CloudMagnet

I would say for a first imaging session it is fantastic, far better than my first. I would say the focus looks a little soft though but easy fixed next time. You can try adding a little sharpen and that should make a difference. In terms of the drift, dithering works by moving the image a few pixels in random directions rather than a constant drift one way, so I would put this down to polar alignment/mount tracking error. If you were dithering, you would also be guiding which should eliminate any drift so I cant imagine that being the case. With a DSLR, noise will be an issue with long exposures and warm summer nights as well, not much you can do but add exposure time to average it out. 40 mins isnt a long time in astrophotography, images are exposed in the order of hours rather than minutes so I think this is a good result to build on

Really the minimum you need is the dual axis motor drives. This is what I currently use to guide the EQ5 mount. Far from ideal so don't expect perfection and a fair amount of effort to get it working. Can be bought from FLO for £121, a lot cheaper than a GOTO mount but astrophotography does come with costs attached. There isnt a good cheap way to do it i'm afraid. Targets such as the moon and planets can be done through without any tracking but you would only be able to take single frames at a time rather than stacking hundreds together.

Dont think it has been done, the Ha filter will block out any light polution so the second filter would be redundant. It is still handy to keep both types of filter though. Broadband LP filter for galaxies/ star clusters and a narrowband filter for nebula targets.

The dual narrowband filters are popular right now, but I wouldn't recommend it for an unmodified DSLR as they are just not sensitive enough to Ha to make it worthwhile. If you Canon is modifed, this makes more sense. I also used the IDAS D2 in my DSLR and it worked great for reducing light polution. If you go for the 2" or the full frame is really down to what you feel you will get the most use out of. The 2" could be transfered between cameras in the future whereas the full frame will be stuck in the DSLR forever. In the interest of keeping cost down in the short term, it could be worth going for the full frame to do broadband targets with the DSLR and then in the long term, investing in a dedicated camera with the narrowband filter for nebula targets. It just really depends how much you plan to spend in the future. There isnt really one perfect setup that does all types of targets at once.

Still been thinking about this. Here are some ideas: 1. Light reflections as Ian said. Easy way to find out is to point at a different part of the sky. If you still get the patern, we can safely rule this out. 2. Dew/moisture on scope. Possible as it would explain the change throughout the night but not likely as I can't imagine dew forming in those isolated clumps. 3. Filter related. Could be the brand of filters you are using has some internal reflections. Easy way to rule out is try a night without those filters in use. 4. Camera. Could be a cooling issue, might want to try some pictures just at ambient to see if the spots still show. If it is pixel related, it would show in calibration pictures, so I don't think this is to blame. 5. Aliens Overall, it must be something hardware related to show in raw subs, so no processing to blame. Has this showed up in any nights imaging since?

Cygnus constellation is a good choice, some nebula might be visible depending on your camera. Very dense area of stars as well.

Hmm.. are you using a cooled camera? It might be patches on the sensor that are not being kept at the correct temperature throughout the night. Does it show on any calibration pictures?

Yep, completely normal for any camera. When you come to process astro photos, you should also take "dark" frames. These are pictures taken with the lens cap on at the same exposure length and ISO setting as your normal pictures. Stacking software will use these to help subtract hot pixels from your final image.

Subject to getting a HEQ5 size mount and above then yes. I find that pairing it with a APS-C sized sensor will give a good FOV that will give a decent compromise between galaxies that need high focal length and nebula which mostly favors shorter focal length. Just bear in mind that the area of the sky that you can image will be very small, so no widefield shots and you will need good guiding as well for long exposures.

Dont forget buying the filter wheel as well. They can cost a fair bit as well. Yes! Would love to see this. Yep, maybe I exaggerated just setting up and leaving it for the night . I still think that Mono/narrowband is the best but the ease of use on OSC can't be ignored.

Im not sure that is upscaling, just resizing the image to a smaller size but higher PPI. I think you will need dedicated software like what @pc387 suggested to enlarge the image at the same resolution.

"Come on, take your silly scope out of here so I can live in the box"

Yep, prioritise getting the camera/scope connected as soon as possible to start the cooling. Understandable you don't want to leave them outside all the time, but could you bring them out at the start of your setup and build everything else while they are passively cooling?

Great picutre, l love to see the detail in NGC 2023- it looks 3-D which is great. It is worth trying to add a little bit of sharpen to help with crispness. As long as it isn't overdone, it will tidy up the focus.

Yes, I use this filter https://www.firstlightoptics.com/protection/ak_mc_clear.html Not cheap but it gives you the peace of mind that no dust will get on your sensor. I use the clip-in version and never had a problem with it coming loose.

Im just glad we had such a good run of weather this last couple of months going back to early April in the UK. With the longest day not far in the future, might as well just get the bad stuff out the way now before the dark nights start again. The year is long, so you will get plently of chances i'm sure

So just to check, does that mean its rated for a 20kg OTA +counterweight on top of this or 20kg for the OTA and the counterweights together?

Its always a good idea to look at the pixels per inch as well. The higher the PPI, the less you can see the individual pixels so the better the image will look once printed. I would aim for at least 200-250ppi to give decent results, 300 being ideal. With your tif file, its shows at 72ppi, scaling that to 200ppi gives a print of 20x15inches roughly. At 36 inches, there will be too much pixelation so I wouldnt go ahead until it was scaled up.

There is an option within APT that can flip images. Go into "Img" (very top right) and then then "preview effects". This should then give the option to click flip horizontal/vertical. Cant imagine why it is happening. Must be something to so with the program trying the best way to fit the image in the preview box.

I use the EQ5 mount to image with the 200p- the only extra I added to the mount is the dual axis motors. These are needed to track and also for autoguiding. They do the job, but it isn't a perfect way to image and I will likely be upgrading this later in the year to a larger mount. Dont let the mount stop you from taking deep sky pictures though -it will be a steeper learning curve and much more frustration but it can be done. For the accessories, I would consider getting a modified DSLR to improve imaging nebula and also a Telrad finder to help pointing the scope.

Yep, you bought at the wrong time The lack of darkness right now will limit your options. So I would just become familiar with setting up your equipment/practice on balancing/polar alignment. The main targets to go for right now will be the planets Jupiter and Saturn in the south- they rise around 1am. The moon should also be easy as well. the great star cluster M13 might be possible as well. It will really only be into August when the dark night come back that you will have a bigger choice.

I never thought to do this, has it made a difference in guiding performance?

I use this for my guiding paired with the ZWO 120MM mini. it works really well, never had a problem finding a guide star. It can get up to a SNR of 200 with that camera so they make a good combination. It has a big advantage in its low weight, so if you dont want to add much more stress to your mount, I would recommend it for shorter focal length scopes. Juts remember to lock the red ring on the scope as this will keep the finder from flexing too much.

Ah makes sense. Still a fantastic picuture. I'll have to wait for next year to try and match some of these

Yep, shooting mono has its advantages but I really can't pass up the sheer simplicity of a OSC paired with a dual pass narrowband filter. Basically cheating the system but I think it is necessary in the UK to get a quick result. With the way CMOS keeps improving, I can see them knocking mono CCD of its perch before too long.