LaurenceT

It's possible, why do you think it may be the Barlow. It's a pretty good quality one if that makes any difference. Possibly a Powermate would be better?

My Domestic Financial Controller would kill me 😀

Yes I am imaging Jupiter quite high in the sky, I'll take a look at my colour balance technique in Registax.

Thanks for the replies everyone, most encouraging. I think my video images were too dark to avoid blowing out the highlights. Looking at YT tutorials their images were brighter. @Cosmic Geoff, I'm not clear what you mean by getting the clouds belts horizontal and de-flipping the image. Would an ADC help with the blue fringing? @Kon, I started looking at some YT tutorials for Astrosurface, thanks for the tip.

I made my first image 2 nights ago which I won't show😄 but I made some more last night which were much bigger video files. If possible I'd like some critical feedback. Equipment: Mak127, ASI224MC with Baader Hyperion barlow, Az GTi mount. Processed in PIPP, AutoStakkert and Registax, finished in DxO Photolab.

When setting up for an imaging session and giving the refractor time to cool down when should dew heaters be turned on, while the tube is cooling or when imaging session starts?

Thanks for that. I'll play around with a few of those options.

I'm really keen to broaden what I do with my little Askar FMA180 but I've had constant problems with attaching accessories like guide camera, Asiair etc. Although it's not had first light this is the rig I've come up with includes a mini EFW and my Asiair. I suppose I could without the filter wheel and just use that on my WO ZS61 rig. Be grateful for advice.

Thank you for a very detailed report, excellent images.

M27 is superb!

I've discovered that I need to show a little more patience and understanding using the Stellarmate app. Once I'd twigged that last night was more rewarding. @PeterC65 is definitely correct in that I need to understand the correct filters to apply to different targets so I'm going to configure my mini EFW for this. Just one image from last night I quite liked, NGC 6823, the final image in a stack of 6, slightly sharpened in Topaz Sharpen AI. Colours all wrong I know but the star weirdness disappears when I let things settle down and take a longer imaging run.

Yes sorry, I do mean that but it was only 4 or 5 images stacked before some weird artefacts were seen. I was hoping to try again tonight but with a filter this time but it looks cloudy. I think I might add my mini filter wheel to the train so I can use different filters. Edit: I've amended the number of stacked images because it was obvious that some background extraction had taken place so I had another look at the images on my iPad.

The Stellarmate app continues to frustrate, had to stop and start several times and some images showing weird star artefacts as seen in the Andromeda image. Possibly because I was experimenting with power sources for the Pi and discovered I was under powering it for about 30 minutes so may have corrupted the app, re-installed it today. Also forgot to put a uv/ir filter in front of the camera 😢. These images taken with the Askar FMA180, ASI533MCPro this time. All are single six second exposures with no post processing. Didn't appreciate the satellite streak on Andromeda 😄. Andromeda galaxy, crescent nebula and a nebula whose name I've forgotten!

I'm looking forward to using the FMA180 but I've had to do some lateral thinking in connecting it to my 224mc planetary camera, extension rings to get back focus. What app/system do you use for the stacking?

I think it's the third frame in the sequence, I was using 10 second exposures. Thanks for the comment, I was really surprised at how quickly such bright images showed on the iPad.

After a pretty frustrating first attempt at Stellarmate EAA with Live Stacking some months ago following Cuiv's YT video I decided to have another go. So last night I set up and was surprised that everything worked most of the time. I wasn't able to download a stacked image so this is just one of frames: Skywatcher Evoguide 50ED, ASI224mc, Az GTi in alt az mode. I was pretty astonished at how quickly the images showed up on the Ipad and how bright they were. I need to do more work of the focussing obviously but this little scope has a bit of history with me, I'm going to try it next with my Askar FMA180. No post processing has been done. IC 342, a spiral galaxy in Camelopardalis

I've been imaging for a couple of years so have a great deal to learn. I have an Askar FMA180 scope and although I'm quite happy with the few images I've taken there is the problem of blue star bloat. I know that the Astronomik L3 filter will address this problem and I have bought one but I'd also like to capture the colours of emission nebulae. Is it feasible to use an EFW with the L3 filter and also my Optolong L-Enhance? I will be using my ASI533mc pro camera.

I've apologized for the confusion already, is that ok?

As you can see when in alt az mode the levelling base is not visible so the mounts bubble must be used but when in eq mode the bases bubble is visible, sorry for the confusion.

Yes indeed you did. It does attach easily but you can't then have sight of the bubble on the levelling base as it's smaller than the mount so then have to rely on the mounts bubble. It's only when used when the mount is in eq mode that the based bubble is visible. I'll try and provide some photos later.

I've realised that I use it with the bubble on the mount as reference but it seems more accurate and much easier than levelling with the tripod legs, apologies🙄.

I found when I relied on the mount levelling bubble I had persistent errors so I used a levelling base that I already had from my landscape photography, that seemed to clear up the problems for me. ARTCISE LH6 Leveling Base,Ergonomics Locking Knob +/-15° Tilt Horizontal Adjustment Tripod Head Monopod Head for Canon Nikon Sony DSLR Camera,Max Load 20kg: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics & Photo

As has been said the Classified section here is the first choice but I have extensively used Facebook marketplace. There are 2 groups that are exclusively UK based and you can find them easily enough, both seem well moderated. Of course if you don't/won't use Facebook which is perfectly understandable then the other options can be explored. eBay is a dogs dinner and IMHO best avoided.

The BBC weather app shows a completely clear night, no clouds at all, however the ClearOutside app shows heavy cloud cover. Bit of a dilemma so what to do? Simples, I deleted ClearOutside and kept the BBC app so it's going to be clear. Just set up to do a whole nights astrophotography, what could go wrong?

I've wanted one of these for some time to avoid the snaking cables across the lawn when using my larger rig or the collection of power bricks when using my Az GTi when visiting family but I could never justify the expense to my Domestic Financial Supervisor. Of course I could easily justify it! Quite randomly I hit upon the Jackery website a couple of days ago while researching something else and was intrigued by the 40% Summer Sale price reduction. Because of the cut off date being the next day I hastily arranged a meeting with the DFS and received approval. The normal price is £260 and I got it for £158. It's the baby of their range but quite adequate for my needs.