blinky

Shame I sent the cables back, was looking at the PoleStar manual/FAQ as Im thinking of getting one, it seems there is a setting for USB power in the windows power settings, USB Selective Suspend.  I wonder if this was possibly the cause of the issues I had with the Lynx astro cable?

People used to modify the original Philips Toucam for long exposures, I did it once.  You dont get great results at all, I would suggest avoiding it!  

In theory yes - used to be the only way in the days before DSLR's.  Not great though, tiny field of view, lots of noise, pain to get it modded in the first place etc etc

rotated it, I always think the bit at the left looks like the Alien from the film of the same name!

Only got the O3 data so far, dont know why I started with O3 and not Ha!  20x5min subs for 3 of the panes and 11x5min for the fourth one as clouds cut the night short.  Hopefully will get some Ha and may some Sii to make this an RGB image! Its very noisy when you zoom in, I assume probably some high cloud was about but if you dont zoom in too far its ok 🙂

I had a similer problem with 2 Lynx astro FTDI cables, sent them back for a refund in the end, never got to the bottom of it

Thats exactly what I did but got 2 slightly different sized images - I cropped one down to match the other and it then worked fine.  Will take a look at Astro Pixel Processor.....

What is the name of APP?  If I google it I get astro apps and not an application called APP.... 🙂

Cheers - got stuck though!  Managed to create the 'rough' mosaic no problem (I did not realise you just dragged it over the 2nd image to create the mosaic).  I then choose the mosaic separate option and try and do Gradient Merge but it fails as the geometry is different between the 2 images, which it it! One is 5351 x 6265 and the other is 5351 x 6264 - how do I create them both the same size when choosing the merge separate?  

Ive got 2 stacked images of the witches broom area that I want to combine into a mosaic in Pixinsight, I thought you just selected register/union - mosaic and it would produce a mosaic containing the ref and target images in the Star Alignment tool.  When I do it however, the image that comes out is only the reference image, not a large image containing both the ref and target. 

I would also say, are you getting nice round stars?  If so, then LEAVE IT ALONE!!!

Too big for en EQ6 then?

On 18/08/2020 at 10:40, spillage said:

I have a similar set up minus the zero backlash mod. I usually use the target most in phd. I would say try shifting the ota back or forward a touch and see how the RA reacts (looks it may be east heavy). I normally find it is either balance or slight backlash. Normally get 0.7" ish, but have had it as low as 0.5" on a good night.

Of course I could be totally wrong but that is where I would start.

I found the balance was critical once it was belt modded - did as you said and it made a big difference to guiding

Just now, Rustang said:

Even plate solving is alein to me so add it to the list of scary new things to look into! 😁

Its pretty easy nowadays to get it all setup, and watching it work is like magic!  You will get loads of help on here as well but just get everything installed and connected first

Seriously, its not difficult to do - get the software all installed and see if you can connect to the cameras and mount, then have a hunt and get plate solving setup, then you are good to go!  Dont suppose you are anywhere near Edinburgh?  If you were I could pop over and help you out

Ok, a long time sine I've used a DSLR for imaging, I think you can now connect them to apps like SGPro or NINA and get plate solving working, when I used a DSLR you couldnt do that

If you dont want to go the whole hog of getting something like NINA, I suppose you could get a planetarium like Stellarium: https://stellarium.org/  and connect that to the mount, you then click a target in there and it will slew the mount, you would then start PHD2 autoguiding and away you go.  But..... I would honestly say, get something like NINA or SGPro or whatever as it makes everything so much easier.  I can now in SGPro, select a target by typing in its name, it then slews the mount, plate solves so its bang on target, starts PHD2 guiding then starts the imaging camera with the sequence of exposures I have set.  I can then go to bed and let it run!

Ok, all a bit confusing when you first get started!  The cable you have goes from computer to the HEQ5, the guide camera also connects to your computer, as I assume your main imaging camera does (though maybe not if you are using a DLSR). 

Anyway, you want to install ASCOM Platform from here: https://github.com/ASCOMInitiative/ASCOMPlatform/releases/download/v6.5Release/ASCOMPlatform65.exe

I would then install EQMod, which allows things to talk to the mount, get it here: https://sourceforge.net/projects/eq-mod/files/latest/download

You already have PHD2 installed, one you have installed those 2 apps above, you should then be able to connect PHD2 to your mount, in the connection box you should see something like EQDir/Mod EQ5/6 - should just jump out at you!

After that, I would suggest as others have, getting something to allow you to select an object and slew the mount to it.  I use SGPro but there is free software, NINA which seems to be getting good reviews at the moment - https://nighttime-imaging.eu/  out of interest, what is your imaging camera?  I would suggest getting NINA setup, then get plate solving setup - its amazing when it works!  You select your object, the mount slews to it, takes an image, then the plate solving software works out where exactly your scope is pointing and issues commands to slew the mount to the exact target you selected.  Im not sure as I dont use NINA, what Plate Solving software is compatible so I would have a look round this site and ask some questions about NINA once you have it installed.

Ok, found a2” SCT diagonal for a good price, I have the 70 degree 20mm eyepiece so thats covered.  I suppose I really need something around the 12mm size then if I’m to loose the reducer, as the 9mm Nagler is too much power for general use.

I have a problem - my eyepieces I currently have were sourced when I had a nice 12inch F5 Dobsonian - I sold that and now my visual scope is my 8 inch Meade SCT and they are too high magnification or in the case of the 35mm 2inch ED eyepiece, they dont fit!

I have a 2 inch visual back, the F6.3 reducer, a 1.25 inch visual back and a 1.25 inch diagonal.  I’m just wondering what to sell/keep and what to buy....  I’m looking for something high powered for planets, a medium a low and a ‘as low as you can go’/finder type eyepiece.  

I don’t particularly want to connect and disconnect the reducer and faf about with it at night but also dont want to spend a lot of money as I’m mainly an imager and this is really only for the odd occasion or to show friends the night sky.

So, what if I keep the Nagler as a high power eyepiece but use it mainly with the F6.3 reducer so make it more useful as a standard high power eyepiece? So when using the eyepiece it would be: F6.3 reducer, 1.25” Visual Back, then 1.25” Diagonal....  This setup would give 140x magnification

What about lower magnifications though?  I do have an eyepiece marked 70Degree FOV thats 20mm, so I suppose with the same setup as above with reducer in place, this gives 63 times magnification.

So do they should like decent magnifications for medium and low power?  I also have a BST 8mm EP, which with the reducer gives, 157, so on good nights that could possibly be used as a higher power eyepiece, if I want to leave the reducer in place?  I also have 7 and 5mm Celestron XCel eyepieces, so again, on exceptional nights could use them with the reducer....

What about lowest power though?  I do have the 35mm ED eyepiece in 2” fitting, maybe all I should purchase is a 2” Diagonal - would F6.3 reducer, 2” Visual Back, 2” Diagonal, 35mm ED eyepiece work?  Would give me 36X magnification.

So assuming the above sounds ok to you visual guys, all I would need to purchase is a 2” diagonal!

I had the same problem and reverted back to standard bias

Also, I dont think you need FPL53 in that short a focal length

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/705428-new-askar-fma180-180mm-f45-multi-function-astro-ota/

Looks interesting and a good price as well.....

I just installed the driver from the website: https://astronomy-imaging-camera.com/software-drivers

You only need as ASCOM driver for the filter wheel, but install the main driver and ASCOM driver for the camera, this should do it:

https://astronomy-imaging-camera.com/software/ZWO_ASI_Cameras_driver_Setup_V3.0.0.9.exe - Camera Windows driver

https://astronomy-imaging-camera.com/software/ASCOMPlatform64.exe - ASCOM Platform

https://astronomy-imaging-camera.com/software/ASICamera_ASCOM_Setup_V1.0.4.3.exe - ASCOM Driver for camera

https://astronomy-imaging-camera.com/software/ZWO_EFW_ASCOM_Setup_V1.0.0.16.exe - ASCOM Driver for Filter Wheel