Grierson

Dave that is clearly the way to go. Martin, my version has ‘lips’ with the arc of the holder resting ON the drawer body when fitted. I notice that the holder of the ‘ZWO Filter Drawer for EOS Lenses’ is actually countersunk in to the body when fitted. Could it be that ZWO has learnt a lesson?

Martin, I would agree that all that is needed to produce darks is the covering of the sensor. (And of course timing and cooling) However, in my case it has always been far easier to produce the darks with the camera in situ by capping the ‘scope. The fact that the drawer leaks light leads me to wonder what impact that will have on images when the kit gets some use in the coming months.

I always update my darks library during the daylight hours but when the weather is cool and cooling the camera doesn't present an unnecessary strain on the 294. To date I have had no problem. Having recently purchased a ZWO filter drawer and added it to the light path I am disappointed to to find how much light leaks round the holder making the produced darks useless. Taping round the holder 'cures' the problem but I wonder if I have a poorly machined example or is this typical of the ZWO filter drawer. Any comment from users of this piece of kit would be appreciated. Thanks - John

Thanks for all the contributions. I’ve ordered a panel from ELWirecraft (thanks Dr-Ju-ju!) which hopefully will arrive tomorrow. - John

Thank you chaps. I will have a look at them. John

Could any member suggest a supplier of reasonably priced E L Panels? I’m looking for a panel 24cm x 24cm excluding the connector. Many thanks.

Lynx Astro power cable and extension from FLO. Expensive but a good solution.

Many thanks Dinglem, I did look at the FLO site. Must be going blind! - John

There appears to be some question as to whether the EAF can be used with the Esprit series. ZWO don’t list the ‘scope as compatible. Does any forum member use the EAF on an Esprit without additional engineering in addition to the bracket supplied. I am currently saving my pennies to upgrade my 80ED in the spring!! Thanks - John

If it is mains power then the Nevada PS-08 from FLO will do all you need!

Just picking up on item 5 of randomics’ list. Don’t forget to replace the screw on the end of the weight bar!

+1

Thanks for the replies. Sorry for the delay in responding. I do not take bias frames Andrew. Received wisdom seems to suggest they are not needed with a cmos camera. My darks look ‘normal’ but they were taken earlier in the day at -20deg. I will now take a look at the condensation issue. John

Yes I suppose that is possible. I had no reason to check at the time.

Yes, thanks Adam, that was my dilemma. Camera or Software? This is a single unstacked image. I did take nine subs and they all exhibit the same issue. - John

Apologies as I am not really a beginner but I'm not sure where else to ask the question. Perhaps Mods can move the post. The image below is a heavily cropped single 600sec sub of IC5146 which I took to test out the Off Axis Guiding of my new Edge HD 8". To the right of the centre of the image is a patch of what appears to be rough chroma 'noise?'. I wonder if anyone can tell me what the likely cause could be. My poor PixInsight processing skills or a hardware issue? The camera is a ZWO294 cooled to -20 degrees. I should add that no such issue appears on all my shorter duration subs to date. Any comment would be welcome. Thanks - John

Have a look at FLOs’ website listing for the ASI 120mm and I think it will confirm the above.

As has been said there are lots of questions. One of the most fundamental is ‘have you given any thought about what you are prepared to spend’? The reflector route is likely to be less costly than the refractor. I started with the ubiquitous SW 80ED and which I still enjoy using.

I have recently purchased the latest version of HyperStar for my Edge HD 8”. The spec. on the website indicates the back focus should be 39.8mm but there is no clear indication of where this measurement is taken FROM. There is some text that suggests that the 39.8mm should be the distance between the camera mounting thread and the sensor but the thread is c. 6.0mm deep and there is no indication wether this means the start or end of the thread. In addition the HyperStar is supplied with a filter drawer so the question arises is ‘the camera mounting thread’ the one on the lens body or the filter drawer body. I wonder if any of you kind people with a similar set up have faced a similar question and managed to fit the correct spacer depth. (The camera will be a ZWO 294 with a front to sensor measurement of 6.5mm.)

I can’t add to the excellent advice that you have been given above but it would be interesting to know what sort of relationship you have with your supplier. You clearly specified what you required and yet you had to add, to what must have already been a significant outlay, extra money for weights and with seemingly little advice. Given the small size of the market good dealers appear keen to ‘go the extra mile’ IMVHO.

Steve, many thanks. Very helpful. John.

X

Could I ask a naive question. Assuming the filters are inside a filter wheel, as in this case, and the width has wheel has already been included why is it necessary to include the thickness of the filters in the calculation? Thanks - John

Having recently been struggling with the amount of travel on a Feather Touch focuser and beginning to give up I decided to give the makers an e-mail to see if they had any thoughts. Wayne at Starlight Instruments responded suggesting the addition of a particular spacer may well be the answer and further suggested that he could send one to me. Out of the blue today arrived UPS with a cardboard box that could have contained a thousand spacers but inside was just one that cured my problem. No cost to me was involved. Excellent service in these difficult times.

The ASIAIR will only accept ZWO cameras plus a whole list of DSLRs principally Canon and Nikon so, yes, your Loadstar will be a problem. Yes you can run an additional hub. I find I don’t need it given the ports on the main camera. I see a number of users complaining about the WiFi range. My rig sits in the middle of my small garden about 4 metres From the house and I have never had an issue with poor WiFi so I can’t give a definitive answer. The list of pros is long. Best read from the ZWO site. Lack of wire surrounding the rig is a godsend. Cons for me are few. You will need a pad or phone running the iOS or Android platforms. It will not run on Windows or Linux. Well worth the investment IMVHO. John