nm1213

The firmware (latest is 3.13) won’t solve the problem. The tracking issue in AZ is fixed in the latest Synscan (1.10). Updating both together makes sense though.

Happy-Kat, All my imaging so far has been with the following configurations: 1. 6SE OTA + mount, Hyperstar, ASI 385 cooled. I could get serviceable 20 second exposures stacked for 30-45 minutes before having to heavily crop the edges. 2. 6SE OTA, AVX mount, Hyperstar, ASI 385 cooled, ASPA polar alignment routine. I could get about 35-45 seconds unguided. 3. (Waiting for brackets and adaptors) Skywatcher AZ-GTI, Nikon 180 2.8, same camera. I haven't had a chance to test this yet but hope to do so within the next week. N.

Hi Neil, unfortunately I was getting rotation after about 25 second exposures with the SE mount. Sharpcap of course rotates each exposure to compensate. However, I'd get about 30-45 minutes of stacking before I needed to crop the edges far too much to get a usable image. You're right though about EQ and polar alignment... however pointing north and levelling wasn't precise enough to image for longer than 20-30 seconds.

Hi, Thanks for the suggestion. I'll certainly get the EQ wedge for when I'm travelling and able to see Polaris. I can't polar align easily from Singapore... especially since I need to pack up after each session and can't leave the rig out.

Hi, What an incredible thread to have stumbled on! I’m inspired by the wonderful images and dedication to no EQ imaging. I thought I was the only crazy person to attempt this because of my somewhat unique situation. I live in Singapore, which means I have to deal with the following: - Heavy light pollution. - Terrible weather, which means clear skies are very rare. - No access to a car (look up how much cars cost here), so have to walk over 1.5km on foot to the observing site. - Not able to see Polaris (1 degree north of the equator) so either have to drift align or use Celestron’s All Star Polar Align. I ended up with a C6 SCT, hyperstar, ASI 385 cooled camera, and an SE mount. This worked well with Sharpcap live stacking. However, I would have to crop a lot of the borders due to rotation gradients. I also suspect the hyperstar added a lot of weight and caused the SE mount to struggle. I then bought an AVX. This works fine with the all star polar align routine. However, it’s not as easy to setup, and pushing the AVX and other gear on a trolley over 1.5km gets tiring. I now have a third rig… Skywatcher AZ-GTI, lightweight Sirui tripod (folds down to 34cm or just over a foot), Nikon 180mm 2.8 lens, and the same ZWO ASI 385 camera. This is super-portable and I can carry everything in a backpack. However, I’m now thinking of something else… What if I put a field rotator into the mix? I won’t be able to use the Nikon lens (focal distance is too short). However, optec and I went back and forth for a while and figured we could do it with a Canon lens (200mm 2.8, or 300mm f4), pyxis 2 inch rotator, and some custom machining. This would weigh about 2.4kg which is well within mount specs of 5kg, while also being compact enough. Alternatively, I can probably use a Borg 55FL OTA reduced to f3.6 (https://www.firstlightoptics.com/borg-55fl-telescopes/borg-55fl-f36-astrograph-set-a.html) with a Pyxis LE rotator and not need any custom part fabrication (I still need to see if this is possible). The rotator gets position info from the mount via ASCOM and adjusts the rate of rotation depending on which area of the sky you’re looking at. So now I’ll have a compact, fast (f2.8), light (2.4kg) alt-az imaging platform that I can go beyond 20-30 seconds per exposure. However, will this work un-guided? How far can I push the AZ-GTI mount without guiding? I don’t think it’s possible to guide in alt-az. The goal is to get 45 seconds at 200mm focal length (at f2.8). Doable, or would it be a waste of money to add a rotator? Thanks! N.