Clarkey

You can get liquid chalk markers in black but I don't know of any that are permanent. Could you not just get a small pot of blackboard paint - that would only take a minute? You can also buy matt black touch up brushes for alloy wheels which might be a good option. Other than the blackboard paint I haven't tried the others.

I think this is a common problem on the newtonians. I have a piece of expanded polystyrene cut into a disc which fits perfectly in the 'hole' and blocks out the light. It also holds in my home made primary dew heater, so does 2 jobs. A flowery shower cap might look nicer though🤣

Just picked up on this post. From the first to last M31 there is a huge improvement. Star shapes, focus and overall image has got much better. Well done! Just think what you can do when there are some real dark skies. Keep up the good work.👍

How low in the sky was the target? I am wondering whether it was atmospheric distortions which does affect the blue channel most. Only speculation - I am not sure.

The panel itself I just use the lowest setting - you might need a sheet of paper or two to dim further but I did not need to with my ED80. I can't remember the DSLR settings as I use the astro camera for most imaging now. Normally I would use auto.

2 hours ago, wimvb said:

My guess is that you will see the banding more in shorter exposures. Normally this banding is related to the read step of the sensor.

The reason I suggested the shorter exposures was to help keep the sensor temperature down. Also, with my 600D the longer exposures seem to exaggerate the problem. However, the simple option is to try both (with dithering) and see which works best.

7 hours ago, wimvb said:

CanonBandingReduction in PixInsight

I have been considering PI for some time. This is another reason for the change. I think I'll need to get the credit card out (and permission from my financial advisor)🤣

I have exactly the same problem of horizontal banding on my 600D - seems to be a bit of an issue with the camera. I dither, but even doing this does not get rid of one particularly bad strip across the middle of the frame. I have tried various bits of software to remove it, but with limited success. I have had to resort to manually removing the banding during processing. Your noise pattern looks a bit more random - so hopefully dithering will do the job. However, about 1/3 of the way down the frame there is a more pronounced strip which may cause problems.

It should be noted that the nighttime temperature at the moment will only give you more noise. In the winter when you are going to do the bulk of your imaging the cooler weather (and sensor) should help. On that note - leave the LED panel open to allow the heat to escape more easily. Also, you could use shorter subs and extend the waiting time between to allow the sensor to cool slightly.

To be honest, the noise from my 600D annoyed me so much, I abandoned it as a deep sky camera.

I think you will struggle both in terms of weight and focal length for the 130p. (Are there also not focus issues with DSLR and the 130p?). I think you would be better to get a camera lens or two second hand and a tracker. This is really what they are designed for. A small scope would be an option - plenty use them for this - but you will need to keep the FL length down and it is unlikely you will get anything within your budget.

In terms of the best option, there are plenty of reviews on the You Tube etc, but I think they are similar but it depends on your needs and personal preferences.

I'm sure someone with more experience than me will be along soon with first hand knowledge.

I'm not sure I know what pixel defect you mean? I looks a bit hazy or slightly out of focus, but I can't see a specific defect.

9 hours ago, hobbit said:

1600MM for DSO while keeping the 120mc for guiding

I have a 1600mm which is a good camera. However, it is a bit dated now. The 294mm is similar sensor size but much better QE and well depth. Also the slightly larger pixels are probably slightly better in most cases. I would go for this if you can stretch the budget. Obviously you can get some deals on the 1600 mono with filters and filter wheel - which is what I did.

I've got one of these.

AGPTEK Magnetic Tracing A4 LED Light Box Drawing Pad Dimmable Brightness, Physical Buttons Control, USB Power Cable for Animation, Designing, Stencilling X-ray Viewing/Sketching Diamond Painting : Amazon.co.uk: Home & Kitchen

Use it for my ED80 and RC8 - it is just big enough for the 200mm. Even light and variable, but I did add a few layers of paper on top for the RC8. For the ZS61 you probably won't need to.

Vlaiv you beat me to it...

I think for frame size, the nearest would be the ASI071. The pixel size is slightly smaller than the 1100D, but I think with most cooled OSC cameras you are likely to be over sampling at the low focal length. The ASI294 has a slightly smaller sensor and pixel size but is 50% cheaper. Above both of these is the ZWO ASI 2600MC-PRO.

If you are confident the 12v supply is delivering the required power, it sounds like a fault. I would contact the supplier.

These look like a great idea. Do you know what they are called? I have a few m42 spacers that are stuck. These might be the answer.

23 minutes ago, powerlord said:

Startools (35 quid)

Affinity Photo (50 quid)

These are the two I use quite a lot and both are excellent value for money. I have also invested in Astro Pixel Processor which is not cheap, but I think is excellent for stacking and batch processing (except for £60/year a manual would be good).

Another useful tool if you get Affinity is the Astroflat Pro plug-in.

However, the best way of getting excellent results is the initial capture. There is no substitute for integration time.

12 minutes ago, AstroMuni said:

What software do you use? I am in same boat as you and having read up about this,it seems that one way to do that is isolate the stars into a layer so you get only the background to play with. Then play with this to remove background noise and bring out the nebula.

You can do this and it might give you a better result. However, by stretching your signal you will also be increasing the noise. With limited data, light sky and an unmodified camera I think you might struggle.

You could use a star removal tool such as Starnet++ which is a free download. Always worth trying.

Great to see the tracking issue is sorted.

I think 47 minutes is a pretty low amount of data - I think more subs will make a large difference. Also, At the moment there is no real astro darkness which will not help. A few hours in real darkness will start to pull out the details. Also, is your camera modified - this will improve the Ha signal

42 minutes ago, johninderby said:

Neither StellaLyra or TS provide any manual but fortunately Orion does.

If only the collimation is as easy as described......

Absolutely - dither with whatever camera you are using.

5 hours ago, Jay6879 said:

So could a cable snag or mechanical failure cause issues that occur at consistent repeatable intervals like what has happened?

No not really. But the interval between starting and failing is not the same on each log. It could be the mount sticking at a certain point in it's gear cycle. Have you checked the balance and weight of you set up. If the mount is near the limit of what it can carry / guide it is likely to be more of an issue.

I thought the ASI Air had built in guiding so you did not need to use PHD?

When I looked at the guide log it appeared to be trying to give a maximum 2000ms move (lines 371 up on the first log file) when the guiding went off. So PHD is 'seeing' the fault and trying to correct. This suggests to me that it is mechanical or a connection issue.

I am far from an expert in PHD guiding, but looking at the log files (with my basic interpretation) it almost looks like the tracking stops and then PHD is desperately trying to get the mount back on track. Is there any way you mount was stopping or sticking that stopped the tracking? Obviously the mount you are using is relatively lightweight so any snagging might stop the tracking or if the balance is out slightly that might cause it.

I know I had some problems with the mount suddenly stopping which made everything go haywire - but that was an issue with EQMOD and a loose connection.

I was looking at the Skymaster Pro's as an option. My guess the main difference is that the Pro's are purged and completely sealed so less risk of cloudy optics etc.

20 minutes ago, tomato said:

There is a view that I’m barmy to have invested in a dual rig of that scale in the cloudy UK, but I took the view that when it is clear I have a fighting chance of completing a full colour image before the clouds roll back in.

I'd like permission to buy one Esprit 150, let alone 2🤣 I'll have to make do with mirrors for now.😃