Lucas Barclay

Hello everyone! I hope you are all doing well! I just had a quick question about a possible upgrade to my current rig. At the moment I have a nexstar 5se and a ASI 178mm. This rig has a very high focal length which I find is great for galaxies and planetary nebula but with bright and larger nebula it seems to not show anything (I presume this is due to its high focal length). Would it be better to invest into a better mount or possibly getting a refractor telescope with a shorter focal length? Or maybe even a better dedicated astronomy camera?

Update - I have changed back to my original setup since I just realised that the LNB would prevent me from seeing any activity along the hydrogen line..

(Here are some images of the setup by the way, and a screenshot of what has come through so far with the new antenna)

Thank you for the response, I have recently changed the antenna I've been using from a custom built one I made to a generic satellite dish to see if this is any more reliable (I still have yet to test it). In terms of the other hardware Im using, I am using some RG59 coaxial cable, a sawbird H1 and a nooelec nesdr smart V4. Im also using SDR# to read the signal.. Thank you for the help!

Good evening, I have been trying to observe the hydrogen line for sometime now and I have this curve using IF average.. At the moment the area of the sky I am pointing my antenna at is not emitting many hydrogen emissions but I was wondering if this graph was normal for this, thanks!

Recently I've been considering getting a light pollution filter for my horribly light polluted skies. However I have a monochrome camera and I'm not sure if any of the Optolong L-pro light pollution filters will have much effect on a monochrome camera or if I should buy something like a Ha filter... Looking for recommendations!

Ah I see, is there a link you could attach to do with binning? I've definitely come across the terminology before but never tried the process myself.

Oh! Do you think this would work with my setup? The reducer and 178MM? Love the image of the cluster!

Oh! Thank you for all this information this is very useful to me! Do you think it would be a good idea to go for the 178MM and a reducer like the one you linked? I'm happy to see that the 178MM can achieve a good sensitivity since it has such a better sensor size and resolution compared to the 224 (although bin x2 would reduce the resolution).

Oh this does change my view quite a bit I hadn't realized that.. I had read on one website it was less sensitive but after what you have told me it makes sense how the 178MM has the potential to be more sensitive. I'm not sure if this would work with my rig and conditions however. Thank you for letting me know about this!

That looks like a definite possible option, do you know any good motorized mounts? I've noticed a lot of equatorial mounts can be quite expensive on the market, cheers for these suggestions!

Ah I see that does help quite a bit. I had a little look around for a cheaper 174MM but after looking on ebay and other websites they actually seem more expensive than on the pricing found on the ZWO website, oddly. How short would these exposures be on the telescope? Thank you for all the help!

Oh! Thank you for the links they are very helpful, In terms of my equipment I have a Nexstar 5SE with the mount it came with. Granted it may not be the best deep sky telescope. At the moment I have some coloured filters (RGB) however I am looking towards buying a Ha filter for shooting some nebulae. I live around Surrey, the light pollution isn't amazing yet surprisingly I have been able to get some good sights which I was not expecting. A filter wheel does sound like some good equipment to have at hand, Ill have to check that out too.. I imagine my circumstances are more suited for planetary imaging but I would love to hear your take on it. Thank you!

I do have some filters and was hoping to go for a mono camera but sadly the ASI385 doesn't come in a mono option.. Noticing the sensitivity was higher on the 385 I thought it may be a better option to the 178 but I am not exactly sure. Have you tried deep sky imaging on the 178MM? If so could you show me some examples and give your experience? It would be a great help!

Ah I see, how would you compare it to the ASI385MC? I've heard the resolution is worse but sensitivity is a lot better on the 385, would be interested to see how it compares to the ASI178MM!

Oh yes I should have mentioned, I do have access to some coloured filters and considering getting a H-alpha filter soon too.. Those images look very impressive, will have to look into the ASI385mc, looks very interesting. Thank you for the help!

Hello all, I'm currently looking at some of the ZWO camera's and the 178MM has caught my eye however, I found out the sensitivity of the sensor is much lower compared to the ASI224MC... Yet the resolution and sensor size is much larger on the 178MM. Would the 178MM still be valid for some deep sky imaging? Any other recommendations of cameras by ZWO or other cameras around the price of £200-£400 would be much appreciated!