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deanchapman2705

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Everything posted by deanchapman2705

  1. deanchapman2705
    OMG good news! It's working now so I don't care how stupid the problem was! 😂 Turns out, I had the ST4 cable in the wrong port of the mount. You can even see from the pics that it's in the right side rather than the left! I think I was so worried about the guiding/software side of things that I forgot the simple stuff lol. Anyway, thanks for the advice!
  2. deanchapman2705
    Hi Michael, I'm not sure what you mean by "what Dec were you Calibrating at?" but what I do know is that I have set "Dec guide mode" to "Off" as explained in tutorials with this exact setup as it only applies to goto mounts if that's correct? My polar alignment is always very accurate and sometimes I check at the end to see if it changes but it's still accurate. If it wasn't, I assume the star would move in the calibration but in a bad way. That night of the log attached was fairly cloudy/misty which maybe why it looked out of focus but other nights it was clear and still had the problem. Next time there's a clear night, I'll try a calibration step of 3000ms and see if that helps. Thanks for the tips!
  3. deanchapman2705
    Hi, I'm new to this whole auto guiding thing so bare with me! So I have a iOptron SkyGuider Pro with a WO Zenithstar 61 and recently bought a ZWO ASI120MM Mini and guide scope to have a go at auto guiding. I followed tutorials online step by step (installing drivers, and changing the settings in PHD etc.) and managed to connect the camera and mount in PHD, start looping exposures and select a star. But when I start the calibration, it counts to 'west step 61' and comes up with "RA Calibration Failed: star did not move enough" I have tried reinstalling all drivers/software, using a different laptop and solutions other people have found do not help. Guide scope is focused and it's not trying to track a hot pixel. The star is supposed to move up and down as the mount moves during the calibration although nothing happens. So this makes me think there is something wrong with the mount or the ST4 cable from the camera to the mount. Cable securely clicks into both ends. I have heard the term "backlash" with mounts and not sure if this could be the cause? Not sure what this means or if this is possible with a star tracker? I can't seem to manually control the mount in PHD although I'm not sure what I'm doing. I can however, manually press the buttons on the mount itself and it moves fine. I've attached pictures of my setup along with the 'Guide Log' that people often ask for - PHD2_GuideLog_2021-08-23_225305.txt (Also, the total weight on the mount is 4.7kg and the max payload is 5kg for imaging so this should be fine?) Any Ideas? Let me know if you guys need anything else. Thanks, Dean Setup: iOptron Skyguider Pro WO Zenithstar 61 ii Guide Camera: ZWO ASI120MM Mini Guide Scope: 32mm F4 (focal length - 125mm)
  4. deanchapman2705
    *Moved to correct forum*
  5. deanchapman2705
    Looks like they have fixed the issue as it's working for me too now. Just bad timing that the camera arrived when the links were down lol Thanks everyone for your help!
  6. deanchapman2705
    Mine is 64 bit Did you try the download links though? The site itself works fine for me
  7. deanchapman2705
    That's good then. I take it you have the latest drivers installed? Would you be able to send them over if at all possible? Kind of need it for tonight...
  8. deanchapman2705
    Actually, I'm getting an error message when downloading the x64 drivers you've sent. I've tried on my PC and laptop, both get the same error... I'm using Windows 10 if that's any different to what you're using? Maybe it's too old?
  9. deanchapman2705
    Thanks Peter, yes if you could send over ASI studio as well that would be really helpful!
  10. deanchapman2705
    Hi, I've just bought a ZWO ASI 120MM Mini and need to download the drivers for it to connect to my laptop. Unfortunately, I'm just getting "Error establishing a database connection" when clicking on their download link... https://astronomy-imaging-camera.com/software-drivers I'm not sure how long this has been a problem or how long it will be until they do something - so was wondering if there is anyone out there that have the drivers already installed that I can use? (Windows 10 - 64 bit) Thanks, Dean
  11. deanchapman2705
    Thanks for the suggestion Callisto, however, without the dovetail plate, it becomes too back heavy. This would probably put stress on the motor if it's unbalanced
  12. deanchapman2705
    Thanks JemC - Ah, forgot that when I first measured it that it didn't have the flattener so I have just weighed it again with the scope and flattener along with the camera (with battery) and red dot finder etc and it comes to 2.8Kg and the counterweight is 1.4Kg. So in total, 4.2Kg. To be fair, it's not far off the weight limit but should still be okay and the fact that I can move the CW even further down and even buy an extension rod suggests it could take more weight.
  13. deanchapman2705
    Thanks Steve, that's a very good point. My patio slabs are quite wobbly when walking on them. The only problem though is that I set a timer for 10 secs before it starts taking 30, 1 minute, pictures and I go indoors for 30 mins before coming out again to check it. So can't see why it would be moving that much in-between. However, It might be what's causing the double stars though. With the star trails, I've never had any zig zag lines, just straight lines that all go in the same direction, all the same length. In fact, I've just flicked through the pics really quickly almost making an animation, and it looks like it drops slightly (creating a double star) and then over 10 pics, slowly corrects itself (creating trails) and keeps repeating... It's like it's tracking too fast, then stops to go back and starts again. The stars in the first and last pictures are pretty much in the exact same place as well.
  14. deanchapman2705
    Thanks PEMS, I polar align it almost perfectly every time and sometimes do it again half way through to check it and It's still perfect. For the weight, this was one of the things that concerned me at first (can't remember how much it weighed) but I do remember everything was under the weight limit for the tracker by quite a bit. I've seen people with an extension rod to fit two counter weights lower to balance their equipment, so I don't think that could be the problem. Thanks for the help though!
  15. deanchapman2705
    Hi guys, hoping you can help with the tracking problems I'm coming across with my astrophotography setup. I've been using it since August 2020 and have kind of put up with the problem until last night where I think it's getting worse... Specs below (let me know if you need anything else): William Optics Zenithstar 61 II (360mm F6.1) - Zenithstar 61Adjustable Field Flattener iOptron SkyGuider Pro Camera Mount Full Package K&F Concept Aluminium Tripod with 2kg weight Canon EOS 250d (cropped sensor 1.6x) The problem: I take roughly 40 pics with each being 1 minute long at 1600 ISO and stack them on DeepSkyStacker. From a few people I know on the internet, it seems as though, with a very similar setup and same focal length, they can get around 3 mins of exposure with no problem. And that's without a guide camera. With my 1 minute exposure, roughly 10 of 40 images are reasonable but the rest have star trailing or double stars (see attached downscaled, unedited pics of Orion nebula) What I think it could be: My first idea was the tripod, it's not the best but it's not cheap plastic, and it should be fine for a 1 min exposure. Then I thought it could be the iOptron tracker that could be faulty? Every screw has been tightened, there's no play in any of the adapters/mounts. I thought I'd post this here to see if anyone else has the same problem or has more experience/knowledge that could help. Also to see if there's an obvious problem before I spend hundreds on a new tripod or send the tracker back for a replacement. Any help would be much appreciated! Thanks, Dean
  16. deanchapman2705
    I didn't think about having a different mount actually... That's a good idea. The Omegon dobs look good and are cheaper than the Orion push-to as well. Just a shame they're in Germany 😞 I've found this company: https://www.tringastro.co.uk/dobsonian-91-c.asp and they have a store roughly an hour drive away (opening 16th July) and they have a decent range of dobs so I will be visiting them next weekend. They said they have a Sky-watcher 300 flex goto on show so I can see how loud they are in person. Haven't looked into Bresser dobs yet but looks like it could be another possibility if the goto is too loud. 👍
  17. deanchapman2705
    Thanks guys, I would normally buy things online but when it comes to something this expensive, I wouldn't want to take the risk of losing my money. If I needed to return it and Orion said no or just ignored me, then there's not much I can do but if I buy it from a store, then I can physically take it back. Looks like I'll just have to get the sky-watcher without the goto to avoid the noise and use that money I'll be saving to get the 10" with better eye pieces.
  18. deanchapman2705
    Hi, I'm relatively new to the whole telescope thing but have done my research and was fixed on getting the Orion skyquest XT8i or XT10i. By spending that much money, I didn't like the idea of purchasing it online from their website without seeing it in person (and not having the reassurance of being able to take it back) and looked for stores in the UK that would supply them. After plenty of research, it seems like they don't exist anymore and they are only in the US? Is this right or could anyone help me? (I've looked at the Sky-watcher 250PX/200PX flextube skyscan goto but it is significantly heavier and the noise of the goto mechanism sounds like a table saw so that's put me off of it...) Any help would be much appreciated, Thanks
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