Steve143

Thanks again. I always use a gain of 101 with the 533MC Pro as it seems to be the optimum gain for this camera.

Wow!! Thank you so much! This is incredible. I shoot with an 80ED-R and all controlled with the ASIAIR Plus. Is there an easy way to measure LP and read noise with this setup? Thanks again.

Hi, I'm imaging with the ZWO 533MC Pro in Bortle 7 skies. I'm guiding and dithering and can get 300s exposures without any issues but would I be better off shooting 180s exposures given the quality of my skies? I seem to recall someone say that 180s exposures in such light-polluted skies are better than 300s exposures. However, during post-processing my images from 300s exposures look ok - just haven't tried 180s exposures yet to see if there is any significant difference. I also shoot with an L-Pro or L-extreme depending on the target. Thanks, Steve

Hi James, Will these macros work with v1.10.6 or do I need v2? Thanks.

Thanks everyone for your advice and comments. I'll look to recalibrate for each session to make sure the guiding is as optimal as possible.

Thanks. I'll run a new calibration next time I'm out and see if that makes a difference.

My EQM-35 is stiff too so I'm hoping the balance is correct. There is also some minor backlash in both RA and DEC so it would probably improve if I could remove that.

Yes, I always run the polar alignment routine before every session, check focus and then start guiding once on target.

Hi all, I'm currently autoguiding with the Plus and noticed last night that my guiding wasn't as good as previous sessions. It could be that my mount needs a bit of TLC as the guiding got worse when I was shooting near the zenith. Once I did the meridian flip it seemed to improve and then I went for another target lower in the sky and the guiding was better. Should I be running the calibration routine before every session or can a single calibration be used for multiple sessions? I usually don't break down my set up after a session as I normally just lift the whole thing in and out of the house whenever I get some clear skies, which isn't often at the moment. Thanks for any advice on running the guiding calibration routine in the ASIAIR app. Steve

That's a great image! I'm still collecting data on M31 in Bortle 7, but with all the clouds we've had recently it's taking a while to get enough data captured.

That's a really good image! It would be good to know how you processed this in Affinity Photo. I've just captured over 6 hours of data but my image doesn't look anywhere near this. Thanks.

I was out last night for the first time with the ASI533MC Pro and captured the Eastern Veil too. I still have some back focus issues to iron out but generally pleased with my first image using this camera. This was 10x 180s exposures and no calibration files.

That's a great image! M31 is one of my favourites and is just starting to come into view from my garden (it's above the trees and houses now!). I've just got the ASI533MC Pro so looking forward to trying this on M31 once the skies clear. Clear skies!

That's exactly what I thought - the advice seems to say to have the filter as close as possible to the sensor.

Hi Michael, I haven't tried it in front of the FR only because I thought any filter should be as close as possible to the sensor. I'll give it a go and see what happens. Thanks.

Thanks. That's what is looks like to me but before adding the filter drawer my images looked fine, so I can't understand now when I add in the 21mm from the filter drawer the sensor is too close.

Hi, I'm imaging with an Altair Starwave 80 ED-R with the Starwave 0.8x Reducer V3 and a Canon 70D. In the front of the reducer I have either an Optolong L-Pro or L-extreme, depending on the target. I also have a 5mm spacer in the imaging train and my image field looks ok (see single exposure of M27 below). I've just added a ZWO filter drawer so I can easily change between my two filters, but expected this to create elongated stars as it adds 21mm to the imaging train. However, when I took some images of M31 the stars in the corners look like what you would expect if the sensor was too close but it is now 21mm further away. I've included an image of M31 below. I've also included a photo of my current imaging train. Could this be due to sensor tilt or do I need to add additional spacers to obtain a correct back focus? Thanks.

Thanks. I'm not buying a new iPad with 4GB just to run the app. Can anyone recommend a good Android tablet for the ASIAIR app? Thanks.

I have a iPad Mini 3 with 1GB RAM that I'm using with the ASIAIR Plus. All the features of the AIR work fine except the Sky Atlas - I get the message that my device doesn't have enough RAM. I'm assuming I might get the same message when I try live stacking, but I haven't tried this feature yet. Does anyone know what is the minimum RAM requirement for the device running the ASIAIR Plus app to run the Sky Atlas feature? TIA.

I've just bought the 533 to replace my DSLR and I'm wondering where should I place the filters in my optical train. I have a UV/IR cut filter and the Optolong L-Pro and L-Extreme. My scope is an 80ED refractor with a 0.8x reducer/flattener. I also have a filter drawer that I'll use to change between the L-Pro and L-Extreme. All filters are 2" and I'm shooting from a Bortle 7/8 site. I was planning to place the UV/IR cut filter on the telescope end of my reducer/flattener and have the filter drawer between the telescope and the reducer/flattener. The schematic below shows how I plan to arrange the optical train. Is this the best way to place the filters or would you suggest a better layout? Thanks!

It can't just be exchange rate changes as the percentage increase varies from product to product - some are increased by over 10% while others by about 5%.

Looks like all ZWO products have just gone up in price. I have a few in my FLO wish list and every one has gone up! I didn't see that price increase announcement coming or I might have pulled the trigger on one of them.

do you know if there is one in Affinity Photo? I did just that and the new flats look a lot better. The histogram was just where it should be. I plan to use these new flats to reprocess my lights and hopefully it will improve the end result. I also managed to capture some additional exposure time on this target too which I hope helps with the SNR. So far I've got over 4 hours. Thanks again everyone for your comments and suggestions. I really appreciate everyone taking time to respond. Steve

No, it's a DSLR. The sensor temperature went from about 15 degrees to 20 during the session. I don't have any way to cool this camera - a cooled camera is on my wish list!!

Yes, I have a reducer/flattener which makes my scope f/5.6. I will collect more data but think I'm going to have to bite the bullet and start guiding to get anything more than 1-2 minute exposures with my setup. Thanks.