LaurenceT

I've been looking at the development of these so-called smart telescopes for some time with a degree of envy and this Dwarf II certainly looks excellent value for money. However, if I buy anything new in the next few years I would face some serious problems domestically😄 so I've started to cobble together my own DIY version with existing gear. This setup is also covered by Cuiv on YT https://youtu.be/0JdtL950RjQ I managed to get it working yesterday using my Android phone but my Ipad wouldn't play ball.

Yes, I should have been clearer. I shouldn't have said "it seems that the item you have is this one". I'll leave this to the experts.

I'm also a relative newbie to all this but looking at the image and doing a search it seems that the item you have is this one: Motor Drive Celestron | Celestron Motor Dual | Motor Drive Cg-4 | Motor Drive Kit - Astronomical Accessary - Aliexpress Dual Axis Electric Motor Drive Kit for Celestron CG-4 SkyWatcher EQ3-D EQ3-W | eBay which doesn't appear to suitable for your EQ5 mount. I also have this mount as a GOTO and it's excellent. I'm sure somebody with infinitely more knowledge than me will come along soon to help you.

When opening the app there was an immediate update screen, was this to update the app or the Asiair firmware? I had some weird problems too, slewing to the opposite direction both for return to home position and also pointing to target. Demands to input guide camera specs despite there being no guide camera present and inability to select and slew to target from "tonight's best".

I had this identical scenario 2 nights ago. I've only been using the Az GTi in EQ mode for imaging for a few weeks since my back injury when I decided that moving my heavier mount around would not be a good idea. Two nights ago I was prompted to update the app as soon as I turned the Asiair on. PA was done fairly easily, I also like to return the mount to the home position using the app before selecting my target, I had read elsewhere it made things more accurate, but when I did so this time it slewed to a crazy position. I decided to start again so turned off the mount and manually returned the mount by loosening clutches to the home position and powered on. PA was done very quickly but when I searched for M42 in "tonights best" it would not slew when the green arrow was pressed so I selected it in the "slide out bit" in Preview mode . It responded but just like for @MonsterMagnet it pointed away from the target. So I started again but this time returned the mount to the home position by loosening clutches without turning off the power. Didn't do PA again but selected M42 as above and it slewed perfectly and I was able to get 80+ minutes of imaging. This behaviour must be update related as @Elp says so I must do some reading and try to roll ,the update back.

I imaged M42 last night for the first time (imaging novice). 41 lights only each 120secs before I began to image trees! ASI533mcpro, Asiair Pro, no guiding. so after some quick processing (APP and Photolab DXO3) here it is, there is blue fringing around stars so this needs to be addressed, the moon was very bright and quite close. There is another image with the sky not so darkened which shows an odd anomaly but I'll show that later.

That's quite some engineering Lee. Looks amazing, hope for great success.

Many people use the ZWO Asi224mc.

I knew you were joking😀. Focussing is a bit of a pain as the helical focuser has a massive travel but you get there in the end. A diagonal can't be used so it's a straight through job, not ideal although I didn't find it a problem the first time I tried it.

What did I use? What didn't I use!! I started with standard photo lens cleaner which left a smear so I followed that with camera sensor cleaning fluid which left more of a smear so I then tried isopropyl alcohol which left a smear so I breathed on it which made the smearing worse😢. The last two attempts were following information I got on the web which as we know is never wrong. Luckily for me someone I know locally who knows infinitely more than I do about all things astro has kindly offered to clean it for me. @Franklin I will try Jif, what could possibly go wrong......

I bought a used Evoguide 50ED some time ago with a view to using it as a lightweight imaging scope but almost immediately had the good fortune to acquire a WO ZS61 so the 50ED was never used for imaging, I have used it a few times for guiding. My recent back problems have led me to experimenting with ultra light setups again and I decided to sell on the the 50ED in favour of a mini guidescope I already had. Yesterday I decided to give the 50ED a bit of a spruce up before advertising it so I started by cleaning the lens. What a disaster, no matter what method I used the smears just kept piling up. I've been cleaning camera lenses most of my life so I thought I knew what I was doing, I should have read first that telescope lenses are quite different, so I have deemed this 50ED as not saleable. But what to do with it? I had a look at Andre Minoia's reviews of the 50ED and he had suggested it's possible use for observing and apart from one other fleeting mention elsewhere that was it! So I set about putting some gear together. From the ground up: my somewhat ancient but superb and incredibly light Gitzo G1227 reporter mountaineer carbon fibre tripod, topped with a small Manfrotto video head from my vast and embarrassing collection of unused photo accessories together with an Arca Swiss clamp. I had a WO dovetail bar lying around which has an Arca Swiss connection on the reverse side so I mounted the 50ED in it's 3d printed bracket onto the dovetail bar which then neatly seated on the video head. For eyepiece I selected my Svbony zoom. About 10pm yesterday I noticed the sky was extremely clear with some clouds threatening so I set up the new gear and quickly located M42. Not expecting very much at all from this I was amazed at how clear the viewing was. At the highest magnification I had a brilliant view of M42 with the nebulosity clearly visible. The clouds rolled in so I packed up and can't wait for the moon to show up. The whole thing is as light as a feather and I'd have no compunction in packing this (not including the tripod) in my standard photo back pack with room for still cameras etc.

Affinity Photo for Ipad does stacking as well as other good stuff.

I haven't had a chance to use it since then due to health reasons (sciatica!) but I did a test image the other night that I've not yet processed. The image in this thread came in from some criticism: pages 9 and 10, due to some red/blue star fringing which disappeared when reprocessed and also some comet shaped stars in the corners which could have been due to me not screwing in the camera 100% to the scope. Only a small extra turn but it may have made a difference. Frankly I can't see what's wrong with the stars in the corners but perhaps you could have a closer look at the corners in the image I've posted here. I would add that this image is not full sized, the revised image in the other thread was full size. The image you are looking at here was taken using an L-Enhance filter, I have considered getting the Astronomik L3 filter but I'm unsure whether if I could stack it with the L-Enhance or use it by itself and lose nebulosity. I'm not going to be the pixel peeper I was for years with my terrestrial photography as I'm now too old and too new to this hobby.

I've just seen a Canon FD 135mm F2.8 for sale, I've got an FD to Nex converter and a Nex T2 adapter so I could use it on my Sony A9 and also for astro with my Asi cameras, just don't tell my wife......

Can you all please stop posting stuff about 135mm prime lenses. It's probably my favourite focal length lens for "ordinary" photography and astro. I've had several of these over the years but sold them all on, and now I'm looking for yet another one thanks to you😄

Welcome, excellent image.

Welcome

I think that Point and Track is an excellent feature, the main challenge for a beginner like me is actually knowing in the first place whereabouts in the sky my target is. Once I've found it and selected it in the app then I have found the tracking is very good. I can then use my Turn Left at Orion book for star hopping.

I use the WO ZS61 as my main scope but since a recent back problem I've been intending to use it on my AZ GTI instead of the much heavier EQ5. Knowing the limited load capacity of the AZ GTI I weighed everything being: ZS61, FF, ASI533MC, mini guidescope, ASI120MM mini, ASIAIR Pro with mini router, ZWO EAF and dovetail bar, the whole lot came to 3.85 Kg. Close to the maximum for the mount in Alt Az mode but somewhat over the recommended limit for imaging but seeing how many people use greater loads than that on the AZ-GTI I'm quite prepared to take that chance.

Bear in mind that it's quite weighty, it was maneuvering mine out of the back door that did for my back recently but then I'm an idiot 😆 . It's a well known photography axiom that when it comes to tripods you can't have cheap, stable and light in one tripod. This Skywatcher tripod is quite cheap as they go and very stable so light it isn't.

I put mine on the Skywatcher stainless Steel tripod, very stable. https://www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-star-adventurer/sky-watcher-stainless-steel-175-tripod-with-38-thread.html

If you want some idea of how much you might need to pay for a modified dslr have a look here: https://cheapastrophotography.com/

It depends on the firmware version, if the dual mode firmware is installed then to use the mount in alt az mode then that mode is selected when the app starts and then the scope must be installed on the right of the mount. If the single use firmware is installed then the scope is connected to the mount on the left as you correctly indicate.

That is a step up from my Talentcells, you won't have problems using that. I have one with slightly less power and it powers my ASI533mc camera and a usb dew heater for some hours. I have a smaller one still and it powers the AZ GTi for hours also.

These adverse events seem to be quite common but they've never happened to me so I have no first hand experience. However, many of them seem to be connected with the altitude/latitude settings as transmitted by the tablet or phone being used. Another thought is that it may be connected with power supply. Some people have found that power from batteries is more prone to errors than using an external power source. I have always used a Talentcell power brick to power my AZ-GTI and I have had no problems.