Davesellars

Don't forget to add the finder shoe if you're going with the Starfield 102ED. The Starfield is an excellent scope and very capable for DSOs (obviously can't expect it to beat an 8"+ reflector though). If you get the EQ5 mount (I use mine on this and much prefer it to the AZ4 as I find it better (imho) when switching eyepieces, but both mounts are very steady. The EQ5 is rock solid with this scope and you've got the option of adding motors or even GOTO though... I'd recommend looking at adding a visual finder though if you're interested in DSOs... lots to choose from - I use the 30mm Right Angled Skywatcher as I think that's sufficient with this scope if the sky is dark enough although the 50mm will obviously show more depth at the expense of FOV. Once aligned, with the 30mm finder as long as the scope is roughly pointing in the correct direction of the initial star to start, I always have it in my FOV of the finder. I reserve a pointer (like the Rigel) for use with my dob where I have a much smaller FOV while using a 60mm finder so these then work very well together. Good luck with the search... it would probably seem never ending but try not to end in parallysis analysis!

Fascinating group of galaxies! Indeed, there's a great variety of type there in the view. According to SkySafari... IC 5145 is 383 Mly distance receeding at 7363 km/s UGC 11845 is 348 MIy distance receeding at 7234 km/s IC 5144 is 418 Mly distance receeding at 8686 km/s PGC 1473533 (CGCG 427-39) is 440 Mly distance receeding at 9063 km/s PGC 1474263 is 430 Mly distance receeding at 8939 km/s So... my guess is that the group would be made up of IC5144, PGC 1473533 and PGC 1474263 as these have very similar distance and receeding velocity?

Looks like a good start! I'm just starting down the EAA route myself although it's not replacing visual... it's more like a different tool to use. I'm still learning and don't have the luxury of a goto mount at the moment but from my previous AP experience, platesolving will solve all your issues and it's dead easy to setup and connect through SharpCap (I installed ASTAP).

Lots of cloud but using the 102ED and binoviewers got to see Jupiter and Mars. Seeing seemed exceptionally steady. Mars a reasonably sized disc now and lots of surface detail really standing out.

Got to see this pretty much at the peak with my family using the 80ED. Was fortunate with the clouds!

Personally, I wouldn't choose anything other than an EQ mount - it gives you more options for start to do AP as well as shorter exposure EAA which even this is restricted in only alt/az. If you're going to be using relatively lightweight refractors, perhaps the EQ5 goto would be a good choice, although it's not that much more for the HEQ5... I have found my 80ED quite capable so far - I'm yet to test my 102ED on the EQ5 mount for EAA - it should be fine though. I'm not sure I'd want to be using much less aperture than 80mm as it would be quite restrictive in the objects you could realistically view well. A 4" ED refractor would be great for both EAA and visual observing. Like you say... there are many options!

So the problem doesn't appear to be the camera nor the offset which I originally suspected. Using ASIStudio capture I don't see any issue and also with SharpCap taking an individual capture rather than LiveStack also I can't see an issue - one I've stretched it using StarTools. Using Livestack though in SharpCap, the problem appears immediately.

Many thanks! That's interesting about the cooling. The first couple of nights I used it was particularly cold and I think the camera was reporting 10 degrees and I didn't see the issue quite so much. A couple of nights ago the temp was around 14 - 15 degrees. I've tried both with the supplied USB3 cable and also a good quality USB3 cable I've been using outside and there's no real difference. Would lack of cooling cause quite so much of issue of banding?

OK, so just testing out (it's cloudy tonight!) in Sharpcap and having just taken dark frames for 8 second subs @ 200 gain the banding still really shows up actually even more significantly...

I've been using this camera (mono version) for about 10 days and have had quite a few opportunities to use it (see my EAA Reports thread) and seem to be experiencing banding on the camera that to me ruins some of the images. I've used flats most of the time using Sharpcap to generate them which also creates the bias and darks (not all the time, depending on what i'm capturing or have changes my settings and just testing... Anyone else with experience of this camera state their view of the banding I'm seeing. is this normal or is the 178 just particularly bad in this case (which is shame as the camera is really sensitive and capturing nice images). EAA captures

Nice captures, Mike! NGC 147 is quite diffuse without a bright core which can make it difficult visually. I see I haven't logged this one as observed yet. NGC 185 has come out really well with a touch of structure appearing and those two small dark areas. Well done!

Hi Paul! Many thanks! This was using Sharpcap live stacking with the 120ST (thus bloated stars!!!) - It was approx 40 subs x 15 seconds using the ASI 178MM camera. Actually the first few subs showed really clearly but then conditions were terrible through haze and cloud so I let it run for a while to improve the Signal to Noise ratio only. Dave.

Hi Mike, That's a really nice image of the Bubble! It's considerably cleaner and sharper than the first and while you say, there's not a huge difference in detail it looks quite abit fuller (I assume because of the extra resolution of the 15"). Well done!

Ok, just a quick one... Have the 120ST out tonight but conditions are pretty dire. I've managed to capture C/2022 E3 (ZTF) though even through the murk!

Well done on spotting it! I'd give it a go with the dob tonight but the transparency is awful... I have the 120ST capturing it at the moment instead...