StuartT

Does anyone ever use the focus assistant/autofocus in SharpCap? When I am doing stars, I always use NINA and the autofocus there is fantastic. But when I am doing the moon, I'd like to be able to use SharpCap's focusing aid. But I've read the documentation a few times now and I can't get it to work at all. My focuser is connected up in SharpCap and working normally, but I can't figure out what all the graphs mean or how to actually run an autofocus. Problem is there are no videos about it either! Thanks

Looking good! Hadn't spotted this thread before, but it's great to see step by step how you did it. Great job! One thing I've never understood about the Todmorden pier is why the pier adapter isn't screwed down tight and flat to the top of the pier. It always seems to be perched an inch above it just on the four bolts. Surely bolting it flat to the pier would be more stable? (I know I must be wrong, as everyone does it that way, but I don't understand why)

Yep, I bought mine from Dover too. Reasonable prices. Just had to wait a while

I can definitely vouch for the L Extreme! https://www.astrobin.com/wm7bzk/ https://www.astrobin.com/z8ufiy/B/ https://www.astrobin.com/phln6z/

It turns out they sent me the wrong one! 🤦‍♂️ With the ASI174mm guide camera this OAG has too small a prism and you get vignetting. SO annoying So now they've sent the proper one. So I can finally get going

Thanks. I have since found out from Stefan Berg that NINA does in fact set the values correctly in the driver, so it's all fine. I was only debayering the master bias out of curiosity, but I now understand that it doesn't matter.

Thanks so much for this @vlaiv - I always learn so much from your answers! 👍

Thanks Carole. So would it be correct to say that an OSC and Optolong L Extreme filter would be 'narrowband'? Or is the term reserved only for mono cameras shooting the separate filters?

Ok, full disclosure. I am still in the nursery area here. I don't use mono cameras. I'm only doing OSC imaging. But there's no harm in planning ahead right? I'll get to all this grownup black and white imaging at some point (maybe after I've mastered guiding) Can I just ask a very basic question here? I never quite understood what 'narrowband' means. Are we talking about taking separate black and white images and then combining them in Pixisnight (or something). Or are we talking about the kind of filters I regularly use with my OSC (such as the Optolong L Extreme) which restrict the image to 'narrow bands' (i.e. hydrogen alpha and O iii)?

If there is a need to add a luminance channel when RGB imaging, why not when SHO imaging?

Thanks. That's a great video, but I think I watched it before I had enough experience to fully appreciate it. I'll watch it again. This is the bit you're referring to. There's clearly a law of diminishing returns as you go cooler

looks interesting. I didn't know about this one. Thanks Mandy

this is a good point. Maybe -15 is overkill. Thanks

about 3 or 4 degrees What I've done now is to sit the camera on top of a freezer pack and it seems to be helping

let me clarify. I did in fact order from Starfield, but when it arrived, it had come from Ontario Telescope, so I guess Starfield sell on from there?

I have been making a darks library at -15C and find that during the longer exposures (180sec) the sensor starts to heat up and the cooler (working at 100%) is not able to hold the temperature. So I have to insert a long pause between each exposure to enable the cooler to get the sensor back down to -15C which makes the whole process very long! Has anyone else noticed this problem?

I bought the Apollo M mini for solar. I love it! I think mine came from Ontario Telescope

ZWO off axis guider. Finally I can really start using my new Edge 9.25" 😃

Now why didn't I think of this!! 🤦‍♂️

The bias frames from my ASI2600MC Pro have a colour gradient in them when de-bayered. (they look normal when un-debayered). I gather this is because of a white balance setting in the ZWO native driver for the camera which needs to be set at 50 someplace. But I am not sure where to set it! The alternative (apparently) is to use the ASCOM driver, but I think I'd prefer to solve the problem with the native driver as a first choice. Any ideas? Thanks

So how does that not obstruct the cooling fans? That's what I thought. And there's no other place light can get in, right? I guess I'd always wondered about the open fins on the cooler mechanism. But that shouldn't need covering up surely?

When shooting darks with my ASI2600MC I just screw in the camera cap (which has an o-ring) and assume this is light tight. But some people put the camera in a black bag too. My only problem with that is that it would mess up the cooling fan (as I am shooting darks at -15 C). So is it necessary to put the camera in a light tight bag?

pm sent

Thanks. That is an Optolong L Extreme. It's an amazing filter.

1h20m of data with the Esprit 150ED (reduced to f/5.6) and ASI2600MC Pro.