alacant

Hi On the guide tab, select the guide camera in the 'via' drop-down. Make sure that both cameras are listed correctly in the profile. Details here. HTH

Hi That's a great idea. Just 'sealed' it. A decent blob on and to either side of the cork mirror supports. My experience with SkyWatcher stuff is largely unprintable;) This was a lock down donation from a couple who were being flown back home in a hurry. Used only 2 or three times. Looks new. But what a mess! If there are still spikes after this, I'm just gonna take a big hammer to it... Cheers and thanks again for the idea.

Hi everyone I used a hacksaw to cut around 8mm from the focus barrel. No D shaped stars Now the second issue: awful spikes around bright stars. Maybe I'm in the wrong section but Ill post the image here anyway. Particularly evident on the bright star toward bottom. All stars are affected to some extent and the spikes are always at the same angle and pattern no matter where they are in the frame. It looks awful! The collimation is fine and I've darkened the edges of the secondary mirror. I loosened the primary clips. There are no obvious intrusions into the light path. The thing that comes to mind are the primary mirror clips. Maybe cover them with a ring or remove them? Confusing because I would have thought the spikes would be at 120º corresponding to the spacing of the clips. Any other ideas? TIA m3: 700d on 200pds. 2x3min @ ISO800

Hi To help with the noise, probably best to lose the dark frames, dither between exposures and stack with a clipping algorithm. You could then avoid the dark background. But hey, the c8 is the single most difficult telescope from which I have ever tried to obtain a decent image. Amazing effort:) I find processing colour tricky but the good news is that since the HST started doing its filter thing, anything goes. So take your pick! HTH

Hi An easy way to lose the noise is to enable noise reduction in the camera's settings. It takes a second exposure with the shutter closed and then subtracts the second -dark- frame from your original. Disadvantage: each exposure takes twice as long. HTH

Hi Keep it simple? Why not use the bias as a bias? Lose reference to dark frames altogether. Subtract the bias from both the light and flat frames then make a master flat frame to calibrate the light frames. Stack using an algorithm such as sigma clip. Experiment with the sigma high and low values which best match your camera. E.g. my 700d produces the least noise with low 5, high 2 whilst the same algorithm with 4-3 is awful. This is with Siril; I think the implementation of the rejection varies between apps, so YMMV. HTH

My guess would be that you've tightened the worm mesh too much and now it's sticking, but without seeing the logs, it's only a guess. Not sure the scale of the graph is correct... How do the images look? Cheers and HTH

That's great news. Remember to look at the images, not the rms values! Cheers

Hi Mmm. I can't find that model. Maybe it's a new release? They do a 203 f5 and a 203 f4. Both of those have the -rather nice- 2 1/2" hex focuser and both of them come to focus with dslr's with plenty of travel available either side of focus. We have the 208 f3.9 which uses almost the same components and I have used the f5 without problems. Could you post a photo of the camera attached to the telescope? Cheers.

Hi everyone This one breaks all the rules. Time for just one frame before the cloud decided to spoil the super clear sky last night. It's noisy and there are no calibration frames of any type but hey, you can tell there are galaxies. So I suppose the moral of this story is have a go anyway... Wondering if anyone can help; first time I'd used a new acquisition so a plug for our other thread re troubleshooting it. Thanks for looking. 700d @ ISO800 1x5min @ ISO800

Hi everyone SkyWatcher 200pds with eos700d. I think I've hit a similar issue which plagues the Skywatcher 130pds. Symptom: D shaped stars on one side of the image. Possible diagnosis: the focuser barrel is intruding into the light path. Question: Could 200pds users shed any light upon this? TIA Focuser side: Non focuser side: full size fits converted to jpg and view through cap:

Hi. I think you're thinking if the m to ef adapter so that you can use standard DSLR canon fit lenses. For attaching to a telescope, this is all you need. (Sorry, only have the link in Spanish). HTH

I think most processing software will know what to do. Yeah, it's quite critical. Best to take the flat frames either immediately before or after the imaging session. That way, you don't forget. Certainly, before you've touched the camera. The lagoon must be nice and high from your location. Some superb targets in that region of the sky. Nice:)

Hi Looks good. Why not stack with the flat frames too? Then you'd have even illumination. If you want to lose the coma, you'll have to use a coma corrector. Is this the 150/750? If so, the collimation looks correctly offset. Make a master bias from say 50 or so frames. Subtract this from each of the flat and light frames before stacking. Most apps which do stacking will do this calibration for you. Use a black shower cap over the primary mirror end of the tube and tape over the camera viewfinder. HTH

Hi and thanks for the report. Is the acrylic with the rings transparent? Is there a 45° cutout a la Cheshire sight tube? TIA

I don't think the OP has a lens attached to the camera (?) and I think the tube attached to the t ring is empty. If that's the case then I'd try without a field flattener to see if the results -look at stars around the edges of the frame- are acceptable first. If you want to go further, borrow a ff from an astro club before investing as they're quite an expensive item. HTH

Hi When you reassembled, are you sure that you had the curve of the worm centralised on the curve of the brass gear teeth? I needed quite a bit more than the original teflon washers offered. See the material used to obtain the correct distance. And no laughing;) This shows the south washer. The North -on the other side of the brass gear- is however the crucial one. On my mount, it was the same thickness of material that was used. HTH

Hi. You can take videos of the planets without a guide telescope. That would work ok with an 8se. Not sure if you have anything else in mind though... Cheers

Hi Do you use anything from that distribution which is no longer available? Cheers

Hi There's no way I could decide either. The best way by far when trying to make a decision one way or another is to make a shortlist and take it along to your local astro club. Nothing can compare with hands on experience. Try to keep an open mind though as everyone you'll speak to at astro clubs has the best telescope;) Cheers and HTH

Ah OK, so a comet hunter?

Hi Well, in 4 years of astro clubbing and having seen myriad distinct telescopes and designs, I must admit to having to so a Google for this one. It seems to be a Newtonian Reflector with a lens at the front. @wimvb do you have a photo? I'd love to check I've understood this correctly! Cheers

Hi everyone Well, 4 years on and someone just liked a post in this thread. this prompted me to recall when I had just started trying astro-photography. I wish I had overcome one of my (many) traits and read @Thalestris24's post fully where I missed a crucial bit of advice. As others are reading this still, maybe I ought to say that the answer is plate solving. Any camera orientation you like; you choose the orientation which best suits your planned image. Perfect! Cheers

+1. We use both the nt150s and the nt150l. They come with a proper rack and pinion focuser and aluminium alloy tube. The build quality and design are a notch above the skywatcher offerings and the optics first rate. Here are some examples with the f5 taken last week. HTH

Hi. Yes, and much cheaper. The #8 is pale yellow. There's also the #12, a deeper yellow which cuts out all blue. Or put a fancy label on it and sell it for much more... HTH