alacant

16 hours ago, Leti Theobald said:

link to use it in Kstars

Hi

No. That is the link to download the -open source- software.

16 hours ago, Leti Theobald said:

simple and good tutorials

There are many, but before jumping in, it's probably best to have aims as to what you want to do.

The first one I came across on a YT search was the one below, but keep looking and keep reading bearing in mind that there's a lot of rubbish and misleading ap stuff in Internet.

My advice would be to go along to an astro club. It's so much easier having someone alongside who knows what they're doing and there's sure to be a mac guy who will help get you started. In an hour, rather than DIY in a year!

Hi

Dither hits the mount hard and flings it a good way off the lock. DEC in particular struggles to recover. Wondering if you really need all that movement...

Reducing the dither may help, as would waiting longer for the dither to settle before beginning the next frame.

Otherwise like all mounts, there's only a limited amount software can do and it's a case of tearing apart, cleaning and lubricating followed by meticulous adjustment.

Cheers and HTH

3 hours ago, Leti Theobald said:

Kstars and Ekos

Hi

Add an INDI server and you have a complete imaging system for the Mac; all three run natively.

https://indilib.org/get-indi/download-mac.html

Or... Perhaps to begin with and as the heq5 has a guide port, keep it simple by connecting the mount directly to the 120 using the ST4 cable and use PHD2 to guide 'on camera'.

HTH

Thanks everyone. Some useful thoughts.

Disclaimer:  I've been forced into this. I hate looking at graphs and am fed up with pulling mounts apart because the graph "isn't good enough".

But anyway... Here is my analysis of a supposedly misbehaving eq6 mount. Gears only.

Hysteresis:

Now with PPEC at 122s:

We had the dreaded 10s spike on this example which was fixed by moving the driven gear relative to the idler gear a few teeth. That left the 122s PE..

Hesitant conclusion

Using PPEC for RA is I feel a good idea. The belt kits I doubt are going to give more, if any, benefit than the algorithm. Oh, and (note to boss): the cost.

Cheers and thanks again.

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

Thanks

On 23/02/2023 at 00:02, Stu Wilson said:

45 x 120

Hi

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

Cheers.

2 hours ago, Oddsocks said:

The default pattern is BGGR (BAYERPAT) and the manufacturer adds the note "Try GRBG if image upside down or R/B swapped".

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🤨

15 hours ago, JonHigh said:

help and advice

Hi

Post a -link to- a single .fits. 

We will then almost certainly be able to offer specific help.

Cheers 

On 16/02/2023 at 17:43, Stu Wilson said:

remove the tilt?

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.

On 16/02/2023 at 18:06, Hedlund said:

can reach focus with my old dslr, canon 450d, but not with the 600d

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

12 hours ago, Marian said:

the cam and the guide scope are still on their way.

Please accept my apologies. i assumed you now had the camera. Sorry for the noise!

12 hours ago, Marian said:

have to find a rail long enough to fasten it into both rings together as rigidly as possible

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.

1 hour ago, Marian said:

In order to get this mount to autoguide, I had to update the firmware. Got my cable from Bresser...

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 

18 hours ago, Trevor Matthews said:

What would I need to get a colour picture of say the Andromeda galaxy?

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

1 hour ago, LaurenceT said:

now I'm looking for yet another one

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.

4 hours ago, Ratlet said:

takumar 135mm f3.5 I picked up for £15.

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

1 hour ago, Trippelforge said:

240x30 darks

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

1 hour ago, Trippelforge said:

HOW people are taking them

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.

On 05/02/2023 at 20:44, Stu Wilson said:

moon very bright but filter and a good bit of processing seems to of made it ok ish.

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

4 hours ago, daemon said:

4 hours of LRGB data from South Coast UK

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.

1 hour ago, edarter said:

60mm seems a lot further

Baader recommend 58mm. Our hands on experience is that that doesn't give corner to corner over aps-c. 

1 hour ago, edarter said:

haven't cut the FT (and therefore its still on all the bearings)

?

Unless you deliberately cut too much, it remains on its bearings, cut or not cut. 

1 hour ago, dark knight said:

an after market rail kit

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

28 minutes ago, OK Apricot said:

The subframes themselves were fine

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.