Stub Mandrel

Hi @Yoddha/Ivo, I've now got a setup worthy of APT... but I'll be honest I'm overwhelmed by the scale of what it offers. Is there something like a 'checklist' for setting up a new install?

Well done! Doiung my first Ha/OIII right now so... Now share how you do it 🙂

I use something very similar, if not identical. I put a sheet of A4 paper over it which eliminates the 'grid', and I take 12 flats, rotating it about 30 degrees between each one. This gives me excellent results.

I've just fitted the EAF to a 130P-DS which I think has a very similar focuser. I had to mill 3mm off the end of the long part of the bracket and re-tap (they were already deep enough) the M2.5 holes for the screws that fix the angled bit on the end. This allowed me to use the M5 screws through the bracket into the hole for the lock screw and the one opposite it which was closed by a set screw. Without this the only option was to use long M3 screws centrally which would have meant the focuser was pivoting on the pad which sets the focus rod tension which would not have been good (plus M3 screws don't really have large enough heads for the central slot in the bracket.

I think I agree. I need a way to add the stars back in better.

The smaller one will be fine, I use a 50/183 with a 120MC and guide to ~0.6" when the sky is nice and clear.

My first attempt at using StarNET to reduce stars. I felt the 'no stars at all' version was a bit 'posterised' so after doing some curves on the nebula I blended the two. Not sure what I think... I'm aware the colour on all images is a blotchy (this was done with a triband filter so colour is challenging). This was just an experiment which would be better used as an L- layer over an RGB. Before: After: Blended:

I thought that was a stereoscopic image and now I have a permanent squint...

+1 I've got an 8-splace wheel and I'm planning: Baader UV/IR Cut (L) (1) ZWO LRGB (2-4) Baader HSO (5-7) Then a moon/skyglow (8) to sub for L if necessary (I have found these to be very effective here for OSC where most of my LP is LP sodium).

A dual/tri-band filter like the Optolong L-Enhance or similar?

That nebulosity is breathtaking.

Ideally reduce before uploading, otherwise, while editing double click after its uploaded and reduce the size in the dialogue appears.

It seems to be 'California Night' so here's the one I took a few days ago, with a bit more processing. Nay bad with my suburban skies. L-Enhance filter with cooled, modded 450D , 31x 300s subs.

It's fascinating how your processing skills can improve over time. I went back to data collected over three sessions 2016 to January 2019. The best data was 71 2-minute frames from 2016, the 30 later, guided, 5 minute subs didn't seem as good. An attempt at combined processing in 2019 wasn't very good, but I've tried again. I don't think this is too bad for a DSLR image, although the background is a bit mottled and with 5 hours of data I had hoped it would show a bit more! I'm not convinced the 2016 image doesn't show more detail, despite being noisier. 2016 only image:

Sorry should've clarified, I meant for the guide scope At a guess, and after carefully studying the photo for several seconds, I'd guess it's the same length as the standard one that came with the scope 🙂

+1

I hang mine off a hook on the roof of my workshop.

I've just taken some 'real world' measurements. It looks to me that ZWO have supplied a pretty much optimal set of adaptors, assuming a standard 55mm back focus for the typical field flattener or coma corrector. Without the EFW: ASI1600 ---> 21mm T2 adaptor** ---> female/female adaptor** ---> T2-48mm adaptor** 6.5mm + 21mm + 11mm + 16.5mm = 55mm **supplied with ASI With EFW: ASI1600 ---> EFW ---> T2-T2 male/male adaptor* ---> female/female adaptor** ---> T2-48mm adaptor** 6.5mm + 19.97mm + 1.96 mm + 11mm + 16.5mm = 55.93mm *supplied with EFW **supplied with ASI Allowing for ~0.7mm shortening of the light path by the filter, this is pretty close again at 55.2mm.

Without <ctrl> - <alt> - <Z> I would be lost 🙂

Thanks David. FW and focuser arrived today so hopefully I won't have any more issues!

This is one reason I like old PhotoPaint. You could copy an image and 'paste as new image' or paste into an image as a new object (=layer but can have an irregular shape).

I'm about to take the nervous step from DSLR imaging to mono, with filter wheel, nb filters and lots more complication. Having used a DSLR (mostly a Canon 450D, modded and cooled) for about 5 years I have had some really pleasing results and some disappointing ones. In the last few months I have been using one of the new tri/dual band filters that lets through Hb, OIII and Ha. While I ahven't used it on many targets with a lot of OIII it's results with Ha targets have been remarkable, exceeding the results I get with a 7nm Ha filter. Last night I had a six hour session with my 450D - quite a venerable DSLR. I used it with my ED 66, guided, 5-minute subs and used the Optolong L-Enhance filter. I have suburban skies, allegedly Bortle 5, but I wouldn't class them that good. All of these have been processed quite simply: Stack in DSS using super pixel mode. Stretch using x^1/5 in FITS liberator, combine into RGB with photoshop. Use Noel's 'reduce horizontal banding' to get rid of slight effect in background of red layer (noticeable if background too light). Select background and use Gradient Exterminator to balance colour (no noticeable gradient to get rid of). Use Noel's increase star colour action a few times. Select brighter stars, expand and feather, then use selective colour to turn red stars orange and cyan stars bluer (this corrects the effect of the L-enhance filter on stars). Run HVLG. Curves to set background level and boost mids without boosting stars. Save and open in Astra Image. Gentle denoise (Pacman and Monkey Head only, California with 3 Hrs didn't need any denoise). Multi-scale contrast. Save as 48 bit TIFF and 24-bit PNG. My conclusion is that these new filters, by reducing light pollution and enhancing Ha in particular, offer a significant step up for DSLR users and do narrow the gap with mono imaging. Also, I think accepting the reduced resolution of super-pixel images helps reduce teh signal-noise deficit of OSC as well. One experiment I tried shows that the l-enhance images make an excellent luminance layer on top of ordinary RGB images which may have better colour but less detail. Here are last night's results: Pacman Nebula, 22 x 300s California Nebula, 31 x 300s Monkey Head Nebula, 21 x 300s

Well this is an education. The i5 laptop with 512gig SSD restarts in under ten seconds. It flies. Checked and my ageing desktop is i3. Can't have my lappy faster than my desktop... can I?

For some values of up to date... Ascom uses .Net 3.51 but the current stable release is 4.8