johngm

It could well be a problem with the motor control board or a software problem. It might be worth trying a factory reset on the hand controller. Did you purchase it New ?

I am trying to establish if its happening on both axis

Very strange Noise. Have you tried to move it yet with the Up/Down Left/Right large arrow keys ? all i could see you do in the video is slew via the goto function

Just looked at the images, and most definitely coma in the images rather than vignetting. More noticeable on M31

Cannot see your video

Forgot to add, coma corrector should help. With the improvement you've made though, may be worth trying flats though

Tell me about it (the weather i mean). I purchased an SX694 pro mono in the summer, with the weather and work commitments, ive managed 1 night (5 hours), of Ha data on the crescent Nebula 😔

Thats a fantastic improvement, and to be fair, I dont think you'll will gain much more if any with the 200p and full frame sensor.

Yes, Dithering has helped me greatly, especially more so with the DSLR. Its a fantastic aid to imaging.

Forgot to Add, dark frames are not matched on a DSLR. Your camera sensor may start off 21c at the start of an imaging run, but at the end, could be 29c, so darks dont really help, especially when using long exposures

I would personally be proud of those images, well captured. 👍 I noticed with the heart nebula, you used 5 min exposures, unfortunately, iv'e noticed when using my Canon 100D, when i go above 3 mins the noise levels become a lot worse. I also try and keep my ISO to between 400 or 800. Do you Dither ? i also find this helps greatly. I have a large dither every 3rd frame, also, i find when dithering, it eliminates the need for dark frames, so although your captures take longer, you save time taking darks. John

Forgot to add, with the clutches locked, make sure you cannot physically turn the mount by hand. Just place your hand on the counterweight bar, and gently push on it, see if you can move it. Only need light pressure. If it moves, then your clutches aren't engaging. You can try this before you power it up. Don't push to hard though, because no matter how good the clutches, it will move.

No, clutches need to remain locked. Lock clutches, power up mount, then operate the up/down and left/right arrow keys on the hand controller. Left/right is your Ra movement, and up down is you Dec movement. and has as been said, make sure your speed is set to 9 John

Have you tried moving the mount off the hand controller in both RA and DEC ?

If its in very good condition, the main consensus is around 2/3 of the retail price. I certainly wouldn't pay more than that, when you consider you get full warranty with a new scope

That is superb for a second attempt. You even managed to capture the trapezium. Well done 👍 John

I'm interested in this post to.

Very nice detail there Phil, and welcome back 👍

Then you will be able to use the same darks, so long as they are at the same exposure length and temperature, and stack them all together . Another tip when using DSS, i only stack the best 90% of the images, and even down to 80% if seeing conditions vary greatly. DSS will exclude your worse subs in stacking. John

What was your Ha subs taken with ? DSLR or dedicated Cooled Astro Cam ? john

I use this with my AZ-GTI mount in EQ mode and works a treat https://www.altairastro.com/altair-60-edf-doublet-refractor-telescope-450-p.asp. Its less than £500 with the flattener, 200 quid cheaper than the red cat. Here is shot of M31 i took with it from 4hrs in my borttle 6, 19.5 SQM backyard sky, using an unmodified canon 100D and Asronomik CLS cip filter. Not the best processed image, but will give you some idea

This may be usefull https://www.galactic-hunter.com/post/hargbcompositetutorialpixinsight John

I may be wrong, but i thought the ASIair pro only supported ZWO cameras and Canon/Nikon DSLR's ?

I use my guide scope camera via Sharp cap polar alignment routine. Works a treat 👍

I used a guy in Nottingham called Astronomiser, http://www.astronomiser.co.uk/ Fantastic job and turn around, but mine was a canon, but it might be worthwhile dropping him a message John