Stuart1971

Thanks, I think….🤔🤔😂

The PA figure is, well in my experience anyway, also read it in another forum, but if it works for you….👍🏼

Looks good to me…👍🏼

The PA algorithm in PHD2 is pretty much useless, it just does not work at all, so this should be ignored. I ran guiding assistant two nights ago, twice in pretty much succession, in very close parts of the sky and got 3 arc mins error the first time. And 14.7 the second….it’s just a waste of time taking any notice of it….in Sharpcap I am approx 2 arc mins off the NCP…so the figure above don’t surprise me….

No need for it to be level, close is good enough, PA does the rest….don’t sweat over it….👍🏼

Correct, it makes no difference at all if the mount is level, as that’s what PA corrects, close is good, but that’s all you need…no point in spending time on getting an EQ mount perfectly level….many people just do not realise this….👍🏼

Had another go at the Heart Nebula last night, under full moon with the Optolong L-Extreme Duo Ha, OIII filter, with QHY268c 5 hours of 2 min subs, full image and a crop of the centre region

This was mine from last night 5 hours or 2 min subs of the Heart Nebula, under the full moon with the L-Extreme, and a crop of the centre…. and a brighter version, not sure which I prefer….🤔🤔

Imaging last night and had a go at M81 and M82, in the FOV of my QHY268c sensor the two galaxies were side my side, as I thought they should be, then I guide with an ASI174m which had a decent size oblong sensor, and I noticed that the two galaxies were one above the other, in the image on PHD2, hmmm but both cameras are orientated with the long sides of the sensors right to left, yet the guide camera needed to be rotated by 90 degrees clockwise for the images to match which would mean that it would have the short sides of the sensor top and bottom, this can’t be correct can it…?? I know this makes no odds for guiding purposes, but was intrigued to know why… Imaging scope Tak FSQ85 and guide scope Tak FS60cb Any ideas…?

And there are much cheaper versions, but they all reduce the imaging circle, and with todays large sensor cameras, it will not work very well, as the area that is currently suffering from coma, will just be vignetted out anyway….if that a word….😂😂

Hmmm, if it was below 10 arc seconds, you should get over 5 min subs with no trailing on that scope, I would think it was more like under 10 arc minutes… As long as balance is gold it should not trail, it’s down to PA…👍🏼 My PA is under 3 arc mins, and I can get around 6 mins unguided with no trails due to alignment, but periodic error will also play a big part in star shapes…so good PA and good guiding is what you need…..👍🏼

Don’t worry about it, it’s perfectly normal, just get collimation bang on in the middle and you are good to go, this is inherent of uncorrected SCT’s, especially the older ones, I have an 8” 1997 model, and it’s the same…it’s due to the design of these scopes…👍🏼

Well, after another great session with GSS, I may well be sticking with this…best guiding ever, never went above 0.5 rms, all night, and the best was under 3.0 rms…well happy.. I did have one instance where GSS crashed, but it was while I was messing with the 3D picture, and it crashed, this has been reported and could be an issue when using over windows Remote Desktop, as I do, so I have now turned the 3D plot image off, then it ran all night fine….👍🏼

Wow, great minds…😀 me too last night, but not processsed them yet, had the L-Extrme filter on after shooting the Heart, so gave it a shot, 80 x 2 min subs…looking forward to see if they produce anything…

So I have my mount pretty well polar aligned on a permanent pier, it’s within 3 arc mins, I purposely did not get it any better as the DEC axis has backlash, it an older EQ8, and it allows the DEC to drift slightly and so I just guide in one direction, which pretty much makes the backlash issue moot. But tonight all was well, getting good sub 0.5rms, and the DEC was drifting slightly as usual with a small correction pulses about every 1-2 mins…. Then for no reason the DEC dropped and was no longer drifting and so no guide commands issues and was pretty much perfect below 0.2 rms on the DEC axis, now this has carried on for over 50 mins as I write this, still no guide corrections in Dec and absolutely no drift, which makes no sense, how can it just suddenly not be drifting at all….? The PA has not been altered in months… RA is just acting like it alway does, a bit up and down and an RMS on the RA of around 0.35… I am not complaining as it’s a good thing, but also can’t explain it…..Any thought on how this could happen….??

Courtesy of a seller on ABS, I have been after one of these for a while for my Tak FS60, was going to get the More Blue version, but did not like the distance they stuck out compared to this tak offering, glad I waited…

Polar aligning will require a new calibration every time….👍🏼

The idea is that with a good calibration, you don’t need to re do it, unless something changes with your kit or orientation of it, should last for months.. unless it’s ST4 guiding which has to be done with every different object you image. Maybe it’s the dithering that’s setting off the bad oscillations, if it happens again try a session without the dither, or maybe take a look at the dither settings, they could be a bit aggressive….just a thought. Personally I never dither and have never seen any reason too, unless you don’t use darks, but I prefer to..

Which ASTAP star database did you download…?

With the USB dongle, you can use that as the hotspot or you can just connect it to your home network, same choices as the internal Wi-Fi…but works far far better, I actually use one now on my indoor PC rather than the intel NUC’s built in one…👍🏼

The one I used was plug and play…link below, it’s gone up a bit in price as I paid £15 about 18 months ago….now it’s £23, there is a “Like new” one available for just over £19 not sure if that just for prime customers or not, look in bottom right of linked page… https://www.amazon.co.uk/BrosTrend-1200Mbps-Raspbian-raspberry-AC1L/dp/B07FCNP2VL/ref=asc_df_B07FCNP2VL/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=310776295886&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=11940051960967236863&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9046174&hvtargid=pla-551382897533&psc=1

Good point, I use a solid metal case, and yes it is an issue for Wi-Fi, but I no longer use the internal Wi-Fi, I use a USB 3.0, 1200mbps version, and it’s flawless…so worth a thought as they are only a tenner…👍🏼

I notice all the failed plate solves in your image above were of Polaris, so my point there is made, don’t even bother trying to solve on Polaris, when you power up and you mount is pointing at Polaris, as long as the cross hairs on the sky map are also on Polaris, or very close, you can just right click and hit sync, then goto another object and try and solve, you will get better results I assure you.

I used this set up for a few years, without issue, so I will try an give some help and tips. Firstly don’t even bother trying to platesolve on Polaris, it just will not work, it never has and always throws errors, it may work 1 time out of 6 if you are lucky. Secondly use ASTAP as your platesolve, I never used the internal one so can’t comment on that…ASTAP was always flawless for me, and make sure you install the catalogue file too. Thirdly, and very important, you need a good solid 4 amp power source for the RPI, this will make a huge difference, if not you will get freezes and more importantly wifi and network connection issues, with lack of power the Wi-Fi and network is the first to suffer. Next you say the toupcam driver will not run off the laptop but will run off the PI, well all the drivers run off the PI so I am not sure what this means, it makes no difference whether you run Kstars off the laptop or the PI, the indi drivers are running from the indi server on the PI all the time…so there is another issue here, do,you have your laptop Ekos setting set to remote and not to local as this will cause the same issue you are getting. I suggest for your next trip out, you set your scope in the home position, then power on and start Ekos, your scope crosshairs on the sky map, should be on Polaris, or very close to it, then slew and centre on an object in the east or west, once it’s solved, then right click and sync, then do the same on an object in the opposite side of the sky, and do the same, then you should be good to go to any other object and have good goto accuracy. Always park your mount at the end of a session, in a pre defined position.. hope this all helps, anything else you need to know give me a shout..👍🏼

It’s rare that anyone would not have already unparked the mount before you click the sequence start….so no real need to use the Unpark mount option in the sequencer…👍🏼