Osiris777

Isn't it such a great feeling capturing your first target!? I would say, after viewing a lot of folks images on here and on astro bin, getting proper framing is almost as important as the target itself (I have a tendency to overcrop and zoom too far in for my final image, losing perspective and resolution). With the 61, I'd think you'd be able to have a great field of view with the nebula at center and a nice wide border. Just my .02c, and great job getting your first image!!

Looks aside.. do you think a telrad is going to be too much for a small refractor? (WO Z73)

I purchased one of these, and the bracket they sent me doesn't fit in my HEQ-5 Pro. So I have another that I've been waiting to arrive... unfortunately the tracking hasn't been updated in days, it's stuck at the "Accepted by airline, started customs clearance" . I'm excited to try this out, as it should make polar aligning a very quick process *hopefully*

This definitely seems like a great, and cost effective way to keep the cable kraken at bay. I just started out, but I'm quickly realizing just how much of a rats nest the wires can turn into.

I'm curious what are some pieces of equipment, extras, accessories, homemade or purchased that have made your life easier (I'm asking more from the side of imaging, but likewise for observing), as I'm still in my infancy in this hobby and I'd imagine there are a lot of simple things that have made people's lives easier, caused less headaches, etc. What are the things that you are so glad you added to your kit besides the scope, mount, lenses, etc.?? Thanks!

1). I just realized whenever I was trying the guide cam in the daytime, I don't think I ever adjusted the exposure down... I assumed it was just "too bright" when I took the lens cap off and assumed it needed to be dark to use it DOH!🙈 2) Ok I think you are making this plate solving sound extremely attractive to me now lol 3) I just realized.. my brain must be mushing up from the weekend. "For most cables, that is in fact the max number of ends" LOL! I believe I just had the USB-whatever that mini connector is into the guide cam connecting the cam > pc. Then, a phone-jack type, RJ.... something?? that connected from cam guide port > mount guide port. Mount wasn't directly connected to PC at all, it just has the synscan controller.

Setting up in Daytime would be a huge boost to my survival lol, especially as we get into the heart of winter, it really gets frigid up here in the northeast! Do you have some tutorials/recommend videos or pages that would point me in the right direction? Thanks a bunch!

So anyone who saw my first light post is aware that I feel like I'm swimming in the deep end of the pool, with only you folks as my life preserver haha! 1) I tried, unsuccessfully last night to attempt using my guide scope for the first time. I have the ASI120 and the WO 50mm guide scope (the red/white one with the connected dovetail and rotolock). I put the camera in and tightened the rotolock, but realized I have no idea how much back focus and also as importantly where to measure back focus from. The cam came with a couple extenders of varying size, and obviously I have quite a bit of distance the cam itself can travel while still staying attached. When I connected to the comp, I got the drivers and had it running in phd (also my first time using PhD), I adjust the gain/brightness/whatever the word is, until it was light enough that I def should have seen some stars, and couldn't see any, so I assume I'm just incredibly out of focus. Any help here? 2) Should I get a red dot/telrad/holographic site to put alongside or above somewhere to help with alignment? Or once I get the guide scope functioning will that work to help with alignment? My problem is that after polar aligning, and I slew to a star for the first of the 3 star alignment, I can spend literally 20-30 minutes just guessing which direction the mount needs to go to find the target star as I can't see it in my live view on the camera. 3) I connected the cable from guide cam into mount, and then other end into comp. I still had the hand controller connected, but when I opened PhD, it recognized the camera and mount. I wasn't sure if something was messed up, since I assumed I'd need to plug the mount directly into the pc to recognize it? (I may be insane, but could it be recognizing it via the connection through the guide cam??) Thanks for the help folks, I'm praying I have everything sorted out in time for the next new moon in a couple weeks!

I got frustrated looking at all of the software available on PC but not Mac.. so I got a super cheap PC laptop on Amazon, and going to do all my guiding, capturing, and stacking on that comp. My gf got me photoshop for Christmas for my MacBook Pro, so I'm going to be taking the stacked images off the PC then import into my Mac for processing the stacked file.

I want to learn with my current gear, before adding another variable to the mix.. I'm feeling pretty overwhelmed just trying to figure out basic star alignment and setting up for guiding. I assume as things move along, this may definitely be the way to go, thanks for your advice!

I was using Gimp to process, and yea.. I think as a newcomer, I definitely overdid it on clipping the dark side. My GF got me Photoshop elements for Christmas (along with a copy of the deep sky imaging primer), so I'm excited to improve the processing side as I gain experience. Thanks for the encouraging words!

Camera is just a stock T3 Canon. My dad's house is just on the edge between a Bottle 3 and 2, and looking northeast is the direction of M45 which is pretty dark. I can't wait to give it a try during the next new moon, as I'll hopefully have a lot more of the basic stuff down to get some good amount of data on this one. It's going to be my main target for the next time up there.

I was just about to say, reading the Charlie-fox comment you might be military haha. I was an 11b in the Army, 2004-2008, and I will definitely be going with a checklist.. and the "slow is smooth, smooth is fast" mantra next time I'm out (hopefully this weekend will give some chances to start drilling in the sequence, as it's going to be bright and I won't be concerned with getting any long deep exposures). I'm still [removed word] the pole master adapter doesn't fit, and supposedly the new one is coming from somewhere in Russia in the next "1-45 days" according to the 'tracking'. This will give me a chance to actually go through the calibration of the polar scope, properly setting home position, and actually *hopefully* perform a halfway decent manual polar alignment. I'm going to do as you suggest and practice this in the daylight as well, when not sub-zero and since I'll be trying to connect PC and run with the guide scope and cam it will add yet another degree of complexity (as this will be the first run with that as well). Found some great tube tutorials that should hopefully be a guide to walk through the whole thing. Anyhow, it seems like I'm about running as I should at this point lol I can imagine the joy felt some months down the line when everything finally runs "right" for a full sequence of shots to get a truly great image... sort of need all these pull your hair out nights to appreciate it!

Oh jeez.. I should have done some research, thanks a ton Shimonu. It even has the distances marked lol 🙈😅

I didn't check the back focus, dumb question... but where am I measuring from where to where? I understand, that makes sense that it would all look warped if it wasn't due to warping at the edges (and the images I posted were cropped, the full frame was actually even worse at the edges). I just used Siri for stacking and then Gimp for the editing. I know I'm making a lot of newb mistakes with the editing, but basically I just wanted to get something pleasing to the eye. Just adjusted levels, some quick curves, contrast, and some saturation. I just really hope there isn't any issue with the scope, re: the bizarre star spikes. Anyone else with Z73 had that issue?