spillage

I have posted this on the 130pds forum but thought I would also post here as it is my first attempt at narrowband with PI. So any suggestions welcome. I have probably overdone things and my monitor is ancient so judging colours is difficult. SHO 40 x 120

ngc 1893 40 x120s Ha,S,O. This is my first attempt at narrowband and only my second image with PI. Lots of issue and my monitor is bad so cannot really see any bad colours. It looks a bit red to me and the stars seem to have a ring around them.

Hi All, I have currently added Ha,O,S 120s together but have some 240s Ha that I would also like to add. I normally do all my stacking in DSS first but what would be the best way and time to add the 240s Ha. Cheers,

Hi Adrian, Thanks for the advice. Turns out it was user error all along. I found using the triangle instead of the square made it work. I keep looking a pixelmath but have yet to give it a go. Definitely looks a bit difficult at the moment.

Okay so after battling all day with pixinsight I have managed this. It not great and there is an odd shape to my larger stars. Not sure if this is collimation or light leak. Also my monitor is rubbish so make things harder. I could spend an age picking it apart. Please feel free to make any comments. 10 x 120s each of LRGB. Stacked in DSS. Darks, Flats, Dark Flats.

Hi All, Sorry if this has been asked a million times but I am trying to start using pixinsight more for my processing. I have combined my RGB and used ABE on both L and RGB, back ground neutralization and colour calibrated the RGB. But when I go back into LRGB Combine and just add the L my finished image has no colour. I have been following guides online and restarted several times with any joy. As a complete PI novice and help would be appreciated. ABE on LRGB Combine RGB Photometric Colour Calibration RGB SCNR RGB Histogram Transformation on LRGB Back Ground Neturalization and Colour Calibration RGB LRGB Combine just ticking L. I have tried the saturation slider fully both ways and there is not difference. Cheers,

Hi Ed, What software are you using for stacking. Most will auto rotate them for you. I know DeepSkyStacker will.

When using Eqmod you would have unparked the mount. Eqmod then assumes your mount is pointing to the home position and will use this as the ref point. PHD will use Eqmod to get the co-ordinates. If you do not remove the guide scope from the telescope you should not really need to calibate. I take it you are imaging but not sure what software you are using for this. I would set up and roughly polar align using the polar scope and start up/connect all your software. Run PHD drift alignment. Calibrate if needed/wanted. Put the mount back to home. Platesolve and then move onto your target. Not sure if being south of the equator make much difference.

Odd as @Carbon Brush did.

If you find that one or more items are out of stock and the retailer has just shipped out what they have then you are entitled to refuse/cancel the delivery of the goods and have a full refund. This then saves you having to purchase the missing items from another supplier and pay an additional shipping fee. I think the above also relates to if you just change your mind after hitting that "buy" button.

I had the cog come loose on the RA motor when I first did the belt mod. If you tighten it down bit by bit giving a wiggle each time that should make sure the grub screw is sat well on the flat. I took my mount apart yesterday and rechecked the spacers as there was a little bit of play in RA that I could not adjust out well enough, sure enough I was over with the spacers.Just need a clear sky to test the results. I forgot to mention. I tip for putting it all back together. If you can get hold of something like trimmer wire cut yourself of about 6", fold it in half and put it through your belt. When you put the housing back on put the two ends through the hole and pull them through the bracket with the guide wheels, bolt the housing into place and you can then pull the string/wire through gently and it will pull the belt with it.

the gap between the belt cog and housing should be 1mm.

You seem to have left one of your scopes on the roof 🤣

I would say a second hand neq6 or heq5 (£650) If you want a scope then the ed80 is just a great beginners refractor, but bang for buck the 130pds (£180) is well worth a look (I think it has the longest running thread here), pair it with a comma corrector (skywatcher do a x0.9 giving a bigger fov £130). A second hand st80 (£50) and mono cam (£100) for guiding. But be warned, there is always that bit of kit that you will want to buy!!!!

Just as a thought. Try slackening off the dec worm housing bolts and backing out the grub screws. This should allow you to move the dec housing around slightly. Tighten up the grub screw opposite the worm just until you feel some slight resistance. Then just take up the slack in the opposite grub screw and tighten up the housing bolts then try slewing.

In PHD if you click on the brain the first page will show you the location of the stored file. Normally users/user-name/PHD2. This file will give everyone the info they need to check you guiding. A new one is created each time you start PHD2 and guide. If you slacken off the dec worm housing you really should be feeling some backlash. What if you slacken off the four bolts and wind out both grub screws?

sorry if I have read this wrong. The dec cone adjustment it to take up the slack of the axix bar and stop movement up and down (between the weight bar and dovetail clamp). The worm gear will need the four bolts slackening on the worm housing then you can move the grub screws, re-tighten the worm housing bolts and test for back lash and run the mount to check for binding. As you have already taken out the slack on the actual worm before assembly you should not really need to play with the ring bolt (inside the black cap). Getting the scope balanced is really important with the belt mod and I run PHD with the target to help me with this. If RA keeps hitting west then I adjust the weights and check the target again. This is just my way and may not be right.

Bearing: Yes this will help the bearing sit correctly in place. Spacer: I found that adding a bit extra made the axis rotate more free.

if you put the mount on the bench upside down and then place the bottom of the mount down onto to RA axis I find it easier to remove refit. If it gets tight just gently rock the mount to feel where it lose and then gently lift it up a few mm and then let it down again. You have to have the bearing very square to the axis or it binds going down. Hard to explain but a bit of a balancing act. I just use a screwdriver between the motor and housing and just apply a small amount of pressure. The cone shaped bearing need to be carefully tightened. So take up the slack rotate a few times, tighten a bit more rotate and repeat until hand tight.

Mine was also tight but adding an exta spacer on the opposite side of the teeth on the gear improved it. The setting circle now has allot of clearance but this is fine for me. The super tune measures the spacing below the teeth on the gear and makes sure that the worm and gear are aligned as well as can be. The worm housing adjustment you did is the same as me and yes I meant taking sideways movement out of the worm gear before fixing into place. I seem to find that when putting the RA back together having the mount sat upside down helps. When fitting the RA tapered bearing I like to rotate the bottom of the mount a few times and slightly undo and then redo up to make sure it is in evenly. I just normally do this up as tight as I can by hand. Hope this makes a bit more sense.

I will start with the tightness. Take just the RA back out and put an extra spacer on top of the brass gear (to early to rember it's name). This will remove any tightness around the top area. When putting the worm gear back together I ignore the tip on astrobaby's site and adjust the worm gear before fitting it back together. Take the play out of the RA by going to tight then back of a bit by bit. Have you gone through the supertune setup? Do the same with the DEC and do not over tighten the motors, just apply some pressure before tightening. Even balance is I find crucial with the belt mod and of course good PA,.

Why are they not good. I take it you are talking about the spacers for a tune up.

I have one of those lying around that I couldn't work out what it was. Now I know thanks @ollypenrice mystery solved.

I am sure you will more than happy when it comes back. I have only this weekend stripped and rebuilt my neq6 which is a bit more fiddly when it come to installing the belt mod. The heq5 mounts are so much easier.

For portability I would say go with a second hand heq5 as they are always coming up for sale. Spend an extra £100 and install the belt mod if needed. I used to love my eq5 pro and you could lift up the whole lot including the scope and stick it in the shed. The mount head on a neq6 is a heavier weight on its own. In fact for you budget I think you could even purchase a second hand polemaster for quick PA if needed.