HowardHopkinson

Well, trying to charge the battery with the supplied charger was a no go. So, I'm currently pulse charging the battery via a smart charger and hopefully that'll work. How long do you think it will take to repair the battery via the pulse charge?

I went out last night and setup my gear only to find out my Skywatcher 17AH powertank was dead as a dodo. Apparently I'd accidentally left it switched on and the battery was completely drained. Once I'd stopped cursing and packed up my gear, I tried charging it but the red charging light only came on for a second and went out with an audible click. After many attempts I got it to start charging, however, the green light says it's fully charged and the red charging light only stays on for a few minutes. I hooked it up to my mount after several hours and it powered my Synscan handset, but would not allow me to slew the mount. I have checked the output voltage using my meter and it's showing just over 13 volts output. Is the Power tank beyond repair or should I keep on trying to charge it for a couple of days?

+1 for Stellarium mobile. I find it extremely useful indeed!

Though I haven't used the exact lens you're thinking of buying, I have used a Sigma 120-400 mm F4.5-5.6 zoom lens with a Canon 60D APS-C camera and gotten some pretty useful results. See below for an example image.

I have the EQ3 Pro Synscan mount on the lightweight tripod. With my ES ED80 and my Canon 60D, I haven't noticed any issues thus far. Obviously, the HEQ5 will be more stable and able to take a significantly greater weight. However, portability was of primary concern to me and that's why I went with the EQ3 pro.

My EQ3 submission is the Elephant's Trunk nebula. Shot using my ES ED80 triplet APO and my Canon 60D 69x90sec light frames 29x dark frames 25x flat frames 50x bias frames Stacked in DSS and processed in PS.

The Elephant's Trunk nebula(IC1396). 69x90sec light frames unguided 29x dark frames 25x flat frames 50x bias frames Stacked in DSS and processed in PS. I honestly think that up to now, this is probably the best deep sky image I've ever shot. Needless to say, I'm rather pleased with it. Any constructive tips or criticism will be more than welcome.

That's one heck of a stunning image!

What camera and lenses have you got? Do you have a CLS light pollution filter? Roughly, how many stars can you see with the naked eye in your location? I have horrible light pollution where I live, I can't see much below magnitude 3 and still I manage to get lots of shots of galaxies, nebulae and star clusters etc. Yes, it can be a pain in trying to find objects without a goto mount, but it can be done with patience and practice. Fortunately for me, I recently purchased an EQ3 pro with Synscan and that has definitely made my life easier.

Thanks for that emyliano2000 it looks very nice and lightweight. Unfortunately, I've already purchased a Skywatcher 17MAH 12v powertank from the fine folks over at Rother Valley Optics. https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/skywatcher-17-amp-power-tank.html

I have loved my Star Adventurer, but due to the horrible light pollution in my location, finding some objects is next to impossible. So, I've bitten the bullet and purchased an EQ3 pro with Synscan. Hopefully I'll be able to now photograph many more objects than I could. Yes, the added weight is a concern and the fact I now have to cart a large battery with me, but hopefully the results will outweigh the drawbacks! The SA will now be consigned to Milky Way shots and timelapse with my old Canon 550D and assorted lenses!

Nice shot of the pinwheel. Well done!

Yup, one step forward, one step back I guess lol. Hopefully I'll get it sorted sooner rather than later.