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 ?

1 minute ago, johngm said:

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

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 

2 minutes ago, Mohib said:

Yep I made sure they’re locked and it doesn’t slew. Please check the video I posted 

Cannot see your video 

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

1 minute ago, Nicola Hannah Butterfield said:

Just got to wait for some new bolts for the mount (on order), and some clear weather, which has been in short abundance these last 4 months, and virtually non since I got the guide scope bar a quick test with it last Friday. If this all goes well coma corrector next purchase, but before I do that, I want to see what improvement this will make, the improvement should also help in stacking.

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.

1 minute ago, Snoani said:

Thank you for your input.  

I forgot to mention that the Heart Nebula was taken using the Optolong L-Extreme filter, so the longer exposure time was to compensate for that, but I think that it has also produced a better image because of it.  While I dithered and used darks on Orion, the Heart Nebula was dithered only, this was because there was a 8 degree different between my lights and darks I took and so I felt it better to just not use them.  I haven't made the full step of dithering only yet as I have read that there is an advantage of dithering and darks.  

I have only just started dithering properly.  I had dithering set previously but didn't set a distance so I think I was originally dithering by about 1/2 a pixel.  Now it is dithering properly, I have noticed a huge difference in the quality of the stacked image and no longer experience the walking noise that I was battling before.  It has made a massive difference.  

 

 

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. 

50 minutes ago, Mohib said:

Do you mean manually? Unlocking the clutch then moving in both axis, then yes I’ve. 

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  ?

4 minutes ago, Joe beaumont said:

What do you think I would get for a celestron nexstar 4se 

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 👍

18 minutes ago, Jezphil said:

Cooled CDD Astro cam. 

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 

2 hours ago, Pryce said:

So, I've got my CLS filter and my Ha filter which I've heard is a good start. 

But my experience in processing thus far only covers RGB images. As far as I understand, Ha images are mono colored, so my question is this: how do I process my Ha and RGB images together? 

Edit: I use DSS and PS 

This may be usefull

https://www.galactic-hunter.com/post/hargbcompositetutorialpixinsight

John

5 hours ago, AstroInk said:

I have a ZWO Asiair pro and just got a Altair Astro 183C i cant seem to get the 183C to work on the Aisair Pro any Ideas

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

15 hours ago, Snooze said:

I've been enjoying my AZ GTi too. Personally i'd say that you cannot get a better guided setup at this price point. The only issue I have with the mount is the lack of a polar scope but other than that I'm pretty happy with it.

 

 

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