R1k

What’s it for? Widefield or DSO? i took the attached photo with a 75-300mm f4-5.6 last weekend. Picked the lens up for £30 on Facebook marketplace.

Thanks for the feedback everyone. Appreciate it

Thanks for your comments guys, very kind. Have a SW 80ED on order so will see how I get on with that 😀

My first ever DSO! M101 with a very cheap (£30) Canon 75-300mm kit lens at 300mm f5.6 mounted on a HEQ5 pro. Lots of faff to obtain this image -first polar aligned to a pseudo-polaris, then star aligned to a pseudo-arcturus, must’ve been around an hour of messing around before data capture, must continue to practice! Date: 14/6/2020 Lights: 28 x 90sec, ISO 800 Darks: 16 Bias: 60 Flats: Nil Stacked in DSS and (badly) processed in PS CS6 - initial curve stretch, manual gradient/vignette removal using a synthetic flat frame, further stretch and an attempt at noise reduction. I’m keen to receive feedback on this, I’d be happy for one of you fantastic, experienced folk to have a go at the data (stacked tif below). It would be useful for me to know where the relative balance of the bad SNR lies between a) equipment flaws, b) short integration, c) my very novice processing skills thanks in advance, Rik https://www.dropbox.com/s/rturfn7ewj97a3d/Autosave.tif?dl=0

My first ever DSO! M101 with a very cheap (£30) Canon 75-300mm kit lens at 300mm f5.6 mounted on a HEQ5 pro. Date: 14/6/2020 Lights: 28 x 90sec, ISO 800 Darks: 16 Bias: 60 Flats: Nil Stacked in DSS and processed in PS CS6 Lots of faff to get this one, first polar aligned to a pseudo-polaris, then star aligned to a pseudo-arcturus, must’ve been around an hour of messing around before data capture, must continue to practice! Happy to receive feedback. If anyone wants to have a go with the data, I’m happy to email across the stacked TIF.

Thanks for the recommendation Terry. I did pick up a skytech CLS filter for non modded Canon DSLR but haven’t yet used it.

Hi guys, great to be joining this forum. Have been lurking for a while but decided it’s time to create an account. I have some experience with visual astronomy but I am new to astrophotography which is now my primary focus. Have recently acquired a 2018 model HEQ5-pro with Rowan belt mod and will be using a stock Canon 800d DSLR for imaging. Will be looking to acquire a 80mm ED APO refractor in the coming months to formally get going with what I hope to be a long-lived hobby/passion! Would be interested to hear from anyone around the North West UK area, I’m unfamiliar with where the best dark skies are around here

How is this done Robin?

Thanks again guys, found the drawing you made Jambo, have Re-attached here in case someone else stumbles across this thread it will help.

Just had a shower and totally had a lightbulb moment so I think I get it now. The position of Polaris within the scope is identical independent of the reticle orientation following polar alignment even once you return to home. It clicked if imagined all the etching / text on the polar scope had disappeared for both a wonky and straight reticle after polar alignment. The star is in the same position. thanks again!

Thanks so much for the super quick and helpful response. I am reassured by your comment but I still feel uneasy and probably will do until I fully understand the concept so please do bear with me. I don’t quite understand why the orientation of the reticle makes no difference. Surely Polaris will end up in a totally different position within the polar scope once I return to a home position Following polar alignment with my wonky reticle compared to if it was vertical to begin with? Imagine polar aligning Polaris to say 3pm on a perfectly vertical reticle in home position in the polar scope. Now imagine doing this for my wonky reticle, if I adjusted my R.A. to 0 up and 6 down, aligned to 3pm and returned to home position, surely Polaris would end up somewhere near the 4pm mark? Not sure if I am overthinking this and being stupid. Thanks again for your help

Hi guys, new to SG lounge and new to the hobby. I have just bought my first EQ Mount (Used 2018 model HEQ5 pro, belt modded). I hate to be the newbie to ask questions about polar alignment, but I have what I hope to be a relatively simple question to answer, yet have had no luck with the search bar. When my mount is in the home position (counterweight bar down) and tripod north my polar scope reticle is orientated as per the attached photograph (photo 1). When I was reading prior to getting the mount I had simply assumed that the reticle would be oriented with 0 being directly at the top and 6 at the bottom when in home position. As this is not the case, my question regards what I do during the process of polar alignment. Do I rotate the R.A. so that 0 is at the top and 6 is at the bottom and then place Polaris in the relevant position as per my iOS polar alignment app (photo 2) or do I need to somehow rotate the reticle within the polar scope such that the reticle is orientated vertically in the home position? Are the date and time dials on the mount itself obsolete now that we have the privilege of apps that do the work for us? Apologies if this is a basic question that has been covered before.