ngwillym

IIRC if you capture in RGB24 then it should playback in colour. If you capture in Raw8 or Raw16 then the video file will need to be debayered - with something like PiPP - I think the debayer setting is RGGB. Neil

Very sad news. He was a great inspiration to me when I began webcam and video cam imaging at the start of this century. Neil

those errors generally mean a power issue but the alt axis bolt may also have become too loose, so worth checking and tightening. and worth checking this out:- https://www.celestron.com/blogs/knowledgebase/what-does-the-hand-control-message-no-response-16-and-or-no-response-17-mean Neil

Good point, well made. on my 127mm Apo I needed an extra 60mm 2" extension tube Neil

I've used the Baader on both my 102mm & 127mm refractors with no problems. I would strongly advise against a generic/no-name uv/ir cut filter - the first one I tried cracked inside 5 minutes - fortunately - no damage done. Neil

How about using something like a Celestron Travelscope 70? Neil

Huw, Just like you my original scope was a C11 on its forks and then, later, on a Milburn wedge. This was housed in a Pulsar 2.1m dome. The C11 is now on a an EQ8 and - yes it does fit. Some of the clearances to the walls are a little tighter, but that might just be due to the fact the the C11 is dual mounted with a 127mm f7.5 Apo refractor . At the mo, I'm only doing unguided exposures - up to 20 secs on the C11 and an ASI 1600MM-Cool @f10 and/or f6.3 with no trailing. Guiding is my next challenge to overcome before the winter

I have a 'made in China' Meade Series 4000 f3.3 reducer, with all its bits - 15mm space, 30mm spacer, T adapter and a 1.25 adapter - and a photocopy of the instructions. Pics available if interested. Neil

Apologies - I was confusing the OPs NEQ6 with the other mounts mentioned - i;m still sure the the NEQ6 does not have dual encoders and therefore cannot be moved by hand and have the syscan handset know where it is. @cornelius - excuse me if I have got this wrong, but the EQ6 (and therefore I assume the NEQ6) manual, page 9 last paragraph states:- (I paraphrase) (Sysncan Only) - don't move the mount manually, or you will have to re-home the scope and redo the star alignment). And i think I see where the confusion occurs - in 'Easy Tracking' Mode, yes you can move the scope manually, but only manually to one or more objects - the hand controller will not know where the scope is actually pointing and so cannot be used for Goto - each object to be observed has to be found manually - but you can use the up/down/left/right keys to move the csope. To use the goto function of synscan, you must perform a full feature initialization. I'm still guessing but I think the OP begins in 'easy tracking mode' moves the mount manually to the object and later tried to use the handset to move to other objects?

Thanks for that - good to know - I've not follwoed the skywatcher mounts developments. Makes my process a bit obsolete. Neil

@stashold - only the EQ8 has the 'dual encoders' to allow the mount to be moved by hand and remember the position. @sophie centaur - moving the mount by hand - unlocking the cluthces on the axes will cause the sysnscan to lose any idea of what position it is in. The process should be:- i)set the scope with the mount set with weights down and pointing to the north with the scope also pointing north , with the latitude scale reading approximately to your latitude. ii)perform a polar alignment, only by loosening the bolts holding the mount to move the whole kit east/west, and/or by adjusting the latitude with the latitude adjuster - DON'T unlock the axes, or move the scope with the handset. iii) perform a 2 star or 3 star alignment via the handset. iv) once this has succeeded, yoy can then use the handset (and only the handset) to move to other objects in the sky - either by using the handset's built in catalogue or typing the RA & Dec directly in to the handset, or even, using the up/down/right/left buttons to move to an object or to star hop from one object to another. v) When you've finished for the night use the handset to park the scope to 'home' Hope this helps Neil

When you say 'mechanically put the mount....' do you mean you move the scope using the hand controller up/down/left/right buttons, or do you physically unlock the RA & Dec clutches and moves the scope? If the latter, the as far as I know, this type of mount doesn't have secondary encoders to cope with manual movement. You have to move the scope to the alignment stars by using the hand controller only.

I was always under the impression the the 'Home' or starting position before switching on was with weights down and scope pointing north? Or am I missing the point?

Indeed, but better to have finder on top to help find Polaris - saves a lot of neck & back ache

Ah, that's the difference between the Meade & Celestron - the Celestron doesn't have a zero RA mark, it does its alignment differently. Neil