newbie alert

Your last picture indicates your focuser isn't central.. your spacing could do with abit more, stars all seem to point towards the center.. but not really sure on what's happening with the stars in the first few images.. suggest collimation but they seem really weird.. what scope is it?

Can you show an example of the histogram? You say that there's lots of dust but your flats aren't showing any? Seems too bright for a flat

Zwo EAF not a better option, Flo have 14 in stock https://www.firstlightoptics.com/zwo-accessories/zwo-electronic-automatic-focuser-eaf-5v.html

Depends on how complex you want to make it, .. different rules to what type of imaging you want to do ... Seeing is the limit that you have no control over , light pollution is another one that you can't control unless you change location ( it has an effect if you're taking long exposure deepsky images but if you're planetary imaging its not the same problem) You can drive yourself completely gaga in the world of f-ratio and sampling.. or you can just get on with what you have

To change the f ratio to the scope you either have to change the aperture ( not possible to increase the size but some decrease this with solar imaging) Or increase the fl with a Barlow or decrease with a reducer With camera lenses you can increase or decrease the aperture blades to change the f ratio as the focal length is fixed unless it's a zoom lens

I use a Celestron oag with a 8inch XLT and .63 reducer, 290m... Never had a situation where I can't find a guidestar, or even rotated the gudecam as recommended by that American u tuber.. I find the 290 sensor and prism just fine on a 8inch tube, if it makes much difference with a bigger tube I wouldn't know.. Biggest issue was finding an adapter to fit the SCT and m48 and not encroach into the backspacing distance as Im also using a efw

Why do people see the f-ratio first.. I see it as a 90mm scope with a 540 FL.. or a 102mm with a 714mm FL F ratio is relative to the Fl divided by the aperture... Since you can't enlarge the aperture you can only shorten the FL to give yourself a lower f ratio or in the case of planetary increase the FL with a Barlow which gives you a higher f ratio

The ioptron 28 has a long worm period of 600 secs, but in theory if it can do a full revolution without issues then it can do a few more... I'd check your PA and run the guide assistant for at least a full cycle

Player one oag?

Thought you sorted your tilt, or have I got the wrong Stuart?

You don't align on Polaris, you align on the north celestrial pole, which is near but 40 odd arc mins away.. Sorry to be precise but giving a newbie false info , it's confusing enough... I was told this when I first started, and set me back a fair bit.. so sort of grates when I hear it repeated

Since this has to do with your pointing inaccuracy it's necessary to point out it has nothing to do with the level of the mount and also nothing to do with your PA... From reading through you messed your star alignment up as you adjusted the bolts to do your PA.. always PA first and then star align... You can level the mount but its not as important as when using a AZ mount Pa with your preferred method but the polarscope method is a deemed a rough alignment for astrophotography and it needs collimating for it to have a level of accuracy Then star align... If you can use a cross haired eyepiece to accurately place the star in the center or use the bullseye on your capture software if using a camera then it's far more accurate than placing the star in the center ( ish) of a ep.. Or just platesolve Also remember that the motion of stars ( sidereal) is different to the planets, not by much but its different

Larger sensors don't make it anymore sensitive, just captures a bigger surface area The 224 is a cracking sensor but the 462 has newer technology, sensitive especially in the IR and methane band compared to the 224... I'd look at the QE curves and see what suits you in what you're shooting, IE broadband or beyond the visible light

Dictated by the scope and reducer but I'd guess it be around 55mn

Take one thing at a time to eliminate the possibility of errors Sharpcap is good, so yeah give that a go. . Did it give you the calibration data such as this? Where in the sky did you calibrate?

What mount is it? Some mounts have really fluid axis so any really slight imbalance can throw it all out Does it veer off both sides of the meridian, ie after the flip? If it guides ok with it guiding south does it go haywire after the flip? How are you guiding? If pulse guiding you calibrate both sides of the pier

Regarding m45 try not to make the background sky jet black as you will undoubtedly lose data in the nebulosity ( called black clipping) The heq5 will open up a whole new avenue and allow you to capture far longer subs, you can use the 120 to guide.. good luck ... It's exciting...

Superb... Oval Ba looks really sharp...

The rosette is always a show stopper target.. has to be done You have a really odd halo, on not really a bright star...no idea why..

Just use the 2600, it has a excellent sensor

Fantastic job Lee...

Thread is about a Avx thou, which is Eq

But it's not it's a Avx, as stated it's a Gem( German equatorial mount which to get the best performance from should be polar aligned therefore tracking the equatorial plane .. So no confusion for me😜

Debatable..... It's a gem.. if it's pointing at the pole it's pointing at the pole, level or unlevel