Priesters

No worries, thanks for having a think about it. Hopefully clear skies again tonight so I’ll have another go. 🤞

This was the star I centred and PHD chose a star nearby so I think I was ok from that aspect

Hi, I wasted quite a bit of time of last nights clear sky struggling to get PHD2 to calibrate. It failed each time giving me a message of ‘RA calibration failed : star did not move enough’. My set up is a little unusual as below: guide scope - Evoguide 50 - focal length 242mm guide cam - zwo asi 294mc (4.63 um), binning x1 is there a fundamental problem with the set up that you can see or any other tips if you’ve experienced anything similar? I tried running the new wizard set up and even uninstalling PHD2 and reinstalling. just for reference, the imaging set up is a Meade 8” lx200, focal length 2000, with a 0.62 reducer, bin x2, and a zwo asi 294mc pro so I think if I do manage to eventually calibrate the guide vs imaging scale with be ok ish. any help would be much appreciated. andrew

Great images - would love to be able to capture that level of detail myself. On the weather front, you are right, it’s looking a little better but ironically the moonless clear night predicted below is just before I’m due back at work. 🙄 I might just have to be a little more tired and grumpy than usual on a first day back after a break 😂

I’ve just received one of these. Not used it yet but feels very well made. https://www.365astronomy.com/365Astronomy-Deluxe-Multi-Reticle-Red-Dot-Finderscope-Metal-Body-RED-GREEN-LED-wide-base?search=Red dot

Thanks all - I’ll have a dabble with those suggestions.

Just looking for a diagnosis on this image if anyone can help? I was trying guiding with my Evoguide 50 for the first time and after a frustrating session (which is another subject) I thought I'd just see what images you can get from it. I have the Skywatcher dedicated field flattener for the Evoguide so I used that and the attached image is the result. Please bear in mind its only 800s so its not meant to be a work of art! What I did notice is round stars mainly, apart from the bottom left. Can anyone diagnose the issue? Thanks Andrew

I’d like to thank you Chris for teaching me those bad habits 😂. I spent a couple of hours last night using GIMP to improve the photos I’ve taken using SharpCap over the last 12 months and I’m delighted with the results. To date, I’d left post processing on the ‘too hard’ shelf. I also think it’s very brave to put yourself out there on YouTube and post on SGL knowing your work will be scrutinised. I’m glad to see the feedback has been nothing but highly constructive which is typical of the supportive community we have on SGL. I’m just hoping that this sets a challenge for all the experts out there and we’ll see lots more end to end tutorials for beginners like me. 🤞

Pretty grim in the Lake District too. My home is near Burnley but we have a caravan that we keep at a site near Windermere. Made the mistake of ignoring the forecasts and had a pretty bumpy night and then woke up to a caravan nearby to us looking like this. No one hurt fortunately.

Link to videos on how it works for Newts and SCTs. https://www.firstlightoptics.com/other-collimation-tools/ocal-electronic-collimator.html

Same here. I think there were two in stock from Flo and I got the other one 😂. Photos attached to show what collimating an SCT looks like. Pretty simple and I’m really pleased with it.

Actually just checked the specs on Flo and OpticStar and the weights are almost identical.

A new Meade 8” ACF sells for £1322 and the Celestron Edge 8” sells for £1700. Seems a big difference - am I comparing apples to pears though? Not sure about the weight aspect as I don’t own both scopes.

Definitely interested. 👍

Good advice from everyone. Only thing I’d add is that the Star Sense SCT will have a front corrector plate and so the day after you first get to use it in anger you will be buying a dew shield and then probably a dew controller with a dew heater band which is additional cost you might not have factored in. The reason is that the corrector plate will fog up very quickly as soon as there is any moisture in the atmosphere, which in my experience, happens a lot. For the record I’m an SCT owner and I love it but thought you should know about this. DOBs are not immune to dew either but nowhere near as susceptible as SCTs.

Yep, want one too but can someone tell me where/how I attach my 32mm panaview?

Totally agree with the others on the EP, Telrad and Collimation advice. One thing I add though is do enough reading about how to check collimation and if it’s ok/good enough - leave it alone. Collimation is important but as a relative newbie myself once you start twiddling things to try and get ‘perfect’ collimation it can be frustrating time consuming exercise that detracts from your overall enjoyment of the hobby. If it does need doing, SGL has loads of advice in the forums and even better join a club and I’m sure you’ll get plenty of help there. Oh, and remember to let your son have a look through the EP from time to time 😂

If it’s any comfort mine is a new Mount too and, so far, I have only connected via the USB port on the Mount using the SynScan Pro driver/app. A bit like you I couldn’t get it to talk via EQMOD so I gave up as I already had an EQDIR cable. I’ve just used that since and not gone back to trying to solve the problem.

Sounds like you know a lot more about PC’s / Coms ports than I do but have you changed the ‘Baud rate’ in EQMOD which I think you need to do if connecting via USB? Personally I use the EQDIR cable referenced previously plugged in to where the hand controller used to go and use a wireless gamepad controller for basic hand controller movements. This YouTube goes through setting up via USB. Sorry if I’m telling you things you already know.

Or at least it is to me! After reading an awful thread from someone else in which a lot of damage appears to have been done due to a simple mistake I want to check the safety of my own set up if someone wouldn’t mind confirming. The picture below shows a StarTech USB 3 hub which requires a 12v 3amp supply directly plugged in to my Powerbank with a 12v 10amp output. Is this ok? I also have a StarTech USB extender over Cat5/6 unit for longer distances between laptop and scope. This cat5/6 unit requires a 5v 2amp supply. I am planning on connecting this to the Powerbank via the car charger shown in the second photo which I believe drops the voltage down from 12v to 5v and 2.1amps. Same question - is this ok? I’ll obviously take great care not to get the two mixed up and supply 12v to the Cat 5/6 unit. Thanks Andrew

Me too 👍

Just to conclude. Walked 1/4 mile up a country lane from the caravan site last night and set the Orion Table Top on top of a handy boulder and spent a very pleasurable couple of hours viewing Saturn, Jupiter and its moons without any technical hitches and the best seeing I think I’ve ever experienced so far plus glimpsed a couple of meteors. Tonight looks even better so I’ll be out again in half an hour. If this carries on Flo’s share price might drop! (Just kidding Flo, please may I have my EQ6R Pro and Optec Lepus Reducer whenever you’re ready 😂)

This time next week it will be exactly 3 years since my wife, daughter and son made the terrible, terrible decision to buy me a Celestron Astromaster 76EQ for my 48th birthday. Little did they know just how much of the family money I would subsequently pour in to this new found passion. Tonight I have returned to basics, looking at the moon and later hoping to get a glimpse of Saturn’s rings through an actual eyepiece rather than lap top, camera etc. I’m posting here as I’ve learnt so much from this site and have never properly said hello to everyone and thanked you all for being such a wonderful, knowledgeable and sharing community. And yes, maybe I have had one or two of those Cobra lagers you can see in the pic. All the best. Andrew

Good advice from the others but I also suspect the heat last night may have been the main factor in your neighbours poor sleep pattern. I certainly struggled to sleep well and had a window wide open. When it’s -5 in winter you may find it less of an issue but best to try and keep neighbourly relations positive in the meantime.