Simon Pepper

Same! Just picked up my gear in frustration and called it a night! No idea what to do now wasted night and most likely the next one as well. I think I should restore the pro back how it was!?! 

Ok thanks Dave I have gone back and checked the video to make sure I am not being stupid but pretty sure it’s not me. So annoying on a clear night!

3 minutes ago, Davey-T said:

Did you make a backup of the original SD card  to your computer ?

Dave

Thankfully I did but wanted to check if others have had any odd experiences? 

Hi all has anyone had any issues since updating to the latest firmware? Mine is royally broken. I set it to home then PA then I used to use go to function then plate solve however this no longer appears to be an option? Also the go to just has a mind of its own? M31 didn’t take it there so did it again and got it in field but then pick another target skews off in opposite direction? Started again PA then set  ack to home position and it slewed 90 degrees past the home! I can’t figure it out other than the update has broken it? Any advice will be appreciated 

thanks 

I turned off the mount and pro then started again which seem to get it going however when slewing and platesolving that didn’t work then manage to centre M31 but then choosing another object it slewed off in the wrong direction  again even when I then slewed the same object in went off elsewhere again it makes no sense it must be broken? Any help or ideas would be appreciated I am sure it’s the firmware update?

Hi all

its clear I have set up I’m polar aligned but go to function is pointing scope in random places including the floor. Am I missing a step here or has this update I have just completed broken the asi air pro? All my setting are unchanged lat and long look good. Any help today would be appreciated don’t want to waste the one clear night a month!

thanks 

2 hours ago, Nikolas74 said:

The best suited camera for the Redcat51 when I was doing a research coming from the Atik 383+mono , was the ZWO ASI183 mono or color , but it didn't suit my needs also I was looking for something newer.

There is no banding in the Asi2600mc pro...I didn't notice any.

Before switching to dedicated astro camera's I use to have Canon , my last one was the 750d which had strong banding lines due to the new technology of the focus points in the sensor.

I have the same it’s really bad! I have the 800d as well but that’s not modified. 

19 minutes ago, Xsubmariner said:

Hi Simon the ZWO-071 is an APS-C size sensor with a pixel size of 4.78u, coupled with the Redcat 51 it will give you an image scale of 3.9 arc/sec per pixel. I have found an image scale of 1-2 arc/sec per pixel better suits U.K. skies. 

Thanks Xsubmariner Are you able to recommend a cooled camera for my needs? I mainly image nebula, but I will look to something with a bit more focal in the future probably still only around 500-700mm and ideally do not want two separate cameras (keeping the cost down ish). 

Thanks 

15 minutes ago, Nikolas74 said:

Finally I bought it...and I have done a quick test 1 time only...with the same setup like yours...the field of view with the Redcat51 is too wide , I can't really say the I liked it so much but will check again.

I am happy that I own an Esprit100ED which will give me a better field of view with this camera.

Yes the sensor is large specially if you have used before other camera's , but it doesn't cause any problems except the field of view.

Thanks Nikolas. Perhaps I look at the 071 instead. I am still fairly new to the hobby and shooting wide has its benefits so for me I don’t believe it puts me of too much. Is it your first dedicated camera? I assume you can really notice the difference is quality? My 300s subs on dslr has painful horizontal banding 

thanks 

Hi all

im thinking about getting the 2600 mc pro I currently have the redcat and l extreme in the built in imaging train. Will this work? I have read here that the sensor size is too large?

thanks 

Zooming right in my stars have taken on a square look (facepalm) I’ll process it again and see what went wrong. Likely I had squareness instead of roundness when messing about!!!

Hey KP82,

Ha ha you have a very keen eye I was quite heavy on the noise reduction I had awful horizontal banding. I did dither, but I didn't take flats, only darks and Bias. I do have the Astronomy tools plug in but that didnt help with the banding for some reason, but the noise reduction did take most away. I have heard of gradient exterminator and will look into that. The hardest part for me was finding focus having to take 5 min subs just to barely see the diffraction spikes. I have noted exactly where focus is now on the redcat with the filter in. I may adjust it ever so slightly as I still not sure its perfect here? Knowing focus will save so much time though and means I could have gathered more lights.  

Hi all,

So got another fairly clear night last night (91% Moon) and manged only an hour integration on the Heart Nebula. Using all the tricks and advice here this is what I got. There are some horizontal banding, nut this is down to the 5 minute subs on DSLR. Also there is some vignette, hot pixels and some dodgy coloured stars, however if I was better in post processing in PS I think I could improve it. I am still happy with the image (just dont zoom in too much), so thanks again all this thread really helped and I am sure it will help others that google it and end up here! 

Thanks @KP82 and @Lee_P really useful information. I do want a dedicated camera but I know that will be more challenges with that and want to make sure i can get some good images before we blow some more monies down the rabbit hole! I use PS for the images I have got so far on my trusty star tracker, but agree may look to pixinsight in the future. Hopefully next clear night will be another few advances forward again. Clear skies!

This is awesome Lee! I will add the filter back in then. Are 5 minute subs a good starting point or are we talking 6/7 or more? Got a lot to learn with this hobby clearly but going in the right direction! 

Here is the tif after using the below options in dss seems rather green now lol. Still I cant complain with the help of you all I have gone from failing to mount working, slewing, guiding and dithering perfectly!

Autosave001.tif

Thanks KP82 no I did not do this step, however now completed, but still unable to pull any ha data perhaps I have not got enough integration here or the modded camera isnt sensitive enough. I have the l extreme but decided against that last night as it caused me issues on the last time out. Perhaps this target needs some sort of narrowband to pull out details. @Lee_P more than happy to send you the files I have think its about 1.5gb of lights and darks. I didnt get flats and forgot bias was going to use master bias but they are CR2 format and DSS didnt like to mix. Also as KP82 has mentioned is it possible to go back to RAW CR2 format with ASIAIR or do we have to use fits?

Thanks 

Hi,

I have the same problem here. Put the fits through DSS and they came out greyscale. No idea how to fix this did you find a way?

Thanks

Hi all,

First clear sky in a while last night. Got out with your advice above and it went well. The EQMOD cable and focusing the guide scope worked a treat I was able to polar align using the ASI air pro and plate solving worked as well so thank for all this. I started with IC1396 as that appeared to be the only DSO I could see from my position. I got a good 2 hours on it (4 min subs stars look good so PA and guiding worked a treat ), BUT.... I put it through DSS then PS and it appears to be grey channel and when I convert to RGB each R G B level is identical it does not look right at all as a result i'm struggling to pull any definition or colour out. I was using my astro modded camera. so would expect it to see some HA... Is this grey channel something ASI air does? I checked I was not shooting in B&W as that would have been a major fail, but pretty sure camera settings look good. I have attached the DSS.tif.

Thanks again all.

Autosave.tif

@Lee_P I have the Lynx cable plugged in to the hand controller port on HEQ5 pro and then to ASIAIR. Also the cable from ASIAIR to guide camera I have also not connected the ST4 cable from guide camera to mount. Two quick questions... Is that correct? And in the ASIAIR App under telescope or mount which setting should I use? Is it On-Camera-ST4?

Thanks

Thanks for all the responses here its been very helpful. I have ordered the EQDIR from FLO, so will remove the hand controller and plug this from the mount to the ASIAIR and try polar aligning and plate solving using that. I have also used Lee_P method of focusing the guide scope on my neighbours point on the roof and unscrewing the front seems to have been the issue so great shout there. I have also ordered a power bank which I will velcro to the other side of the mount and plug in the dew heaters there. Lastly I have removed the lextreme for now as that was clearly adding just another obstacle to my session. Annoyingly in doing so I put my oily thumbprint on it (what an amateur fail) so will have a look here for any recommendations on cleaning that for the next time I add it back in. When the next clear sky I will try again with the knowledge I have gained here and will update you all.

Thanks all again for your knowledge and suggestions. 

Hi Lee, 

Pleas see below. The front of mine was not screwed out at all and there is another small extender screw still in the box. I only had the larger of the two adapters screwed on but looks like this. I think my gain was set to 10 but pretty sure I played with those settings....

Thanks 

I tied looping the exposures in asiair I think I tried 0.5, 1, 2 and 4 seconds. All I saw was noise and grain cap was off I checked that

9 minutes ago, Lee_P said:

Hi Simon, I've got similar kit to you and have it all working a-ok. I reckon tenpinmark has gotten you onto the right track! I believe this is the cable you need: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/sky-watcher-mount-accessories/lynx-astro-ftdi-eqdir-usb-adapter-for-sky-watcher-eq5-pro-heq5-syntrek-pro-az-eq5-gt-az-eq6-gt-and-eq8-mounts.html. As suggested it's always good to check with FLO. Once you get the mount properly connected to the ASIAIR, you won't need the ST4 cable -- the guidescope can do all its communicating via its USB connection to the ASIAIR. Polar Alignment can then all be done through the ASIAIR too, with you making minor adjustments to the mount. Much easier than what you're doing at the moment!

Those Lynx Astro dew straps are good. You may need an adapter (single: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/astronomy-cables-leads-accessories/lynx-astro-21mm-dc-male-to-rca-socket-for-dew-heaters.html double: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/zwo-accessories/zwo-dc-to-rca-y-splitter-cable.html) to power them from your ASIAIR.

Regarding focus, it is difficult with a filter like the L-eXtreme because you need longer exposures to get an image. An electronic autofocusser would make your life a lot easier. I'd ask someone with a Redcat for advice on that; I've seen some mods that use a ZWO EAF, which would communicate nicely with your ASIAIR.

Try not to feel too down about initial teething issues. It always seems to be the way that the first few clear nights are spent troubleshooting, but you'll get over that initial bump soon. Rest assured you've got some great kit! What camera are you using?

You can see some photos of my set-up here: 

 

Hi lee,

Thanks for this and yes I think tenpinmark is on the mark! Dew heater issues he mention is a good shout and this cable you both mentioned I will be sure to google it and speak to FLO. I have a modded 750d andunmodded 800d. The next step for me is a dedicated OSC Zwo but this hiccup has put that on the back foot for now. After all as we know this hobby is not a cheap one so if I mail these issues then I may take the leap. With regards the the filter perhaps I will remove it for now till I become more confident with the other equipment. 
 

anyone have any ideas with regards to the guiding and not seeing any stars

thanks for all replies on this thread it’s really helping me

7 minutes ago, tenpinmark said:

I suspect the due heaters are drawing too much power from the USB bus and this causes the cameras to "disconnect" and in turn, it's not enough power for the heaters to warm up so you notice.

As for the PA using the ASIAir - you will need a connection from the ASIAir to the mount or it won't be able to guide, slew etc. On my setup, I have a USB connection to a HITEC Astro EQDIR which in turn plugs into the 9 pin socket on the mount. I have no handset connected to the mount. In addition, from the guide scope to the mount there is the usual ST4 cable for guide corrections.  What do you have in terms of connections?

You can see my setup here

I am using the ST4 from guide camera to mount, power to mount obviously and then the hand controller. So no EQDIR not heard of this? I reckon you are right regarding the dew heaters I will stop using them then. Do you have any recommendations for dew heaters as I only have USB powered ones I cant seem to find a female USB to 2.1mm jack for ASIAIR? Please elaborate on EQDIR though this sounds like the way to go.

Thanks again