Nigel G

Thanks guys. Best part of 8 hours processing this Star Tools needs a batch process option. Good job I like processing. I need to suggest it to Ivo. Nige.

69x120s frames ISO800 @ 8fps. 200PDS Canon 1300D. 69 single frames processed in Star Tools & timelapse tool. Unfortunately the camera lost connection for a couple of minutes, so there's a small gap in the images. Cheers. Nige.

@Ken Mitchell You have captured a beautiful image, and a great bonus capture of PGC 13696. 315 million LY's away.

This is about the 5th time I have imaged M42. The first time with my 200PDS and full spectrum modified 1200D. The colours I'm finding are unusual but very nice. Never seen such a green core or purple next to the core, also lots of purple in the running man. I'm quite happy with what StarTools has wangled out of the data. Got a bit of depth to it. 60x10s for the core, 60x60s & 80x120s all ISO800. Guided NEQ6. Think I over done the sharpening a tad. Thanks for looking. Nige.

Eastern Veil nebula, SNR. Modified Canon 1200D & CLS filter. 200PDS & NEQ6. 1h 40m @ 240s with flats & bias frames. Stacked in DSS processed in Star Tools. Nige.

Its a great thread, visual proof that the EQ3 is worthy of excellent images. And hopefully will continue to guide other EQ3 users. There will be others along. I have sold my EQ3 now so can't post new images, spent the money on a 200PDS So a few of my favourite EQ3 images for the thread too. Nige.

With Star Tools, are you binning at least 50%. It will run very slow without binning unless you have a powerful computer. Just a thought.

I have a standard Canon EOS 1300D, not a bad camera, not great when it comes to long exposures over 5 minutes quite noisy but that can be dealt with during stacking and processing. Can be fully controlled by tablet, phone or PC by usb or wifi. Find and disable long exposure noise reduction on Canon cameras if you get one Nige.

Of the people I know and images they have produced, I'd say Nikon D5100 is a great choice, very low noise and quite sensitive to red light, compared to my Canons. Nige.

Stunning !

The serial cable I have will not fit the handset socket so I go through the handset and select PC direct mode, until I get a new cable thats all I can do. My buddy is new to guiding and EQMOD, I wasn't sure how to bypass the handset and just needed to be sure before I told him. He has been aligning the mount then disconnecting the handset to plug in to the PC. Then it all goes wrong. I thought that he needed to disconnect handset and connect serial cable before switching on the mount, then align with CDC. Just needed conformation Sorted now

I use EQMOD via the handset plug and PC direct, but a friend is having trouble when connecting by removing the handset, he has been aligning and then changing over to EQMOD and no longer tracking. I just thought he would loose all data as he disconnected the handset. Wanted to make sure Nige.

Hi all. Simple question, if I was to align my mount and slew to a target, then remove the handset and connect to EQMOD would the alignment data be lost and the mount stop tracking. If so when would I remove the handset to control via EQMOD. Thanks Nigel.

A 2 panel mosaic of the Virgo galaxy's. 1h 40m of 240s each frame. Darks, flats and bias. ISO800. Equinox 80ED, guided EQ3 Pro, Modified Canon 1200D. Stacked in DSS, processed in Star tools. Unknown to me I had a strand of fibre attached to the mirror hinge in the camera, it was moving around during the session, result, flats would not work fully. A fair bit of processing got rid of it mostly. Nige.