david_taurus83

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?

I usually see mine running at around 0.4 RMS as well. Has anybody used their AM5 with EQMod and PHD2 to see if the figures tally up? I've long held the belief that the ASIAir gives optimistic guide graphs.

It keeps the wife happy?! That's how it works for me anyway! When she leaves the room for something I take sneaky peaks through VNC to see how my subs are doing!

You can set the updates to happen during your PC inactive period which you can choose. For example, I have set me imaging PC's active period as 18.00 to 07.00 so any updates occur during the day when it's not in use (it is left running 24/7)

I'd sell the USB ones and get 12v ones with the RCA plug. FWIW I also have the USB ones on my portable setup and they are very good despite my initial scepticism when I decided to try them.

Have you tried removing the EAF and plugging directly into the Air and see if either camera or EAF disconnects? The USB hubs on the cameras have been known to be flaky.

To be fair, I've never had an issue with the flat ZWO cables and I prefer them for their flexibility.

Guidescope for refractors, off axis guider for reflectors/mirrors

Yes it's usually pretty good (once you get the hang of PI) For narrowband I usually place 4 squares in the corners and that does the job by enhancing contrast slightly.

I'm the same. I find less points works better most times unless I have a difficult gradient or residual flats issue where I need to place more specific points. If struggling with DBE you could also try the free software GraXpert. It has gotten me out of a jam a few times when DBE proves difficult.

I haven't used my pier setup for a while and I have decided to put my Esprit back on these in place of the 200P. Took the cover off yesterday and found an infestation of earwigs! All crawling around inside the cover and loads hiding in nooks and crannys around the mount! Some even took up refuge in a couple of USB ports! A lot of insect dirt as well. I brushed them all off and brought my scopes indoors to swap over accessories and by the time I went back out last night to remount the Esprit the buggers had returned! Any ideas on how to keep the critters away? My wife suggested eucalyptus oil and I was thinking of putting a small pot under the pier plate but I'm not sure if this will leave a residue on the scope and mount under the cover. Appreciate any ideas!

I've had 3 Altair scopes. Absolutely no problems with the quality, they're as good as the TS and WO equivalent. I've always regretted selling 1 scope and that was an Altair 70 EDQR quad.

Agree with alacant, remove the SD card from the camera. I'm sure I read on one of the ZWO pages that this causes issues for some people.

So what is the average ADU value of the single frames with filter and without filter? My point is the frame without filter has more signal so will be masking the horizontal banding. The 600D is well known to produce banding, there is even a specific script in Pixinsight to remove Canon horizontal banding!

The banding won't be the filter. It's narrowband so far less signal getting through from the background (space) of the target so when you stretch the image you are also stretching the noise. Really, 2 and a bit hours with a narrowband filter on a 600D is not enough signal. Without the filter you would have less emphasis on the target but I think you would still have a nice image with less noise.

If you are in Bortle 4 area do you have any local light pollution? I would say you could get away with no filter at all. The L-Enhance is a narrowband filter so you will need much longer integration with a DSLR. Below is 5 hours with my 6D at 135mm and a standard LP filter. Regards to noise, do you make sure to flip open the screen and switch the display off? As mentioned above, you don't really need darks. I use a master bias file and subtract that from the lights and flats.

The rawlbolts will be fine as long as the concrete is fully cured. It will take some serious lateral force to the pier to pull them up if you were worried about that happening.

Another nice transparent Squid, love it! I know some people put a colossal amount of hours into this object with OIII filter to force it out in processing (and I appreciate the time and effort) but I much prefer to see it faint and see through like this and another a few days ago.