AstroMuni

Have you considered buying binoculars? https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/advice/best-binoculars-for-astronomy/ If your son is fascinated by telescopes then why not get a self build kit of some sort to help him learn about them?

If I leave it like that I will forget about it altogether, so best fixed when I remember. Also not sure if I need this to gauge backlash. I recall seeing in the manual something to do with watching the knobs. Its also interesting to see that you have fitted the EAF using 4 corner screws instead of just 2 supplied with the EAF. Different ways to skin a cat 🙂

Will do that once I fix the fine knob. I will need appropriate screw driver for those screws. Out of interest which ones did you remove - just the 4 in the corners? And what exactly is the function of the countersunk screw (the video uses that hole for attaching the EAF)

The bit that puzzles me is how did the fine knob get dislodged? I unscrewed the coarse one and realised that unscrewing the fine knob wouldnt do the trick as that side is different to the other side (i.e it has some kind of extra screw). I cant seem to pull out the fine focuser knob at all. I tried a few allen screws that I have and none seem to fit 😞 Grrr.... One to take to The Repair Shop (read local astro club) as I am no DIY expert.

I was trying to attach an EAF to the 130pds by watching this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b19IQXB8Hz4 and noticed that he had swapped the knobs. So I unscrewed the coarse focus knob on the same side as the fine one in the hope that I could swap sides. I didnt manage to unscrew the fine knob so in the end just tightened it but now I have a strange issue. When I rotate the coarse knob the fine knob rotates but when I rotate the fine knob this has no effect on the spindle even after >10 turns. How do I fix? 😞 Help please.

I would recommend you get it coarsely aligned in the day using a distant object such as a TV antenna. The cross bars on the antenna really help. And then at night you can do a better alignment with an object that doesnt move too much (pole star is a good one).

My understanding is the latest versions of Kstars/Ekos (after 3.6.0 I think) arent supported on 32bit architecture. Hence until astroberry compiles and adds it to their repository I cant get it. I have and continue to use the older version and have no complaints about it. Its just that I cant use the newer features in Ekos.

Binning helps when platesolving and a lot of software already do that before sending the image to ASTAP. Check your settings, it maybe called downsample image. Also check if you have the correct offline files downloaded for the platesolver. Try using astrometry.net instead of ASTAP and see if it platesolves. If the issue is only with ASTAP then the author @han59 is here in the forum. Good luck. EDIT: Read this post https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/726834-speed-vs-resolution-vs-accuracy-in-plate-solving-what-the-the-tradeoffs/

And that why I felt that Wifi connection is NOT critical as you dont need a constant connection to ASIAir. VS a situation where ASIAir client (thick client scenario) on Ipad is controlling the ASIAir rather than handing off to backend.

I guess you and I are saying same thing then...that Wifi connection is not critical UNLESS you have some sort of ASIAir client running on your laptop/ipad and iyou have backend processes running on the ASIAir

Slightly off topic but related....I use the RPi which is effectively an ASIAir minus software. I remote into it and the imaging software (Ekos & INDI server) runs on the RPi, so even if my Wifi connection breaks it doesnt impact the imaging, guiding etc. I am guessing thats how it would work on the ASIAir too. So the wifi connectivity is not paramount. Am I missing something here?

Couldnt see much activity there too. May have to resort to using the AstroPi3 or some such equivalent if I dont see traction on the Astroberry front

I am not as technical hence waiting for Radek. Hope he is keeping well as I havent seen any recent posts from him 😞

What camera do you have and what are the exposure, gain & binning settings?

Try and achieve focus manually (or take a look at the position after EAF has achieved focus) so you know approx how far the focus tube extends into OTA (if at all). Another point...your spacers are just helping you position the camera as far in or out of the focuser tube. i.e. serving the function of a nosepiece. In your image you have effectively pushed all the spacers into the focuser tube so camera is almost touching the focuser. (If you were using a CC then the CC would have been attached at the end of the spacers thus giving the 55mm space between sensor & CC).

I get that there is no spider but if the focus tube sticks into the light path it would create some sort of diffraction is my guess?

Just watch out to check if the focuser tube peeks into the OTA. As far as possible you dont want that to add to the diffraction spikes.

I use Siril and I love the features that have been introduced recently. You can use it for stacking + initial post processing. You will need PS/ Gimp to do the final touch ups (mainly when you need to use layers). So highly recommend it.

Bump

Thats a great shot. Interesting to see the reds around horsehead but not in M42 itself. 🤔

Thats one great image! Love it. It will be a very long time before I can hope to get an image like yours but the journey continues 🙂

No, On Siril you just need to mark on 1st and last frame

Hmm...not familiar with DSS. But I did manage to stack the comet using Siril (I know you said you were looking at an alternative other than Siril) and it works fine. This was I think 70 x 10sec exposures

I personally only use a Coma corrector without any focal reduction, so cant speak from experience. But I am sure others on this forum can help. EDIT: You would need to double check that there is enough travel left in the focuser tube to compensate for the introduction of the focuser!

Ask her to buy you a focal reducer too 🙂 That would greatly help IMO