Northernlight

Hi starflyer, Thanks for the advice, but i dont have any issues with the polar alignment, as the polar alignment routine in Nina works really well. I literally just didn't know where to look in Nina to enable the Sync option which is not enabled by default for some reason in Nina. Now i'm just waiting for a clear night to test again now that the Sync is enabled.

I think my mount is ok, i literally just didn't know where to look in Nina. Tonight looks like it's going to be clear, so will hopefully get a change to try the alignment process again tonight.

Yes I found it thanks. I did not even notice the option on the top right hand corner. Nina’s menu layouts are not the most intuitive, but it’s like everything else, I just need to use it and become familiar with it. unfortunately the forecast says thick clouds for the next week, but hopefully I can catch an hour between the clouds to test the sync. Rich.

Many thanks ONIKKINEN, i didn't see those options as i'm new to the program and still getting used to the interface. If it's clear tonight i'll give it a try and see how i get on. Rich

So i switched to Eqmod for the mount connection, and still not having much luck, as the pointing is still way off after plate solving. Well there are 2 issues that i'm still facing :- 1) I'm not sure what i'm doing wrong, but it in Nina when i use the Star Atlas i cant seem to fins any stars, for example, i wanted to slew to Dubhe last night, so i searched for it in the star atlas and it found nothing, so i had to install CDC to allow me to point to Dubhe so that i could use the star to focus my mirrorless camera. 2) I then tried Nina to plate solve with Astap which completed the plate solve without issues, I then slewed to M101 from within Nina, and when i took an image it was miles off, so i tried plate solving and slewing again from within Nina and again the pointing was miles off - It feels like the plate solving is doing nothing to sync it's position.

Hi all, im new to Nina and I’m struggling to get Nina to properly sync after a plate solve. my mount is a skywatcher Star Adventurer GTI and I connect via the Windows SynScan pro app. so I start the night by firing up the SynScan pro app, then connect to mount in Nina. I then use Nina to do a polar alignment and usually get it within 20-30 arc seconds. I then fire up cartes du ceil, then do a plate solve in Nina to determine the mounts exact position. this is where things fall apart, as when I slew to a target in Cartes Du ceil, it’s a long way off the target, as if the pointing model has not been updated after the plate solve. should I be connecting to the mount through Eqascom/Eqmod instead of SynScan pro app ? thanks in advance, Rich

Hi all, looking for some advice on Light pollution filters. I have a Fuji camera which uses 82mm lenses and I’m looking for a good quality light pollution filter. As I’m using Fuji there appears to be only one clip option available which needs to be stuck in with sticky pads which I really don’t want to do as this is my general purpose camera. so the 2 screw on filter options I’m looking at are the Kase neutral night or the Hoya starscape and wondered if anyone has any experience of these broadband filters or can recommend any other for Mirrorless camera with apps-c sized sensor. Thanks in advance, Rich.

The guider is only 250g, so no massive weight saving. The 30mm guide scope should be fine as I’m only planning 2-3min exposures at about 500mm FL

Elp, i just saw a nice one that is just within the weight limit. FLO does the StellaMria 90mm carbon fibre triplet which comes in at 4.5k with all the rings and dovetail etc, then my 30mm guider and asi 585 camera weight 413g, so i'll be coming in just under the weight capacity limit at 4.9kg but then add 100-300g for a flattener. I figure if i take off the handle i can get it bang on 5kg. With a small camera sensor i might not need to even use a Flattener.

Hi all, I'm just getting back into astro imaging after a year away and i'm building a small portable grab and go rig using a Sky watcher Star Adventurer GTI which has a 5kg limit. So i'm looking for recommendations for a small 70-90mm apo refractor that will fit the 5kg limit, well more like 4.5kg as i need to account for a 500g for the miniguider and my asi585mc Any recommendations for a lightweight scope would be greatly appreciated. Cheers, Richard.

Many thanks all, i just got copied everyone else and got an L-Bracket for my camera along with a Arcswiss clamp which did the trick.

Hi All, Firstly apologies if this is not the most appropriate section to ask the question, but i'm planning to buy the Skywatcher StarAdenturer GTI as a portable grab and go go rig that i want to use with a mirrorless camera and i want to try and understand how the mounts snap port works for shutter release on my mirrorless camera. Now for the bit i don't understand - after i attach the appropriate shutter release cable between my mount and the camera, how do i control the number of shots i want / duration etc from my Astronomy software like SGP Pro or Nina ? how is this configured in astronomy software as i'm assuming that it's trigger through the Ascom driver somehow ? Also is the snap port on the Skywatcher mounts 3.5mm or 2.5mm and are they 3 or 4 pole ? Many thanks in advance, Rich.

yeah have a hot shoe, but i really wouldn't want to put a guider scope on it in fear of ripping it out of the camera.

Hi All, I'm making the transition from full obs setup to a small portable setup. I've going to be using a Skywatcher StarAdventurer GTI with a Mirrorless camera but i also want to use a small guide scope setup. So can anyone recommend any camera brackets that would allow me to attach a finder scope to the camera Cheers, Rich

Aye, it wasn't cheap, I think i paid £5k over 5 years ago, and mine was the most expensive model - it was the QSI 683WSG-8 with the built in 8 position filter wheel and OAG. Thanks for the suggestions of AstroBerry, Stellarmate and Nina. I'll take a look at all of them tonight.

Thanks Elp, that's what i was afraid of. I quit astronomy and imaging about a year and a half ago and old my mount but never got round to selling my scopes and camera. Now i have the astro itch again and was thinking about re-investing, but didn't want to go back to the whole Windows setup using SGP Pro and PHD etc running on Windows as I did not find it the most stable of platforms. Had hoped to buy the ZWO AM5 with Asiair plus and use it with my QSI683, but it looks like that dream just died hard 😞

Hi all, Does anyone know if it's possible to control an older QSI 683 ccd camera with the Asiair plus controller. The answer to this question will determine if i re-invest in a decent mount and get back into full on Astro Photography or sell my camera and remaining scopes and just buy a star tracker to use with my Mirrorless fuji camera. Many thanks in advance, Rich.

Anyone out there familiar with this dual band camera clip ?

Thanks Elp, i'll take a look at that thread, but at the moment, despite it's massively inflated price i think i'm leaning towards the Benro at the moment, purely for it;s simplicity and not needing to carry a hefty 12v powerband with me. That said it's nearly double the price and lacks such things as plate solving and a fully featured catalogue. The SW GTI + AsiAir combo would still be £300 cheaper, but having to carry a heavy 12v power bank just to power the AsiAir is a bit of a deal breaker for me, as it defeats the purpose of it being a lightweight grab and go system, so i would have to use it SW GTI as std out of the box without any extra's.

@happy-kat thanks for the suggestion, but i dont want to really have to install 3rd party firmware mods - I'm looking for something that works out of the box, without any messing. @Elp Thanks for the idea about the AsiAir - i thought they only worked with ZWO gear ? So how would i power the ASI air. Would this not need a separate 12v power supply ? Just want to avoid carrying extra power tanks etc, in case i wanted to take it on a hike up a mountain.

Hi all, About a year ago, after nearly 20 years of imaging and general astronomy i lost my Astro mojo and started selling all my astro gear, and took up regular photography. Fast forward 1 year and i've got an astro itch that needs scratching as want to try some widefield imaging with my Fuji X-S10 mirrorless camera & lenses. Searching on the web i could only find a single manufacturer of a dual bland filter for my Fuji camera - The STC Optics Astro Duo, and just wondered if anyone on here has any experience of this filter or perhaps recommendations of other dual band filter /clips that worth with mirrorless camera. Astrophotography Clip Filter Series for Fujifilm X-Series (APS-C) - STC Optics Many thanks in advance, Rich

Hi all, After many years of imaging, about a year ago i lost my astro mojo and started selling my astro gear (Eq8 & scopes) etc and found myself purchasing a mirrorless camera and some lenses for regular photography. Fast forward a year and the old astro itch is creeping back up on me and just like the hotel California you can check out anytime, but you can never leave. So i had a think about what i wanted an decided that i wanted the following, below, as i dont want to go back to an observatory setup. very portable setup very simple to use with absolutely minimal gear must have goto & tracking functionality Can be controlled with an Ipad or phone After a bit of research i came up with the following 2 options :- Skywatcher Star Adventurer GTI (£599) The main attraction of this mount is that its a fully fledged EQ mount, so could connect it to a laptop or ASIAir to do some guiding. That said, it's a little more bulkier than average trackers, and and i'm not really intending to do exposures more that 60s, so don't really need the tracking capability but dithering would be a nice to have. I believe the associated app is very good with all the catalogues built in as well as the ability to talk to 3rd party sky atlas apps. the price is pretty decent as well. The only draw back is that i might be in locations where i dont have a clear view of polaris - so it would make it impossible to polar align using polaris and not sure if there is any work around possible. Benro Polaris 3-Axis Astro edition (£1100) Now this Skytracker has certainly grabbed my attention. I love the idea that it's absolutely tiny yet still has a good payload capacity, but the real star of the show is that it requires no polar alignment, so it's perfect if you're trying to take some night scapes where polaris might be blocked by tree's etc. I also like the fact that you can fine tine the star alignment either with the app or by adjusting the knobs on each axis (yes i'm old school). The app some very big benefits and some darawbacks. Starting with the benefits, the app has full remote camera & mount controls (so you can adjust exposure, shutter speed etc ftom the app) as well as the ability to do dithering and very easy mosaics & timelapses. For daytime photography it has some additional fantastic features. Now the drawbacks - the built in star catalogue is very limited, but it's not a deal breaker as you can manually enter in coordinates for objects, and i guess the elephant in the room is the price at nearly double the cost of the Star adventurer GTI. Now to my actual questions :- Are there any other similar goto star tracker solutions that i should be considering ? Has anyone used the Benro Polaris 3-Axis Astro edition ? What is your feedback ? Any users of the Skywatcher GTi - This mount generally gets very good reviews, but are there any drawbacks i should consider. Is there a way to polar align if your view to polaris is obstructed ? Many thanks in advance, Rich.

Ok maybe i have - but have any customer actually had their mounts delivered ?

Well hate to say i tried warning everyone about this guy and i got shot down in flames. Many years ago i warned about mark from an astro company who he was supposed to be doing work and "allegedly" took the money for contract to produce some goods and did not deliver on them. Anyone who has given him money needs to speak to their bank and put forward a fraud claim or get the police involved as he's taken peoples money under false pretence of having a product which never existed - all he ever had was an idea and nothing more.

It's good to see these mounts finally shipping after some many years of delays and design changes. I really hope the mount performs well, so people are rewarded for their patience. Looking forward to seeing some real world guiding and point accuracy numbers.