daemon

Nice capture! How many subs? I'm getting to like the widefield stuff. Puts things into perspective.

Surely that is a matter of taste, as is the case with many imaging techniques.

Welcome to the lounge. Clear skies! 😀

Well, guiding is a whole dark art that I won't go into too much detail on here. There is plenty of info around the forums. In short, guiding allows for longer exposures by tracking a guide star through a guide scope and small guide camera (usually CCD). This is hooked up to software (such as the popular PHD2) to track a star near to your imaging target so that your mount closely follows the target better than basic tracking. But beware, the Star adventurer only accepts guide pulses for the Right Ascension axis (not Declination). I wouldn't bother investing in this sort of setup just for the SA, but I already have a guide scope and cam for my bigger rig.

Nice shot! And welcome from another Geordie! 🙂 Albeit exiled to the South Coast! 🙂 Cheers, Daemon

Here is my ED72 and Nikon D5300 with Star Adventurer. I sit this on the tripod of my EQ6R Pro (North peg removed) and it is very stable. You can pick up these tripods individually but of course they are not exactly cheap, and I had to fashion a new centre screw to secure the SA. I have a guide scope mounted on the end of the counterweight bar. Guides well in RA. DEC stays stable if I get well polar aligned. Daemon

Maybe it is worth trying something like the WINE software that allows you to run Windows programs on a Mac. I have no experience of it (never owned a Mac) but I have heard others speak well of it, and it may save you some money. 🙂

I use DigiCamControl for my Nikon D5300 and it is pretty good and free. However I think it is only for Windows. With it you can control pretty much everything. I also use that cam on a Star Adventurer and I guide (in RA only) and have achieved some pretty good results with a decent Polar Alignment. Backyard Nikon may be an option but not sure if that runs on Mac. Clear skies! Daemon

Nikon D5300 on SW ED72 1/100 sec @ ISO100 Single frame. Nice clear sky here on UK south coast tonight.

A single Moon shot from tonight - nice clear sky here on the UK South Coast (for a change!) Nikon D5300 on SW ED72 1 frame - ISO 100 - 1/100 sec

Sorry Norbert, I can't help much either, but wanted to say Welcome to SGL anyway! Cheers! Steve

Nice! Well done!

Thanks Graeme! I'm glad you pointed out the changed nature of the trails compared to the first picture - this was the effect I was trying to achieve, having seen it used to nice effect on other people's star trail pictures. I think that this was achieved by ticking the "Motion Effect" checkbox in the "Composition" menu of Sequator prior to stacking. I think it gives more of a dynamic effect. This second image actually had no processing done to it! I did not even load it into the GIMP after stacking the second image! It is straight as it came out of Sequator. I did take a lot of lights, darks and flats so maybe that has helped, although I realise that I do still have some vignetting in the corners (especially with the tree) so maybe I'll fix that later. As for a comparison with a single long exposure, I would caution against that. You are much more likely to encounter jet or satellite trails leaving the shutter open for so long and waste all that time. If you take many short subs then you reduce the risk of having to throw away long exposures. I took 120 x 30" subs for the light frames and had to discard 12 of them due to satellite streaks and planes flying over. So I got a pretty good percentage. Just taking 3 x 20 min shots would have been a big risk - not to mention the chances of worse exposure and light pollution issues. Clear skies! Steve

Here is a re-stack and rotation of my original image. Slightly better I think.

Here is a star trails image from 20th January with a tree outside my house on the edge of the New Forest. South Coast UK. I think it looks a little artificial and maybe I'll benefit from using a new wider angle lens (which arrived today) in order to capture more landscape. Criticism and comment welcome. Here are some further details:- Nikon D5300 with stock 18-55mm lens at F3.5 - ISO 1600 108 x 30s Lights 30 x Darks 30 x Flats Stacked in Sequator. Lightly processed in GIMP Regards, Steve

I have never been able to get the USB Serial cable to work using Windows 10 with EQMod and my EQ6-R-Pro. Spent many an hour trying to with various different drivers and no go. The best way I have found is to use a USB3.0 cable and connect the laptop to the USB port on the hand controller and put the hand controller into "PD Direct" Mode on the "Utilities Menu". This works for me. Daemon

I think the previous posters have it about correct. A T Ring and Coma Corrector should be enough. I don't have a Canon but a Nikon D5300 and after I have fitted my Nikon T Ring I just screw in the Baader MkIII CC that I have and this works fine slotted straight into the draw tube of my 150 PDS. I'm sure the SW CC will be fine too. HOWEVER, I would caution against just using the standard drawtube adapter to mount the imaging rig in. The standard adapter only comes with two screws and you really don't want to be hanging expensive gear off that! Instead I invested in one of these Baader Clicklock adapters and it holds everything nice and secure (make sure you order the correct size if you go ahead) https://www.firstlightoptics.com/baader/baader-2-clicklock-m54-clamp.html Alternatively you could go for a cheaper option with just a compression ring, but in the long run I think the Clicklock is the best route. Clear Skies!! Daemon

Just started imaging with a Star Adventurer and the following image was taken with an S/W ED72 on my Nikon D5300 DSLR. 34 Lights (60 secs- ISO800); 20 Darks; 40 Bias; 30 Flats Guided (RA only of course) with PHD The second image is of my rig just after capturing the data. Daemon Steve

Thanks Dave! Yes, I've spent a lot of time on YT going through the various videos for GIMP - so my result is a bit of a mix of what I have learned so far. I haven't found (yet) what I would call a definitive processing guide to GIMP but then a lot of processing is also largely dependent on the source data I imagine. Cheers, Steve

Great images! Well done. Especially the Andromeda shot! I also have a new Star Adventurer and have posted my first attempt at M42 with it. So far I am quite impressed with its capabilities. Clear Skies!! Daemon Steve

Hi All, The following is an M42 image from 29th December 2019 from the UK South Coast in a rare spell of clear sky this winter. The sky was only clear for a limited time so I just set-up my new 'grab & go' set-up and hooked up my DSLR. I had limited time before the clouds rolled in but was reasonably pleased with the data I could grab in a limited time frame. It is also the first time I can really say that I got PHD to run properly! Of course with the Star Adventurer you can only guide in RA. The RMS fluctuated a bit and the results were not perfect but it's a start. I took darks and bias (flats the next day) and stacked the results in DSS. All the processing done in GIMP (which I am still getting to grips with). I know I have probably over clipped the black point and I can see some light pollution gradient but thought I'd post this anyway. All in all I am really pleased with the first results from my new Star Adventurer and SW ED72. The fact that it is so fast to set-up means that sadly it is probably going to get a lot more use than my main rig. Criticism and Comments welcome. Happy New Year and Clear Skies to all in 2020! Daemon Steve Image Details 34 (60 second) Lights - ISO 800 20 Darks 40 Bias 30 Flats Mount - Skywatcher Star Adventurer Scope - Skywatcher ED72 (Flattener/Reducer not used) Camera - Nikon D5300 DSLR Guiding - PHD (ZWO Mini Guide Scope & Altair GPCAM2 - RA Only) Bortle 5'ish sky.

Sorry. I'm an idiot!! I do of course have a 150 PDS (not a 130)!!! So therefore probably lies the problem. Guess I read sooo many threads on the 130 that I easily confuse the two! I'll shut up now. 😫

Hi, Maybe I am missing something but I can't see why you would have trouble with this. I have a Skywatcher 130PDS and have no trouble using it and obtaining focus with my Nikon D5300 DSLR. Without checking in detail I would have thought the only difference between the 130P and 130PDS is the Dual Speed Focuser on the DS version, but I could be wrong. My imaging train is simple - D5300 - 'T' ring - Coma Corrector - and then straight into the draw-tube of the scope. I can easily obtain focus, although admittedly I only really go for DSO's so not sure if that is your issue. Perhaps a coma corrector or small extension tube could sort things out for you and give you some more back-focus. I also have the ZWO ASI1600MM as my dedicated astro camera and I can also recommend that with the 130PDS. Good luck! daemon

Nice shots! Yes I also use APT and think it is great software! I got used to it very quickly. I was thinking of making a donation/buying full version but I am still evaluating it really. I am also trialing Sequence Generator Pro, which may work better with my Sesto Senso robotic focuser as it has auto focusing capabilities. If I switch to SGP I think I will miss some features of APT (I like the dark screen and the lady telling me when my equipment is connected/disconnected! 🙂 ). Keep up the good work! Cheers, daemon

Great images Meryck! 👍