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Dazzyt66

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Dazzyt66 last won the day on April 20 2021

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  1. No rust or corrosion at all - the cover is vented underneath so airflow is there. Under the cover I keep the top of the mount covered with a shower cap (to keep insects out of ports) and then a thick towel over the whole lot to capture any potential condensation. Through wind, rain and snow it’s been fine so far 😊
  2. You don’t necessarily need a pier - I’ve had my HEQ5 tripod and mount setup outside for about 3 years. Covered with a large bbq cover. No adverse effects. Setup time to getting first image is about 15mins. Unless I’ve knocked the tripod at some point and need to polar align again which makes time above about 30mins. I use Ekos for everything 😊
  3. Everyone’s obsessive about something so there is no judgement here at all. If you enjoy it then that’s all that matters 👍 ps Perfect is the enemy of good enough 😊
  4. I think this is a very interesting thread. It shows how much the AP subject is, well, subjective. For someone who lives on the outskirts of a (recently designated) city, with very modest equipment, I can only dream of making images this good. I think it's crazy how our brains drive us sometimes. Even with my 'very poor' images (compared with yours @Rodd) I get frustrated but refuse to get sucked into the money pit that is AP. Anyway, my point is, with all the variables involved with getting the 'perfect' image (from our own perspective, whatever that is), I think we may be too hard on ourselves sometimes... hobbies are meant to be enjoyable Sorry, I know that probably didn't help!
  5. Thanks, my bad. I have a couple of M42 adaptors so I’ll check I’m using the right one for the lens. Also, the focus was done purely using Ekos - I just let it do it’s thing - so that could also have an impact. When the next clear night arrives I’ll set it all up properly with the lens stopped down and hopefully it’ll be better. Thanks so much for the feedback though. Much appreciated 😊 Daz
  6. Getting back the 'AP' (and I use that term loosely) legs now after a couple of test runs in Ekos :)

  7. Another way of looking at it and tidied the stars up a bit in Star Tools...
  8. @Gonzo thanks for this - exactly the kind of idea I was thinking of...
  9. Really this is a test sequence from last night. Was trying out a 135mm M42 lens which I haven't used before. Left it wide open f2. I was also testing my Ekos auto routine as I haven't used it for a while, so this imaging started 2 hours before astronomical twilight and consists of: 354x30s ISO1600 Lights 30 darks 60 flats 60 bias Totally stacked and processed in Siril using OSC Script and standard post process steps (background, green noise, photometric, autostretch) - so this is all pretty much default 'as is' output. I think the lens will create so great images when I use it stopped down a little.... 🤞
  10. About 18 months since I did any imaging - hoping my M81 widefield from last night comes out OK - just waiting for 200+ subs to transfer from Pi to be able to process... 🤞

  11. Thanks Dave, I'd looked in various places for info on the N1 for astro work to no avail, so the advice is much appreciated. I am aware that my 1100D is getting on a bit and was looking for something 'newer' without breaking the bank...
  12. Hi all, I was thinking of getting one of these on a good used deal. I currently use a modded canon 1100d with Ekos. I only use M42 lenses nowadays for basic AP stuff using my HEQ5 - so nothing fancy and the mount is defo overkill. Anyway, my question is: would the Nikon be ok for similar use ie Ekos with lens photography. I have some Canon FD lenses, which, with a mirrorless adaptor could work even better than my M42 stock? If the Nikon was viable for this kind of use I could then downgrade my HEQ5 for something more portable as I go on my travels… TIA Daz
  13. Similar to Carole. I have seen the aurora in Orkney - I actually thought I was looking at car headlights far away across the landscape as there was no colour - until someone pointed out that that was the aurora 😂😂
  14. One other place you may find useful for Astro gear if you have trouble sourcing: https://www.astroboot.eu/AstroBoot They don't ship to UK anymore but I got my HEQ5 from there and a 120p dob years ago vastly cheaper than elsewhere - service was great!
  15. @Balthazar Saissore you don’t really need to get a telescope if you go down the DSLR route. You can get some pretty impressive DSO imaging done with stock lenses. There is loads of info on here and other sources (YouTube etc.) on how to do this. The most important thing is the mount you will need, depending on how seriously you want to go. I image with a modified DSLR and an HEQ5 mount and get sufficiently good images for my liking. Everyone is different though. I don’t use fancy lenses, I buy used M42 from eBay and use with an adaptor on a modified Canon 1100d. Starting out this way is relatively cheap for AP and gets you used to the whole process from capturing to processing. You can then decide to expand as you wish. Hope that helps. Daz
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