spillage

+1 but save yourself some cash and buy this book.

I am sure I have the Hitech focuser somewhere at home. I just prefer the shoestring as you do not need a power supply just usb. I know I really need a real stepper motor and stick this one to my guide scope.

Are you able to run an autofocus routine within nina. I have a shoestring fcusb focuser but cannot seem to get nina to work with it. I think its something to to with reporting its position.

I have wondered if using one of those vacum bags that you use with a hoover would help as I am sure this would remove most of the moisture.

NINA, APT for capture and target location, PHD2 for tracking and CdC for star map. I think eqmod should work on your mount but not 100%.

Reminds me of this.

My 1600 has icing issues last year around November time and due to renovations we had no heating system so I was really struggling to get the thing dried out. I tried everything I could but in the end it had to go back to zwo. Came back a few week later working 100% and has been fine ever since. Not really sure how they deal with moisture at the factory and they did not really give me any suggestions on how to dry the camera out, just advise on drying out the desiccants.

I usually use my darks and flats masters for at least 6 months if not longer, or if I think they are not working correctly. I have always thought that the focus shift should be so small that it really would not make much of a difference. Truth be told I only do darks and flats on the L filter. I do have a permanent set up. If you imaging camera stay connected to the scope try using the old masters and see how it looks.

I was going to mention that my st80 has about a 6" extension on the back when I had finished scrolling down the thread. Glad to hear its working as it should.

Yes that is what I mean. Just wind out you focus and then slowly bring it back in allowing a few seconds between each move. You should see a change in screen as you get closer.

I use a st80 for guiding and until I am very close I get a similar result. Are you able to view the screen whilst at the scope?

I would guess the focus is out. The focus with an eyepiece will not be same as with the camera and try using 2.5 seconds to begin with.

@blinky do you know if they still produce them as I cannot seem to find a working link to aeroquest. I have seen that they were not that much money so might be worth a go.

So far I have not seen any new about it. At nearly £300 it really should be good, but after installing the belt mod and mk11 wedge I find myself thinking is it worth putting more money into the mount?

For a quick and dirty this is looking very good. Really like the framing

I know rowan do one here. One came up on ABS a while ago and I took too long to think about it. I guess deep down I would like to upgrade and knew I would probably not get my money back and I have already installed the belt mod and upgraded wedge (mk2).

I find my baader lazer is great to roughly collimate and they I use a catseye autocollimator for the fine tweeking followed by a star test. I have even managed to tame the 8" quattro.

I have something similar with mine but from memory it appeared on all subs and was moisture on the sensor. Have you tried giving APT a go for collecting flats? I think I used 15-20k. I have never used sharpcap and I just add the flats into dss. After this is done once dss creates a master flat that can be added in the future saving some time.

Do your darks have the same issues?

I gave 1.9 a run last night after sgpro had issues platesolving. Wow this software is quick and really good. A couple things I struggle with though. I could not figure out how to manually warm the camera at the end of the night. I also struggled to work out how to set the pixel error when platesolving. In sgpro I just set ps to within 6 pixels. I guess I am just not use to working in arcseconds (what settings are others using?). Also will the sky atlas only show possible targets from my location and if not can this be set up? I think I may of lost the plot. Can anyone confirm if there is Deb for NINA. I could of sworn I came across one but now cannot find anything relating to a linux install. cheers,

I would jump onto the apt forum here as ivo will be able to look into it for you. Just post up you camera mode and version of apt. He is normally very quick to resolve issues. Do you need to set the camera to bulb mode. I'm sure I had to do this with my old canon.

Where the pixies live..

Try stacking the images you have in deep sky stacker and then stretching the image. You can use startools for free to help you process the image. You just cannot save the image unless you purchase it.

you still need to do your PA. This makes your tracking more accurate when using phd2.

my bad I had the mounting plate on the tripod in my head not the scope mounting puck.