Science562h

How do you have an observatory & image, with an unmodified DSLR? You sure, it isn't your backyard? In the U.S, private observatory cameras are still $10-$30K & those 'scopes still use spectrometers. 2-4 hr continuous recordings, at minimum, for private amateur non-sponsored state observatories.  They wil still not be sponsored, by the state or nation. 

DSLRs, without 'scope, would still be an upgrade to a G3, just by being able to take widefield exposures. The G3 & G4 are too narrow field & you can't snapshot, with included software. I'm looking into upgrading my Sony CCD DSLR, which I prefer, over the G4. 

Sort it out? I have the Neximage 5 & it's a basic widefield camera, not narrowfield.

Option 1
I found your problem, you are starting, at too low "Resolution." You can leave auto on, for gain. Go ahead & max out your resolution, at 2592x1944. You just have to get Saturn displayed on screen somewhere first. Center it, with hand controller, move it 'till centered & focus it. Now, lower resolution to 1920x1080; center it. Now, lower it, to 640x480 and center it. The planet should be centered, if you are tracking. Record.

 
Option2
Start, at 2592x1944, use binning & decrease view to 20%. Saturn should be there, with the Neximage 5. Center Saturn, with your 'scopes tracker. Repeat, at lower resolutions, 'till you reach 640x480. Record.

The Neximage 5 has a basic FPS Max of 52 FPS, at 640x480, not 30 FPS. Max it out. This is the N5's resolution chart:
640x480  50-52     
1024x768    27       
1280x720    25    
1280x960    19
1920x1080  13
1600x1200  13    
2048x1536   9
2560x1920  6    
2592x1944  6

You can increase the Neximage 5's FPS, by choosing "Region of Interest (ROI)." With ROI selected, Jupiter records, like this:
N5: 328x264
1 min @ 115 FPS.............6,900 Frames
1:30 min @ 115 FPS.......10,350 Frames
2 min @ 115 FPS.............13,800 Frames 

   
With ROI selected, Saturn records, 136x108, at 316 FPS. This is the quick chart:
1 min @ 316 FPS..........18,960 Frames
1:30 min @ 316 FPS.....28,350 Frames
2 min @ 316 FPS...........37,800 Frames

That's a-lot of frames for a USB 2.0 camera. N5 users are not limited to 640x480, at 50-52 FPS. You can get 100-315 FPS or so, if you ROI planets. If you still need more, get the Neximage 10 (N10), which is twice as good & faster. Basically, double the N5's FPS, per above chart. That's 37,000 frames for Saturn, not 750, 1,000 or a few thousand! You must master your Neximage 5 & iCap to its potential.

I finally tested the CAM yesterday, anyone on the forum know, why the G4 keeps disconnecting & not being able to reconnect, not recognized? It does it, while loop binning 2x2 and with Sharpcap. It must be able to bin, to find & center, like other cameras. This thing is supposed to work, out of the box. There is no dedicated support page for troubleshooting or chart.

To this day, CCDs are still better overall. For filter, a light pollution. The G4 records for 60 minutes & it's "Sequence" programmable. It's a dedicated DSO camera, not a light filtered DSLR, that records for 30 seconds, uncooled, with noise. With the G4, the cooler drops temp. from 70° F to 24° F & you don't have to edit noise in photoshop.

As for compatibility, since you have a Skywatcher, your price & match is the Orion G-series of cameras anyway, not a Nikon DSLR. You would be downgrading to a non-astro camera. Like placing a non-astro camera on a good imaging telescope. It doesn't match. To be a professional astronomer, & raise your rank, a person must use dedicated DSO cameras, no-matter what anyone says. You can never make rank or get a promotion, uing a DSLR, as your primary CAM. No professional observatory uses DSLRs, no matter what & your cameras are going to all be CCDs, with up to 100 watercooled & programmed to record.

Last year, I setup meteor sensors, throughout Texas; from Houston to Dallas. Readup on Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS). My college teachers were from NASA's actual & real flight safety control room, at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical U. My astronomy teacher earned his MS, at the Australia observatory overseas. I had already observed his thesis on active galaxies.

The G4 is alright, it lets me see, what I need to, at home.

Image. Orion Starshoot G4 camera. 

Orion Starshoot G4

To connect & disconnect the camera, it's specific & the correct order has to be followed. To connect the Starshoot G4, in proper order:

1. Plugin camera via USB cable
2. Click "Connect" 
3. Plugin 12v fan power
4. Click "Cooler On"

          Ready!

To disconnect the Orion Starshoot G4, in proper order:

1. Click "Cooler Off" (Let temp. rise back up to ambient/normal)
2. Click "Disconnect"
3. Unplug 12v fan power
4. Unplug camera USB cable 

Yes, with a room temperature of 70° F, the cooler fan lowers the camera's temperature to 24° F, at 100% power. It's steady. That's a 45° F temperature reduction. 70° F is, where Hubble's mirrors are kept at.  The software is downloaded in order, ASCOM then Orion Camera Studio. The installer will tell you, that there is an available update. I updated, without problems.

Like, with Celestron's Neximage series & iCap recording software, you can't go around disconnecting & connecting cables, like a crazed mad man. You will have to restart all of those apps, by closing & opening them again. The cameras are different but the same software can be used. The Orion G4 has a much much higher QE, 1 hr recording exposure and the cooling system is way different. 

Image 1. Orion Starshoot G4. 2020.

  Image 2. Orion Starshoot G4. Fan cooler operating, at 100% power. 2020.

Autoguiding Telescope: Celstron SLT Mount and Orion Starshoot G4 Camera

Telescopes Tested: Celestron 90 mm MAK-CASS & Orion 127 mm MAK-CASS

127 mm MAK-CASS
The Celestron SLT GOTO mount, 127 mm MAK-CASS & 60 mm guidescope combo does not work together. It's simply too off-balanced & heavy. The motor isn't strong enough & slips completely. Guaranteed to reach the breakout point. The Orion Starshoot G4 camera is also too heavy. At any altitude past 60' or so, it will slip. You could maybe image but it has to be, at very low altitudes, 45' or less. 

No Autoguiding!

90 mm MAK-CASS
The 60 mm guidescope still off-balances the SLT mount. Balancing results were basically the same, too much rear weight. You can not autoguide correctly. The motor reaches its friction release point. However, the Orion Starshoot G4 camera can, yes, be used, with the 90 mm MAK-CASS & SLT mount only. You must use a red dot finder though.

No Autoguiding!

You would have to use a mini guidescope, not a 60 mm and then use the the lighter Orion G3 camera, a mini-mini, very light small combo. You are going to have to be lighter than my 90 mm. You are not going to be able, to use a dual finder bracket, at all, in a any combo, with either 'scope, if you plan on, using an actual guiding 'scope. 

SLT MOUNT: G4 WITH MAK 90 MM ONLY! RED DOT FINDER OR VERY LIGHT FINDER 'SCOPE. 

You doing real good job, you have way better DSLR than me & your Moon looks nice, with smooth seas & neutral color. That's a good gray. I'm fighting the autofocus from my Sony 20.0 MP DSC-H300 Cybershot, I can't turn it off because it's fixed, even in manual. I cant changeout my lens. I could never stack these anyway because there was 95%+ cloud cover, bad weather & I know, I had some thin atmosphere cover during snapshots. It was a real drag: wait & luck out for maybe a 10 sec window of opportunity. I finally called it, after 2-4 hr.  

You right, Moon doesn't require filters, if using a DSLR. I change ISO & shutter speed for my contrast but with this 12" 'scope, I have way too much light. It can blind me permanently. Even these are over exposed, with filters. I have to use polarizing filters, that reduce light pass to 1%-13% for the correct contrast. 13% won't even dim it enough. 

For Celestron's SLT GOTO mount version 5 NexStar+ hand controller (HC), the firmware update is:

• Firmware Update: HC:NSX 5.31.9200 ... MC: 5.18  5.18
• Factory Version: 5.25.4320 ... MC: 5.18 5.18

There are patches & bug fixes but none are mandatory, only if you have serious problems, with the HC. It looks, like motor control remains the same. I had to re-input my customized settings, such as, time, date, location, adjust scrolling speed -, turn GPS back "On" and Sun "On." You don't have to manually put the hand controller in any programing or boot mode. The CFM application will automatically detect connection & place the HC in correct mode.   

Image 1. Nexstar+ hand cotroller update version.

Image 2. CFM application

Yes, the AUX jacks on the motor, hand controller & GPS are good for autoguiding, CPU cable & GPS. In total, 3 AUX jacks. Also, there are wedges available for aligning to "EQ-North." You just have to find them in stock. 

To aid in tracking, you replace stars, as you go, atleast once or realign the ones you originally aligned & then you have to specifically synch, to the object you are imaging. You synch to your object, right before you image but even before that, pick 2 stars, for your 2 star alignment, that are nearby. For example, for viewing & imaging M42 & M43, I start, with Capella & Rigel, in Auriga & Orion. "Yeah close, it' only 1 constellation away but it's in the same area of sky & it reduces tracking error." While I'm at M42 or Rigel getting setup, I have Rigel nearby, to replace & align Rigel again quickly. You will still align. Then, I replace Capella, with Betelgeuse.

Now, I have Betelgeuse & Rigel, as my alignment stars. "Yeah close, it's a constellation star alignment but it places M42 & M43 in the middle (You know), that being my second, "Two-Star Alignment." Just before viewing & imaging long term, I do a 3rd; replace & align Rigel again, as a nearby alignment star. GOTO M42, center it & synch to it. Perform a 2nd synch, to have it nice & centered, just before imaging.  That's even, with using my Celestron GPS.     

I disagree, a-lot of the info previously posted is just wrong & incomplete. 

Image 1. Celestron Nexstar+ SLT, with Orion Apex 127 mm Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope. I have the CPU cable connected to my hand controller because my SKYsync GPS always goes, with me. The SKYsync itself also has an AUX jack. The unit is powered, with an AC adapter.  

Image 2. The AUX jack on the SLT's motor. I use it for Celestron's SKYsync GPS component. 

Full Moon=Do Moon to me. You lucky, I only had degrees to work with & 98% cloud cover. I had to shoot the 2020 Full Moon, through mess, picking open spots, maybe 10-15 sec available. In 4 hr, I had maybe a few minutes worth of total seeing. I tend to neglect the Moon, since it's common but I'm making it a habit, to concentrate on our nearest moon-planet more, since it's, what we have readily available. 

One of my 'scopes is an Orion 127 mm MAK-CASS on a Celestron SLT & I have a few CAMs but here is my very first planetary test, with the Neximge 5, from many years ago. 1 min recording, no barlow & no drizzling. The Neximage 10 is way better & the ZWO ASI178MC is even faster but costs more. Planets don't require expensive cameras at all but the ZWO 178 & 183 really are superior performing CAMs. Depends on, how much $500 means to you. Worth a CAM?  

For your 127 mm, you will, eventually need atleast a 0.5x barlow for planets, unless you drizzle, during processing & 0.5x focal reducer for the Moon & Sun. The prospectus for the Neximage 5 & your combo is very good, you will beat that linked Jupiter pic very easily, with a color CAM.

Just record once in color & don't worry about debayering & alignment problems later, like he had.  Contrasting is, about likeness. His Jupiter turned out blurry. You can always contrast the color later. Remember, our alt-az mounts suffer from field rotation, which will mess up your captures (Look in-to Celestron's new autoguider for a bit more). You might not actually have time to capture in all LRGB colors & then make darks, due to Jupiter's rotation. You can caputure for a bit more & equal the light, all at once. CAPTURING TECHNIQUE & PROCESS EDITING. I'm perfectly round, no blurring & no misalignments. This is with a MAK-CASS though.   

Image. Absolute first test, with defauts. 90 mm MAK-CASS & 1 min. Neximage 5. 

I'm testing my new 0.5x FR, for my 90 mm & 127 mm MAK-CASS' but it fogged up, with low 30s F temps. That's, with 2 dew heaters & now the weather is bad. 

Good pic 😎, good 'nough. It's on my list, not much better alt or sky here either:

Little Beehive Cluster (S 38°, 11 pm -12 am)        OC

Super good picture. I use Neewer LRGB & the Orion G4 'Color.'  

Looks good. I went for contrast, with RGB filters & single frames, through EP. I only edited sharpness. 

My install of Registax has the same problem on laptop, the RGB box will not show ... those crooked scum bags ... I had to uninstall the program & then reinstall it, with my physical disc, under a new renamed directory. My version came directly from Orion Telescopes, on disc; so, it contains all of the needed files. It's not, like I have a file missing. It's a freebie, not a professional stacking app. It's a half illiterate program. 

Half the time, you have your fingers crossed, that the app either doesn't foul up or that it can do it. "Priceless Junk." Laptop 8 GB DDR3. I will say this, on a desktop, with 12, 16 or 32 GB of memory, it's super fast, like 30 seconds for everything fast.    

I found, that Deep Sky Stacker (DSS) has been performing better for stacking pictures. That thing aligns slight movements & slight rotations, in all cases, that "Registax can't do it." Registax has better final basic editing features but not, as a stacker. "For pics, I have been getting 100% results from DSS."   

So, the only monkey rigged part on that 'scope is 'gonna be, what you made? What's your point, "use tape & tape round eyepieces?" Bad advice 🐵. That's, what towels are for & they protect your head, against the Sun.

BECAREFUL, WHEN SOLAR OBSERVING & USE PROPER DEDICATED EQUIPMENT. DO NOT ALTER EYEPIECES TO VIEW THE SUN, PERMANENT INJURY MAY OCCUR.  

I believe, that those bearings are made, by GSO for their dobsonians. Ultimately, they are used for Push-To. They might fit the Apertura, Zhumell, Bintell, Omegon, Bresser, Antares, Atronz, & Guang Shen DOB models. 

johninderby, but he can GOTO, Push-To & track, with those bearings & you can't/haven't. He's more right, by picking them.  It's not, about opinions or likes & dislikes; its about technology, making the right decisions & those bearings are simply better. They have full capabilities. Your Bresser is made, by GSO but your rings are totally useless. You can't even transport/move properly or logically.

GET THE BEARINGS, THEY'RE BETTER.

Just buy a new one & it will arrive in 1 week, already made.

We "can not" clearly see Jupiter's Moons. We see a spheroid shape; no surface or atmosphere features. In contrast, we can clearly see the surface of the Moon & Sun. Your pic needs a filter,  more clarity or contrast, or might as well place DSLR @ the EP. 

Too much Moon light, you must still use a Moon filter. Must have more contrast. No one has superman eyes, even, when using smaller 90mm 'scopes. "I don't believe that at all."

I use Starry Night Orion SE 7, with my Celestron SLT Maksutov-Cassegrain because it essentially does the same thing. Go to: 

1. "Telescope Control"
2. "Configure"
3. "ASCOM Telescope Chooser" (Choose 'Celestron Telescope Driver') 
4. "Properties"
5. "Celestron Setup" and fill out the boxes, with your location information. I use the GPS module; so, I click "GPS," afterwards 
6. Now, go back to "Telescope Control" and click "Connect" 

Under "Device Manager" & Ports (COM &  LPT), I had to upload a "Prolific USB-to-Serial Comm Port" driver for my cable. My computer didn't recognize it either. I also have the apps ASCOM Profile Explorer, ASCOM Diagnostics & Gemini Telescope. I did not have to flash my Nexstar+ handheld controller; however, I downloaded Celestron updates from ASCOM.   

Right. I worked on aircrafts, as a lead aviation elecrician & went to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) Florida USA. Our college teachers were from NASA's real flight safety control room, during Columbia, late 90s & early 2000s. They travel the world & teach classes for distance learning schools. We have to know all of the schematics and build all of the engines in power plants. Yes, there is a link, the use of: gyroscopes (gyros), automatic flight control systems (AFCS), navigation (NAV), ect. I could go on. 

Image: NASA Spaceshuttle Endeavour. Government image, no further crediting required.

I really worked on Boeing & Lockheed Martin aircrafts, like the ones, that make the current Orion shuttle. I actually worked on P-3 Orion aircrafts ... F-18 Superhornets, Orion, & Hercules.  Those are the, as you call 'em, 'planes, that actually carry the spaceshuttles, like pictured above. The U.S Navy picks up the Orion, in the ocean; you also have to be a deep sea SCUBA diver & breathe air, oxygen, nitrox & helium. I built 100s of 50 million $ military aircrafts & engines; I had to wire them by myself ... so did everyone else, thousands of others.   

A person working, towards a private Cessna license, just has to pay & take classes, that's it. Log hours, no degree or experience required. - just be rich. No sir, 1/4 scale RC park 'planes don't count at all, that's something for outright children. UAVs are different, those are like probes. A peron has to do it for a living & be an expert in the field; go all the way in school & profession. Working for Lockheed Martin & Boeing crafts is serious business, not a game. Entering the field of professional aviation-astronomy is more complicated than just teaching theory, getting a private Cessna license & flying an RC 'plane on the weekends, not like the Wright brothers flying a kite.  Time's up, on the clock.  

I put in, what I'm going to use. For example, it's winter; so, there are no planets to image or view. I leave out my Venus, Mars & Jupiter filters. Currently:

1.  Open
2. UV-IR Cut
3. Moon 25%
4. Moon 13%
5. O-III 

My targets are the Moon, Orion & stars. I have plenty of other filters, just don't need them. I can always add to eyepiece, which is why I leave "1" open. 

Image. Five position filter wheel.

Maksutov Cassegrain

... or just image in "color."