Adam J

3 or 4 it will work fine, but note that there is a myth that in order to get perfect polar alignment its important that the mount base is level, its just not true. Hence all you need is sufficient clearance to get a spanner in and tighten the mount centre bolt, the shorter those pillars the better, you don't need to be able to adjust it for level. So long as its not miles out of level there is nothing that will stop you getting polar alignment using the normal Az and El adjustment on the scope.

I agree my comment was directed at the impartiality and technical competence of the review not the product itself.

Astrobackyard is more of an advertisement than a review.

here is some DSLR OIII data to have a play with (Canon 550D). Though its been a long time since I imaged with a DSLR now. Something like 12x10mins so very little data.....but it was taken with a DIY cooled DSLR so just about sub zero temperatures. I am not sure how it would go without cooling. But if it was a cold night you would get similar performance. This was a 8.5nm Baader OIII filter 2inch. new oiii.tif As you can see its teal so green is strongest, still significant signal in blue but less than green and red is just noise. As for noise in comparison to Ha, no its much worse as the actual OIII signal strength is weaker than Ha. Probably better to get a duel narrow band filter these days though if you want to image narrow band with a OSC sensor. Adam

Fixed pier for sure.

I would say that the temperature is the most likely cause, especially on a longer tube like that. But you can adjust tension on the focuser via the two grub screws in the image, they press on Teflon pads. Adam

Yes exactly as but for example I view it differently and am more impressed by the detail in the bubble in image 2.

PM me?

you dont actually say which way around the cameras are?

The actually bubble is nicer for me in the bottom image and the rest of the core nebulocity is nicer in the top image. But at the same time I would say that there are outer sections of the top image that have been pushed too hard.

Yes, you assign ha to red and oIII to blue and then generate a synthetic green channel. You can find tutorials online.

I cant comment on those cameras, This is the manual for an ATIK one which shows the filters being screwed in from the scope side and the thread side facing the sensor. Hence you need to actually removed the wheel to screw the filters in from the scope side. https://nimax-img.de/Produktdownloads/46419_1_AtikOneManual.pdf this is from baader: https://www.baader-planetarium.com/en/blog/unmounted-filters-which-side-should-face-the-telescope/ I note that the reflective side of a mounted baader filter is the top and not the side with the threads on it which is less reflective. Hence the threaded side of the filter should under normal conditions face the sensor. The only time you might have the thread face the scope is if the scope has really poor AR coating on its corrector. Now looking for images of the Moravian G2 i see examples in the manual with 31mm unmounted filters but not 1.25 ich filters..... Hence if they are really that way on your camera, I have trouble with that design choice. Adam

I also independently picked up on this on your UK AI post on FB, I dont believe that those reflections are normal either. I never had reflections like that from my Baader OIII filter. Not from stars of that brightness anyhow. The anti-reflection coating is on the threaded side of the filter and is normally placed facing the sensor. There is a possibility baader installed the filter backwards in its mount. Contact your supplier or failing that Baader directly I am sure that they will sort you out. Adam

what filters type / brand did you use?

Stars look similar here I agree. How are you focusing? A mask or FWHM? Manual or Autofocuser? There is nothing about the IMX071 chip itself that could possibly result in this issue. Optically maybe maybe very incorrect spacing on the flattner. But again I would expect other issues. Adam

The red at the bottom of the frame is in the location of the amp glow on the old non pro ASI071mc however once the went to pro and added the memory it was supposed to stop it that chip. However even if its a firmware issue then the darks should have removed it, so other explanations might include a light leak. Poor focus would show up as a lack of stars in DSS as the SNR of the stars would drop. The only other potential issue is condensation on the camera...but that would show up as a halo on the brightest star too and I just don't see that. Adam

Sorry Alan, but when I view that full sized I still see out of focus stars I am 100% sure on this. Can you take a stack of dark frames with the camera and post them, you should not get the glow on the bottom of the sensor in the second image you posted (not the one in my quote). Adam

How old is your camera? You have amp glow on the bottom and that was only a feature of the very early ASI071, ask ZWO and they should fix with a firware update. As for the star size of the stars it is focus. I can see little black spots in the centre of the stars and thats the classic sign of poor focus. I would say you ware some way out. Its possible it slipped after you focused. Adam

Got the answer thanks ill post here incase someone needs to know in the future. 41cm forward of the balance point with the dew shield extended, 39cm with it retracted (it does not really retract once the rings are on) and 85cm total length from front to back with the camera in focus. So the last question is...is it going to be too heavy for my Heq5 pro to handle.... Adam

SII is not required as you can just do bi-color images. Either HOO or HSyO So i would go with Ha OIII R G B But on the whole yes this is why I got the 8-position wheel. Realized that eventually it would be a false economy. Adam

Huum cant see it. Probably best to just insert it as a image instead of a file.

I have used an Optolong filter when I first started out, it was a Ha filter I got reflections with it using my 130PDS and DSLR so I sold it. I dont need side by side as I used baader after the Optolong for a long time and loved those no reflections on the DSLR, but in the end I got my Astrodons about a year back as they interact with the ASI1600 much better use to reduced star brightness resulting in less micro lensing, on top of that they were another step up with the anti reflection coatings. Glad that you are having a good time with yours though. But I would never recommend someone mix and matching filters. If he had an Optolong filter, I would tell him to get another one. He has a Baader filter. My actual advice is don't get one yet anyway as learning to create a high quality ha image is more important than jumping into bi-color when starting out. Adam

They are far enough out, but apart from that my experience is that baader filters are better quality. Plate solving is not a perfect solution in my experience. I don't know of anyone who mixes and matches filter brands with narrow band.

Get a baader to match, its often possible to identify nebuloucity in a single Ha sub and frame a target, however OIII is vastly weaker and you will often not see any in a single sub only a stack. As such you will want to focus on OIII and then switch to Ha to locate the target. Once framed you switch back to OIII....now the issue is that if you purchase a filter from someone other than baader you will have little hope of them being parafocal and so you will not be able to do what i just described.

Yes a dual rig is the way forward these days if you really want to cut you capture times.