alacant

11 hours ago, edarter said:

photo I attached shows the focus point with the low profile t ring

What cc are you using?

6 hours ago, edarter said:

12mm off my FT rather than the usual 25mm.

The usual amount to cut is 10mm.

With your low profile adapter and subsequent -racked out an extra 10mm- focus position, you should be good to go without use of a saw.

Leave 'B' as it is.

Cheers and HTH

** correction to this post.

I gave the wrong PE.

Apologies.

Hi

Yeah... For guiding to be effective, the mount has to be better than perfect. Unfortunately, lower end models out of the box usually aren't.

Just one more thing comes to mind which is PPEC for RA at a fixed period of 200s. <--- EDIT. corrected PE.

But as you've tried just about everything else without success, maybe the best course of action would be to pull apart, clean, regrease and adjust.

Cheers and good luck.

15 hours ago, Stu Wilson said:

Alicante momento  vente degs?

Seco y con el cielo despejado, pero no tengas tanta envidia que por la noche hace frío. Anoche, solo 5°. (Clear and dry but with cold nights.)

Saludos / Cheers 

2 hours ago, Stu Wilson said:

lock screws

In the dark, it's all too easy to tweak the tension adjuster instead. One trick is to replace it with a grub screw (M4 I think). Set it with a hex key or screwdriver in daylight and leave it. You then have only one finger adjustable screw to tweak.

Cheers 

17 hours ago, Stu Wilson said:

image train

Hi

Lovely image. Amazing colours.

The cc seems to be doing its job, but before tweaking its spacing, probably best to fix the tilt: fatter stars toward the bottom and left. It's pretty good as it is, so assuming you're dead centre on collimation and the mirror isn't moving around as the telescope changes angle, would probably respond to simply removing and then refitting the camera and associated fittings. Another culprit is the GSO focuser locking screw which is prone to causing tilt if the tension is incorrect.

Ensure there's nothing blocking the optical path. It looks as though either the flat frames aren't working or there's something causing irregular vignetting or... dunno...

Cheers and HTH

19 hours ago, Leti Theobald said:

I can’t run DSS

Siril is the best we've tried, including closed, open and very expensive apps. It is totally non-destructive.
Perhaps this would be a good time to upgrade your mac's storage. Or, probably more economical, invest in one of the new generation mini pcs.

Cheers

Siril checks available disk space and will not go ahead if a process is to require more than is free.

As a guide, to process 100 dSLR fits images using v1.1.0 git under Ubuntu 22.04 on an old i5 with SSD and 8gb ram takes around 1/2 hour. On a 16 core Ryzen, under 5 minutes. Add a little longer if you need to convert to fits first.

pre-process - register - stack 

If I had to guess, it looks as though the debayer is incorrectly set. Maybe post (links to) an example fits, or the raw before conversion.

HTH 

The settings don't make sense.

Perhaps best to start again. Enter only what you are asked. Change nothing.

Cheers 

Just to clarify...

The 4000d can be controlled by any of the well known astrophotography apps. Any length exposure you like. Any number of exposures you like ... Etc 

Cheers

On 18/01/2023 at 23:04, Leti Theobald said:

Am I completely missing something? 

Yes. The solution has already been given, here.

IOW, you use dedicated astrophotography (after all, that's what you're aiming at) software to control all aspects of the camera via its mini usb port.

We use EKOS under INDI. It runs on Linux and mac devices. Windows users may be able to suggest equivalent software; APT and NINA come to mind.

HTH

15 hours ago, Leti Theobald said:

4000d

Hi

I'd stay exactly where you are.

The 4000d is ideal. It has one of Canon's best sensors and firmware for astrophotography.. It will cost far less to have it modified (around €100, send it here) than to start again with a new camera. The vast majority of features on modern dslrs are useless for astrophotography. 

The Canon app (or any of the eos-connect apps) can be used to control exposure and previews on your 'phone or tablet. Eventually though, you may want to get dedicated astro software to run on a mini-computer or laptop under Linux or Windows. The latter may well be easier even just starting out.

Cheers and HTH

1 hour ago, AstroMuni said:

correction seems to be a lot better

Yep. Love it. Leave it right there😀

5 hours ago, david_taurus83 said:

the main goal is imaging

Hi

200p so we'd recommend losing the mirror clips altogether. If you must replace them, they should not touch the mirror. If you have silicone, the size of the gap doesn't matter.

Cheers and HTH

19 hours ago, Chibster86 said:

discount any potential issue with the scope

Hi

Any low end refractor will give the same aberration. A few bits which work for us [1]:

• Use compromise focus as you would with an old camera lens... Don't use a focus mask. Or rather, do use a focus mask to get you close. Now, remove the mask and focus away so that the blue halo almost disappears. A whitish yellow star is good for this. Capella, ideal.
• Split rgb. Use deconvolution of the blue channel. Now recombine.
• Use a #8 yellow filter
• Give the stack a decent stretch

Not much I could do with a .jpg, but you'll get the idea.

Cheers and HTH

[1] disclaimer, these tips are NOT with a 62ed, they're with the 72ed, but from what we can see, the 62 looks pretty much identical to the 72.

Congratulations to @Fegato for a wonderful cascade and to @Red Chilli for the most starry chi I've ever witnessed.

Loads of other great images here so let's hope we've done enough to help bring the stars to the forefront where they belong. Is anyone else fed up with the current starless processing craze?!

Cheers, clear skies and stars to all who entered.

Hi

Nice shot. You've some nice detail emerging.

Why not just remove the halo? The extraction takes most of the bg magenta with it too. This is with the .jpg. On a linear file, this would be far better.

Cheers

16 hours ago, edarter said:

assume that moves more during meridian flip?

Remember what we're trying to achieve...

1. We're trying to minimise lateral movement of the mirror relative to its cell as the telescope changes angle as it tracks the sky. This prevents the collimation changing.

2. The mirror clips are no longer needed, rendering cleaner stars.

It must NOT be held rigidly, rather as @Craig aquite correctly notes, it should be allowed to expand freely as the temperature changes. Hence the need for sealant which does not harden over time or with temperature.

IF you're uncertain of the suitability of a given sealant, leave a blob of it for a few days or so out in the conditions under which the telescope will operate and check for yourself.

At the same time, let's not overthink this too much; anything is better than using the SW cell as it is and if you do get it wrong, the process is easily reversed.

Cheers and HTH

1 hour ago, edarter said:

Can someone confirm if this silicone sealant is suitable

Hi

I can't, sorry. It seems rather country specific.

Not sure where you are, but here is the Spanish version which we use. It's nothing special and is available at supermarkets; the ones which sell light bulbs and hammers as well as pasta and beer. The main property is that it doesn't continue to harden over time.

Cheers

1 hour ago, Figgis said:

should I be moving it up the image train closer to the focuser?

Hi

What issue is it causing where it is currently positioned?

Hi

If the filters are as close to the sensor as possible, you'll know you need to go bigger when they're blocking so much light that flat frames fail to correct the field.

Cheers

On 13/12/2022 at 18:24, Philobr said:

I cant get autoguiding to work

Hi

You have something -probably very simple- missing or have overlooked. All we can do from the information you have given forum-wise is guess what that maybe.

By far the easiest way to get guiding working is having someone alongside who knows what they're doing. Your local astro club will be only too pleased to help.

Cheers and good luck.

22 hours ago, Robculm said:

simple mounting bracket I can mount the EOS800D directly to my HEQ5 Pro mount

Hi

Don't overthink it!

A 1/4 unc bolt to hold the camera and a choice of Vixen or Losmandy. If at some stage you need portrait, a sturdy steel bracket.

The 800d works fine with the asiair pro. We'd recommend a usb cable to connect: it's a mini-usb at the camera end. (note: Not tested with the older plastic asi verson.)

Looking forward to seeing your mw results.

Cheers and HTH

Hi

You are trying to calibrate too far away from the equator - meridian intersection but anyway, most if not all the settings for your guiding arrangement are incorrect, except maybe the pixel size for the zwo.

I'd strongly recommend starting again. Make a new profile with the camera and mount attached and live with the mount guide speeds for RA and DEC both at 0.9. Take ALL the default values. Change nothing

Focus the guide camera and slew south around DEC zero and within say 30 minutes of the local meridian. Make certain the mount moves using PHD2's manual NSEW controls (watch the stars move on the display and/or listen for motors). Finally, slew N for a few moments. Now calibrate.

Hopefully that will get you calibrated.

Cheers and HTH