The Admiral

Well, like Stevie, not knowingly. I normally see an automatic update when I first start up and I haven't seen one for a while. I'm on v. 2.0.10.46 I think, and I'm not sure how one would go about preventing an upgrade. The total current draw doesn't seem as though it would stress the power pack. Only about an amp for both the dew heaters, the ASIAir itself, and the camera and cooling. The latter was minimal, as I'm running at -5°C, and the external temperatures were low. IIRC it was only at a few percent of of max. Thanks both for your inputs. Ian

Addendum. I've just operated the mount through the ASI Mount app, connecting via the handset. Seeking the home position worked without problem. Interestingly, the mount tracking was set to OFF. Not sure why that should be, but I've now set it to SIDERIAL. I've also connected the mount up to the ASIAir Plus and operated it that way. Tracking appears to be sticky and it moves to the home position as it should. So why should it have behaved erroneously last night? Ian

At last, the weather gave a bit of time to get some imaging done last night. It didn't exactly go smoothly, and cloud curtailed the evening. Apart from the usual difficulties doing PA with the all-sky feature, though that's another story, two issues cropped up which I hadn't seen before. When I had pointed the scope to the southern skies, I did a quick image to see what stars there were that I could focus on, but clearly, tracking was off. This was despite the little 'fly-out' for mount control showing that tracking was supposed to be on. I went in and switched the tracking on, but I found that it wasn't sticky. Sometimes it appeared that it held for a while, other times it would flick back off within a few seconds. In desperation I slewed to my target and started guiding, and then it seemed to stay on. Surely it's not dependent on guiding being active? It hasn't been before. When I first started the night up, I sent the mount to home (it was actually already there from the previous session). This it did in the usual way, by slewing, and then back-tracking at slow speed to line up. When I sent the mount to home after the imaging session, it did the normal slew to just past the home position, and then back-tracked, but this time it kept on moving. I cancelled the home request, and repeated it. Once again it it continued to slew on the back-track. Never had that before. Anyone got any ideas? I plan on imaging again this evening if the weather obliges. I power the mount and ASIAir separately, using 2 x 5-amp Lynx Astro power bricks. They should be OK. I had 2 dew heaters running off the ASIAir but they weren't drawing anything excessive, and of course the power demands from the ASI533 for cooling were minimal. Ian

Thanks Olly. I did image the HH and surroundings some years ago, with a Fuji mirrorless camera, and was pleased with that broadband result, except it needed a lot more exposure. I now have a totally different rig and an astro camera, so I'm hoping to better do it justice. I'd want to include NGC2023 too, so it looks like a broadband approach is a priority. I'm not sure how the new rig will withstand Alnitak 🙂, but thanks for the reminder, a few short subs could be taken. It would be good to get NB to blend when the opportunity arises later. Ian

Thanks both. Logistically, doing both may be a bit difficult, given our weather here in the South, so I think I'll start off in broadband and if possible add NB later. At least that way the HH will be fully represented. Ian

The HH is rich in Ha, so it would make sense to image that with NB, but would that not be ideal for the associated Flame nebula, nor for NGC 2023 close by. Any thoughts please? I can image with a dual band filter or in white light, both with a colour camera. Ian

It's nothing new I'm afraid. Cuiv has done measurements on a range of filters and has discovered some are off the mark. See for example, https://youtu.be/VkSvpOLlD2Y and Unless suppliers do independent testing, and rejects those that are out of spec, we will all be none the wiser. Ian

I prefer to use a spirit level across the top of the tripod for levelling, as I don't find the built-in bubbles to be very sensitive. Ian

Come on, give me clue 🙂. Where am I supposed to be looking? Ian

I believe it should. If you try without, star trailing is significant and it wouldn't be able to plate solve. When I first used all-sky PA I couldn't understand why I was getting star trailing, until I realised that tracking was off. I have assumed that pointing East or West, you would not be able get a precise fix because of reduced sensitivity to fix ALT, if you see what I mean. Ian

I haven't really imaged enough with it to truly assess it, not helped by this being my first astro camera. As to format, I wonder if it's more an issue of the grass is always greener 😉. I sort of hanker after something larger, like the ASI2600 (I was using an APS DSLR before), but your full frame sensor works well with 400mm fl. To me, it's not so much the format that's an issue, just real estate 🙂. In that respect, it'd be a good match for the Samyang 135. Whatever, it's really a question of fitting the target within the frame to give a nicely balanced image, and that's certainly possible with a square sensor. Ian

Very nice Adrian. One day I'll get around to this target with the same set-up, but only with an ASI533. Ian

So what was the total time in the end? Ian

Nice one. Pleased that the all-ZWO kit is working well for you. It's nice when things just work! Ian

Thanks, yes, it must have been a trick of the light. Nice neat set up (sans cables 😉). Ian

Intrigued by what looks like a change in design of the base, much smaller than mine. Any chance of a photo in daylight please? Might just be a trick of the light. Ian

Well, I'm not in a position to go along with, or otherwise, the detail of what @powerlord says above, other that to say I agree with his conclusion, but as far as I'm concerned taking pictures of the night sky is what I want to do. I don't want laptops outside, or have to get to grips with a multitude of applications and get them all working seamlessly and harmoniously, I just want it to work. Full stop. If that's your bag, then fine, but don't assume that everyone wants to do the same. If I want to watch TV, I don't want to have to start up a host of different apps just so that I can do it. I just want to switch it on. No difference really, simplicity is the watchword. When I got my AM5 I just went for the AAP. It seemed the obvious choice as being the most likely to work together without issue and the simplest to use. I've already got ZWO cameras so no sweat really. It just works. As others have commented, it's allowed folk to just get on and image, without climbing the unnecessary and daunting hurdles before getting there. And I would class myself as one of those people. Just my two-penny worth. Ian

That's not what I'd call "offline". It's not about checking the system works, just familiarisation. Ian

Hmm, how do you do that then? I find that without an ASIAir or mount around, the app stops at the point where you need to connect. No ASIAir, no connection. So you can't even see the various screens/pages available to have a play with. Or am I missing something? Ian

Don't think that the ASIAir will be imaging straight from the get-go, like all new devices it does take a little while to become familiar with, and as there is no feature to use 'off-line', you end up wasting imaging time just finding out where things are and getting it working as you want. So then you have to check out video 'how-tos', and find that they relate to earlier versions and the screen layouts don't quite match what you have. Sound familiar? But may be that's just me being slow 😉. I've not tried NINA, but what I'm really saying is, the grass on the other side is not always bright green. I believe NINA allows you to 'play' off-line, so take advantage of that, perhaps during your long commutes. Ian

Does it cover full frame? The Sharp star blurb says APS-C https://www.sharpstar-optics.com/index.php/wap/zseries/428.html Looks pretty cool, though of course you can't judge a book by it's cover 🙂. Ian

I have also experienced this and given up. I'm using the AA+ with a ZWO AM5, but really haven't had the chance to work out why: is it the mount or me? I wasn't pointing exactly South, but a bit to the East. I have wondered whether this "crosstalk" was brought about by the mount not being level, but the opportunity to test that theory hasn't come up. I have had a problem to varying degrees aligning most times with this mount. I've also wondered about possible obscuration of the FoV from some positions of the mount rotation during the alignment process (which has occurred with the limited sky views in my garden), or also whether I am seeing a sufficient number of stars. As I say though, I haven't managed to check these things out. I too would be interested in others' views. Ian

Just to whet the appetite, this was taken at Hverir, in the Myvatn Geothermal Area, on Route 1. The thing is, it seems that wherever you look, you are confronted with experiences you've never encountered before. Ian

So sorry to hear of your plight, but if you're up to it there is so much to see in this other worldly place. It is unique. When my wife and I did a tour around Iceland (10 days total) some years ago, half of the people we spoke to said " What on earth do you want to go there for?", and other other half said "Fantastic. I'd love to go!" And how right they were too, an amazing place quite unlike anything we'd ever experienced. We did go in the middle of Summer, not in the cold of Winter though. According to the stats I read that Iceland's circumference is about 3000miles, about 2/3 that of Ireland, so it's a fair distance to cover in 9 days*. I can't add much to what has already been said, but we found Akureyri on the North coast a lovely little town. When we were there they offered whale watching trips, as does Husavik, a bit further around the coast. Might just be a Summer event though. The melted glacier flood plains between Hof and Vik, on the South coast, is a thought provoking drive. You can see remains of previous roads that had been washed away, and the planned renovations to the existing road are I believe on hold until after the next eruption, which they reckon is not far off 😀. Wherever you go, I'm sure that you will be enchanted by what you see. Ian *I have since read that Route 1 is about 820m long, so not so bad. But nevertheless, Iceland is bigger than you might think.

Very nice Göran, it looks like an old master in some ways. Ian