Chris Willocks

Thanks everyone for the recommendations. Appreciate it. But I'm well and truly confused in what to use cloth or wipe-wise with so many opinions.

True, but they sell it with the microfibre cloth on their website: https://www.baader-planetarium.com/en/accessories/optical-accessories/optical-wonder-set-(cleaning-fluid-and-cloth).html. Perhaps the instructions haven't been updated for a while? Although I have seen that Astro-Physics recommend Kleenex in their instructions also: https://astro-physics.info/tech_support/refractors/care-of-scope-instructions-9-4-2014.pdf. I'm confused now.

The FSQ-85 has two FPL53 lenses in the quad objective. I presume there's no fluorite in the other two lenses?

Okay, in that case I'm just going to go with the Baader kit i.e. the fluid and cloths, as it's designed for telescope optics, unlike the Specsavers fluid. The reviews are good as well. Better to be safe than sorry.

Thanks everyone for the advice, much appreciated. I think I'll try some alcohol-free lens cleaner from the opticians to start with and then use the cotton ball method to start. Then use some microfibre cloths if necessary. Just to check; are the microfibre cloths the same as the ones that you get from the opticians to clean glasses? Chris

Thanks for the replies. Do you think Baader Optical Wonder Fluid would be okay to use on the FSQ-85? I've read good things about it.

Nice photos, I've been considering one of these in the 200mm F/5 models for imaging galaxies and other smaller objects. But can't decide between that and the Vixen VC200L, Edge HD 8 or a large apo such as the TS Optics 115 triplet? I'm using an Atik 383L, so the pixel scale might slightly undersample with the 115 triplet at 1.38"/pixel. Whereas it would be more suited to the other scopes. Anyway, have you had any issues with the steel tube design vs carbon e.g. flexure, collimation etc.? Chris

Appreciate the information Stu. Looks like you did a very decent job on your Tak. The one thing that I was unsure about was the use of alcohol-based cleaners on Takahashi objectives, as I've read quite a few threads stating that they shouldn't be used. Do you know if this is the case? Chris

Thanks for the reply, my gut is telling me that I should avoid OOUK based on what I've read. I've researched quite a lot on how to clean it myself, but it's just having the courage to try.

Hi everyone, Does anyone have any experience with the scope servicing that Orion Optics UK do? The objective on my Tak FSQ-85EDX is rather grubby and needs a good clean. It hasn't been cleaned once in the 5 or so years that I've had it and I think it could do with one. I wouldn't trust myself to clean the objective of such an expensive scope, so I would rather a professional do it. Orion Optics are only a hour drive from where I live, so I was planning to drive the scope to them, rather than posting it. Many thanks, Chris

Thanks both for the kind comments. I can't take full credit though, as the raw data wasn't obtained by me. But I like to think 90% of the work is in the processing stage!

Hi everyone, Just want to share with you this recent HaLRGB composite I produced of the Boogeyman Nebula (LDN 1622). The raw data was acquired by the staff at Deep Sky West Observatory and was processed by myself in PixInsight and Photoshop. Thanks, Chris

Thanks both, I appreciate it!

Thanks both! I appreciate it. PixInsight is definitely a massive help with processing. Chris

Hi everyone, just want to share with you a new image I've composed of the Pleiades (M45). I must admit that I'm pretty pleased with how this one turned out: Acquisition details: - Location: Shropshire, UK. - Total exposure time: 15.2 hours. - Imaging telescope: Takahashi FSQ-85EDX. - Imaging camera: Atik 383L Plus Mono. - Filters: Baader 36mm unmounted. - Mount: Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro. - Software: Sequence Generator Pro. Processing details: - Stacked in PixInsight. - Processed in PixInsight and Adobe Photoshop CC. Hope you enjoy it. You can see more of my images at www.cwastrophotography.com and at www.astrobin.com/users/Chris_Willocks. Many thanks, Chris

Just decided to reprocess this image a bit. I think the colours look more natural now, along with the image being less noisy: Thanks, Chris

Thanks for the kind words.

Hi everyone, I just want to share with you a new image I have acquired of the Pelican Nebula (IC 5070) in Hubble Palette: Acquisition details: - Location: Shropshire, UK. - Total exposure time: 17.5 hours. - Imaging telescope: Takahashi FSQ-85EDX. - Imaging camera: Atik 383L Plus Mono. - Filters: Baader 36mm unmounted. - Mount: Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro. - Software: Sequence Generator Pro. Processing details: - Stacked in DeepSkyStacker. - Processed in PixInsight and Adobe Photoshop CC. Hope you enjoy this image. You can see more of my images at www.cwastrophotography.com and at www.astrobin.com/users/Chris_Willocks. Many thanks, Chris

Thanks, I did use background neutralisation before colour calibration. I tried using the photometric colour calibration a few days ago, but struggled to have any success with it. I couldn't get it to plate solve; even after changing the settings extensively. Have you ever had this issue?

Hi everyone, With all this free time we have now, I've been playing around with the colour calibration tools in PixInsight and I decided to reprocess this M33 data. I think the colour looks a lot more natural now than in my previous attempts. I'm quite impressed with the colour calibration in PixInsight. I think it's easier than messing around with Photoshop levels in order to get the colour right: Chris

Hi everyone, I just wanted to share my latest image; which is a narrowband, Hubble palette (SHO) composite of the Lion Nebula (Sh2-132) in Cepheus. I acquired this image using my Takahashi FSQ-85EDX, EQ6-R Pro mount and Atik 383L. Guiding was done using an Altair GPCAM2 AR0130 mono camera and TS Optics 2" off-axis guider. The total exposure time was around 14 hours and processing was carried out in PixInsight, Photoshop and Lightroom. More details about the image can be found here: https://astrob.in/zw2517/0/. Thanks for looking. Any feedback would be welcomed. Chris

Sorry for the late reply everyone. Thanks for the advice. It's all sorted now. I think the issue was that I updated SGPro on my PC and in doing so, it removed my equipment profile, in which I forgot to put the focuser backlash parameters back in that I had before. I set the compensation to 100 steps in and it's perfect now. As Starflyer said; the auto focus in the new version of SGPro is significantly better. Chris

Hi Alan, The first part of the curve is slightly flatter, however I've physically checked the grub screws on my Lakeside focus motor and they are tight. I don't have any backlash compensation enabled for the motor in SGPro, as I've never had any requirement to in the two years I've had it, up to now i.e. I've never had this message before. I'll give it a try anyway. What would be a good backlash compensation value to use for the Lakeside motor? Chris

Thanks for the reply. Good to know someone else having the same issue. Although, I am using an older version of SG Pro (V3.0.3.165), as I can't upgrade my PrimaLuceLab Eagle PC to a newer version of Windows 10 because I don't have administrative rights apparently. So, the newer versions of SG Pro aren't supported on my PC, unless I can find a way to upgrade Windows. But, I've been using this version of SG Pro for a year or so up to now and not had any issues up to now, so I think that it's seeing related, but I could be wrong. There was one occasion tonight where I didn't get the HFR message when running auto focus. Chris

Hi everyone, I've been doing some deep sky imaging over the past few nights of Sh2-132 in narrowband with my FSQ-85 and Atik 383L, however my focusing in SG Pro has been hit and miss. Usually, my focusing is spot on and I've never had any issues up to now. The first night of imaging Sh2-132, my focusing was also perfect. However, yesterday and tonight, I keep getting a message after running auto focus in SG Pro, stating that the HFR is outside the expected value (not by much mind). The curve looks absolutely fine i.e. a V curve and I've physically checked my Lakeside focus motor, to see if there are any issues, but everything seems fine. I've tried different exposure times, binning, step sizes and I still get the message. Having said all of the above, the full moon is out and the weather has been quite windy over the past few nights. So, I don't think the seeing is particularly great as a result. Is it normal to have slight focusing difficulties when the seeing is poor? The lowest HFR I'm getting is still in the 1-2 range and the images aren't that out of focus. I've just never seen this before. Hopefully someone has experienced something similar? Many thanks, Chris