M40

Hello cviacona and welcome to the site. Not sure if you have found it yet but in the resources section in the top menu you will find a field of view tool. This will give you an idea of what you could see both visually using the supplied eyepiece and from your chosen camera. 

I am not sure that the celestron mount is compatible with the asiair so please check that with your supplier. If they are not compatible then the camera, being a usb device, can be plugged straight into a laptop and images can be obtained using the free zwo software saving the need for the asiair.

All the best. 

Just to help in your searches, the seestar s50 is a new product due for release early July and the dwarf has been around a while now. Here is a discussion from this site...

Currently the seestar is at an early bird price so expect that to go up late June. At the top end of this type of telescope are the unistella and vaonis telescopes. 

+1 for the seestar s50 or the dwarf. The moon should work but planets though, my guess would be they are a non starter.

Hello and welcome to the site.  

Does it go to the correct position when you park scope at home position? If not, power off, release the clutches and manually park the scope at the home position then start again. Hope it helps. 

Ooops sorry, just read your post again and noted it's a star discovery mount, so no idea if the above will help. All the best. 

20 hours ago, Ratlet said:

She can keep them in the garage.

Now now, play nice, you do realise that people have died for less 😉

1 hour ago, Ratlet said:

Observatory.

Can you think how much yarn the lady wife could buy for the cost of an observatory? 😱🤣

I am now wondering how much space a 1000 balls of wool would take up 🤦‍♂️

1 hour ago, Elp said:

Get a smaller car... then extend the garage.

Can't get much smaller, the car in the garage is a Mini. I have a length of wood screwed to the floor to stop the car at the optimum point so the garage door shuts leaving just 50mm between door and car, the rest of the space is all mine

On 15/04/2023 at 13:05, Chaz2b said:

I would like to start, or see started, a dedicated thread for the Dwarf 2, but I am at a quandary as to where it should be placed. Whole set ups? Cameras?

As it’s a new technology goto there has been, and will for a while I’m sure, issues, that has been partly addressed in other forums and YouTube, but I feel there’s a better set of minds here, if I’m not being offensive to other forums, to access ideas and answers for such issues that may reveal themselves over time.

I think the images obtained would do well in the eeva section along with the info on the equipment used and settings etc. There is also the section: discussions - eeva equipment where maybe specific kit could have an owners thread? All the best. 

We have an open book policy in our house, if I say something like ooooh I want that gizmo, the response is usually great thats some more crafting stuff for me. So we have a Ratlet type problem, crafting stuff has taken over a bedroom and I can just squeeze the car in the garage. The challenge now though is I have to make a decision, do either extend the garage or sell the car? 🤦‍♂️

On 27/04/2023 at 06:43, 900SL said:

Indeed. I have been wondering why anybody would buy the dwarf II based on the images I have seen posted. It's cheap for a reason. It's rubbish

Up until 3 or so years ago, I had owned and driven classic mini's for over 40 years. The last mini I had was a 1999 version, but according to some, it was not a real mini because it never had a carburetor. As far as I am concerned, it was a different branch of the same hobby, not for all. Likewise the dwarf and the seestar are a different branch of our hobby, again clearly not for all. Roll on July, looking forward to another learning curve👌 

Just to add, I never liked the classic clubman, but did appreciate it for what it was and strangely we now have a 2013 clubman bond street. Goes to show you never know which branch of the hobby you will move into in the future

On 26/04/2023 at 19:55, LDW1 said:

I joined the SeeStar users group on FB to hopefully keep up with the future talk !

Keep us up to speed please as I for one, don't have an fb account. 

Don't forget that when you polar align you are not centering polaris in the eyepiece. Just to prove this you could center polaris in your polar scope and it should ideally be centered in your eyepiece. Then go on to polar align using your polar scope and you will see polaris shift in your eyepiece to the PA clock position.

Looks like most times if you lucky you can setup close to your car or somewhere safe so can I suggest that you go straight to the heq5 and work your budget around that. Budgetary constraints try a dslr and wide angle lens and see how you get on. 

Just to add, I recently started playing with the asiair plus and I think its superb. PA and then goto a target and solve, spot on. The aa+ works with some dslr cameras (never tried it) but the aa+ uses the main camera for PA, tracking and solving so you dont initially need a guide scope. So just if you feel this maybe a route for you in the future pick a dslr that is compatible with the aa+. All the best. 

Out of interest have you seen any info on the tripod thread size? I'm hoping it's a standard tripod thread.

Topic here in discussions whole setups 👌 I've also ordered one as I am hoping it will make for the perfect portable EEA setup when visiting or on hols. You can always tell when your kids/grand kids are really interested in stuff and they are always all over my existing grab and go so fingers crossed this works well.

Have you ever seen that film Labyrinth with David Bowie? Every time you start down a path, something changes. So take a step back and see where we are. You need a portable setup for AP and you have a budget of about 2K ish and it's hot where you are. 

You will need a battery pack for your mount and another for your camera and stuff. Very sensible and on the mark point from Olly, so ultimately think cooled camera and there goes a big chunk of your budget. You dont have to start with a cooled camera, you can start with an ok dslr and lens but you will need a tracking mount. The heq5 is portable, just, depends how far you have to move it. If it's far from your car, I would suggest forget it at this stage and now think azgti or star adventurer type of mount. A decent tripod is surprisingly expensive but imo essential. Can you setup close to your car? 

All the best.

We do like a challenge, it's got to look good as it's on view but not look so good as to attract unwanted attention 😉  have a look through the diy observatory posts as there are a few sentry box self builds out there but first thoughts are a dovecot may work. All the best. 

1 hour ago, Balthazar Saissore said:

So you are suggesting that I'd be better off ignoring the DSLR and try for a mount and telescope first

Sorry for confusing things. My current grab and go is heq5 tripod, battery pack, azgti with wedge and dslr but you could swap the dslr for a telescope and phone camera. You could also ditch the battery pack and use internal batteries on the azgti with a traditional camera tripod but I don't think you could start on AP with much less. If you started with dslr on a tripod you would be limited to exposure length so limiting what you can achieve. There are so many options it really is all about what you want to achieve and what can you sell on or take with you on the journey. 

Hello Balthazar, welcome to the site. You couldn't be more right in saying its overwhelming, thing is with this hobby is there is always something to learn. If you decide to go down the dslr route, have a look at some yt stuff on backyardeos. It's very good. One thing with that is that you will soon learn you need some sort of tracking mount if you are going to get the results you look like you are after, so thats what you need to concentrate on. As Elp said, look at the azgti owners thread and see what has been achieved and what they are using.

Don't forget that you probably already have a very capable camera in your mobile. A few pennies on a specialist app enabling you to fully control your camera could be a very good and cost effective first step. There is also a mobile imaging section on the site so have a look to see exactly what people are achieving.

I bought a used canon eos100D and never got it modified, I believe the mod removes some of the red?? Hopefully someone will correct me, anyway don't worry about getting it modified straight away, obtaining any sort of picture is a phenominal first step. 

So my thoughts are look to the mount, use your mobile or dslr and go from there. You will then know what you need to do to move forward. We all start somewhere, personally I started with a dob and mobile phone on the eyepiece. All the best and enjoy.

Looks like a perfect portable eea solution; far more compact and lightweight than what I currently use. Time is of the essence when on holiday or visiting and I am under orders by family to ensure I bring stuff so order placed look forward to receipt about July.

This has happened to me only once where the mount just disconnected and the aa+ locked up. Moving between two targets a neighbours house rudely jumped into the way and the whole lot just stopped. To reset it was power down goto home and start again, carefully avoiding said neighbours house. It may have been coincidence for me, but, did you by any chance cross something that blocked your telescopes view? If not, it would at least rule it out. All the best.

Many thanks, this will be one of those videos I look at more than once👌

I've never tried it, but I can’t see any reason why not other than it may block the polar scope?

Have a nose through the diy observatory posts, there are quite a few in there including my version. Footprint of mine is about 700x700. I tend to keep it under a trimmed down tg365 cover as it can get quite warm in there. All the best. 

16 hours ago, Nrmh02 said:

I’ve just received my eq6 r pro and needing to get some kinda power supply to it.

I bought the smaller version just over 4 years ago and it's still going strong albeit I only drive an azgti with it now. I also understand they are old school lead/acid type construction so expect that model to be heavy and like a car battery, it will have a lifespan. Another thing to consider is that flo dont seem to sell them which suggests that that item has been replaced with an alternative. All the best. 

Topic here you may find of interest.....

https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/46532-a-reminder-about-charging-your-powertanks/page/3/#comments