Newforestgimp

Very interesting, so it could be employed as an unguided planetary imager , I notice it’s the 305 model again which then begs the question is it worth the extra £’s for a ZWO for example ? Or are we thinking the 305 is a better guide camera than the basic ZWO ? How is the 305 connected for guiding i can only see one port on the Camera ? im using a Windows 10 lappy so not sure about the driver issues. I have the SVBONY 9x50 finder/guide scope which as a finder works really well.

Well that sounds like a positive experience, I was potentially thinking of the sv205 purely on not wanting to spend too much for now. I have a few bits and bobs from svbony and have been impressed with them so far thanks for the positive report 👍

No, not really they just seemed an inexpensive way in to guiding. Interested if anyone is successfully guiding with any of them TBH or if someone had used them and found them to be not fit for purpose.

I guess that’s a NO then 😂

Hi All, is anybody using any of the SVBONY range of cameras to perform guiding duties only ? Not too interested in their imaging capabilities, coming from the position of “is sone guiding better than NO guiding ?” interested to hear from people using them or no longer use due to issues etc. cheers Andy

It’s got to be done hasn’t it 😎 thanks all, I have much to ponder 🤔

Just looking at price difference it’s really only £20 more for this than the mini version, did you guys buy as a dedicated guide camera or did you migrate it from imaging duties ? for me ATM the guiding side is the focus as I’ll continue with DSLR until I feel I’m up to another layer of complexity. thanks again chaps

I have a 50mm guide/finder scope on its way to replace my annoying red dot, Is this the mono version ? Any particular reason for this model over the mini version for example ?

Holy Moly !! I can see me using the 50” OLED in the lounge to use as a monitor for the laptop !! 😂 any thoughts on affordable Guide cameras ? It seems the ZWO s the ubiquitous choice but call me vain I like the purple on the Altair GPCAM 🙈 HNY

I do need to get a flattener, so yes aware of the limitations with current setup & only now learnt I could have framed subject using handset arrows so this was too far toward edge of frame. i have been thinking about the OVL Flattener but a bit sceptical as it seems too cheap compared to others but equally I don’t want to spend twice as much if it doesn’t perform any better ?

Yes I watched it and made notes, a step by step set of instructions but I get lost around creating the star masks etc, I’ll try like you say play/pause whilst editing alongside. Also the quality of the data he is using is better than I’ve captured so there’s a lot more signal to play with. I tried with the 30mins of andromeda I captured in a cloud window, although not the greatest the process is becoming a bit more natural...

I do like watching the Astrobiscuit guy as it’s more realistic, but would love to know how he’s getting free OTAs !!! finding GIMP a bit tricky to use, every layer looks the same 😂

Yet another good idea 💡 Thank you

Perfect thank you 👍👍

Hi All, im very new to this so this might seem a silly question. Once I’ve performed polar alignment and star alignment on my Goto mount I then slew to the target I wish to view/image, how can I reframe the target to compose an image ? Is it safe to use the arrow keys on the handset to centralise the object or move to capture second object in the same frame ? not sure if doing this will ruin the tracking or abort it ?

I’ve literally just tried the method that astrobackyard recommends, t-shirt over scope pointing at the morning sky, camera set to AV. There seemed to be a worrying strip of darkness across the top of the frame ?

Yeah I only took 10 Darks, I intended to take some BIAS frames too but got distracted when I noticed Orion had moved into view 🙈 need to suss a way of doing the FLATS without too much effort.

Lovely shot ! Think I made schoolboy error in choosing this as the first subject, I will stick to bigger and brighter for a while before returning to it.

Yea the framing was an issue, I was actually packing up when I turned and saw Orion’s Belt was now visible from my garden so I hastily slewed to the nebula and fired off a quick 30 exposures whilst putting stuff away and as it turned out the nebula was right at the edge of the frame so some of the stars have suffered (no flattener). I have a horrible feeling a dedicated Astro cam will start making sense 🙈

It’s top of my list actually when I realised I might just be able to reach it currently, keeping everything crossed for a clear window in the coming days 👍 Any other suggestions gratefully received, need to focus (excuse the pun) on targets that reveal if I’m doing the right things.

Thanks for the guidance, I did wonder how the Mag scale worked, makes sense now. As this was my first outing, first polar alignment, first mount/scope alignment I thought I would stay conservative on the exposure duration. I can just about make out the Crescent Neb when adjusting with GIMP & tbh I’m still pleased just the fact that I managed to get it in the frame at all as it was a finger in the air uneducated guess ! I will try pushing the exposure a bit more on next attempt. It’s a bit tricky trying to find suitable targets, from my garden I only have a limited sky window, generally SOUTH SOUTH/WEST & NORT WEST, the rest is obscured by houses etc. steep learning curve but that will make it more satisfying when/if I nail one 😉

Cheers, I’ll take a look 👍

Processed my first ever tracked image, I chose two targets as a bit restricted from my garden. Crescent Nebula and Orion Nebula, Orion Nebula came out ok but I need some pointers on basics of gimp, sone foolproof tutorials etc ? As I just can’t bring out much at all of the Crescent Neb, extremely faint from my 105 45second images using WO z61, DSLR, eqm-35

Wow !! This is what I need, it would be perfect for paddle boarding and kayaking !!!

Perfect thank you 👍