scitmon

Last night was my first imaging session of the season and was a very frustrating one. I setup my rig as usual, but just could not get my guiding to work. I was using PHD2 and it complained that it could not make big enough corrections to my mount to keep tracking. I must have checked and rechecked my polar alignment (I use the polar scope and an app to tell me where to position Polaris) 5 times! I switched guiding off and took a 90 second exposure and it was actually much better! Can anyone give me any theories as to what was happening? Unguided: Guided:

Tricky one, what kind of length exposures have you been achieving up to now? If its anything above 60 seconds I would be inclined to go for the reducer/flattener.

Thanks for the info! I do want to try narrowband imaging so I think I will steer clear of this sensor then. Which means I need to downsize my chip size or up my budget. I think for now I will continue with my DSLR and see if there are any future developments in the market or any bargains in the classifieds.

Is this something unique to the 1600 or the sensor it uses? I ask because I'm looking at the Atik Horizon as an alternative that uses the same sensor.

For a while now I've been looking over the ZWO 1600 mono camera and filter bundles and I notice there is a nice discount on them at the moment. I'd like to check with the more knowledgeable on these forums whether there are any better options out there? I want to get the purchase right the first time. My primary imaging telescope is the SW 80ED DS-pro, and as a secondary I'd like to do some planetary imaging with my Skymax 180. I realise you can't get one that's ideal for both DSO and planetary, so I want to prioritise DSO. So my questions are: Are there any better options out there than the ZWO 1600 that are not silly money? What size filters are best to get?

Good tip! Wouldn't have thought of that. I was thinking I could perhaps wrap the top half of the setup in some kind of plastic sheeting and seal it off (with some silica packs inside) with a bungie cordat the neck of the tripod. Then cover with a dust sheet. Sound like that would be sufficient in keeping the majority of creepy crawlies from the inside of my telescope. Any input on the benefits of insulaton?

I'm currently in the process of shopping for Sheds, and one of the things I'm thinking of storing in it is my imaging setup (AZEQ6 and ED80), on a tripod with castors. The idea being I can roll it out, secure it, polar align and go. One of the things that worries me slightly is keeping the setup clean and bug free. Is this possible and how would I go about it? Obviously I would use some kind of dust cover, but what about spiders and the like? Also, is getting my new shed insulated something worth doing?

Is it compatiable with the ed80? EDIT: ignore, It isn't.

I normally get around 0.7 rms while guiding after only using the polar scope of the az-eq6 for alignment, and I'm by no means experienced in this department. I use an app to tell me where to posistion polaris on the scope. Not sure what that would translate to for exposures unguided though.

This fills me with dread as well. Does doing this effect collimation?

Ah so there is some DIY involved... was hoping to avoid that.

Thats reassuring! I like the handle, may I ask where you got that? Also, did you do anything with the holes left behind by the original bar?

I'm currently looking into ways of mounting my dew controller/minipc plate onto my SW Skymax 180 for planetary imaging. I currently use it on my DSO imaging rig, mounting on a second dove tail bar, but I can't do this on my Skymax because it only has one dovetail bar, which is screwed onto the tube. My current thinking is to replace this dovetail with tube rings which will allow me to add a second dovetail bar. The only place I can find rings that come even close to the 219mm tube diameter (outside of custom made expensive ones) are https://www.orionoptics.co.uk/ACCESSORIES/tuberingsa.html#rolled My questions are: - Does anyone have experience with these rings? Is it possible to screw the standard SW dovetail bar to them? - If so, would I need to fill the holes left behind by the screwed on bar? Other suggestions are welcome

Astrophotgraphy can quickly become an expensive hobby, you should do it right the first time when it comes to your purchase choices. I agree with above that the HEQ5 mount is a minimum and normally goes well with a small short focal length refractor or a small to medium sized Reflector. The nexstars are more suited to small bright objects like planets. If your budget is really tight, perhaps you should consider using just your dslr camera with something like https://www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-star-adventurer/skywatcher-star-adventurer-astronomy-bundle.html

For what its worth, here is my current setup:

It's worth checking if you have "Windows 10 N"? With my experience as I mentioned above, the problem was with this version of Windows. It's an EU version of Windows 10 that I think is different because of the EU competition laws about things that are installed by default. My solution was to switch to a normal version of Windows 10. It was very wierd and frustrating.

Well first of all I think you have made the common 'newbie' mistake of buying a cheap telescope that you find in department stores and the like. While it maybe a ok telescope for looking at the moon for example, you may find the tripod its mounted on frustrating to use and the eye pieces it comes with are not very good. Before looking into buying accesories such as eyepieces etc I would consider replaceing your telescope with something from a dedicated retailer... for example: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/beginner-telescopes.html

Having just bought the Skymax 180 myself, I'll join!

I've had Windows Updates break my Camera in the past too, although for me it was with my Canon DSLR. Windows updates can be rolled back if you want to test this theory.

Are the dummy batteries and cables compatible with the older dew controllers? I like the idea of replacing my amazon bought dummy battery which has a ac 3 pin plug with these...

Are your powering your setup from a battery or the mains? If the latter then you might consider using a powerline ethernet adapter instead of a Cat5 cable. As far as Windows goes, I don't see a reason why Pro would be needed of Home edition. Once setup properly, your miniPc can just be powered on, then you log onto it from a pc in your home using Remote Desktop Connection or a 3rd Party alternative.

Postie just delivered my new IDAS D2 Light Pollution Suppression Filter:

I see it as "Sky-Watcher 9x50 Finder".

and I've just bought the ST80 guide kit

These goodies arrived today :-)