RolandKol

Edit: wrote complete nonsense... cannot delete, so edited.

it looks like the only solid newtonian option at the moment, - TS Photon ONTC sub-brand.... At least I was not able to find anything what looks better on paper and from user experience. Btw, which uses Orion's Optics mirrors

yep kinda strange... No heavy CC and EFW and the tilt is very visible...

with ROI enabled, you can actually image just around the Planet, as you do not need all the black area around. It will save much time for processing and etc, plus will enable to do MORE subs per sec. and you want as MUCH subs per sec as Possible. As per other settings, - keep and eye on the Hystogram, it should be somethere around middle or "middle/slight right" , in other words 50%-70%, - with as short exposures as you can. Try different gains, max or Unity, no use to go for 0 gain.

Very nice, Much better than my first try P.S. Try to crop frames with PIPP before stacking. Or even better, next time do imaging with ROI (Region of Interest) enabled if cam allows.

Hi mate, Any updates? Any new Images with CC? How is the primary colimation between the sessions or meridian flip? How is the default focuser? Any tilt with heavier (for example, Mono setup?) Asking, as planing to upgrade my 130 PDS.

I printed quite a few covers//caps and even extention rings (not long ones) in PETG and all are OK.

OMG... £1k+ for sucha headache.... I am really sad to hear about your experiences, but also very thankfull! I played and tinkered with PDS for quite a period of time and simply want a scope without any aditional "games", however I want aperture! hahaha damn... P.S. Have you placed the primary on the silicone?

Hi Mate, I think upgrading my 130PDS to this scope. Any comments? Especially on focuser as I will hang ASI1600MM + EFW(7) + GPU CC. PDS focuser is way to cheap for such amount of toys... P.S. I will also use ZWO AEF. P.P.S. Do you have any images of bright stars after colimation?

I quit ekos.. sadly .. I used raspberry pi for astro for quite a while. Ended up back on win10+Nina =no headache. As per setup, l am on Asi1600+EFW(7)+Zwo EAF. From pics l kinda noticed Quattro has a monorail or something similar in the focuser... Need a bit more investigation if it's able to carry my toys. I am not very bright in this field, but l look for scope which wouldn't need any upgrades or tinkering, especially for focuser. I played quite a lot with PDS Time to settle down

I am sitting on the fence, - thinking to upgrade my 130PDS to 8 or 10", Quatro is on the list, but the only thing I afraid is Focuser... PDS had a such a cheap, wobbly and unreliable one, I guess Skywatcher has not upgraded much on Quatro also as the price is kinda cheap anyway.... You wrote, you had few Quatros, - any comments about their focusers?

It is 130PDS, my GPU CC is more expensive than the scope itself Will go for a upgrade and forget it. Thanks for help, at least I have stopped banging my head into the wall...

My oldie NEQ6 mount is kinda limited to Nebulas and Larger Galaxies... Thats's why I wrote F5-F7 range... (maybe F4 also... kinda have tools for collimation) Of Couse, F10 with reducer will do. I doubt I would manage to Guide native F10 + large Aperture properly. In best case scenario I have around 0.4" Total guiding error on PHD.

Hi guys, I been imaging with 130PDS for a while and found it nice beginner scope, but I want to move towards larger aperture and better focuser (by default). Any suggestions in around £900? In ideal, new scope should still fit on old NEQ6, so full set up should be around to 17-18kg with mono cam bundle (ASI1600 + EFW7 + EAF, in worst case scenario, I can get rid of guider scope and switch to AOG , it is minus around 1kg). My dream would be EdgeHD 9.25 or even larger but my wallet is not from rubber, so will have to stay with the cheaper options. Plus, I like star spikes. Thinking of SW quattro.... but damn... if the same focuser is used as on 130PDS... no no no... not the option for me. maybe StellaLyra 8" f/12 M-LRS Classical Cassegrain Telescope OTA | First Light Optics ? but I do not like Cassegrain stars... they are much "fatter" than Newtonian (if I am not mistaken, as I tried to check on flickr and astrobin and have no direct experience). So 10" Newtonian, or around 8" a bit more expensive option... P.S. Around F5-F7... do not forget, - I sit on SW NEQ6 with some rust on it...

No CC, using much lighter set up (ASI224MC)... sadly, no guiding and no proper PA, - but the pattern is the same... Halo is off... so CC is out of the issue. autosave_stacked - Copy.fit

Do you mean, it is better to remove them? I kinda, used them to tightened the drawtube to the limit as constantly afraid my camera will slip out.

Yes, managed to save these tiny b.... still in place. as per primary sliding, - not sure... it is quite firmly clipped and rotated scope does not show difference in collimation at least via Cheshire... Had thoughts to put on the silicone without the clips at all, but it will expand and etc during the night also. Focuser... is another headache... ASI1600 + EWF is most likely a bit too much for it... Just noticed, GPU spacing was off by 5mm.... Not sure what I was thinking, - but probably it is not the cause...

Primary cell is not shadowed to see the clips during colimation, racked Out (away from focuser to the very end), GPU CC does not like primary to be closer due to focus point. And I doubt it is CC issue, as both GPU and SW CC behaves the same! But I have not tried without cc at all.. probably the last thing to test

The view via Cheshire (difficult to pic using mobile, but all 3 clips are visible once Cheshire is directly facing Top or turned by 90 degrees). The 120sec raw from previous night L__200_2022-10-06_01-40-39_T4.00_120.00s_0000.fits

GPU or Skywatcher CC, - both give the same halo of the secondary, scope was flocked and flock material used on the secondary perimeter. As flock material increased the shadow of the secondary and I constantly had off-center halo of the primary, - I have removed the flock material to increase the accuracy of collimation, - so the secondary is "naked now", have not painted it. Result is the same. I am completely puzzled.... P.S. getting inside, will post some pics soon

My spider vanes are central as per the second collimation picture (not astro baby's one). as per failed criteria, - in the astro image, the reflection of the primary (the halo) is not concentric and creates a "funny" view.... And it stays like this during my multiple re-collimations... if I do it central by adjusting primary mirror bolts, it becomes oval. P.S. trying to target on the artificial star at the moment... THATS A TASK!!!!

Hi guys, not sure why, but I am not able to collimate my toy anymore... I use Cheshire + Camera, I see all 3 primary clips via Cheshire and all cantered with the Secondary mirror shadow slightly prolonged... But the reflection of the primary during my multiple test is always off... (not sure if focuser is the problem as It was removed previously) can you please check and advise? (starting from page num: 4)

my NEQ6 is not modded and really old and rusted. Once balanced properly and with good PA, it keeps my 130PDS (plus mono setup) in around 0.45 Total RMS area, however.... if a slight high-level clouds come, - 0.8RMS and not lower... I tried all kind of settings without any luck... Give a try once again, my calibration and guiding assistance graphs are MUCH worse

Hi guys, On my Newtonian 130PDS I can collimate Primary mirror to be closer to Focuser and opposite. Which direction should I target primary, if I want Focus to be reached with focuser racked our less, if it does any difference at all, but I kinda noticed it does if I am not wrong.

as per second pic, my 130PDS failed....