Varavall

Thanks for all the comments. Tilt is what my initial thought was, but as the fact hat by movng the camera and the very same extension tubes to my Newtonian did not exhibit any form of tilt to me pointed to a problem with the refractor. I rummaged in my box of odds and ends and found a refractor collimating eyepiece and lo and behold the collimation was way out. So its misaligned objective cell and/or focuser. I will report back once all is tweaked.

Hi all I have a problem with deformed stars- see attached photo. This is on a newly acquired, second hand Skywatcher evostar 120 ed pro. The pattern is identical with or without a reducer/flattener and in whatever orientation I put the camera and whether the exposure is 15s or 120s. One corner of the image appears almost in focus with round stars, whereas the diagonally opposite corner has elongated stars. The camera and flter wheel plus extension tubes when on my newtonian give pin point stars. Tracking of the mount is around RMS 0.6. If anyone is familiar with this star pattern and can tell me the solution that would be fantastic!

Yes

That wasn't a reference to you. I got a mindless response on NINA Discord and that's where I am waiting for a sensible response. Apologies for the confusion.

Thanks for the poimter. I posted the problem there and await a response from someone sensible!

Hi Whilst in the midst of an imaging schedule NINA gave up and would not reconnect to the EAF using ASCOM. All the kit was visible in Windows devices, ASCOM diagnostics could connect to everything as could ASI Studio. NINA will connect to the EAF using Device Hub Focuser. I have reinstalled the ZWO ASCOM drivers & changed USB cables; ASCOM is latest version, as is NINA v2.2.0.9001. Any suggestions?

We all learn something new everyday, just that some things are more useful than others. Glad to hear you are on your way to good photos.

Hi 2 options 1) You must lock the aperture ring to max f so the camera can engage the aperture adjustment lever on the lens. Then, you can change the aperture with the command wheel. When you change the aperture with the command wheel the aperture ring on the lens doesn't move when the camera actually adjusts the lens aperture. 2) Take a look at the F-mount of your camera, you will notice at the 8 o'clock position a little plastic tab or key, the aperture follower tab. This has to be pushed into the camera body by another tab on the aperture ring to tell the camera it's in the correct position. Move the ring to a larger aperture and then push the tab on the body in with your finger nails , if the FEE message prevails, the electric contacts in the camera are not working anymore. If it goes away you can fix your problem with a little strip of cardboard between the tab and the aperture ring. That's my best guess. Adrian

PS the Leo triplet fom a few nights ago

Hi Yes, it is the scope I have used for the past 2 years for mono imaging with a ZWO ASI1600MM and ZWO EAF. I use the skywatcher coma corrector and I don't have coma problems,. You will need to put a "shower cap" affair over the mirror end to prevent ingress of light; I made a cover out of an old tractor inner tube and some velcro. You may need to flock or blacken things on the inside of the tube, but suck it and see what is needed. I don't know what mount you wil be using, but I get good results with my overloaded Rowan belt modded SW HEQ5 Pro. For the price I am happy with the results, but every image improves on the last as experience with processing inproves. Hope that helps Adrian

The best way to see the sky is to leave it outside 😁 I guess it comes down to risk assessment. People leave their more valuable cars outside, but I live in the back of beyond with nearst neighbour half a mile away, so there is nobody to see what I have, so it's low risk for me. When imaging I go to bed and see what's left in the morning when I get up!

No, just one big mount and mount all 5 scopes on it! On the serious side, if you enjoy taking the rig apart and reassembling then polar aligning and recalibrating PHD2 and whatever using up valuable imaging time, then that's OK. I used to do that for a couple of months, then it became a chore. I now keep the rig fully assembled under a motorbike clamshell tent so I can start imaging in under 5 minutes, so no longer a chore but a joy. My kit has been in it's tent for 2 years now in the relatively harsh climate of the mountains of Tarragona (down to -5C in winter to 40C in summer with regular mistrals) but everything has worked without issue.

It's down for me here in Spain

Being a cheapskate I process only in free software and for comets I do the following process. Stack twice or maybe 5 times if you are using rgb filters. First stack on the stars in ASTAP, then put the stacked image through Starnet++. Second, go to GIMP open the starless and starry images as layers, then with the starless image top make it "subtract". That gives you the star field without the comet which v=can be tweaked for the stars. Third, run all the subs through Starnet++ (I create a batch file and use the CLI version) to leave just the comet. Fourth, stack on the starless comet subs in ASTAP with the manual alignment process. If using RGB filters, then just stack the subs for each filter separately, and save that with a name so you know which colour filter. Fifth, open as layers all the starless comet stacked images with the images in second step above. Align the comet images, then create a new layer from visible for just the comet and tweak for personal preference, then move that layer above the star field layer and make it "screen", then make new layer from visible. Sixth, tweak image until satisfaction is achieved. Simples! The result which still needs some work on a few artefacts and gradients

The usual A-Z shopping site. Think they can also be found on fleabay. They come in 3 sizes, so make sure your mount will fit!

I keep mine outside under a motorbike clamshell cover, everything attached, I just open up, power up the on board mini pc and the all the kit and it's ready to image in a few minutes. It's been there for 2 years now wthout problems; plenty of air space around the kit. Note the setup has been streamlined since the photo was taken and is a lot tidier now. 🙂

Yup, but the power consumption of the CPU alone is what I need for the entire system. I live off-grid so the compromise for having no energy bills is that I can only run some things when I can. So I need a mighty processor system that consumes no more than 150W max in total, preferably nearer 100W. Well I could spend 25k to beef up the solar arrays to allow the running of a high spec PC, but just think about the telescope, camera and mount 25k would buy.

Yup, 10 years old. It's a dual quad core i7, but a few generations back. The lengthy processing time was Starnet++; 5 minutes per sub. I have time on my hands so I do other things whilst the laptop trundles along. Slightly envious 😖

It's something from Starnet++ I think. I am doing some more imaging of the comet tonight so I have something to compare and contrast. Very kind of you ☺️

Depends if you have a CRAY. It took my laptop 3 hours to process just the 30 subs!

Hi Stack twice or maybe 5 times if you are using rgb filters. First stack on the stars in ASTAP, then put the stacked image through Starnet++. Second, go to GIMP open the starless and starry images as layers, then with the starless image top make it "subtract". That gives you the star field without the comet which v=can be tweaked for the stars. Third, run all the subs through Starnet++ (I create a batch file and use the CLI version) to leave just the comet. Fourth, stack on the starless comet subs in ASTAP with the manual alignment process. If using RGB filters, then just stack the subs for each filter separately, and save that with a name so you know which colour filter. Fifth, open as layers all the starless comet stacked images with the images in second step above. Align the comet images, then create a new layer from visible for just the comet and tweak for personal preference, then move that layer above the star field layer and make it "screen", then make new layer from visible. Sixth, tweak image until satisfaction is achieved. Simples!

For processing comets I use ASTAP, Starnet++ and GIMP. ASTAP has a manual alignment mode specially for comets. Below is the result of last nights RGB imaging of C-2022 E3 (ZTF). If interested I can post the workflow. I still have a few artefacts from Starnet to clear up and the green tinges around the edges to make the image perfect! Adrian

A PS to this comment. Today I re-adjusted the belt tensions after replacing one of them and the niggling timeout messages have gone. Looks like my cause was down to slightly sloppy belts

Hi I see the spike on a dither with my HEQ5 with belt mod. As I set dither to random in PHD2, the size of the spike does vary a little. I thought guiding continues during a dither (maybe I missed the switch) as PHD2 does the dither. Guiding can be disabled during a slew, but a dither is not a slew. Yes, I get the niggling timout message as well. I just ignore it as I can't find where to turn it off. Doesn't effect the guiding, at least for me. I use the preview version of NINA, something like v2.1 RC0005. That's my tupenny worth. Adrian

I went for a motorbike clamshell cover similar to this https://www.amazon.co.uk/StormProtector®-Lockable-Motorcycle-Shelter-Quenched/dp/B095WYQ9KP/ref=sr_1_47?crid=3GMIH97ZNYL78&keywords=motorbike+cover&qid=1675786121&sprefix=motorbike+%2Caps%2C715&sr=8-47. My scope with all its peripherals have been outside for 18 months through gales, intense thunderstorms and withering sunshine. As the cover doesn't touch the scope any overnight dew can evaporate away. When its time for business I just open up and switch on.