BobInYorkshire

I purchased a Skywatcher AZ-EQ6 GT Mount from RVO last September. After a couple of months it developed a small fault, it wouldn’t work with my Synscan adaptor so I reached out to Adam at RVO. I won’t bore you with the details but Adam went out of his way to sort this out for me, making me a very happy man.

Thanks a lot for that, it’s something that’s puzzled me for a while and I couldn’t find any information on YouTube.

I’m still very new at this and so far I’ve only stacked subs taken with the same exposure. If I try to stack subs with different exposures but at the same gain and temperature do I put them all into DSS or similar and stack together or do I process them separately? That then leads on to the question of what do I do about calibration frames? Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, that’s tempting but I know I’d end up buying another guide scope, guide cam, etc, etc as I wouldn’t want to strip down one rig to put it on the other if you know what I mean and it would end in divorce or my death. 😁😁

I have a Skywatcher 100ED-Pro with the Skywatcher 0.85 focal reducer. Are there any others available below 0.85 magnification. I’ve been on Google but I’m a relative newbie and can’t seem to find any information and if there are will one give me a wider fov?

I bought one of these last week for my Nikon and it works a treat. https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07FBGQ84S/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

That’s what I ended up doing but to do that I had to disconnect my camera from the AAP which meant I had to use the files on my camera micro sd card. As it was done that way they then have to be manually sorted when I transfer them to my computer whereas if they could be done on the AAP they would all be in their relative file folders, Lights, Bias, Darks, Flats and in the same file format. I was hoping there was a way to take them all with the AAP. I should add I’m new to this so still learning.

My first time using the AAP last night and everything went more or less to plan except when I tried to take flat frames. I used the white cloth method with a dedicated light panel but every time I tried to take them the AAP said it couldn’t calibrate and to alter gain, etc. I had several goes at altering the ISO and also the brightness of the light panel but failed miserably. I’ve looked on YouTube but can’t find any videos about this specific scenario although there are plenty showing how to take them with dedicated astro camera and also plenty showing how to take them with a DSLR as a standalone camera. Any advice will be greatly appreciated. Bob

You can also buy a hand controller that just plugs into a port on the side of the EAF. I just got my EAF, Controller and temperature sensor delivered today, it was a bit of a faff fitting it as I had to modify the mounting plate slightly to get the screws to align but it’s up and running now. I just need a clear night to try it out but I think I’ve more chance of winning the lottery than that at the moment here in North Yorkshire.

Now the head scratching begins.

I got a message from FLO, mine arrives on Monday and clear sky is forecast.

Thanks, I’ll bear that in mind for my next one, given the cloud cover we are getting it may be a long time coming. 😊😊

I’ve already got that thanks but I decided to use Affinity as I’m pretty familiar with it having used it for a year or two for my landscape photos.

Thanks, I did try hard but I suspect it was more luck than judgement. 😁

Brilliant, those are the leads I’ve been searching for, many thanks.

I’m the same in that I too don’t like using maims power outside. I have a 110ah leisure battery and one of these to power my mount and was thinking of adding the three way adaptor shown below that to power the ASiAir and the camera. It’s just getting the actual cable with the DC plug on the end that I’m struggling to find.

Thanks for clarifying that for me, I really appreciate it.

I’ve just been and looked at the ASiAir Pro page, it can’t power the camera unless I’ve interpreted that wrong. I’m not sure if that’s referring to the USB ports or the power ports. Definitely ringing FLO tomorrow.

Thanks but I thought to use the cooling on the camera it had to have a separate 12v supply however I’m probably wrong! 😁 It might be best just to ring FLO tomorrow.

I’ve got an ASiAir on order and at some point will be buying a ZWO cooled camera. As far as I can tell I need to use a 12v supply to both. I will be connecting them to a 12v leisure battery but I’m struggling to find anywhere to get the necessary leads. Any help will be greatly appreciated. Bob

Thanks, it might be worth holding off until I get some more imaging sessions in and then process them together in the thirty day trial period.

Hi Francis, Please forgive my ignorance but what is APP? When I put that into Google it comes up with loads of “apps”. Regards Bob

Hi Bryan, I've just had half an hour messing with Affinity Photo followed up by a bit more tweaking in Luminar A.I. Here is the PNG version. Thanks Bob

It will be Affinity Photo and I might also try editing the stacked image in Luminar A.I. as I have both of those already. I might even try stacking them in Affinity as the latest version has a dedicated astrophotography tool for that.

Thanks, I’m going to have another go at the processing tonight, fingers crossed.