SiriusDoggy

I decided to image the sun today and it seemed a bit hazy so I wasn't planning on sharing anything but then this happened. https://youtu.be/Src6v4nxv5s

CGX mount, Explore Scientific ED127mm refractor, ZWO ASI1600mm camera, SharpCap Pro 3.2 software. 3000 frames with best 55% stacked with AutoStakkert 3!, Tweaked in Photoshop.

99.7% illumination

One hour each of Ha, SII, and OIII shot during a full moon from my Bortle 8 skies. Captured with SharpCapPro Edited with Astro Pixel Processor CGX Mount, Explore Scientific ED127mm APO refractor with 0.7x reducer/flattener for 670mm fl. ZWO ASI1600mm camera Baader filters

85 x 60second Ha 45 x 90second OIII 40 x 120second SII Processed with Astro Pixel Processor CGX Mount, ED127mm with reducer, ZWO 1600mm, Baader Filters Too much light pollution and moonlight to bring out the fainter outer gasses.

Yes, I think 0.7 RMS for this mount is about the best we can expect. Previously, I think my best evening was 0.58 but that was while imaging under absolutely perfect seeing conditions at 10,000' (3048m). As for the shipping, I can only imagine how expensive that would be for you. I live in Las Vegas, NV and had to ship it to California, only 300 miles (482km) and it cost me $120 (£92).

I received my mount back from Celestron yesterday and we had a clear night last night so I set it up to do some quick tests. Horrible seeing conditions with everything swimming all over the place and the wind didn't help either but I still managed a Total RMS of around 1' which was pretty good considering the conditions. As the mount was failing the RMS was around 3.5-7' so I'd say this is a definite improvement. I can't wait for a clear, calm night with good seeing...

Hey guys/gals, I just wanted to post an update on my situation. I posted the same post on several astronomy forums hoping for a quick answer. One of those sites was the www.TeamCelestron.com website which is Celestron's official forum I guess. After several comments and suggestions on Cloudy Nights and other places, I finally received a reply from an engineer at Celestron on the TeamCelestron site. He said it was definitely a problem with the motors and really wanted to take care of my issue. After checking with supervisors they have offered to replace both motors at no charge even though I'm out of warranty. Originally I was told I could drop it off and they would do the repairs while I waited. I have a friend that travels to L.A. every week for business so I was going to catch a free ride with him. I was then notified that because of the Covid-19 restrictions in California, I'd have to ship it. I was also warned that because they were closed down for 60 days (again because of C-19) that there is a long backlog of repairs. So it looks like I'm going to get the repair done for the cost of shipping but it's going to take quite a while before I get it back. My next post will not be until it's returned and I've had a chance to test it so it could be a while. But I promise more updates to come.

I've had my CGX since almost the very beginning. I was on a waitlist after it was announced so it's safe to say mine is an early model. Anyway, Over the several years now I've had minor issues but nothing that's not to be expected from a mass-produced Chinese mount. It came out of the box making the whaling banshee noise during movement. (If you aren't familiar with the noise, here's a short video. https://youtu.be/4E-oRAANk_Q ) I sent it back and it was quickly replaced, only to have the same noise come back again later on. Rather than wait on a return again, I posted the above video and learned of the necessary adjustments to solve this issue. Over the past couple of years when I noticed guiding starting to slip, a quick adjustment to the infamous two screws has always solved my problems. Then about 2 weeks ago my guiding in PHD went from a Total RMS of .70 up to around 1.5. At 1.5 my stars are no longer round. I struggled with adjustments and it would be good for a day or so then get even worse. Last night my Total RMS was reading 4.x+ and my stars were just nice long trails. A friend told me to take the motors off and do the wiggle test to see if the bushings in the gear reduction are shot. Well, apparently they are as he said there should not be this much wiggle on the gear. I don't know what "normal" is because I've never removed the motors prior to today. So is this normal? Take a look at this short video to see the problem up close. Skip to 02:05 to get to the meat. https://youtu.be/VsOGNNW6gqo

Bortle 8 skies, Baader 7nm Ha filter 40x 90second subs = 60 minutes Explore Scientific ED127 with .7x reducer/flattener (671mm fl) ZWO ASI1600mm cooled camera Ambient temp 95°f (sensor cooled to -5°c below ambient) CGX Mount Captured with SharpCapPro. Processed with Astro Pixel Processor.

Fooling around tonight with a new setup...I don't usually image that much from my Bortle 8 backyard but what the heck, narrowband doesn't care, right? 30x 60second subs = 30 minutes @-05° ambient on the ZWO ASI1600mm camera, Baader 7nm Ha Filter, Explore Scientific ED127mm scope w/.8x Flattener/Reducer, Processed using Astro Pixel Processor with a final tweek in PhotoshopCC.

Switching to the 5Ghz router solved the problem. It's working like a champ now. Big kudos to the Pegasus folks. I sent them a support ticket with a link to the video and they too confirmed it's a known issue with USB3 interfering with 2.4Ghz wifi.

I've narrowed the problem down I beleive to USB3.0 / 2.4Ghz interference. Search for that and you may find clues to help you. Sadly, I've gotta find a decent 5Gz USB powered router now... Looking to get this one - TP-Link AC750 Wireless Portable Nano Travel Router

The strange thing is this worked FLAWLESSLY for 5 trips out. One time I didn't even plug the ethernet in, I went wireless all night with no issues. Now, can't get it to connect for anything.

Honestly, I don't know if it's the PAUPB or my NUC that's causing this problem but if you watch this short 4.5 minute video you'll see the issue I'm having connecting wirelessly to my NUC. When the PAUPBv2 is connected to the NUC, I can not connect to the NUC via WiFi. Connecting via ethernet is no issue, it's only wireless that is no longer working. https://youtu.be/HlOYAttHGDY I've replaced the USB3 cable connecting the two and tried a USB3 hub between with no luck.

Thanks Paul. I'm going to give processing a go again and try to bring out a bit of the central blue color. I know the data is there since I captured 90 minutes of OIII.

With dark, clear skies at 8,050' (2453m) I decided to put a few hours in on this target, the Pacman Nebula, NGC281. 90 Minutes of Ha and 90 Minutes of OIII using 3-minute exposures. Explore Scientific ED127mm, ASI1600mm cooled camera and CGX mount. Phd2 guiding, SharpCapPro capture software, Astro Pixel Processor for processing.

With the moon getting brighter and comet NEOWISE getting noticeably fainter, this will be my last imaging session with the great comet C/2020 F3 NEOWISE. Taken last night (07-24-2020) from 8,050' (2454m) at the Desert View Overlook in the Spring Mountains National Recreation Area. 5x 30 seconds of LRGB filters for a total integration time of 10 minutes. Explore Scientific ED127mm and ZWO ASI1600mm cooled camera. (-20°) on a CGX mount. Processed using Astro Pixel Processor.

I made a trip up to the Brian Head Observation Point in Utah https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/dixie/recarea/?recid=24916 which is at 11,307' (3446m) to image the comet and other targets. It's a 4-hour drive from Las Vegas and we knew leaving Vegas that the weather was iffy. We arrived in almost perfect weather with only a few puffy clouds in the sky. We unloaded all of our gear and hauled it about 100 meters to our setup location. No easy task at this elevation! Just as the sun set we could see clouds, and worse, lightning, coming up from the south. Being on top of a bare mountain-top, the highest around, when lightning is rolling in is not the wisest thing. When it finally got close enough to hear the thunder we knew it was time to leave. So we reversed our process and got everything packed up just in time. No rain but we experienced a fantastic lightning display. We were too afraid to get out of the car to image it since we were on top of the mountain, above the tree-line, and fully exposed. I did manage to set up my DSLR on a tripod and grab this shot before leaving. Sadly, it is slightly out of focus so don't pixel-peep on this one. Prior to this trip, 7600' (2316m) was the highest I had imaged from and I could tell, had the weather held out, this would have been a spectacular location. There was almost no twinkling of the stars even as low as 30° above the horizon! This will definitely be a future imaging destination when the weather is more stable. A short TimeLapse of the evening. Canon 5D Mark II, Rokinon 24mm 1.4 @ f2.0, ISO400, 25 seconds.

Canon 5D Mark II, ISO 400, 24mm f2.8, 25 seconds.

Here's a more complete video of the timelapse. https://youtu.be/aq7pJ0UOHHM

Canon 5D Mark II and 24mm f2.8 lens 25-second exposures. Sorry about the passing traffic. I was actually at this location to image something to the south after the comet set.

Yeah, it's pretty horrible. Fortunately, I live on the southeast side of the valley so my views to the south are not that bad. And with narrowband, I've been able to image pretty much anything as long as it's not to my northwest.

A quick timelapse of the comet over Las Vegas, NV It's tough to spot. after the transition look above the house on the left about half-way up the frame. The later half loops three times. No sound as I made this for a local news broadcast. https://youtu.be/dnsZ9jyKe10

This shot is from July 9th, 2020 at 3:42am PDT just as it cleared the mountains. 10x 5 second exposures (Luminance only) for the comet and sky and I composited one of the mountain shots because of the motion blur. The angle is a bit off because I was trying to frame the comet to reach across the chip diagonally. For normal shots without a horizon that would not be a problem. StellarVue SV70T/.8x reducer/flattener and ZWO ASI1600mm camera