Petrol

I'd say it's best to decide on planetary OR deep sky for starters. A planetary rig won't be much use for deep sky objects and vica versa. There aren't many planets you can realistically image but there are many deep sky objects. Like many members on this forum, I'm from UK and the typical concensus is that the skies in Texas have insane light pollution. I have travelled all over Texas and was shocked how good the skies were. Of course in major cities it was bad but on the whole, it was much better than here.

Olly, my light polluted sky was your main concern when we first spoke 😁 In fact one of the things on my bucket list was to visit your place to see the Milky Way. Long story short, I went to Texas to visit / help a freind out with my other hobby, car restoration. He took me to Big Bends National park and McDonald Observatory, Bortle 1. All I can say is for anyone who looks up at the night sky, it's 100% worth the effort to see it in all it's glory. I have a keen interest in the history of astronomy and it's fantastic to see what our ancestors saw. It's the greatest show on earth! I bought RC astro's noiseXterminater on Laurin Dave's advice and will no doubt buy the other plugins 👍 This is by no means the last image I'll be posting. I'm retired now so I have more time. I also have a motorhome and plan to travel to better skies with a mobile rig I'm building. It will be interesting to see the difference, if any, considering how good these OSC dual / tri band filters are! Thanks very much for all your comments, it's much appreciated Clear skies Pete

We're all still laughing about that in my household 🤣 Thanks Olly, that will be my next job along with the Samyang rig I'm on with 😵 I doubt you will remember but you suggested both the RASA and the SY 135, I listened and took your advice 👍 Going back many many years you helped me out when I didn't know what guiding was....... and I still have the ST80 guidescope which will be back in action with my Newt I'm amazed how things have moved on..... Nina is awesome especially with the plate solving and meridian flip Pixinsight is an ass to get to grips with but with my very limited knowledge, seems to sort out most of the problems especially background noise and colours with a OSC cam Then there's OSC narrowband filters...... wow what a monumental difference they make. It's night and day with my light pollution. Its funny though how some of the fundamentals never change. Solid pier (big hole in the ground 😆) good mechanics in the mount and good seeing. I've bought a lot of gear on this forum and everything has been spot on. I've also learned a lot and would like to thank everyone for their help and advice. This comunnity is awesome! Clear skies Pete

I still can't get the basics right 😆 Thanks for the feedback 👍 Pete

I started imaging about 10 years ago with limited success. I went the whole 9 yards and built this roll off..... Link to roll off build I seemed to have the infrastructure there, the roll off was quick and easy. Mount was solid in a cubic metre of steel reinforced concrete. Guiding was ok back in the days of PHD1 but the images were poor and not really worthy of posting on here. Life got in the way but now I'm back and after many upgrades - RASA, ZWO OSC cam, Samyang 135, Pixinsight ect. It's been a monumental learning curve especially using new software. I now use NINA for for scope control, plate solving and imaging. Pix for processing I'd Like to thank Olly for his advice on hardware and in particular, Laurin Dave for his monumental help on processing. This guy has saved me hours and hours of hassle and frustration. Mucho respect. I know I have a camera tilt problem, that's on the back burner for now but this is what I managed EQ6 Rasa 8 ASi294MC pro 90 120s Lights 30 Flats with Geoptic panel 30 darks Bortle 6 All comments welcome. I want to improve Thank you for looking Pete

What an awesome image especially with OSC. I can only dream of doing something like this. What are your skies like and what filter did you use? Pete

Did you use a clip in filter on your 1100d to take this image? Reason I ask is I have a modded 600d with the Samyang 135 attached and whiltst I'm in a bortle 5 area in Lancashire, I can't expose for 180 s because the image blows out over exposed. I also have a RASA 8 with a ASI294MC OSC but that has a ZWO dual narrowband filter in it. Whilst it has a narrower FOV, I'm guessing the filter is taking most of the light pollution out because I can take 300s images with that no problem. I'd love to get the 600d working properly with the Samyang because I want to take some widefield images on a second rig I'm building Pete

It's frustrating these days, very. 10 years ago I built a smally obsy in my back yard and I can remember having many cold clear nights with good skies this time of year. I even left the scope on all night imaging. I had to take a break from imaging for a few years but now I'm retired and back, the change in the weather is unbelievable. I find it very sad that climate change has happened and the result, is unpredicatable weather.

I stopped imaging 10 years ago from a bortle 4 area. I've started up again now I've retired and the sky quality has definately deteriorated. I could just about make out the milky way on a good night. Not anymore. A couple of years ago I visited some friends in Texas. They took me to Big Bend National Park and the McDonald Observatiry. Both locations were world class skies. The milky way is mesmerizing when you see it in it's true glory. I find it sad that the world is trying to combat climate change yet we live in a culture that requires unnecessary street lighting. So sad.

I was out imaging last night and saw a fairly bright ball of light. I tried swinging the scope around to image it but it had moved behind a house. It appeared static in the NNW for a short time then moved to the NNE but I did manage to take a pic on my phone. I double checked the sky and there was no cloud. After I looked at the pic on my phone it had gone. It appeared to be about 2/3 the size of the moon. I've seen many fascinating things whilst sat outside at night but never something I could't explain. I don't believe in UFO's or little green men! Science usually comes up with an answer. Wondered if anyone could shed some light as to what it was Original and cropped pics below. Thanks for looking Pete

Looks like progress thanks to your help and advice Out of focus star To focus, I set the HFR to the lowest I could achieve 5 Minute sub just stretched. Looks like this Full moon but the stars look much better. I'll measure the back focus on the camera next I think I can't thank you guys enough for helping me out with this Pete

Thanks for the fantasic feedback. You guys are awesome. I've made a temporary dew shield. I'll buy a proper one when I decide whats best to go for. I'll definitely need one for flats too. I'll run the dew heater on minimum for starters I've been away from astro photos for many years but now I have more time to get back into it. Most of my gear low quality and antiquated but I'm hoping to bring things up to the times. I don't want to rush in and buy the wrong equipment though. Got the T shirt and cap on that one! Might get a chance to image tonight so I'll leave it as it is and see what I get I've recentely installed NINA and am getting my head around the software. It's all very complicated but I'm sure I can get to grips with it in time. I now understand that focus is mega critical with these scopes. I'll use NINA to focus and hope I can put the stats up. I'll move on to Hocus Focus plugin later, it looks mega! I'm wondering if an autofocus upgrade is the way to go. I'll check that a defocused star is symmetrical as soon as skies permit. Have to say I'm quite excited about this scope, I could see the dso after a 10s preview. Never been able to do that before! I'm hoping the narroband filter improves things as well. Mono imaging with filters seemed all a bit daunting to me along with not enough clear skies so I'll stick with OSC for now. Couple more pics of where I'm up to Again many thanks for your help. Pete

Thank you for your valubale feedback. I very much appreciate it. Dew was a problem when I took the image, the laptop was wet through. I joined 2 heat bands together to try to combat it but it could have been out of focus as well. I've fitted a dew heater ring and a Starizona filter holder today. I live in a Class 5 bortle area so have also fitted a ZWO duo band filter which enabled me to remove the "clear glass" The Starizona is fited with a 5mm spacer, (I thought ZWO cameras needed a 7.5mm spacer) The flange is thicker though. Not sure if this is to compensate for removing the white plastic seals or not. Either way I've removed them. It's probably best to do things one step at a time and see if theres any improvements. Again thanks for your help, I really appreciate it. I can see this scope has real potential if I can get it sorted. Some pics and btw, I've also upgraded the guide scope to a WO Zenithstar Clear skies Pete

I have recently bought a second hand RASA 8. I've fitted my ZWO ASI 1600mm-pro OSC cam and managed to achieve back focus using a couple of adapters I had. Decided to give it a first light with a temporary guide cam/no filter, very poor conditions etc etc This is 180s sub of M81 & M82 [img]https://i.imgur.com/ctrXkLJ.jpg[/img] I was a bit surpised at the outer edges of the image [img]https://i.imgur.com/v5fl3sG.jpg[/img] Is this a collimation problem or something else? Any help would be appreciated. Many thanks for looking Pete

Great skies where you live. (Been there) Much better than UK I'd be dragging the Moonlight Manor and rig up to Big Bend. Freaking awesome skies there! Rig looks good to me but why so high if your imaging? Pete

The dessicant bag isn't doing much because there is too much air flow inide the cover. Short term in summer it will be ok I doubt it will protect your equipment for any length of time. I have a wooden insulated obsy (good for condensation) but I have to heat it very slightly in winter months to prevent condensation. Mother nature is harsh Keep your eye on it would be my best advice and take the cover off the scopes to see if any condensation is forming. Pete

I also played safe and went for the F2. It's a mindfield out there

Thanks to Olly for pointing me in the direction of this thread. Thanks also to everyone on here, it made setting this up easy.

Thanks 👍

What are those lens rings if you don't mind me asking? They look much better than 3d printed. Pete

I'm really impressed with this lens and the images posted. F2 has big appeal to me in my light polluted back garden. I'm building a mobile rig to take in my motorhome too so it looks like a winner. Where is the best place to get one from? I have a ZWO camera, where is the best place to buy the adapter? Are the 3d printed rings the best option to mount it? Pete

Thanks for sharing this link. It's a fascinating piece of history. I went there many many years ago and it was an awesome place

Same for me. I tried to do some imaging last night but the seeing was very poor. It was a bit better tonight but it doesn't really get dark this time of year in the UK. I'm enjoying the fantastic weather but I'm sure it won't last long. Soon be winter and better observing / imaging

That looks great! Mucho impressed