Ivan Hancock

Hi Shelster, I ended up getting the EQ6-R Pro, but with the usb port in the bottom of the hand controller.  The newest revision is very slow getting to Australia and I was sick of waiting !!

However, I have been having plenty of success with my mount, and I am going to be guiding with my ZWO ASI120 MM and selecting "on camera guiding" My friend does it this way and it works

a treat 🙂 and this also means there's only one cable to worry about as well 👍 so all I have is the power chord and the camera lead because I use the SynScan WiFi dongle with my iPad, this ends up being

a pretty tidy setup 👌 Cheers Ivan..

First Light with the Esprit 100ED & the EQ6-R, after fiddling my way around a polar alignment using SharpCap Pro, followed by a 2 star alignment, I chose the Lagoon Nebula as my first test subject. I framed up the Lagoon & Trifid nebula's  I set my intervalometer to 40 x 60 seconds and let it do it's stuff.

I wasn't ready to deal with PHD 2 just yet, That can wait till the next dark sky weekend.

So here is my very first image from the first outing with the new gear, I am pretty happy with the results. 

Now I have a few weeks of processing to do....🤓

Hi there everyone,

                              My question is, Where in the image train (What Order) do you screw on 2" filters so they don't affect your back focus ?

I have a Skywatcher Esprit 100ED with dedicated field flattener, So I am dealing with a series of different sized threads.

Any information will be greatly appreciated 😀

I really need a light pollution filter where I live !! and I am using DSLR un-modified, both aps-c and full frame.

3 hours ago, apophisOAS said:

great , did it come with guide scope rings or did you buy them separate as i got a ridiculous guidescope shoe that was really unstable.Only guided properly since i got rings,

Clearskies..

Roger

I have the Orion guide scope that fits where the finder scope goes, I'll see how it goes in the short term 👍

Hello there Techsperts, with all of the new pro series EQ6-R mounts out there in Astroland, Has anyone at all managed to work out what the USB port is on the bottom of the v5 SynScan Hand Controller ?

I've googled it, looked on the skywatcher website with no success !! not even the Manuals that came with the mount have any reference to the USB Port ?

any info would be greatly appreciated 👍

Cheers Ivan

27 minutes ago, carastro said:

Great set up.  Why did it take 6 months to arrive?  (I've probably missed another thread somewhere).

Carole 

Because it took that long to get the cash together 😂

Finally, after a long six month wait it has finally arrived 😋

Now for the getting my head around it all, Not my first Skywatcher so it shouldn't be too painful 😃

I think you'd be much better off persevering with the DSLR, Once you go CCD Astro camera you need to introduce a laptop computer with capture software etc !!

I have been in this hobby for a number of years now and believe me, it took a lot of trial and effort before I saw some decent images. You should really get to know your gear

back to front, and concentrate on things like precise polar alignment etc, the rest will come with practice 😉

I still use a Canon 700d Un-Modded and I'm about to purchase a 5d full frame, I like the simplicity of the DSLR and I too am considering getting it Modded !!

I'll attach a picture I've taken with my modest setup, it's not the best I have seen but it's pretty good for the gear I'm using !!

Canon 700d + Star Adventurer + Sharpstar ED72 Scope 

Cheers Ivan

On 28/02/2019 at 20:11, Gareth88 said:

I’m blown away by the accuracy of the mount tbh, think you’re better at polar aligning than myself ha! Here’s mine .. a 49x2 minutes on horseshead 

Hey Gareth, do you have a photo of your ed80 on the eq6-r ?  I'm going to buy that exact setup in three weeks 😋 Cheers Ivan

Just to jump in here 🤗 This is a photo I managed to take with my Sharpstar 72ED 400mm on my Star Adventurer Unguided 7 x 60 second subs.  Not really polar aligned, got it roughly aligned using PS.Align Pro iPhone app. Canon 700d Un-Modified.

On 17/06/2019 at 19:06, rml63 said:

That sounds like a great rig Ivan.  What made you choose the EQ6R in the end?

 

Mike

Hi Mike, Reason for going EQ6-R, I have had Skywatcher mounts in the past and have had no problems with them at all, The latest EQ6-R has a USB port built into the mount head for direct control via usb and EQMod. The price is right for my budget as well.

The reason I moved away from the CGX idea is purely my thoughts, thinking the spring loaded worm drives look a bit tacky, and I have noticed a lot of people having to tweak and tune things quite a bit to get a decent degree of reliability . The end result seems to be okay but I just feel a bit more confident 

keeping with skywatcher. Plus I like the green setting circles 😉

On 10/07/2012 at 07:19, DirkSteele said:

Very much agree with your "two penn'th worth"

Me Three ,I'll add a sheckles worth !!

Very nice, can't see what you mean about needing a new refractor ?

Hi all, So ! has anyone managed to try a flattener/reducer on the Esprit 80ED ? I also am very interested to know if there is such a thing available ?

I have no problems with focus shift so the thought of a reducer is very tempting 😋

I wait with anticipation 🤔

11 hours ago, knobby said:

Took this with the AZ Gti on SA wedge, 20 x 120 secs in Ha.

Connected with PC sysncan app, ascom guided with finder guider.

 

Magnificent !!

On 18/06/2019 at 01:42, pellgarlic2 said:

Don't want to hijack the OP's thread, but I have a similar query, so hope we can further explore what's already been discussed...

 

I'm currently considering getting the AZ-GTi mount to go with my SkyMax 102T, mainly for the Go-To and tracking features. 

I've been trying to find out whether it's possible to modify it or add to it to enable equatorial tracking (astrophotography isn't my main interest, but I'd like to have that option). I've heard mention of "wedges", and understand in simply terms that they can make an alt-az mount function as an equatorial mount, but haven't found any conclusive information about whether that's an option for the AZ-GTi.

Can either of you say for sure whether the "Star Adventurer" wedge will work with the software of the AZ-GTi? Are the tracking and go-to functions compatible with it? Is there an official update to accommodate it? Or an unofficial solution? And how much of a complication is the "polar alignment" issue in practice? Having only used an alt-az mount before, I'm not familiar with the polar alignment process, although I understand the principle.

You can buy the Star Adventurer Equatorial wedge to use with the AZ-GTI and flash the firmware for full equatorial function astrophography capabilities.  

Hey Brian, Life of ? 😋 When I got my Star Adventurer the AZ GTI Wasn't around,

Had it been, I probably would have gone for it over the star adventurer because of the goto function.

I would have bought the Star Adventurer Equatorial Wedge to use with  the AZ GTI for better astrophotography capabilities.

I do like my Star Adventurer, as it has taught me a lot about polar alignment and also forced me to learn the sky as well. (No Goto)

I hope this helps with your decision, although you've probably already made your purchase ?

Cheers 👍

I've posted one of my photo's that I managed to get with my SA.

Well I'm happy to say that after many hours of research on the Celestron CGX and the SkyWatcher EQ6-R, I have finally decided to go with the EQ6-R 😋

I have put my order in for the EQ6-R Mount, a 80ED Esprit, the Orion 50mm guide scope & the ASI 120mm Mini guide camera. I believe this should

move me into the next bracket of AstroPhotography !! Been using a Sharpstar 72ED on a Star Adventurer for a while , Pretty exciting times ahead 

Update: Well I'm happy to say that after many hours of research 😋

Tomorrow I finally pickup my new EQ6-R Mount, a 100ED Esprit, the Orion 50mm guide scope & the ASI 120mm Mini guide camera, and a SW WiFi dongle, I believe this should

move me into the next bracket of AstroPhotography 🔭 Pretty exciting times  

AND HERE IT IS 😋