Wonderful data again. Here's a first go.

I started almost exactly the same way (EQ5 with home added drive motors and a Logitech C270 webcam butchered to fit a spare SW finder scope using GPUSB to control the mount via a modified handset). It works, just not always. The Logitech webcam wasn't sensitive enough to find stars in every situation, and the EQ5 sometimes struggled with the SW200P but it did work most of the time. Tooth_dr's advice about getting a ASI 120 mono (mini is a tad more expensive but a bit lighter) is good - mine always finds loads of stars when used with the SW finderscope (it does a pretty good job with an OAG as well) and PHD2 reports guiding oscillations around about 1 arc second most of the time although I now use an AstroEQ to drive stepper motors on the EQ5.

Tried a slightly different approach, Alan. Not sure if it has actually worked, but thank you very much for posting the data - great fun to have a play with. In trying to get more detail, I think I've slightly over cooked it and it has got a rather speckled appearance. See what you think?

There's a couple of threads about this. One here where the OP shows a neat solution and my rather cheapskate version (albeit for an EQ5) about a quarter of the way down the page: wide field setup another HEQ5 with DSLR and a third: auto guider help

Hope Maksutov-Newtonians are allowed in? Here's another WIP, 60 minutes from the only clear night we've had in the last fortnight (haven't done anything about the amp glow, noise or bright star reflections yet):

No apology needed, I was trying to clarify and, yes, absolutely, a test image with and without filters should help clear things up.