Eddie Jones

+ 1

I guess I'm lucky - I've always been a night owl. I happily go to bed about 2 am with no problem getting up for work next day. I can push on till 3 am and get by on 4 hrs sleep as long as I don't do it too often !

Hi Phil, Welcome to the forum ! Your plan is sensible, I'd go for the HEQ5 on the mounts it's a very safe buy. There is no problem with the mount being heavier than the tripod (just makes the tripod easier to carry) CEM25 is good but lacking in payload capacity. All of the scopes you have listed are great!

Remember being very pleased with this Oct 2019 It's the trapezium (Just about) in Orion

Canon 600d ISO 800 (32 x 4mins) > 0.8 flattener >LPF>Starwave 110ED 50mm starwave guidescope>TS7C guidecam PHD2 >DSS >Photoshop My best astro image to date - Struggling a bit with star bloat and general processing - but pleased with results

Yes, you can use the 500 rule, or 300 as suggested by Frankiej90 or just try some about 5 seconds - if you get trails use shorter exposures. Get out there and give it a go, you may get a some bad pics but it's all part of the learning process !

Hi Rob and welcome ! You'll need to use the rule of 500 to work out your longest exposure. 50mm is just about wide enough to get some milky way shots. Comet c2020 F3 Neowise would be a great target at the moment if you have clear views to the north I don't know your camera but rule of thumb , highest ISO as possible (then reduce ISO if too noisy or blown out)

one of the best I've seen

Hi All, I now have about 250G of old data filling up my data disk. My skills and equipment have improved a lot since I started. Is there any reason or benifit from keeping old data ? What do others do ? Thanks

My images (Close up) Canon 600d iso 800 16x 13second 110ed Others Canon 450d iso 800 5secs 80-200 lens

Sounds perfect - Will start at 55mm as suggested by alacant & MarkAR and work up from there. Much prefer setting things up slowly and carefully in daylight (also easier to find a dropped black M48 ring in the grass) Now I'm waiting for a clear day as well as clear night.

Hi Markar, Yes, been over there site quite a few times. I did email Altair with a picture, they helpfully told me it would fit my scope (Starwave 110ed) - to be fair - that was the question I asked! I'm sure I can get this sorted out, just keen to get on with this, as I've also finally got a guide camera to get working as well ! Wondering if I can paint a grid of dots on the garden fence to test or something ?

Hi All, I bought a "Planostar 0.8x v2" flattener / reducer secondhand, it came with no instructions (and I cant find anything definitive online) I will need to work out the correct distance required to my Canon DSLR sensor. I've found what appears to be almost identical item - so will try these settings first:- https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p5965_TS-Optics-REFRACTOR-0-79x-2--ED-Reducer-Corrector-fuer-APO-und-ED.html Is there a method for checking correct distancing in daylight , or have I go to wait for the next cloud free night ?

Hi Shaan_A If you look at the bottom of DSS you can set up different nights of data into 'groups' - not tried it myself with different scopes - but think it will work!

Hi Rogr18 No idea myself, but this thread looks interesting :-

Hi Batesy82, Welcome to the forum ! I'm afraid I don't know if anyone has them in stock. Astro retailers often do not keep many large items (like mounts) in stock and they are often shipped direct from the manufacturer/ distributers warehouse. I believe the Skywatcher warehouse is pretty empty at the moment (due to increased demand and shipping problems due to COVID) If you find the eq3 it would be best to phone the dealer direct and check they do actually have one in stock. Best of Luck, Eddie

Still relatively new to this myself Yes, the ASI120mc will likely fit and 'probably' focus well it is aimed at lunar / planetary rather than deep-sky (this may/may not be a problem for you.) Unfortunately, I only have experience of DSLRs so it would be wise to do more research before buying !! hopefully another user / expert will be here to help soon

Hi, Love the 130P it's where I started ! There are 3 problems with DSLR astro-photography with the 130p. 1/ Cant get focuser in far enough - standard solution is use barlow. (I also moved my primary mirror inwards a few mm using the collimation bolts) 2/ No focus lock - weight of the DSLR can easily move the focuser - solution rotate the OTA in the tube to keep focuser horizontal (see pic) 3/ If you've followed '2' the weight of the DSLR and barlow is now acting on the plastic focuser and bending it slightly downwards. this can lead to some weird coma type effects. Using a (not too heavy) astro cam should alleviate all of theses problems and is what I would recommend. I'm not saying don't try it ( I learned a huge amount with mine) just be aware that its always going to be a compromised starting point. best of luck & clear Skies

Thanks SimM for your great information! I've downloaded the manual I'll have a look at correcting the cone error (when its cool enought to concentrate) In the meantime, I'll continue with 3 star alignment and let the HEQ5 fix it 'automagically' 👍

Thanks Carole - I did wonder if that might have something to do with it, but great to have someone more knowlegable to confirm BTW mount positioned almost horizontal to get most distant object I can see (windturbine) for polarscope callibration

Hi All, When my scope is (properly) polar aligned and in the park position, Polaris isn't dead center in the main scope. Checked polarscope alignment and whist its not perfect - error is very tiny (about the width of the tramlines rings where polaris sits when aligned) Attached is a video Mount / Polarscope ia trained on the bottom of a distant wind turbine phone camera> reticule eyepiece (on the main scope) rotated Could there be a problem with the top of the mount (can they be adjusted ?) Would welcome any comments or suggestions Thanks ! VID_20200625_123135.mp4

Welcome

Thanks All

How do you find the new MBP - do you struggle with it's lack of ports ? (BTW I look after 300 + Macs at work) Thinking about it a little more - I guess most people use a USB hub anyway! Maybe I'll add mac to my list of laptops 👍

Thanks MarkAR, Guiding is the next thing on my to do list - I have a guidescope and camera - I might need to update my 12 year old laptop as it barely copes with automating my DSLR