LaurenceT

Glad you're getting familiar with it. We live within earshot of the M3 so hearing the noise of an AzGti is the last thing neighbours are concerned about 🤣

I have been mounting my Maksutov 127 on my AZ GTi in Alt Az mode for lunar and planetary. This tube weighs only slightly less than the 130pds, I found that when using the Point and Track function it was much better when the mount was balanced with a counterweight, tracking was almost perfect. When not balanced there was much more drift noticeable. I was just using the single Star Adventurer counterweight with adapter.

Sad to read this, he always struck me as a very nice chap and very willing to offer sound advice.

Lovely image

Hi from a fellow Surrey forum member.

Interesting, that's how I power my Asiair when using my travel rig. I also power 2 dew heaters from the Asiair but haven't experienced any power problems. However I also power the AZ-GTI mount from a Talentcell power pack and my ZWO camera and guide camera from a second larger Talentcell power pack. The only other connections from the Asiair are the data cable from the camera and the EQDIR cable to the mount. It seems that our Asiair is very picky when it comes to power.

How were you powering your Asiair when that happened?

Thanks for your encouragement Lee 👍

Thinking more about this, I'd have to decide which Astronomik L filter to get (I'm currently researching this) and whether there would be any advantage of a fairly expensive luminance filter over my cheap Svbony UV/IR cut filter. Also, could you please explain to this novice what you mean by "apply as a luminance layer "? Thanks again for your help and advice.

That's a shame because the skies were pretty good last night. Is that scope your renovation project?

Another step forward tonight, first time I managed to organise guiding so increased subs to 120 seconds up from 60 seconds. Still haven't bitten the calibration files yet so that's my next adventure! 60x120secs subs, WO Z61, Asi533 MCPro, Evoguide 50ED with asi 120mm mini, Asiair Pro, Skywatcher EQ5 Goto. Processed in APP, DxoLab, Lightroom and Topaz. I wasn't sure about using a filter so I stuck on a Baader Moon and Skyglow filter to see what happens!

That's a decent tripod to eliminate vibration, should work very well. I'm no engineer but I'll have a think about your suggestion.

Good morning Lee, Generally I find the AZ5 quite good to use, the only real niggle is the backlash in the azimuth control. This was also apparent with my first copy which I had to return to FLO as the azimuth control eventually became so loose that simply changing the zoom settings in the eyepiece caused the mount to move so much the object disappeared from the view. I could have opened it up but didn't want to void the warranty. This copy still has some azimuth backlash but I can live with it. I think it's a good value for money mount despite the shortcoming, the slow motion controls are a must for me. What tripod will you be using?

One of hidden problems I have encountered with carbon fibre tripods is nothing to do with load capacity but more to do with the dampening of vibration through the legs. I had the Skywatcher tripod you mention and found it unsuitable for my Mak127 as the slightest touch on the focuser would generate unpleasant vibration in the eyepiece, an electronic focuser helped a bit but still wasn't really the answer. Being a hobby photographer of many years I had several tripods knocking around. In the end I settled on a quality CF Manfrotto tripod. There was an improvement but the addition of a tripod leg bag and a 4Kg kettle weight did the trick. The tripod in your link looks to be an excellent choice.

AFAIK it is important.

I've always taken that the home position of an alt az mount is that the mount itself should be level as shown in the bubble spirit level and that the scope should be level and pointed to true North. This is done before powering up the mount.

What mount are you using?

Last week I was doing some lunar and planetary imaging when quite suddenly my Ipad went blank and wouldn't restart. Apparently they have a sub-zero limit, I decided that if it was too cold for the Ipad it was probably too cold for me even dressed as I was.

Thanks for the replies, I do now understand what back focus is and probably more importantly, what it's not. I'll get those parfocal rings to see if they may help. I have managed to get focus during the day but it's not perfect which is the same as when capturing the lunar surface. I can focus enough to see craters and other features but the view is fuzzy and the results after processing are poor. The view about mono cameras being better for lunar makes interesting reading, the only one I own is the asi120mm mini that is attached to my guide scope, I'm naturally reluctant to remove it as it's well focused but I suppose I could always take exact measurements with an electronic vernier calipers which could make reconnection easy without having to refocus. I don't think that I could sneak a new camera past the ever vigilant Domestic Supervisor....

In contrast to the precise advice from ZWO regarding the 55mm backfocus on their cooled cameras the information about the imaging train for the Mak and asi224 is sketchy and varied. I've seen a ZWO document that suggests simply putting the camera into the visual back is enough and also advice about leaving the diagonal in place and replacing the eyepiece with the camera. None of this seems to work for me and my lunar images are very poorly focused. I came across this video: https://youtu.be/DVB7R6xdxQY and his imaging train involves using various Baader finetuning rings: Baader Hyperion Finetuning Ring | First Light Optics but he's very vague in describing exactly what his imaging train actually consists of although he does mention a barlow which I don't yet intend to use for lunar but will do so for planetary. As this setup seems to be a popular imaging solution I wonder if anyone can shed some light on this for me.

The Andomeda Galaxy was also my first target in deep sky a few weeks ago!

Well done, very nice image.

Looked to me like it was in Focus mode.

Try it in Preview mode.

Brilliant manual 🤣