david_taurus83

Wow! Dark skies? If I could be a bit critical I would say it would look even better with less noise reduction.

Another test a couple of nights ago. Same as the first night, an average of around 0.8"RMS. It was OK before a meridian flip but later in the night there are large deviations. I am hoping it was due to passing cloud but as it was unattended I can't be sure. The weather hasn't justified setting the AZEQ6 up to see what the Air reports on that.

An uncooled 533 would be a good shout but most people think they need to be cooled so selling on might be an issue. I would look for a second hand 533 cooled version.

Lol its full of concrete! I just couldn't stomach the £200 or whatever it was for the ZWO extension. Might sound a bit daft considering how much I paid for the mount and camera last year but I promised myself I was done with astronomy purchases this year.

I have started a new topic on the guiding of this mount and the ASIAir so as not to let this go too far off topic. https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/415062-asiair-am5-guiding-results/

As already mentioned in a previous thread, I have long held the belief that the ASIAir shows somewhat optimistic guiding results. I am a newcomer to the ASIAir when I first purchased one (Mini) when it was released around this time last year. It went hand in hand with the AM5 mount that I also purchased around the same time. It made an attractive proposal for a small, lightweight but very competent setup for my Redcat but with the opportunity to also put larger scopes on there if I fancied a change. I was surprised with the AM5's reported guiding figures as reported by the Mini. Typically it would show an average of 0.4 / 0.5" RMS with occasional dips into the 0.3" range. Very impressive considering I only use a small 30mm f4 guide scope with a pixel scale of 6.5" per pixel, though I did take with a pinch of salt. Recently I decided I was going to swap over the AM5 onto my pier. Out came the AZEQ6 which guides at a typical 0.6" /0.7" RMS which is the norm for the EQ6 range. I have had better guiding when the seeing permits but it tends to be for shorter spells and the average is usually the typical. Yesterday I mounted up the AM5 using my homemade pier extension and we happened to have a few hours clear spell in the evening. After polar aligning and calibrating in PHD i ran a guiding assistant. It shows a peak to peak PE of around 30" over 7 minutes. Similar to the SW though thats over 10 minutes I believe. I wonder if there is need for short duration guiding at all looking at the PE curve. I left the mount guiding away for about an hour anyway on 1 second exposures to record its first session. The seeing probably wasnt great last night but the mount still managed a fairly run of the mill average of 0.8"RMS. Not too bad but certainly nowhere near as low as 0.4" at any point. Will be interesting to see how it performs if i try 2 or 3 second exposures. I will also look to use my AZEQ6 with the ASIAir to see how that reports its guiding. If im right it will be an improvement over the norm.

Is the "chasing the seeing" argument really relevant anymore considering that we use multi star guiding now?

The C11 definitely has the edge over the Tak. Picks out just a bit more detail if you pixel peep. C11 Tak

Well I have swapped things around now so just need a clear night to try it out. Though the AM5 can easily manage without a counterweight i felt a bit uneasy about having nothing on there and considereing its just held onto the pier with a 3/8 rod i put the extension bar from the AZEQ6 on there and a 5kg weight for piece of mind. I was mistaken about EQMod though, the PC uses the ASI Mount driver. Connected and tested out without any issues. Only thing now though is my portable setup isnt exactly portable anymore..

No problem. Like I said, if you want the spare disc your welcome to it. I can even drill it for you if you can let me know the bolt pattern on your pier.

@tooth_dr Here's some pics. The PCD pattern on the flange on my pier isnt divisible by 3 so the 3 bolts are unequally spaced but its not an issue. I just made a template over the flange and put onto the disc and marked the centres before drilling. The bore of the disc is 65mm which is perfect for the AZEQ6. Not sure if the NEQ6 is the same. I also had to drill and tap for the North peg. An M12 bolt underneath then with a metal plate to bridge the recess in the disc holds it all down.

A few breaks in the cloud here. Managed 10 mins with the Heritage 150.

I'm taking my AZEQ6 off the pier and putting the AM5 on there to see if it guides better so will send you some pics tomorrow of how the AZ sits on there.

I think it was for a Golf. I searched for one that had a centre bore just large enough for the bottom of my AZEQ6 to fit into. What mount did you say you were going to use? I can send you the spare disc if you want it. I owe you a favour after all.

I went for M16 bolts but 3 of them, as you day, 4 is difficult to level without warping the base. Also using a round brake disc and have left only enough room underneath to get a ratchet wrench in to tighten up the mount.

I used DN100 as it was the perfect length for what I wanted and free! Perks of working in construction 😉

Good old DN80!

Thanks Bryan. I'm just curious I suppose. I've seen plenty of threads/posts from people who use an Air to control their Skywatcher mounts and the guide figures always seem to be a bit better than those quoted by others who use Windows based control with the same mounts, hence my suspicions. I could be wrong. Most people with an AM5, including myself, all appear to use it with an Air. If like to know how it performs with a normal Windows setup. I suppose there's only one way I'll find out!

You shouldn't need a filter wheel with a colour camera. I have virtually the same setup BTW Enjoy whenever the clouds part!

Hi Bryan, Do you use your AM5 with an ASIAir or through EQMod and PHD2? My AM5 guides around 0.4/0.5" RMS according to the ASIAir mini I have but I suspect the Air gives optimistic graphs and figures. I have wondered what the AM5 would by like if I swapped it onto my pier and ran through EQMod. Since taking my OAG off and going back to a guide scope my AZEQ6 guiding has suffered a little and I was wondering if I should have the more expensive AM5 on the pier. Does it punch above its weight and guide like a mount more than twice its price?

I have a a Bahtinov mask for a 80mm refractor I no longer have. I'm sure it will also work with your 72ED so if you pm me your address I will send it to you FOC as I have no need for it. I get what Elp is saying above about using the Air but that can be time consuming with a DSLR. Best method I found for manually focusing my 6D is aim at a bright star, stick it in Liveview and focus with a Bahtinov mask.

Good shout with a small refractor to start with. I tried a 200P at first and quickly downsized scope and upsized mount! Have you factored in guiding? It's a must imo if you want good early results. The ASIAir will take care of it for you so it's not as complicated as it used to be.

There's a bit of residual gradient left from LP so here's a central crop.

First image since May for me. Lost interest there for a while due to weather, tired after work, the TLC needed for Newt imager etc Recently trying to get back into it so switched out the 200P for the Esprit 100 on the pier again. Despite the rain we had Friday the clouds cleared for an all nighter! Managed just over 6 hours of data once M33 had cleared the Birmingham light dome and the Sycamore at the East end of the garden. Processed in Pixinsight, DBE, Blur X, Noise X, manual stretch, Curves, Saturation. That's it. It's good to be back. 74 x 300s Esprit 100 and 2600MC, no filter.

I really like that! Have you got a link to it or similar?