alacant

So a tiny minority (if any) of those who use this forum;) Many of us here want to know what works. Tips if you will. Cheers

Exactly. In the real world, who cares about theory? Especially when it just works. Summary for modern dslrs: -bias flat and light frames - dither between the latter - stack with a clipping algorithm. That's it.

I believe some (most?) of his reviews are nonsense. HTH

+1. AFAICT that applies for any modern dslr. The eos450 era and before do however seem to benefit from dark frames, if only to help remove banding. But it's 2021 and well... Oh, and don't forget to stack using a clipping algorithm. Perhaps best to use a master bias as a master bias. We've not seen any benefit using dark frames of any type, be they dark for flat or dark for light. Just our €0.02 but HTH anyway. Cheers

Here is my version of the same area of sky with a 135mm lens on an eos700d, which has the same sensor... Confused!

Wow, really?

Dunno. Maybe post -links to- fits originals of a light, a dark and a flat file. Cheers

Hi Agreed. The data is good enough to push more than the OP's original. Nice:)

Hi Nice image:) There's a large rotation error so losing a lot of the image around the edge and either flat frames have not been applied or they have not been calibrated correctly. Otherwise it looks OK to me. I had a go at the stars:

Hi The flat frames aren't correcting the field and this is making it more difficult than necessary to process. Perhaps start by cleaning the optical train. I'd pay particular attention to the sensor. If the uneven field isn't due to light pollution, then I'd say get the flat frames correct and you're good to go. A flat led panel may help you with the lighting for the flat frames. There may also be a rogue frame which is misaligned. Cheers

Hi Good choice. The same outlay would buy you only a miserably dim refractor. I wish I hadn't taken the advice of the masses with an 80ed as my first telescope. It took me all night to get anywhere near the quality my mate got with his 200mm reflector in just a couple of hours. Not to mention awful fat blue stars. The amount of time you save having a larger aperture, more than makes up for the minute or so you spend collimating. Having seen the results from modern f2 mirrors recently, I'm convinced that that's the way to go and whilst i see attractively priced RASAs, I don't see many 11" f2 refractors on the market! Cheers

Hi What feature of PI do you need? There are many excellent astro processing packages available and all of them are either free or have free trials. Move on? Cheers

Mmm. I wonder. Maybe the OP will post the log.

Really? The OP says he's using EKOS. Again? This is done in software before calibration. Confused!

Yes, absolutely. Do it. Get a calibration which works and reuse it. There is a checkbox in the guiding options to store the calibration. I'd recommend using the latest SEP multistar which will help minimise your rms vaues further [1]. We cannot however advise on guide pulse length for calibration since we do not know which guide camera nor guide telescope being used, but if it's working with what you have set, stick with it. Cheers [1] but remember to look at your images, not numbers on a graph!

Hi The NEF will always look washed out until you convert it into a form which can then be processed. DarkTable does a good job of getting raw data into processable form without losing any of it along the way. After that, you can process it to make it look however you like. Cheers

Hi Well, I got to the end of your post and hereby claim my medal! I really am not surprised you failed, mainly because I can't work out why you are using two separate and conflicting systems. My advice would be use the rpi throughout and use your laptop or your 'phone to communicate with it. VNC or TeamViewer is all you need for now. You can move on to hotspot and remote imaging in due course when you know it's all working. EKOS on the pi has all you need for capture, guiding, plate solving and polar alignment, so introducing further software on a second computer (e.g. sharpcap, stellarium etc.) is an unnecessary and confusing burden. Neither do you need polemaster; the polar routine in EKOS does the job just as well. Cheers

No, but you don't need the two rings. With a fat light cone, it's best to use m48 throughout. You need to: - collimate the telescope - adjust the distance from the shoulder of the m48 thread on the cc to camera sensor to at least 58mm - make certain that the camera and cc combination is held perfectly square in the focuser This last point is going to be difficult with the moment you are placing upon the focuser when the camera is focused Let's see what TS have to say about it. They usually reply promptly. Cheers

Astigmatism. One of the Baader cc's features;) Caused by the slightest tilt and/or wrong spacing. But before making any adjustments, make sure the collimation is perfect. There are a few hints here. Cheers

No example, so a guess. The clips on the primary mirror are too tight.

So we've no idea where the star is located within the frame nor the size of the crops... Hence difficult to advise, but my guess is that I think for 14mm over aps-c, the only way you're gonna get corner to corner will be f8 or smaller. Or simply correct in software. Cheers

If you're simply going to look through it using an eyepiece, no. Collimation is very simple process, but do please read the common collimation myths.

... and ours LOL! Do tell us if you get to the bottom of this:)

The only explanation I can think of is that in error, they've sent you someone else's custom ontc. Ok, you could fit an extension, but with the camera that far away from the tube it's just making life more difficult than need be; balance, tilt, flex... I'd ask TS for their opinion. Cheers

Hi Many RA pulses may indicate that the guide speed is too low, the heavy mirror is moving relative to the guide telescope... Maybe better to post -a link to- the logs. Otherwise all we can do is guess. Cheers