Jkulin

As I said this was just a calibrated image in Ha that I have done nothing else with, I thought that it was better to provide something like that. No spacing issue as bang on the measurements quoted for it.

Hi Gav, Yes I do use the SW Flattener, but haven't noticed the field any flatter because of it.

Here's a quick grab from my screen of the PacMan in Ha I did at the beginning of January with a full moon, it has been calibrated but apart from that nothing else has been done to it.

If you use the lakeside then don't buy a new box just get like I have for the 80 a new motor and mount for just over £100 and switch between them, in fact I am going to fit the motor to the 80 this evening and hopefully get imaging tomorrow night if it stays clear.

I have the Esprit 100ED and have been blown away with the quality, simply amazing, the focuser is excellent and for £300 you can motorise it within your budget if you look around. I was so impressed that I went and bought the Esprit 80 as well.

I have had mine hypertuned but not used it yet as I only use it when I go to dark sites for widefield imaging. Whilst in France in June I was getting 450s un-guided and the attached shows how good this little mount is and this wasn't hypertuned then, so how good will it be now. The image is unprocessed (Just reduced in size for here) at ISO 160 F2.8 14mm on my Nikon D800, it wasn't even well balanced as I had left the counter weights at home. The only thing I always do is use my Polemaster for a polar alignment

Had this before, as mentioned have a look in device manager what Com port has been assigned then go into the toolbox and assign the same Com port, should fix it.

Credit where due... I ordered another dew heater from Barbara at W&W Astro Dew Heaters and whilst out for a short while one of my boxers (The Mischievous one) decided to chew the package and destroy the heater. I made a quick call to Barbara just to check the polarity and she very kindly said she would send me a replacement free of charge! Originally bought of fleabay at : - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/W-W-Astro-dew-heater-40-cm-for-5-telescope/192323865878 But you can purchase direct from her at the following: - W&W Astro www.dewheater.com shop@dewheater.com Tel: - 07449065886 Couldn't ask for better service :-)

Thanks, so will you temporarily bolt the pier down to the concrete before marking up the pier adapter? Maybe it's me being paranoid, my mate who is sorting out the design doesn't want to machine elongated holes into the top of the pier so that the top plate can be adjusted perfectly, but I think he's being a little too cautious on the stability front.

My mate is designing something similar but with full length supports at the side. Just a quick question, how are you planning on rotating the pier adapter so that you can align north or are you just going to drill holes after rough alignment and then just use the AZ bolts for perfect alignment?

No prior to polar alignment I aim my camera via the ball head on the tripod into the area I want to image, I've only used it for the MW and not with a long lens or scope for DSO etc. so can't comment how easy it is to align very finely. I don't touch the clutch at all once polar aligned and just swivel the ball head with the camera attached if I need to align or position my camera better. I remotely fire the shutter using Backyardnikon so that I don't inadvertently knock the alignment. Hope that helps?

When I mean set everything up I mean everything including the L Bracket, camera, polemaster, laptop, everything and then start the QHY Polemaster software and connect, make sure you are perfectly level and point as near as dammit to North, once connected set Polaris in the centre of your screen and follow the prompts, its dead easy as long as you don't knock the tripod and anything else, make sure switch it on after alignment to the star on the dial. Oh and make sure you have fresh batteries and they don't run out half way through like mine did and I had to leave everything in the field and walk back to the Gite.

I use my polemaster on my SA when travelling and for widefield imaging. Set everything up including plugging in your laptop, follow the prompts exactly as per the polemaster software, its a bit tricky as you have to manual slacken the clutch, but if you don't tighten it tight then you can undo it without moving the tripod. Last month I was 30 miles south of Le Mans in France with perfect dark skies, I took the liberty of pushing it a little too far at 7 1/2 minutes unguided and got tiny trails but I reckon if I would have kept it to 3-5 minutes then the very tiny trails would not have been visible. The attached was taken at ISO160, F2.8 for 450s on my Nikon D800 and Samyang 14mm lens, if you zoom in you'll see what I mean which I feel is not bad considering it was unguided for 7 1/2 minutes on a light weight carbon tripod in the middle of a windy field.

Thanks Ian, Much appreciate your time and effort.

When I travel I prefer to combine my general photography with Widefield Atrophotography, just returned from Meigne-le-Vicomte about 30 miles South of Le-Mans, beautiful dark skies and I managed some rather nice images of the Milky Way, I tend to use my Nikon 800 combined with a Samyang 14mm F2.8 Lens or my Leica T with an 11/23mm F3.5 Lens. The Skywatcher Star Adventurer is perfect for this and I have achieved up to 450secs unguided with just a very tiny amount of trails. My Leica only has 30sec max exposure, which means in a true dark site of shooting at ISO3200 F3.5, but the images are really quite lovely. I travel with a MS Surface Pro to download my images and Polar align with my QHY Polemaster, I use a Carbon Manfrotto Tripod set low to the ground for stability and weight saving. The Hanger was an accessory to point me North in the picture blackness.

Hi Ian, sorry to drag up an old post, your pier is exactly what I am looking for, have you got a drawing or plans that you would be willing to share? Would you by chance have a link to the pier adapter on eBay if they are still making them?