AstroMuni

I'll second that 🙂 There is quite a lot to learn and @Andrew G you will need to get familiar with your scope, mount and software. Post processing is a whole new kettle of fish and that has a steep learning curve. I started my journey without guiding a little over a year ago (see link in my signature) and you can get very decent images with shorter exposures (you just need more of them). There is a term for it as well - lucky imaging. I have purchased a guidescope recently and learning to work with it. Good luck.

I use 2 ZWO cameras and one of them is USB2 and other is USB3. Both cables have a USBx specific port on the end where they connect to camera and a standard USB port at other end which connects to laptop. I have them connected to my RPi which has 2 ports which can handle USB3 and 2 which are for USB2, so I connect accordingly. I have tried doing it the other way too and that also works. Hope this helps.

Over and above the advice given by alacant.....Also try the Sirilic tool. This automates the siril processes in an intuitive manner and it allows you to split and process data from different days with different settings. I use this for all my processing. Here is a good intro available on the startools website http://download.startools.org/Siril with Sirilic.pdf

You can also search for Rosette nebula and it takes you to same location. Lovely image btw.

When you attach the scope on which side are the screws that hold the scope in the dovetail. I have noticed on mine that if I have the screws on right hand side I can get the wrong slew. I am sure this has something to do with home position, but havent delved too deep into the why.

I would have gone for the SV305 as it allows longer exposure times and uses a better sensor. Personally I use the ASI224mc which @vlaiv has already mentioned above

What telescope are you planning to use them with?

Lovely shot @alacant There seem to be sort of halos around the brighter stars. No idea if there is a way to get rid/reduce this.

Over an above what others have said, your choice would also be dictated by which software you decide to go for - both for capture, mount control and processing. There are different options depending on your preference for Windows or Linux. If you are linux inclined then the Raspberry Pi is the least expensive option for capture & mount control. Similarly for processing you could make a start with free software like Siril, Gimp and others before you take the plunge into the world of Pixinsight. These are available on Windows & linux. The first two are less memory hungry so will work perfectly on older laptops.

It looks great. If you cropped the image and then did your stretching I reckon it would turn out a lot better. And as you said, adding calbration frames should help. Wouldnt have guessed that its from compressed jpg images. I have taken the liberty to quickly process your image from above in Siril and here is what it looks like So I am sure you can get a lot more from your original one. So all in all not wasted effeort in my beginners opinion. I would have been chuffed if I got anything like this. Good luck.

I have this adapter https://www.amazon.co.uk/Solomark-Universal-Phone-Adapter-Mount/dp/B0188KP6T8/ref=sr_1_4?crid=11S88EGSDKPB2&keywords=phone%2Badapter%2Bfor%2Btelescope&qid=1639060319&sprefix=phone%2Bada%2Caps%2C225&sr=8-4&th=1 Works fine with both my android and iphone. Plenty of software around depending on if you have android or apple.

Post the stacked image before processing here. Others can help work on it to show the art of the possible.

Would be interesting to see what you have managed to capture. It might not be as bad as you think.

What is a sailing issue? If related to wind then yes it was windy on Monday night just before Barra hit us. I consider myself fortunate or persevering or both 🙂 See my other images (without guiding) in my signature link

My first attempt at guiding. This image is taken with the ASI224mc via Celestron Astromaster 130 scope mounted on HEQ5 Pro and comprises of 30 x 120s subs. The capture and guiding was all done using Ekos and post processing done in SIRIL. Obvious scope for improvement on guiding to get more rounded stars and lots more to learn on post processing 🙂 Comments welcome. M33 Triangulum galaxy situated around 2.7 million light years from us and spanning 60k light years across. One of our smaller companion galaxies.

And if RA is always the culprit try the GPG guiding in Ekos which is meant for RA. These are just default settings and you will need to update this depending on your mount.

Hi Alex, welcome to the forum from yet another resident of Hampshire

Thats true of all aspects of life, isnt it? Take football - to move from being a champ amongst your friends to being a player in league will be a massive step, but after that the small incremental gains will be harder and harder to achieve. There is even a law of economics I think... the law of diminishing returns 🙂 But you are absolutely right.. we need to decide how much its worth to you. I am a good example for that, I started AP in March ish and I am still happy with working away with my low budget equipment, adding few small bits and bobs at each step. But you can see several folk here who go for the plunge and spend thousands of pounds to get started in the hobby.

Read this tutorial and that should make it clearer. https://siril.org/tutorials/tuto-scripts/

My first image with guiding, M33 Triangulum galaxy situated around 2.7 million light years from us and spanning 60k light years across. One of our smaller companion galaxies. This image taken last night is comprised of 30 x 120s subs captured with Ekos and post processing done in SIRIL.

Then get cracking using the Toucam as main camera 🙂 See http://www.deep-sky.co.uk/imaging/webcam/toucam.htm EDIT: The learning curve for the software is steep, so get the cables to control mount, pick your software and start learning.

I am no expert on DSLRs as I started off small by purchasing an ASI224mc (see my signature) 🙂 But I am sure others here can advise on DSLRs. I am guessing this means you have laptop?

There are several good suggestions from others above. Here are my thoughts. To get you back quickly into the hobby with minimal spend....., Stage 1: I would start off by using the Nikon D80 (if you still have it). Using software to control your mount and camera is the quickest way to get imaging in my opinion. There are a few free choices there: NINA (if windows) or Kstars/Ekos (if RPi/Linux). Start learning image post processing. I recommend SIRIL (free). So in effect your initial outlay will be mainly for cables. If your laptop is too old, consider using RPi. (just remember its Linux based) Once you get back into the stride, you can invest in appropriate camera, guide scope etc. Stage 2: get guidescope, possibly use Toucam as camera and a better main camera (cooled). Good luck.

So you use its wifi hotspot to connect to it?

Beautiful shot. Glad somewhere in the world there are less clouds at night