Adam J

The 130PDS + IMX183 variant will resolve down to that level in terms of optical resolution, but the reality is that you will struggle to guide with sufficient accuracy and the seeing probably wont allow you to resolve anything to that accuracy even if you did have really good guiding. In essence when matched with a 130PDS the 183 is not going to do anything perticually well. The 178 will be better for small galaxies due to the 14bit A/D and the ASI1600mm pro or a KAF8300mono camera will be better for nebula work, I would not discard something like a 460EX either. That's not to say that a 183mm is a bad choice, its cheaper that the other options after all, its just probably not optimal with the 130PDS. Adam

Ill keep this short and leave Uranium to answer as you directed the question at him, but ill correct you in that none of the cameras you listed use the IMX178 sensor. The Hypercam 183 and the ZWO ASI183mm pro both use the IMX 183 (no shock there) and the QHY174 uses the IMX174 In general the two things that are important in a dedicated DSO imaging camera are 1) Mono sensors and 2) Set point cooling. If you can afford it get a camera that offers both, if you have a lower budget get a camera that offers one or the other. But what you don't want to do is get a "dedicated" camera which has neither set point cooling or a mono sensor as you are no better off than a DSLR in my opinion. Adam

Honestly that's what happens when WO try to get another millimetre out of a 72mm lense.

Welcome to SGL. I am sure that they make great cameras. Unfortunately they are out of my reach financially, hence why so much of my stuff is sourced second hand. My only point was that while my ASI1600mm pro may not be so beautifully engineered it has made mono imaging affordable to me and without it in the market I would still be using a DSLR. People have grown to expect that CMOS will be cheaper than a CCD equivalent, so I just think that SX will have a hard time pitching it at the same price as their similar CCD products. Only time will tell. Adam

Not sure about a little coma, in all the images here even the white cat shown later, if I had that much coma on my ASI1600mm pro / 130PDS I would be reaching for the laser collimator.

Wow really? You must see some fall off in the corners though, having done the Maths myself I don't see how it could have no effect on SNR in the corners of the image.

Actually carbon will cool slower. It will expand and contract less though. Have you experience of a F5 Newtonian? I do and its enough for me to know I never want to own a F4 Newtonian lol. If you go for it then I recommend the ES coma corrector.

Depends on the F-ratio of your scope, I don't see much at F5, I recently got a corrector that took that down to F4.75 and it starts showing a little more but can still be corrected. Personally I would only get the 31mm if I was planning working at F4.5 or less.

Oh I cant afford it right now, its more something that is on my wish list for 6 months time if I can still get hold of one.

Not sure about that but ZWO no longer list it on their own web page. https://astronomy-imaging-camera.com/product-category/dso-cameras If you click on discontinued cameras then it is listed.

Yes. Although I did think about uncooled and using the short exposure high gain technique to try and get increased resolution by being under some of the seeing. Have you tried 1000's of 5-10 second exposures at high gain with this?

Its a real shame ASI have stopped making this camera as I have always wanted one for a dedicated galaxy camera.

Decent or not, still interesting to see what you get. Am sure it will be better than you think.

How did you fix it? Hope we see some images from you soon. Oh i see this is your work PC, so not the camera then, or not totally so.

The star would need to be in the center of the chip for that to work.

As a tip I suggest you do your star alignment by centering the alignment star in the 130PDS image, that way the star alignment is correct for the 130PDS. If you find it hard to locate your target in the 130PDS you can place the camera in the ST80 and use it like a digital finder scope. Something like M3 will be very easy to see in only a short exposure.

Which method are you using, I drift align my scope....not sure the other options would work with the long focal length of the 130PDS. Get it close with the polar scope to begin with.

Just go with gain 200 and try 10 second luminescence exposures. So long as your polar aliment is not too bad then with upto 30 second exposures you dont need guiding. Something like M3 should be up by that time and 10 second exposures will be fine.

I understand, but cant 100% agree with you having used a QHY5L-II mono for PHD2 guiding for 3-4 years with no issues. I use this for guiding: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Orion-Telescope-Complete-Accessories-Aluminium/dp/B004SFUO9U/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1YO0P7MWGNUZ9&keywords=orion+guide+scope&qid=1553779221&s=gateway&sprefix=orion+guide+%2Caps%2C237&sr=8-1 and have felt no need to change it since I started imaging. Just set focus with the para-focal ring and you never need to change it. Very simple but it works. I mount it where you currently have your ST80 as you need some weight at the back of the 130PDS to get balance. Adam

Also make sure its not a different driver for the color in comparison to a mono or something daft like that.

Is it appearing under USB devices in device manager?

I think that was me and to be clear I have only ever heard of one incidence of someone changing the gain on their guide camera in PHD and having the gain altered on their imaging camera. So it may be something or nothing and actually should work. My warning to you was more that it is worth exhasting all options before getting a different camera as there is rarely a "plug and play" solution is astro imaging. To be honest a color camera is not the best choice for guiding anyway as the accuracy is diminished by the RGB matrix. The advantage of getting a ASI mono 120mm mini is that you could run the whole setup from ASI AIR in the future is you wanted. See below from the PHD2 manual: ASCOM Camera Properties If you choose an ASCOM camera, you'll also be able to access the ASCOM setup dialog for that camera by clicking on the properties button immediately to the left of the 'Connect' button: Depending on the camera, this may provide access to properties that are not controlled by PHD2. Multiple Cameras of the Same Type If your computer is connected to multiple cameras from the same manufacturer, you'll usually need to specify which camera should be used by PHD2. You can do that by clicking on the 'fork' button to the right of the camera drop-down list: Clicking this button will show a list of the available cameras and you can choose the one you want. PHD2 will remember the choice and save it as part of your equipment profile, so you should only need to do this once. So in effect what I am saying is that a 120mm mini should work. There is certainly prevision for it within PHD2. There is a similar solution to selecting the correct camera within APT. Adam

My preference is the white if I could afford one, it looks more professional to me.

Post on QHY forums or e-mail them or contact them on Facebook. A camera that only works with EZPlanatery is no good.....

Must have skipped over while reading. One thing is apparent from my readings on such things. The more lens elements a scope has the more of a pain in the a** it has the potential to be.