david_taurus83

If the input voltage is 12v say, then the output on each port should be the same or very similar. I doubt the Plus steps up if input is a bit lower. Whether you have 12v at the device is another question as 12v is very susceptible to voltage drop depending on the cross section area and length of the cable being used.

I have the Mini. As already mentioned, they 4 power ports are all on by default, you can't switch them off. The app does tell you the input voltage and total power being drawn though.

Perhaps the above is a bit too bright? Maybe add some contrast?

Bubble Nebula in 5nm narrowband. Started on the Ha back at the begining of April and finished up on the Oiii a couple of weeks ago. Took 7 sessions in total and I gathered over 28 hours of data. 101 x 300s Sii (8hrs, 25m) 117 x 300s Ha (9hrs, 45m) 120 x 300s Oiii (10hrs) Skywatcher 200P / ASI533MM / Astrodon filters

? I didnt know there was a star list in there now. I use the older stable 2.1. Will have to have a look though I have an autofocuser anyway but still use CdC for slewing to near south for PHD purposes.

I think that will be the issue. As mentioned above, try using EQMod? Just to point out, on my first AZGTi, I had to leave the encoders on otherwise EQMod wouldn't sync its position after a plate solve. Yes, a different mount but I bet they are very similar internally so worth bearing in mind. Generally I follow this rule myself but there are some occasions when I want to also use CdC. When calibrating PHD I like to slew to near meridian in the south and you can't do this with NINA. Also, if you don't have an autofocuser and still use a B mask you need an external app like CdC to select and slew to a bright star.

So @ONIKKINEN I took your advice and decided to just process out the dodgy background issue I had in the other thread. I used GraXpert and in my opinion its as good as DBE but much easier to use. Any how, I created a monster and decided to see if I could combine the 6ish hours of Lum data I collected on the 200P with the above data from the Esprit! Behold! Edit: Above is a composition of 349 x 60s (5hr 49m) of Lum data taken with the 200P/533MM at 1000mm combined with the colour data of the Esprit 100/2600MC at 550mm. The 533MM was binned 2x2 so the pixel scale at 1.54 arcs/p is similar to that of the 1.4 arcs/p of the 2600MC.

I really wanted to image this with the 200P but struggling with flats on that at the moment. Still didn't want to miss the recent spate of clear skies despite no astro darkness so mounted up the Esprit 100 on the AM5. 252 no. 180s with the 2600MC, no filter. Just over 12.5 hours worth captured over 4 sessions 20th to 26th May. On a side note, the AM5 and ASIAir Mini performed flawlessly when left unattended. Not a single dropped sub apart from those I rejected due to clouds on night 1. With many friends!

Sorry to hear you've lost a few hours of work! Its kinda like when you leave everything running after being happy with the first few subs to find the next day the rest are ruined by un-forecast high clouds! I've also been unable to open that corrupted file. I tried to change it to an .xisf file and a tiff file but Pixinsight says no. I would suggest saving files direct to the ASIAir unit while imaging and transfer afterwards.

I've had no issues with parking either to standard home position or custom position. I have an AZEQ6 and I have turned off the encoders from within EQMod as have had the mount do strange things in the past with them on.

I'm not so sure. I do get gradients depending on where I'm pointing and they are your typical brighter on one side to less so on the other. This looks too localised to me. And almost identical on 2 different targets taken months apart with different position/declination in the sky? Could a light leak cause issues?

Sorry, I probably wasn't clear. The mirror doesn't move, I meant movement of sensor relative to the mirror. Colimation isnt perfect but i have round stars with your old GPU coma corrector so i leave well alone! It's the flats calibration that is giving me trouble.

The bane of many a newt imager, I'm sure! I shoot flats every session so as to eliminate mirror movement. On LRGB I get a weird dark patch to the right of centre. Ignore the dark shadow on the left hand side, that's from my OAG prism and I can crop it out. I thought I was doing everything correctly. Tube is flocked, I have a 12" dew shield, I autofocus my chosen filter at the start of the session as well before flats to get the position correct. Not sure exactly what it could be? Below is 2 targets, flats applied to the left stacks, flats and stacks without flats. To rule out Pixinsight i tried DSS (below, left) and get a similar result. To throw a spanner into the mix, narrowband is completely unaffected and calibrates just fine! The Ha flat looks horrible compared to the broadband filters but works a charm. Any ideas?

How are you finding its performance Adam? Better than the AZGTi? Backlash in Dec was the AZ's Achilles heel

Yes Ian! It appears so! Chucks it round as if it's a Redcat! I haven't inspected any subs yet and after setting up and checking the first couple of subs I left it to do it's thing. At 3.30am when my alarm clock went off to go and pack up, it was still going into its 4th hour. The Air Mini has been great. I've experienced no issues with it. I set the WiFi to 2.4g and I can still get signal from middle of garden to upstairs bedroom. I tried station mode but it's a bit flaky so tend to stick to the Airs own WiFi. Last night was the first time using the 2.1 firmware and all was OK. I did download it from the ZWO site though and not use the one on Google Play as some people think that version is problematic?

I know there's another active AM5 thread but I'll stick this in here for continuity. Finally got to try the AM5 on my spare 2" tripod. Happy to report that it's nice and stable even without a counterweight. Guiding was also nice and stable last night, around 0.5 to 0.7 RMS. Was nice to get back out last night with my second setup. Last outing was back in February!

Great result with nice round stars at the edge. I would advise on taking flats when it's dark though as I have found daylight from a window can add uneven illumination to the screen of the light source. Or at least when your light source is brighter than ambient sources.

Really, how difficult is it to run a mains cable from house to shed? I have (previous owner installed) armoured cable running from 3 pin plug in house to shed less than 20m away. It's pinned to the bottom of our garden fence so it doesn't look intrusive. I installed a new RCD outdoor socket in shed when we moved in. Powers my astro pier 24/7 and lights and power tools in the shed.

Sod paying 200 odd quid for the ZWO one. Made my own mini pier today. Had to get the 3/8 bar off ebay and drink a lot of coffee but works out a lot cheaper! Should compliment my custom custard counterweight nicely! The concrete side will go on top of the EQ6 tripod and the AM5 bracket will sit perfectly flush with the bottom side of the coffee tin. Will give it a few days to go off before trying it.

My first mount was an old EQ5 and I adjusted the reticle on that. I set the tripod level with a spirit level and put the mount on but adjusted it as close to horizontal as possible and used the corner brickwork of a house across the road to adjust it. Since then, I have had 2 AZEQ6's and the polar scope reticle was loose and wobbly on both! I've never used them, always use software to align now. For imaging the polar scope is pretty much obsolete nowadays.

So I mounted up the Esprit and its a marvel to see the mount swing it round without toppling over! I don't think I would trust it without a counterweight though or 5 litres drum for weight in the middle of the tripod. However the camera will clash with the legs at zenith so I need to think about it a bit more. I could get the extension pier but ita not cheap for what it is. I would much rather use my 2" SW tripod in the shed but the centre bolt is M12 so the ZWO extension won't work with that either. Need to think a bit more about it. Perhaps could make my own mini pier out of some aluminium plates...🤔

Just wondering if anyone uses their AM5 on the carbon tripod with heavy refractors? My Esprit 100 is currently sat in the wardrobe while the 200P is on the pier so I was thinking about trying the Esprit on the AM5? The Esprit isn't a particularly long refractor but it's weighty. I'm not doubting the AM5's capability but more concerned about toppling the tripod. I don't have the pier extension either. Would a counterweight be advised?

It will get condensation on it so you will need to put some sort of heater under the cover with it. Some people use pet heating pads as an example. I use a small dew strap turned inside out (heated side facing out) and wrapped around the dec axis of my AZEQ6 and controlled by a smart dew heater. Keeps the mount and scope dry 24/7. As mentioned above, some screws etc will rust. The locking screws on the counterweights for example.

So 2" filters at a minimum. An expensive upgrade for the sake of an integrated guide cam. And how sensitive will it be if you swung a 3nm filter in front of it with a 2 or 3 second guide exposure? Love the idea but perhaps ideal only for OSC?

CFA (Colour Filter Array) is set to NO so it thinks they are mono. You need to manually set DSS to debayer.