The Admiral

Afraid 'tis ever thus. Cloud forecasts are waste of time in my view. It's bad enough having so much cloud here, but they just rub salt into the wound. As one who has to set up everything from scratch each time, it all becomes a game of Russian roulette. Ian

I use the metal bodied finder, much like the one you are thinking of but without the laser: https://www.365astronomy.com/365Astronomy-Deluxe-Multi-Reticle-Red-Dot-Finderscope-Metal-Body-RED-GREEN-LED-wide-base?search=red dot I have found it reliable and stable, better than the cheap plastic bodied affairs. I'd be very wary of using a laser. Even if you're not near an airport there are many planes in the sky, and not all at high altitude, at least around here. Furthermore, cheapo lasers of unknown origin often do not comply with regulations and their outputs can be significantly higher (and lower) than their specification. You need to be very wary of getting into that realm, in my opinion. Ian

I heard that. Oh to have those skies here! Ian

I don't use Win10 but Win8.1, so I can't comment. I am aware that quite often when I connect the iPolar, my AV steps in and I have to allow it. Could your AV/Windows defender be worth a look? Ian

The title says it all really. The iPolar is directly connected to the mount's rotational axis, and I would have thought should give a more precise polar alignment. On the other hand, the ASIAir routine uses the camera on the scope itself and plate solves, so at least it's using what the scope sees, taking into account any misalignment of the scope with the mount's axis. Any thoughts on the better method? I'm inclined to think the iPolar would be the more precise option, but I would welcome other views. Ian

That's a nice image, welcome back (sort of ). Keep at it. I'm fighting the mojo issues too! The problem I find is not so much the bad weather, of which there is plenty, but the lack of accuracy of the forecasts. They say it's going to be poor, then it isn't, or it looks to be good, and it isn't. Ian

That begs another off-topic question, if I may? I was wondering how necessary it is to put the memory stick into the USB 3 socket, why not use a USB 2? Obviously it would be connected with file size and length of sub, but if subs are over, say, 30s long, would it matter? I could see that for planetary/lunar imaging when you are firing off frames in quick succession, there could be a bottleneck with USB2. I've got no feel for this, so any comment from experienced users would be useful. Ian

Well if all it takes is to swap a lead over from one socket to another, or use a hub, to completely solve the problem, I'd call that a result. If the AAP is using the same power supply as the mount, I can imagine that voltage transients caused by the mount starting to drive could, conceivably, affect the function of the AAP. May be I have too much faith, but if the mount communications are sorted I don't see why the rest of the functions shouldn't be OK. Ian

Well that looks like progress indeed and promising. I hope you are happier now! Were you powering the mount and AAP separately? Can I ask, how do you test that? If you haven't already plate solved an image, how does the system know where to point? If it starts by using the home position, I presume that will have been set using the handset? Or is it the park position? Ian

Well don't be too downhearted. Try the hub solution, as recommended by ZWO, that would be an easy fix. And the mount is good. I admit I have only tested mine using the slew pad, the real test will be GOTOs I think. That will have to wait for a clear night. I may be lucky with an early mount, fingers crossed. Ian

I'm sure that folk will have read the CN thread on this, but for the record, https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/778610-new-ioptron-gem45-and-asiair-issue/ Several postulations have been made, ranging from inadequate cabling within the mount to AAP supply voltage. But use of a hub does seem to allow the mount to talk to the AAP, either that on the camera or a separate one. Presumably by providing some extra 'oomph' to the signal, though apparently an unpowered hub is supposed to work. One person suggested using a USB3 port to link to the mount rather than USB2. Also, check out the discussion on the ZWO forum https://bbs.astronomy-imaging-camera.com/d/11852-problems-connecting-asiair-pro-and-ioptron-gem45-2021-version By the way, I use separate power supplies for the mount and AAP. I don't power the mount through the AAP. For what it's worth. Ian

Thanks. Mind you, I thought I had the last time I used it? Ian

I did try sending the mount back to the home position but it started going off in a direction I wasn't expecting. I couldn't see how to stop it without powering off the mount. After that, it all seemed to be unresponsive. The solution which worked was to power off both the AAP and the mount, and start afresh. I do not see a need to send the mount to home anyway, so shalln't do that again. I'm not even sure I know where 'home' is! Of course, the ultimate test will be to try things out under clear skies! Ian

👍. I guess there is an internal hub now. As a matter of interest, which of the two GEM45 links worked? Ian

I don't believe so . I'm no expert and not fully conversant with why the issue occurs, but I gather it is easily solved. I've just received my ASIAir plus and it worked without any issue. Mine is one of the earlier GEM45's, bought in March 2020, and it has 2 USB's, one for connecting to the iPolar and another for connecting to the mount itself (which is what the ASIAir connects via). There is also a USB socket which connects only to a USB socket on the saddle head via a feed-through. I believe with later models all this was rationalized, so there are now fewer USB sockets. It is/was this version that was causing the trouble. The advice, then (still?), was to connect via a USB hub rather than direct to the mount. This was what Newforrestgimp was referring to a couple of posts ago. Having said all that, when I was connecting to my mount, I noted that in the mount drop-down box, there were two entries for the GEM45, one referring to old and the other to later firmware (I think, can't quite remember). I initially chose the earlier one, as my mount is older, but it didn't work. It did with the later one though. I'm not sure whether the two entries are as a result of the issue being addressed by ZWO, or whether the problem with direct connection persists. But, I gather, it is a readily solvable issue, albeit irritating. Ian Ian

Off topic, how have you found connecting the AAP to a GEM45? There seems to be a lot of discussion on the ZWO forum about connection problems, but it would seem that this is with the later mounts that have only one USB socket that serves for both the mount and for iPolar. Mine has two sockets, one for each. I have a new AAPlus arriving tomorrow, and I'd like to be prepared . Ian

Just had an email from FLO saying that mine has been despatched! Ian

That's good news. Hopefully mine won't be too far behind Ian

I think it does, but I would regard it as a different rendition, both equally effective. Ian

I didn't read it like that, I thought the total integration time was 6h 05m. Sub length not mentioned. Ian

That is rather nice! Quite ethereal. Was that taken from Oxford or did you travel to a darker location? What exposures were you using? Ian

I wondered if the OP meant without dovetail, but that should be easy to estimate. Ian

Yes there is, 3.3kg. But no weight of tube + rings/handle . Ian

No worries, sorry I wasn't pointing the finger at you and I didn't take it that you were condemning the AZ mount, but I just wanted to expand on what you said. So often I read in answer to beginners' questions that you must have an EQ mount in order to do imaging, and I wanted to dispel such a notion. It's one of my pet intolerances , and wanted to keep the flag flying for AZ imaging . I'll get off my soapbox now! By the way, I have gone over to using an EQ mount now . Ian

This is perfectly true, but it doesn't mean that you can't get decent images with an AZ mount. The "No EQ DSO Challenge" thread linked to above has lots of successful images to prove it. I already had mine so used it, but I think if you are embarking on astrophotography from scratch, and don't have any gear at all, you need to appreciate that it is a long journey, and to get the best images then you're going to be needing an EQ mount. At the end of the day, whether an image is 'decent enough' depends on what you want to get out of your astronomy. But as the Lazy Astronomer said, it is a deep vortex that needs to be fed with ever more gear . Having said that, nothing beats actually getting an image of an object that you can't see with your own eyes, even through a telescope, in full colour. It may not be a perfect image, but it's far better than not having tried. I think there is always a temptation in giving answers to questions like this, that one is liable to put one's own stamp on things, having lots of experience, and ultimately disillusioning the person asking the question. Basically, with limited cash and wanting to get into astronomy, where would you start? Ian