retret66

Thank you!

Sharpless 132 14 Hrs Imaging time, 39.5Hrs exposure..

I got spoiled on my tri-scope rig, I kinda left my GSO RC10 Truss covered for now until galaxy season but I can't really go back to single scope imaging. I completed this build about couple of months ago. Before, I mix canon lens and refractor but now they are all Stellarvue 102mm refractor with focal length of 714mm. This is a symmetrical setup so balancing is easy. Currently, it weighs 46lbs riding on Celestron CGX (55lbs payload). I am on a bortle 6/7 sky and I use to wait like 3 full nights of clear skies just to get a descent image, not to mention I can only image 45 degrees up due to surrounding trees. Telescope Info: https://www.flickr.com/photos/129168751@N04/48301682372/in/datetaken-public/ SH-132 : Imaging time: 7hrs, moon at 70% Heart Nebula : 2.5hrs Pelican Nebula: 5hrs

I had the glatter with the circle holograph and sold it. The best and easy RC collimation technique that I learned was just to get a self centering from Hotech.. http://www.astro-baby.com/reviews/hotech laser collimator/hotech_laser_collimator_review.htm then a chesire. I am not a pro and only collimated once but it is spot on. BTW, I had both holograhic attachment and the grid is not the right one, use the crosshair that is available now.. YT here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynyT-Zyfbls Here is the result after collimation. The laser was off by .25 of an inch to the center of the secondary when I started. Stars are perfect.

I just checked mine I have CGX, yeah your backlash is big. Here is what I have and my mount has been sitting on my wooden deck for a week and I am surprise the drift rate is still good.

I have that also but with bathinov mask although the diffraction is good, focus is still slightly off so I never use it

Recalibration as suggested then check your PHD2 logs if the mount is responding intermittently and this caused your guide run away and recover.

yes, you will get a much higher SNR and a pointy star profile.. I mean the lodestar guiding only not the main camera zwo 1600mm

Good Luck!! I hope you will solve your issue. I use APT, and I use 1:1 preview and the lowest exposure I can use. Then there is a focus aid which measures the FWHM as you adjust. I just use 5sec exposures and magnify the faintest star I can find and so far this works a lot faster than autofocusing in SGP.. The FWHM will change depending on guiding it will just add error to the FWHM calculation.

probably balance as it progress close to meridian flip. Maybe check your guiding logs and see if it never changes then it is flexture. If guiding also have .9 RMS then most likely balance.

this is 99.99% pinched optics. Start removing flattener if you have it and see if it disappears then loosen the flattener lens retainer. If it still there, then loosen the objective lens retainer . You must use a "Lens Spanner Tool".

OAG is probably cheaper route. I use ZWO OAG and it is actually more accurate and much less weight

happened to me once in a while which took me about 1 month to fix. Mount is sticking due to overtightened worm gear assembly. DEC will run away and comes back. By loosening the allen screws and tuning it, it was gone. The saddle will actually wiggle if overtightened and tight when loosened..I have a CGX mount

I have starlight boss II focuser and SGP will find focus just fine but takes time like 10min depending on how strict I set it to. But I find it very easy just magnifiying 1:1 pixel and manually adjusting the focus via its software is quicker and just as good. The FWHM on NB should be lower than broadband period. try like a 5sec exposures to rule out mount tracking issues on longer exposures.

I only use binning if I am on my F8 RC10 OAG, to get more star selection. It is best not to bin with ASI1600mm

I don't think this is an issue with the camera, I am sure because this happens to me before when I let the capture app select the driver. I can duplicate this anytime. I use APT and if I just choose ASI1600mm from the list this will happen. I have 3 ASI1600mm connected at the same time.

are you using another zwo camera as guide camera? usually I believe I experience this when there is a conflict between two camera. I don't let the computer choose, I choose the camera manually via ascom. are you experiencing this with just one camera attached?

yes, it is on my list, I did it last year but very few subs. With the tri-scope I will have more. I just have to wait until it reach 45 degreed above horizon because I am surrounded by trees in my backyard

This is the core of the M31 in negative HDR

I think APT support mosaic now via import from CdC.

The mount is Celestron CGX, total weight of the gear is about 46lbs. Since it is symmetrical, balance is not an issue. CGX per spec has a payload of 55lbs. I did try up to 52lbs and it was fine which is true to their claim that if you max it out it will still track fine..

I was inspired to do this because my backyard is surrounded by trees . In order to cheat time, even on a 2hr clear night I will get 6hours of data

I use APT, a $20 software which has the only feature that is missing from any other capture software. I run 3 instances of it then under dithering I set 2 as clients and the other as server. Only server will be doing the dithering, the other two clients will wait after dithering is done and will take images simultaneously and process repeats

Scope :

Refractor I believe is the best dual/trial imaging setup. Balance is very important to avoid differential flexture as much as possible. I just finish an All 102mm trial imager, perfectly symmetrical so balancing is not an issue. Each has its own filter to have a very productive night.