Wiu-Wiu

I managed to crop the trunk itself out - and added some color.

Subs: 41x300s Telescope: Esprit 80ED Mount: Ioptron IEQ45pro Guiding and capturing: Asiair Asi 071mc pro - Duo narrowband filter (H-Alpha + O-III) Processing: Pixinsight. I opted to convert to grayscale as the colors weren't what I'd like them to be. Just cropped the edge to clean off the dithering

The RA swings to one side, then returns, but once the counterweight starts "rising" again, it quickly returns and finds equilibrium. DEC goes to one side (usually East first), then returns and keeps going to the other side until the clutch slips if I don't stop it. I usually let it balance in RA and then manually slew DEC to align that little screw on the DEC saddle with what looks like the middle of the mount. For the record: I usually polar align with the polar scope level (6 at 6 o'clock) - then rotate both axis to the starting ('zero') position - then start star alignment. But usually first alignment is off quite a bit. Which is curious, singe the mount has GPS.

Maybe a silly question, but I have been wondering about this... Especially since my mount only finds zero position in RA (DEC keeps slewing so I need to stop it and set it manually) Ioptron polar scopes are not always inserted perfect level to the 'zero' position (scope perfectly straight on top). Some are rotated - that's why the polar scope has a bubble level attached to it. When you polar align, you need to rotate the axis so the polar scope bubble level is horizontal - that way you can place polaris at the exact spot on the "watch". My question: is the preferred zero position the position where the bubble level is leveled (thus the spot in which you polar align the mount? Or is the zero position still the spot where the scope is sitting on top (and the bubble level may be rotated) (The auto zero position in RA is where the scope is on top) Does it even matter?

You could go back to basics and mix in some topics devoted to sketching

very nice work! How are you preventing your roll off roof from becoming a fly off roof?

Orion, on the right: They definately saw more stars than we are used to seeing

Also depends where you want to be imaging and how much battery power you want to be bringing along. For me, local storage and operating has also been a great factor. Since the asiair, I was able to transfer from dslr to cooled camera, since it not only saves my subs, but also takes care of the dithering and guiding. but the dslr will still be kept in business for the times where portability is key, and I have no access to net current.

The Esprit 150 is on my bucket list in the very distant future. Very distant, because of the price. A TAK is simply out of range for me, and I just couldn't justify spending that amount of money if something equally good was available. Having said this, let's talk mounts.. Having a 127mm apo myself, and having the same prospects, I have recently invested in upgrading my mounts. I have no observatory so portability has been a great part of the equasion, but -and not least- has been the cost of such a mount. I have invested in iOptron mounts (and with A LOT of pleasure), and while the CEM 60 might still be portable and will probably carry an Esprit 150 and do an OK job (because it is heavy, but also rather small), if I would have a fixed observatory, I'd probably go for a CEM 120. So why not save yourself a lot of money on both ends and get something "as good as" for "a lot less" ?

It might eventually lead to that. I am just THAT tech-minded.

I can't seem to find a lot of info on the QHYCCD Astrobar 1 - only that it seems to be discontinued. I think this piece of equipment is very similar to the EAGLE (Primalucelab). I have one and would like to see if it would be handy to incorporate it into my setup. What can I make it do for me? I was thinking to put it in charge of dew heating and autofocus, but it looks like it could also take control over my camera, guiding and goto. (ascom pre-installed) Any ideas?

Mooi! Succes!

For what it's worth, Deepskylog has a feature to attach your sketch to your observation, next to the eleaborate possibilities the site offers. You can also look up sketches and observations from other users, with similar or different equipment,... anyway, check it out, it's free.