peabrain

gave my skyguider pro a new feature.
kinda of a Skyguider pro goto now

dont hunt me down with pitch forks and astro lamps 😅

will do a quide test when weather allows. (note no ap dark so not sure if i wanna rig up mono for a test)
and need to design a top and Rj45 port intergration.

not a part of any sadly

update since ioptron are not replying to my mails, i plan to send the mount back and look at other options.
would have been nice to stayed with a light setup for my needs.

I recently got my hem 27 and i love it, but i have notice a couple of things.

goto function is always of until it do a sync to target, and made sure location time etc is set also synced. (not that big an issue and is off by a fair bit)

but when guiding or just running on a target, it will make knocking and hissing sounds. it does that with balanced load or no gear on it, and doing a slew back and for sometimes makes it go away.
most the noises come from the RA axis although, during guiding i think some hissing or strange noise comes from the dec axis also.
did i get a dud made by the guy fired 20 mins ago?

ps. i know the sound of steppers since i have a few stepper operated devices including a 3dprinter

same here since i have an m31 and MW shot planned, seller informed they might have a shipment mid this week so hope it might be here start next week.

think my first outing would be a test to see max sub times and test on a simple target like 7sisters.

11 hours ago, baggywrinkle said:

I have the AM5 and will control via the ASIair. Hoping to give it a proper outing at Kelling this week...Will use with the 52 mm Cat and hopefully see how it does with an 8"  Edge.

sounds like you are heading for a fun outing 😁

does any one here know the basic of gettign PHD2 setup for the HEM27.?

normaly i balance then level then do my PA (although sgp needed a testspin) then i frame then start selecting guide star in PHD2 and let it cali from there.

but might need to start the first HEM session a bit before AP dark to have a go with how it is works with PHD2 on what it is in the dropdown menu selection.

the price at the shop on hem27 was a little under other, and jumping back and fort about both being new mounts.
i decided to gamble on the cheaper option this time, and being used to the ipolar also kinda gave me an nudge.

after reading about ZWO kinda "forcing" users to only use their products together, gave me a feel that there might be some ecosystem requirements i dont wanna bother with.
Eg the asair mainly only works with ZWO devises.

now i just need to figure out how to setup it up in PHD2 and wait for it to arrive.

sorry for the late responce, ordered the HEM27 earlier this week.
found a deal tha saved me a bit getting the ioptron CF tripod for a cheaper price also.

i plan to find a good template and try and review it kinda. might share it here if some one is interested.

thx for the input
you are right about them being new, and there will be some teething issues.
But from what i gather about them as companies as of late, is that ioptron have been harder to get into contact with. and have been reading about quiet a few sending their mount back since there are some QC issues.
have seen lees of that from ZWO, but as you say it is their first mount and bound to have a few niggles.

as far a spec go they are close and by oct there may be more review data available.

and atm im just trying to figure out how much to budget etc for when the time comes.

thx for the input
ATM im shooting a redcat 51 with either my asi533mm or nikon z7ii, and plan to incremental go up to max 1000mm. (next scope will be 500-650mm iguess)
currently i have a tablet windows surface pro with me so no issue there, and i plan to use the bluetooth goto function and guide via the tablet.

the northern danish skies are not the best so super high precision i dont think would matter to much up to that FL.
 

i am currently planning an upgrade from my skyguider pro, and i have been looking at the HEM27 and AM5.
the main requirement is small and "compact", since i travel to my location by motorcycle.
and later plan to go to about 800mm FL max 1000.

IF ignoring the price and brand, they otherwise seem close on paper specs.

if we go by specs alone which one would you suggest, the AM5 or the HEM27 with ipolar.

I recently ordered a redcat 51 to go with my skyguider pro (with auto guider) and nikon z7II modded. My plan is to wide field targets like nebulae and such at first, and then later add a mono camera like the asi1600or533 cooled. I have been told that my current filters will not give me good detail on various targets, so the suggestion followed to get the optolong L extreme, and then add another filter wider broader spectrum.

I am open to suggestions and recommendations.

Current filters that fit my setup.

i plan to get mostly 2" filters at recommendations, and a filter drawer or wheel later. (Nikon z clip filters are welcome as suggestion if not single narrowband)

 current 2" filter shopping list

optolong l Extreme
6-7nm  HA filter (brand not decided)
optolong L pro and LPS-D2 have been suggested for dust etc around nebulae in tandem with the extreme filter.

 
Nikon z clip.
Astronomik uv/ir cut L2 filter (will be replaced with kolari UV/IR HA pass filter)
Astronomik 642nm planet filter
Astronomik OWB (not so usefull)
Astronomik CLS ccd filter
additional clip filter suggestions are welcome (not single color narrowband)

 

Had a first outing and test night with my new guide scope and camera.

Last week i got the ZWO asi 290mm mini guide camera and Artesky Guidescope UltraGuide 32mm.
And last night i went out for my first test run, unfortunately i only got one shot in before i may have missed something or messed something up.
PHD2 would not keep lock on a star and was trying to calibrate, but the star would wander off slowly out to the target box.
my guess is the guide camera might have sat in "twisted" a few degrees. or i might have bumped the tripod and the tracker was off.
(The session was short due to time and clouds incoming)
But got a decent first single exposure with time 4mins on  600m f6.3 (wanted F8) and iso 3200, shot was over exposed and after setting up the target was not in center but in the corner.

gonna test again as soon as possible to get a feel for the guiding and setting up, even if the moon is out i might as well try at test what my max times and etc are.

Thanks for the feed back.
will start saving up for a guide scope, the Zwo mini might be a good start i can use later.
Although i might save for the ZWO ASI290MM instead of the ZWO ASI 120MM. (since i keep reading good stuff about it and can use it later)

Since my current setup is right at the limit the mount can handle and my lens it heavy, i am unable to get the balance perfect.
so when the mount turns the weight shifts slightly, and the dot will move slightly away from the +. after i started doing this i noticed my exposure times get better, but right now it is the speed i am guessing is not right.

this led me to believe that adding a guide scope might help, so currently i am looking at a few options.

ZWO Mini Guide Scope
with ZWO ASI 120MM Mini USB 2.0 Mono Camera
but atm i am wondering what the focal lenght limmit of that combi is for future tracker and deepsky use.

i try and make shure the alignment is as perfect as possible.
hench the routine of pointing my camera and lens in the direction i am going to shoot, then turn about 120 degrees and adjust so my alignment does not shift over time.
one of the reasons i have the ipolar mounted in my skyguider. ( designing a leveling plate to make sure my mount is as level as can be also)

Great looking shots 😃
makes my shots with my 60-600 look like something i should delete and never show again 😁

I know this setup will never give me the super long single shot times, but i was hoping that 2-3mins should be possible with an added guider.

 

there are not that many hot pixels in general on the pictures, this was just a series i made the stacking software stack at star trails. was to get a general look at how the trails point, just to get an idea of how the tracker is wandering around.

currently the stars are moving down the frame, most stars are not elongated at this point. ( might have missed the focus a bit)
 

my mount has the option for guider and i have looked at an option from ZWO wither their camera that fits into it.

My normal procedure is to, mount everything, and balance everything looking at the target. then make shure my polar alignment is as close as possible where i also spin the setup about 120 degrees. (even making a few micro adjustments to make my dot not move away from the X)
 

Currently i am using an ioptron skyguider pro with the ipolar. even with "shorter" focal length like 20 or 300, it often struggles to not start trailing with longer exposure times then 60-90 secs.
even at shorter focal lenght most targets will slowly creep out of frame. (exept wide angle milky way fun)
here is an example of the seven sisters slowly creeping out of frame over 2 hrs, where i have deleted some frames that where trailing.

Thank you for the info,i am going to try and look in to it.
My goal is to eventually make nebula pictures, that have some texture and have a more 3 dimensional feeling to them.
 

I am currently having fun looking at nebula and galaxies, but a lot of my targets drown out in  a huge amount of stars.

Is there a ways to reduce the sheer number of stars, sine when i compare my shots to others mine often drown in stars.
 

Do i get some special filters? or is it and editing process?