Clarkey

My climbing kit greatly exceeds my talent much in the same way my 130p exceeds my astronomy skills. Maybe not quite the same consequences🤣 Hot pixels are difficult to avoid really - the best option is dithering. If you use a decent stacking algorithm you should be able to negate the hot pixels though.

I think this^ is the most important. Given your set up without guiding I would suggest 30 second exposures is probably about right. However, given the very low exposure time this is a good result. M27 has quite a high surface brightness which certainly helps. If you have more time, you will be able to stretch the data a bit more without introducing too much noise.

That's just showing off🤣 But seriously, I am a bit like you. I have tried various options but come to the conclusion the refractors are the simplest option. I am in the process of building a back garden observatory which will house 3 refractors across two mounts and a variety of focal lengths from 910 to 180mm. Given the number of clear nights in Cumbria that should be enough. I have looked at the RASA option and it might still happen one day. Just need to sell the kids.....😀

You could consider something like this in the bags: Fifth Gear 2 x 1kg Silica Gel Car Dehumidifier, Dry Air, Reusable Moisture Absorber Bag, Automotive Dehumidifier, Keep Windows Fog-Free. Prevents Condensation and Mold, Includes 2 x Anti Slip Mat : Amazon.co.uk: Home & Kitchen I used to use something similar for putting a tent away if it was damp. You can just chuck them in the microwave for a few minutes to re-charge them. I have not used them for astro gear as mine just comes in the back door, but I am sure they would help.

Agreed. Used mine with an FMA 180 and works well.

Either would work fine with your scope. The small f4 scopes are fine for shorter focal length imaging and are small and light - and if you focus them as in daylight as Elp suggests they are fine. The larger 50mm scope will give more scope for longer FL imaging later, but you might need a larger mount (assuming it is being used with the SA 2i)

Can I ask why? On a separate point, have you mounted both on an heq5? I had a similar dual rig on an AZ-EQ6 and it was on the weight limit. Admittedly I had a hefty bar, two dual saddles including an alignment one plus a mini PC and powerbox. Still looks like a lot though.

Don't ask me. 2D printing is a struggle for me🤣

As a 'promoter' of the SM90 I'm glad you like it. Personally I don't find the two rotators an issue. Apart from set up I only use the end one. You can use the 'notches' on the focuser to approximately measure the angle to move. There are 14 of them which equates to about 25 degrees per notch.

Ok, I'll put one in the mix.... Very similar to the @powerlord picture above in terms of location, but less widefield and in SHO. Slightly unusually there was more SII signal in a lot of the area compared with OIII which gives the SHO rendition a rather colourful appearance. A lobster, bubble and lagoon (small northern one), all in the same picture. Where else could you get this😆 Taken over two- and a-bit nights (12th, 13th and 16th of September) during a fullish moon using a StellaMira 90mm triplet at F4.8. and ASI160mm pro. Total integration was around 14 hours, with an extra half an hour of RGB for the stars.

I think we can assume the corrector is OK (I had one from a bad batch and it was very poor. After being optically checked along with the telescope it was changed by FLO). I might be worth putting one or more of your subs online to have a look at. Even allowing for manufacturing tolerances I think and extra 3mm should be more than enough. Also are you certain you are using the right spacers? (I'm not trying to be insulting - but just to rule it out).

What you are describing does not sound like a backlash issue to me. If you speed up or slow down the mount in theory total backlash should remain constant. A few seconds delay at high speed is unlikely to be backlash also. Providing the motors react instantly, it sounds more like something is slipping in the drive train. Can you move the scope when the mount is stationary? Assuming the clutches do not slip it sounds like a gear wheel slipping or something similar.

I haven't used a 2600 but I have used the Rising Cam IMX571 equivalent using the the standard spacing and it was fine. I think I may have had to add an extra 0.5mm but it was close. Have you used the reducer with any other cameras?

Looks quite good value - more than enough for some image processing too. I would say get a large non-SSD drive and use the SSD supplied as a working area. Then store all the images on a much cheaper disk. Thats what I do and is much cheaper than SSD. Bit more RAM is always good....

Most of the CC's allow a 2" filter to be placed on the telescope end of the unit. That's what I do with the SW aplanatic and I believe the TS maxfield is trhe same.

I think the 4 USB 3 ports on the Mele was a selling point - especially if running for deep sky. Planetary is obviously less of an issue. I would also add that although the Mele unit says it MUST be run using the 12v adaptor supplied, when the unit arrived it stated a voltage range up to 19v, so the standard 13.8v supplies will not fry it. @Anthonyexmouth Did you find a cable to run to the USB C? I ended up having to make my own as I couldn't find a suitable one. I think at the end of the day any of the standard mini PC's with a J4125 processor should be OK. Just be aware that the onboard eMMC memory is not too hot on most of these so adding an additional M.2 SSD may be needed. I tried a memory card - a good one - but the write speed was very slow from the PC itself.

I use a Miele Quieter 2 but this is for deep sky and I am not sure how good it would be for planetary. I would suggest that you do the work on the telescope PC and just use remote access to control it. If you use wifi, I think your frame rates are likely to be impacted by the wifi speed. You do not need anything too special for planetary imaging, it is mainly the transfer rates. I have used a big standard pentium to run planetary without a problem. Personally I went for a fanless PC as it reduces the risk of vibration.

FWIW I have used undersized dew bands on my 120mm refractor. Even though it only went 4/5 of the way round the dew shield it was fine. The heat from the dew band will convect through the metal and glass.

One negative of imaging with a manual filter wheel is they tend not to be very light-tight. The filter drawers and EFW's are much better in this respect. You might get away with a 2" to 1.25" reduced in the image train. Astro Essentials 2" / M48 to 1.25" Filter Holder / Adapter | First Light Optics I can't really comment on the 1.25 filters with a 294 sensor though. As stated above , it should be as close as possible. From memory the ED80 FF/Reducer allows filters to be screwed in on the scope side of the flattener which may cause a vignetting problem.

Raspberry Pi mini PC. If you are having to ask the question then it may be tricky..... A reasonably cheap second hand Windows laptop will run both imaging and allow image processing (albeit a little slowly). I used to do mine on a second hand pentium without a problem, but any moderately good PC will do it.

Great effort - well done. Personally, rather than a new camera and lens I would look to get a star tracker mount. Not too expensive and would let you carry out much longer exposures. The 400D will be ok for AP and you could get it modified for nebula work. You can also pick up a multitude of cheap Canon lenses second hand which would be a great starting point.

Ah interesting. I think the cable I used automatically installed the FTDI drivers (I certainly didn't). Yours is different which might explain it.

Here: Sky-Watcher | Sky-Watcher Global Website (skywatcher.com) I think it is the second one. (If in doubt load both!!)

It's been a while since I set my stuff up so I will be guessing a bit. My thoughts: The USB does seem to be connected OK - I get a similar name for the cable. Have you got the latest Ascom platform Have you installed the drivers for the mount? The fact that you are getting a port not available suggests there might be an issue with this. Just some thoughts - my money is on the drivers...

You would also need a FF at £229 for imaging. It will be interesting to see how they compare against the ED80 which has always outperformed its price-point. It does have a R&P focuser which is probably better than the standard one on the ED80 but I suspect it is no longer FPL-53 otherwise they would be selling it as such. For widefield imaging there is always the option of a slightly smaller refractor around 70mm. FWIW there is a TS Photoline 80mm triplet for sale on Astro B&S for £475: U.K. Astronomy Buy & Sell (astrobuysell.com)