City9Town0

Another 'guide'? I'm sure that you've tried them all... https://astrocookbook.com/2018/07/20/setting-up-a-skywatcher-mount-with-ascom-platform-and-eqmod/ I'll try and have a look at my setup and see how its arranged.

I use this successfully : https://www.firstlightoptics.com/sky-watcher-mount-accessories/lynx-astro-ftdi-eqdir-usb-adapter-for-sky-watcher-eq5-pro-heq5-syntrek-pro-az-eq5-gt-az-eq6-gt-and-eq8-mounts.html Is this the cable you have?

+1 for not using the handset.

I followed this... and it worked for me. https://www.lightvortexastronomy.com/tutorial-setting-up-an-equatorial-mount-on-ascom-with-eqmod-stellarium-and-cartes-du-ciel.html

I'm with Budgie, apart from that I stack and process in PI, with a few final tweaks in PS.

Well done... I leave my kit fully set up and just have to get it a few metres out of the garage or lounge. Manageable with the HEQ5PRO and ED80 DS PRO, flattener, and Canon 450D (+ guide etc). Look forward to seeing the results.

I've donethe belt mod and bearings... Had some challenges and needed a bearing puller but all possible and ended very well. List of bearings in youtube info.

Good luck with the search!

I have an HEQ5 and it is portable from the house/garage to garden. I wouldn't fancy going 100m with it... How long is your garden?🤔

All the bearings! Worm ones were easiest... some of the others were 'challenging' and needed a 'puller'. Probably the most difficult parts were (i) getting the torque correct on the worm end stops, and (ii) tightening the taper roller bearings to the most effective torque. Before replacement the mount was stiff on both axes with the clutches 'off'; now it is very much freer.

I do like bright star colours... I have got a toned down version (actually a 'not toned up' version)... but I like this one. Twenty 200 second images, modded Canon 450D from Thursday evening. Bortle 4, next to streetlight. ED80DS PRO guided on HEQ5 PRO First image since I replaced the mount bearings etc. Given my technical expertise I'm pleased that the mount has not got worse!!! Edited in PI

I bought one from MARS 1960! and it is great.

Dew heaters are just the start of an expensive descent/ascent! Mid-Wales does have some good locations.

You hope that it is not cloudy... anything else is a bonus!

I remember shooting a roll of Konica high ISO with a Chinon CE4S...I'm guessing at remembering here... 2400 ISO? Grain like golf balls... in the early-mid eighties... aiming at Halley... I missed! But I loved that camera... my first SLR after an Instamatic bought with pocket money.

Fancied one of these to replace my second-hand HEQ5PRO; however it is SO BIG!!! Seems so much less easy to move and set up each time I want to use it. Maybe I'll settle for my erratic HEQ5! Looking forward to hearing about progress with it.

His sister had made an appearance earlier, turned the kitchen light on, got a glass of water, and vanished.! What's in the water!!!

Perhaps a Sirius Cybernetics lift would help?

Some great spots in the Cambrian range... Am more familiar with Aran range but have had a couple of good evenings south of Machynllyth near the Wynford Vaughn Thomas memorial...

There's a bit of the book version of Zaphod in many of us...

“Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space.” Douglas Adams "There are known knowns. These are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we know we don't know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we don't know we don't know." Donald Rumsfeld ... and quite a few quotes by Carl Sagan. My feelings usually subside into a gobsmacked and relaxed state of awe and wonder; the attempts to gain knowledge in no way diminishes the beauty. It's great to be here.

Thankyou for taking the time to reply. My mount appears to be very old and was obtained 'pre-owned'. The large nut is firmly fixed to the shaft by it's three grub screws, and I was wondering if the other two grub screws are integral to the polarscope arrangement and not essential for the general operation of the mount? My mount does have holes in the ring that screws could fit it. I need to find out what size screws these are. Once again thanks.

I've stripped my HEQ5 PRO and found that it does not have the grub screws shown at 1.00.00 (1 hour from start) in the video below. The mount runs OK(ish) and will hopefully be better now that it has been stripped down and I can put it back together. I do not use the polarscope for PA (I use a guidescope and Sharpcap). QUESTION... Are these grub screws really important (and therefore need to be obtained and fitted), or are they 'decorative' if I do not use the polarscope? Thanks in advance to anyone who has persisted this far!!!

Ionic or ironic pillars?! Perhaps rather too close! Wider FOV needed?

When I was solely using PS I kept revisiting data as I gained new skills and this produced improvements. I now have PI and keep revisting data as I gain new skills and seem to get even greater improvements. There do also seem to be more and more 'training' resources for PI. If you can surmount the myriad of challenges getting good data in the first place then you may well have the application to enjoy the challenges and subtleties of PI. If finances allow, PI+PS enables you to make the most of both. Daunting... so many things appear daunting at first; for PI I used the Light Vortex tutorials and within the trial period had exceeded my PS results. Could I survive without PI... YES. Do I enjoy time spent using it... YES. In my case I believe that my results are better with it. Other opinions on PI are readily available!