jackp93

Hi all a couple of nights ago I managed 4 hours of M81. However every time I go to stack them in dss my computer takes 3 hours to stack and then crashes before the image is completed. Is it possible to stack say four lots of one hour and then stack the four images together. thanks Jack

Thanks @AstroNebulee for the heads up it’s all paid for and it should arrive tomorrow. I even accidentally bought a auto focuser to go on the sw72 so I think I now have a almost fully automated system.

Thanks everyone for all the comments, I’m definitely going to get the 533, I’ll now just have to wait to for first light to have it in stock. all the best Jack

Hi all im looking at treating myself to a proper dedicated astro camera for my skywatcher evo star 72ed. As I’ve got an asiair pro it will need to be a zwo and I’ve narrowed it down to the 183 mc and 533 mc using the astronomy.tools calculator. What are peoples opinions on both is one any better than the other? thanks Jack

Morning all I’m looking to save up and upgrade from my star adventurer to a go to mount. I’m currently looking at the heq5, heq5 with Rowan upgrade and the cem26. The telescope I’m using at the moment is a sw 72 however I would like to future proof the mount a bit in case I ever want to get a bigger telescope. My other major factor is that I would like to leave it fully set up as I only need to move it about 3 metres to get it into my garden. At the moment I’m very torn between the ioptron and the basic heq5 as the ioptron appears to be lighter but there are very few reviews that I can find and the heq5 is £300 cheaper so that way I can put the saving towards a mono camera. what is peoples opinions on the three mounts? Thanks in advance Jack

Hi if I’m understanding correctly you may want to try vlookup as this will then compare the two sets of data and then you can specify which data it will then return. hope this helps all the best Jack

Thanks for all the responses, it definitely sounds like I was well out on my focus. I’ll set it up during the day this weekend and give it another go, then hopefully all should be well if and when the clouds clear. all the best Jack

Hi all I’m really struggling with my 462, I know it’s not ideal for deep sky but I tried to photograph Mars the other day but I couldn’t get anything apart from noise. Even at 30s exposure and max gain I wasn’t getting anything. What am I doing wrong? thanks in advance Jack

Hi all What are peoples opinions on the nik collection plug in and the Denoise ai by topaz as they currently have 30% off on both. thanks in advance Jack

Hi all I hope your all well. I tried to video Saturn and Jupiter last night, it’s the firs time I’ve done any planetary photos. However the planets have come out pure white, is this correct or have I got one of the settings wrong as I shot it in 1080 and it didn’t give any adjustment to the exposure. My setup was skywatcher evostar 72 zwo 462 colour asiair pro Thanks Jack FullSizeRender.mov

Hi thanks for the response. The camera only arrived today and I’ve had solid cloud so haven’t had a chance to try it. Initially I bought this https://www.firstlightoptics.com/adapters/tele-vue-extension-tubes.html and a 1.1/4 filter with the camera but I prefer having everything threaded. So when I tried and it fitted directly to the field flattener I thought it’s better that way, but I haven’t got any spacers at the moment and having it threaded directly meant that I couldn’t use the 1 1/4 filter. all the best Jack

Hi all I’ve got a two parter question. 1. I’ve taken the plunge and bought a zwo asi462 even though I was looking at the 120. I’m also going to attempt dso with it, do I have to attach it to my ovl field flattener or can I attach it straight to my skywatcher 72ed. 2. I’ve read that with these cameras you have to use a uv ir filter, what size filter does the ovl field flattener take. I have removed the front 2” push fit barrel section. thanks in advance Jack

Hi all Sorry if this question has already been asked. I’ve updated my ASIAIR pro to the latest update but can’t seem to find the video mode anywhere. Is there anything else you have to do before it’s activated? all the best Jack

Thanks for all the responses. I’ve managed to enter it, into SkySafari and it looks like it will work. I live on the Dengie so it’s should be ok as long as the weather holds as it’s very flat. all the best Jack

Thanks for all the ideas. Unfortunately the most hands on I can do is putting the star adventurer together, and I still managed to put the batteries in the wrong way on my first attempt. So I don't think I will be able to make any additional weights. All the best Jack

Hi all Before I splash out on a dedicated astro camera, which I really want an excuse to get. I would like to take a picture of the conjunction. Will this set up work and let me get both planets in the frame. Sky watcher skymax 127 Asiair pro trying out the new video setting Zwo 120 Mc-s colour Thanks in advance Jack

Hi I've managed a mini extension as I had a bolt with the same thread so it's given me about another 1” 1/2. Which has helped me get a good balance but I'm right at the end. I think I will try going down the second weight route as it can always be removed if it is too weighty. All the best Jack

Hi Thanks for the quick response. I did think of putting a second weight on but that would make it 2kg where as the ioptron is 1.3kg so I thought it would be a better compromise. All the best Jack

Hi all this will probably be the silliest question of the day, but here goes. My current set up on my SW star adventurer is right on the limits of the 1kg counterweight, I’ve seen that ioptron sell a larger weight for their tracker. Does anyone know wether this will fit on the star adventurer? https://www.firstlightoptics.com/ioptron-mount-accessories/ioptron-135kg-counterweight-for-skytracker-skyguider-pro-mounts.html thanks Jack

That’s brilliant thank you so much. This was a test run that I did midweek so couldn’t get too much, however the weather is looking promising on Friday so I should be able to get a good few hours worth. all the best Jack

Hi all Would some kind member of the forum mind converting my attempt at andromeda from a fit to a tiff. As I cant edit it in its current format. Also if anyone wants to have a go at editing it and giving me a few pointers, help yourself. Thanks in advance Jack Stack46_Light_120s_1x1_ISO800_20200913-231644.fit

Thanks for the response. I thought that may be the case, do you know if there is anyway of downloading from the asiar in another format?

Hi all I have taken a few live stacks through my asiair pro and I'm trying to edit them on my Ipad using affinity photo but I cannot get the fit files to open. Am I being a bit silly and downloading the wrong type of file or is it not possible to edit astrophotos on an Ipad. Thanks Jack

I'm over the moon with how the asiair pro and star adventurer work. Previously I was using a 200-400 lens on it and I find the auto stack really useful as I'm terrible with editing and only have an Ipad. Below is a picture I completed with my previous set up and using the auto stack (as you can see my editing skills aren't great). The evostar is new to me and I had planned on having a good few hours this weekend just gone but I had a nightmare trying to balance it as the dovetail is very short. As such I never managed any imaging but I now have a longer bar coming from FLO which should sort that out. Hopefully once it's balanced I can my first photos with it.

Thanks for all the ideas, I had another go this weekend and have found a good mounting spot it’s not actually on the mount but the tripod itself. There is a threaded hole which lets me mount the ball head into it, the only problem is it’s in the way when I polar align but I can loosen the ball head and move it out the way to make it a bit easier. all the best Jack