Jamgood

I am indeed. I'm in Spondon. 👍

I control my setup from indoors (around 20ft away) via one USB cable. I have a 294MCPro and a 130PDS fitted with the ZWO EAF on a HEQ5Pro. Guide Scope and Camera also. Everything is connected to a Pegasus Power Box Advance (PPBA). I have a 13.8v power supply in a dribox. That powers the PPBA which in turn powers everything else. Everything is set up on the mount ready to go when the nights are clear. I just dump it all outside in the patio. I have drilled small holes on the patio where the mount feet go, this ensures it is always in the correct place and pretty much polar aligned. I polar align with Sharpcap and, other than connecting the USB and power, a few little tweaks on AZ/DEC bolts are all I need to do outdoors. I use Google Remote Desktop on my phone to see the computer screen/Sharpcap while aligning. Then back inside, everything else is controlled via APT and PHD2. Cool camera, slew to a bright star, auto focus, pick target, plate solve and start shooting. Set up time is around 15 minutes which includes cooling the camera. Here's my set up and I would consider it pretty basic but even basic isn't cheap.

I had one of those for a short time. (It came with the used MPCC I bought) I found it next to useless personally. It was an awkward faff around with the locking ring for rotation and I was still having issues with the 55mm+ back spacing at the time so I abandoned it. Bear in mind that I was using a DSLR at the time though and there was less room for manoeuvre around the connection. I went for this Compression Ring in the end and I had the more success with that and the MPCC with the bevel taped. I'm still using it now with the TS-Optics GPU. My conclusion though is the best thing I ever did was get shot of the MPCC. However, I know it's not a cheap hobby and we work with what we have.

I think the problem applies to all Newts, with different margins of error/pacman shapes, with different CCs. With the MPCC and SWCC, the focuser is cranked right in. With the TS-Opticd GPU, the focuser is pushed out 20mm. Here's where mine sits.

Not necessarily. With the MPCC you might have some focuser protrusion into the OTA but it doesn't always cause pacman shaped stars. I never noticed any at all when using my old MPCC. The nightmare I found with the MPCC was trying to get it to sit straight in the focuser tube. There's a bevel on the MPCC that makes it nigh on impossible to get it nice and flush. One corner of my images always had elongated stars. Obviously camera weight (I had a Canon 60Da at the time) added to the problem too. I found that filling the bevel with two layers of electrical tape helped to sit the MPCC a bit more flush and combat the issue. It wasn't perfect but it helped. YMMV, others seem to be completely happy with the MPCC. Best thing I did was sell it on.

Oops, double post.

Yes. It's identical to the TS-Optics GPU CC that I use with my 130PDS. Only the name is different I think. Probably a rebrand but from the same factory.(I'm actually using it as I type. Excellent CC's. Less fiddling around with back spacing, etc, like with the Baader. Mine worked straight out the box. The really good thing about it is it pushes the focus point out by 20mm so little to no focuser protrusion in the OTA.

I use a black shower cap on the back of my scope. Works well and easily removable. Before that I used a black t-shirt and an elastic band. Did the same job. 👍

I started out with BackyardEOS and DSS. Now I run APT, PHD2. Astro Pixel Processor, Startnet++ and Photoshop. Never used Startools but I doubt that this machine couldn't handle it. It can record 24 live tracks as a studio PC and copes with 100+ tracks with multiple plug ins. (If you don't know about recording, you can easily run out of RAM and processing power on lesser mahines)

Very similar to what I use for my imaging/processing. (Also doubles as my recording studio) I have the Dell Opti10, i7, Desktop. Cost next to nothing, fast and reliable. I have 32Gb RAM though which I needed for recording. No hiccups with any astro apps here.

I think Rory once mentioned in a video that he'd been doing astrophotography for 4 years? So probably 5-ish now. Don't quote me on that though, I may have dreamt it.

I can vouch for the 130PDS for imaging, it really is a great little scope. Not too heavy, doesn't catch much wind. On a half decent mount it can produce some fantastic images. (I started on the EQ3Pro before upgrading to the HEQ5Pro) The EQM35pro should handle it nicely without issue. I've never use the scope for visual though so I can't comment on that. A sad fact, I've never looked through any scope, yet! The only advice I would give is be wary of the Baader. It can be a pain in the ass with getting the 55mm back focus correct and the annoying bevels on the tube don't like to sit nicely in the focuser. I found a work around with mine by filling the bevel with two layers of electrical tape but it was still never perfect. YMMV. I upgraded to the more expensive TS-Optics GPU 4 Element Superflat CC and it is has been completely hassle free, plus it shifts the focus outward by 20mm and stops to focuser tube being so far inside the OTA. There's a 130PDS Thread thread on here that is worthy of a read, loads of great info, mods, etc. There's also a 130PDS Astro Imagers group on Facebook that's worth a look. They're a helpful bunch. 👍

These may be stupid suggestions/questions but...... Did you try a simple PC reboot? (I had to ask) It's amazing that to this day, this simple action can solve all manor of troubles. Did you change the Com Port in EQMOD Toolbox > Driver Setup to the new Com Port that was assigned? (If it was different) Have you tried plugging the Mount USB cable in to one of the USB2 ports rather than the USB3? or vice versa depending on where you started. Some things are really fussy with USB3 even when they are backward compatible. On the PPBA, one of USB3 ports is powered and unusable for certain applications. I'm not sure if this is the case with the PUPB?

I also have the PPBA and a HEQ5PRO. Mone is velcro'd to the mount and it's nice and secure. Not moved at all in 6 months. Works for me. I leave all my cables connected to the PPBA for easier set up. Only one USB and one power cable coming from it all to connect when set up.

Thank you. I used @AstroBloke's tutorial on youtube. Easy to follow and very well explained. 👍

Same data as my last post, this time trying out the Hubble palette. Just seeing what I can likely achieve from my OSC camera with a little processing manipulation. I'm very impressed. Astro Pixel Processor was definitely a worthy purchase. Seeing these images come to life though has given me the itch to go mono a lot sooner than I planned. It will happen in the near future. A side by side comparison.

It was nice to get back out imaging over the last two nights. I'd barely seen a star in the sky since July! This is the longest I've spent on any target and going forward from here, I can see that more time is needed to be spent on each target. (I've been too guilty of hopping around grabbing an hour here and there but, I'm still a newbie!) NGC 281 - Pacman Nebula 10hrs integration. 60x300s Light Frames (5hrs) 30x600s Light Frames (5hrs) 80 Darks 40 Flats 40 Dark Flats Sky Watcher 130PDS HEQ5 Pro with Rowan Belt Mod ZWO ASI294MC Pro - Cooled -10° TS-Optics GPU Superflat Coma Corrector Optolong L-Enhance Orion 50mm Guide Scope & Orion Star Shoot Auto Guider Pegasus Powerbox Advance Astro Photography Tools & PHD2 Astro Pixel Processor, Photoshop & Starnet++ Bortle 8 Skies!

I read this thread from start to finish when I made up my mind to get the 130PDS, while waiting and after owning one. (It took a while to get through) For Flats, I use an old Tablet sat on the top of the scope. It has worked well for me with DSLR and Dedicated. (It a TV Tablet, slightly larger than the average) You can use what you have at hand though. Laptop/Computer Screen, Light Box, a brightly lit wall, morning sky, etc. I've rarely had issues with Dew. I have a dew shield on the end and where I position my scope, I have a wall and some bushes around me that seem to help isolate my gear. Once or twice when it has been really cold my old DSLR the CC would dew over a little in the early hours. Image Framing is down to personal choice I suppose. You could leave the camera attached permanently and do mosaics or rotate. I mostly rotate mine and use Stellarium for the field of view and orientation. Welcome to the club! 👍

Postman brought me some HD monitors. No clouds attached to this purchase, as yet.

I have the SVBony IR/UV Cut filter. Cheap and cheerful and works well with my ASI294MC Pro. Amazon Link I was going to go for the ZWO 2" IR/UV Cut but I thought I'd give the SVBony a try as some of their stuff is quite good and gets pretty decent reviews. Like you say though, lots to choose from.

There is that but you forewarned me about that when you helped me when I was a puppy at that stuff. 👍

I concur. Once you grasp it, it becomes a very easy tweak here and there to make everything line up. I was literally pulling the last few strands of my hair out when I first started, convinced I was doing more harm than good. The good thing is you can't really break anything and anything you do wrong can be restored. Just take your time and it'll be fine. The best thing I did was give my laser to my cats for a toy. A collimation cap and a cheshire are all you really need. Maybe a concenter eyepiece if you're struggling with the secondary. Once the secondary is sorted, leave it alone. Nowadays, I just use the cap.

I've been working on a 6 panel mosaic of the Veil Nebula during these lighter nights and what really started as a practice more than anything is turning out quite well so I'm keeping at it as and when I can. Only get around 2hrs of usable darkness each night so it has been a slow burner. I'm currently up to 2hrs per panel of data but the last combine and stretch I did was 50mins each. This is that result of that.

I had a quick look after finishing my imaging plan. Just managed to grab a couple of shots of it before the sky got too washed out.

This is my first post down here. (I usually post around the top end of the board) Anyway, this is my first attempt at a mosaic and it is still a work in progress. Imaging on this as I type. I'm just coming up to 2hrs of data per panel but it's a long hard road as the nights get shorter. This stack below is two nights worth of data at 50mins per panel and I'm really pleased with it so far. I've also learned a few new processing tricks along the way. 10x300sx6 Light Frames (50mins Per Panel) Cooled -10° 40 Darks 40 Flats 40 Dark Flats Sky Watcher 130PDS HEQ5 Pro with Rowan Belt Mod ZWO ASI294MC Pro TS-Optics GPU Superflat Coma Corrector Optolong L-Enhance Orion 50mm Guide Scope & Orion Star Shoot Auto Guider Pegasus Powerbox Advance Astro Photography Tools & PHD2 Astro Pixel Processor & Photoshop