alacant

Does converting -e.g. an eq6 mount- from geared to belt driven reduce backlash? Thanks

Hi Amazing detail for such a short time. I think the flat frame calibration may need a tweak though. Cheers.

Indeed... Strange, since ASI list the Bayer on a 585 as RGGB. Maybe something happened after the image left the camera but before being written to storage🤨

Hi Post a -link to- a single .fits. We will then almost certainly be able to offer specific help. Cheers

Hi The GSO dual speed is usually very good, unless you're nearing the limit of what it can hold. Depending upon how far out from the tube you are focusing, maybe around 800g. It would be easier to help if we could see the tilt. Single frames are best for this. Collimate then take frames: -before and after re-seating the camera in the focuser. - tension screw tighter and looser - more or less torque on the locking screw. - before and after a meridian flip - before and immediately after rotating the camera 90° Also... - How is the mirror held to its cell? - What method of guiding? - How is the tube supported? (dovetails, top rails...) - optical train detail That should get us started. Cheers.

Hi One idea... Focus with your 450 (are you sure you still can?), lock the focuser and remove the camera from its adapter by depressing the bayonet release on the camera, so leaving the adapter in place. Now simply fix the 600 to the same bayonet. The flange to sensor distance difference between the unmodified 450 and the modified 600 is such that only a tiny tweak of the focus position be necessary to focus the latter. Any luck? Cheers

Please accept my apologies. i assumed you now had the camera. Sorry for the noise! Here's our solution using 2.5mm wall rectangular aluminium profile and a 44mm clamp. One other must-do is adjust the mesh of the drive and driven gear. which you can inspect by removing the cover on each axis. This is done simply by loosening the motor hex bolts and pushing. Push until fully meshed then back off the minimum amount which allows a full rotation without binding. This adjustment is critical in DEC; you may need a few goes of trial and error to get the backlash of the latter under control. Cheers and HTH.

Hi I'm not sure why you have chosen this method, although almost certainly my not reading the thread properly! To begin guiding (now/tonight!), why not simply use the autoguide port on the mount? Both the cables you need are included with the camera I recommended. Do the pulse stuff software later? Or maybe as many still do/prefer even, stick with the on camera connection. Cheers.

Make sure that both focal length and pixel size are entered in settings. If you've changed the camera driver, probably better to make a new profile. Just make sure the mount and camera are connected before you do so. Cheers

8se? Our only -not too good- experience was with a ~20 year old orange tube model on an eq6. Maybe your model is more recent? Anyway... Bearing in mind it's not going to be easy, two ideas of many... If it has to be Andromeda, one of these and one of these would do it in around an hour or so. Or you could choose smaller galaxies and attach one of these to the telescope via one of these. Good luck and HTH

But this time, you must keep it! Don't forget, in the same category as the Takumar and also amazing-for-the-price, Zeiss 135-3.5. But not the zebra or other early non-coated models designated 'Sonnar' which produce reflections. The one you want is designated 'MC S'. Cheers and HTH widen the search.

Hi Yeah, they really are underrated. Excellent shot. Just imagine what 10 lots of 10 minutes would look like😀 To help with the stars, leave the internal diaphragm wide open and fit a e.g. 49 to 30 step down ring to control the aperture. There's loadsa detail to dig out. Even in the .jpg. Cheers

Dark frames of any sort on a dslr are bad news. Lose them. Instead, calibrate simply by subtracting the offset. I think on a 5300 the bias is around 600 adu Use a light panel over the aperture of the telescope. Set the exposure to aperture priority and use sheets of paper to adjust the exposure to anything over 2s. Cheers and HTH **apologies to @Stefan73. Simultaneous post.

Yes, it has. Lovely data as usual. Thank you for giving us the privilege of processing it. Here it is as HOO: Cheers.

When do we get the sequel '4 hours of LRGB data from South Coast Spain'? Go on, treat yourself. You know you want to! Lovely shot. Cheers.

Baader recommend 58mm. Our hands on experience is that that doesn't give corner to corner over aps-c. ? Unless you deliberately cut too much, it remains on its bearings, cut or not cut.

6-r: The altitude adjustment is fixed and now has non-bolt-distorting smoothness. Hey, sw listened to their clients. Or was it just chance?!

Hi Whilst sw's quality control isn't perhaps the best, if you have the skill and patience needed to bring an eq6-r up to the required standard, that would be my recommendation. And hey, you may just get lucky and get an example which guides out of the box. If you've ever pulled your neq6 apart, you'll be on familiar territory with the 6-r. Cheers

Hi Assuming you have a suitable computer. Hardware: Either convert your existing guide telescope (looks familiar but I'd rather not guess) to accept a guide camera or, perhaps better: https://a.aliexpress.com/_EHmNCD7 with https://a.aliexpress.com/_EzkPFXF This includes all the necessary cables. Fix the guide telescope rigidly across the top of the rings. Use a separate bar if necessary, but make it as immovable as possible. Software: https://openphdguiding.org/downloads/ Whilst you're waiting for delivery, read ALL of the excellent PHD2 software manual. Good luck and HTH

Sorry. With the oag: DEC is the limiting factor. Balance? But PLEASE look at the images rather than the numbers or graphs. Resist switch at 520mm is going to find a lot more to correct than at 240mm, so you may want to increase the minimum move. Also don't forget to decrease calibration step. In the end, the only way with sw mounts is to pull apart, clean, re-grease and adjust. It's an hour or so's job which will save you countless more fiddling with settings in software. Cheers and HTH

I'm not surprised. Good polar alignment with e.g. 0.57" RMS over over an hour with similar ra and dec deviations is fine. The guiding was excellent! TBH, I'd simply reduce the calibration step to around 500 and fiddle no more. Just make sure you stick to 520mm focal length for guidescope as you had entered 240mm for one of the sessions. My conclusion is that if you're still not satisfied with your final images, then you've the luxury of being able to eliminate guiding issues from the equation. You have the infamous 122s error from the mount stepper teeth which last time I looked, I don't think the asiair can correct. On a native PHD2, you could set PPEC to 122s. But hey... Cheers and HTH.

Be sure to turn of IS and AF. In this case, probably because the lens or one of its elements are not held orthogonally to the camera's sensor.

We can't tell because we don't know the orientation of the photo. One way of indicating this is to place your finger over the tube opening to coincide with the focuser side of the tube. All in the same direction getting worse to the left. I'd go for tilt. When you're certain the collimation is ok (use e.g. this guide), I'd look first at the cc attachment. Lose the M42 adapter and go for around 60mm from the m48 thread shoulder. Then the flexible stuff in the focuser, then the mirror cell, then ingress of the focuser barrel etc etc... Don't overthink it though. It's easy to fix if you take it methodically, a step at a time. Cheers and HTH

Hi There's quite a bit of chromatism emphasising any reflection from the lens surfaces, shown mostly in the red, less so in green and almost flat in blue. Over full frame, tilt is critical, especially in a lens with 17 elements (34 glass surfaces). If you have another eos adapter e.g. from another Tamron, I'd try that first. Along with a shorter focal length at say f8, I'm sure a decent vset of calibration frames would go a long way to help in processing. Or, as you have what looks like very good data anyway, just go ahead. I'd put good money on a stack of those images making for a stunning shot. Cheers and HTH

Hi So the images with the oag were worse than with the separate guide telescope (SGT)? Along with the log, could you post an example frame from the SGT and from the oag? The log files can be found in a folder called 'log' on the asiair internal card (or other usb device if you have set it up). Not sure from where you're imaging, but Thor's Helmet is around 10º below the equator and so may be at a low enough altitude for calibration and guiding to be more affected by seeing than at higher altitudes. Try calibrating on the meridian but above the equator before slewing to your target? Finally, although you almost certainly would with a reflector, I'm not sure if you will see much difference between using a SGT compared with an oag on a refractor at ~500mm focal length. Cheers and HTH