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Hi dd999, The Clutch should only be loosened when you need to manually move the mount, as when balancing the mount, or polar aligning. It should then be locked for use. The AZ-GTI, is however, quite stiff to move, even when the clutch is loose, but by getting a feel for it, gets you in the ball park of balance. Before we can answer you other questions on PA etc, what is your setup on this mount, camera, scope. And, do you have a Guidescope attached ? John

Hi Simon, And welcome to SGL. Regarding your Mak, you could measure the diameter and purchase some tube rings and Dovetail, then you will be able to mount it on you NEQ6 John

Totally agree with Merlin. What you have to remember with adaptors like the first one you purchased, they act like macro extension tubes, shifting the focal point further away. Great for close up photography!!. The second option, has a lens which will correct the focal point, very similar to people who cannot reach focus on a standard Newtonian, until they insert a Barlow. There's always a trade off though, and you'll probably find it introduces Vignetting. John

Hi All, As some of you maybe aware, there has been supply issues trying to obtain Baader Narrowband Filters. I have been in touch with David Hinds, who has already contacted Baader in Germany and has received this reply; Many of you have been waiting for many weeks for some of our most popular filter models and other products to become available again. Unfortunately COVID has also caused problems for us. Nevertheless, the production of many articles had to be stopped temporarily because supply chains are interrupted again and again at various points. Unfortunately, this affects especially high-tech suppliers such as our filters. We ask for your understanding for this situation and would like to assure you that we ourselves are working everywhere to solve the supply problems for the components of our products and especially for the filter production and to bring our delivery capacity back to a normal level. Especially for the filters the delays are due to a very costly product development. The appearance of more and more sensitive CMOS cameras with smaller and smaller pixel sizes forces us to bring the filters, which have proven themselves up to now, to a new technical level. In the future, too, our filters should continue to be the reference - with real measurement curves over the entire spectral sensitivity range of modern CMOS cameras, against which cheap copies from China must be measured. The development of filter sheet systems, however, requires complex test series, prototype production in each case - and ultimately intensive testing in the night sky. We are very close to producing our filters with further improved properties, but "one does not talk about unlaid eggs". You can be assured that we will provide detailed information about the improvements achieved. As soon as the first regularly produced filters are finally tested here, we would like to present you the real transmission curves. Therefore we ask for your understanding that we are currently unable to give binding answers to inquiries about delivery dates for products that are not available." I just thought i would forward this on to everyone to keep them in the loop John

Hi Steve, I to have a cgem, and recently my USB/232 adaptor gave up on me, so I took a punt on one of these of flee bay; https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/5m-USB-PC-control-cable-for-Celestron-Nexstar-telescopes-4-pin-plug-FTDI-chip/192871671185?hash=item2ce80c2591:g:WOsAAOSwImRYb9UP 5M length with built in FTDI chip, works a treat John

I would most definitely say, if its saying the moon is not above the horizon yet, and it clearly is, you have input the wrong time/date. Make sure also, you set you time zone UST and daylight saving, because, don't forget, we are in British summer time which is one hour ahead of GMT. John

Yes, i followed the instructions to a Tee, and installled the Starnet++ PI window module but to no avail, followed the readme file 😩

yes mate, even rebooted, no joy John

Hi All, Has anyone successfully installed Starnet + +Pixinsight module for windows 10 ?. I am having issues with Pixinsight not seeing the module. First, a run down on my laptop. It Has an intel 4000 series Dual core processor, 8GB ram, (shared Graphics) and 512GB SSD dirive. From the readme doc, it meets the requirements. Its a Windows 10 64 Bit OS, and my PI is version 1.8.8.5 the most up to date. Installation procedure. I am following the instructions in the readme file. Downloading the Starnet_PI_Windows.zip file, Unzipping this file. Then i open the unzipped folder and copy and then paste the files into the PI Bin folder, as per instruction. Next i open PI, and navigate to Process > Modules > Install Modules. Then when the dialog opens, i hit the search tab, but i then get the message "0 new modules found" Has anyone else come across this problem ? Regards in advance John

Tell me about it. I'm still waiting for the 36mm Baader narrowband set, seems an even longer wait. Not ordered yet, but FLO say 40 - 60 Day lead time. No one else has them in stock either. I'm not pre ordering, because if I am having to wait this long, some used ones may pop up in the classifieds. John

Yes Anthony, More data will definitely help with OSC 👍. I'm no expert with OSC, only my Canon DSLR, but you could also try imaging with an Ha filter, doubling your Sub length time and increasing the gain (someone with more experience with OSC may give you some pointers) and adding the Ha to the red channel I believe. John

Hi Have convert your image to Jpeg for comparision with the image I took a couple of weeks ago with my SX 694 mono with 12nm Ha filter. This was only 1 hour 15mins of 5 min subs from my bortle 6 back garden. As Miguel says, mono is better for "fainter" DSO's

hi Anthony, This is a quick stretch in Pixinsight, and levels tweek in PS. Like Miguel said though, 2 hrs is not a lot with OSC Camera. But you have captured some detail there John Autosave_ABE.tif

Fantastic scope.👍 I wouldn't let mine go either.

Fingers crossed Adam. I also have the same scope, the Skywatcher ED80 and dedicated flattener/reducer. John

Hi Adam, This is an old thread, but i am in exactly the same position as you. Iv'e just taken delivery of my SX 694 Pro Mono, and i also purchased the 36mm 7 pos filter wheel along with a set of Baader LRGB filters, but unfortunately, they haven't any Narrowband filters in stock, and speaking with FLO, it don't look like they are having a delivery anytime soon, and all vendors appear to be out of stock. However, like you, i do have A couple of astronomik Clip filters, the 12nm Ha, and 12nm OIII. I have Just tried them in my M42 - M48 adaptor, and with a bit of ingenuity (thanks to you ) they should work, good ole blue tack !!. .Its amazing, as i was also planning the Crescent nebula, because from my garden, around midnight It will be in a perfect position. Hopefully, the forecast is for 4 clear days, so i'm hopping i can do 2 hours a night. 4 hours Ha, and 4 Hours OIII. I'll keep you posted how i get on. Cheers again for the Tip John

Did you hear anything back ?. Others have stated he may be genuine, but, i for one, wouldn't chance my arm with something around a Grand. John

£3.70 for postage as well seems a bit iffy John

As another clue, he does not have any history, although it say hes been a member since 2011 !! John

Iv'e Just this second reported it Pixies👍 John

Just to let you all know, if you see this add on EBAY, Avoid at all costs https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/used-celestron-telescopes/224046265973?hash=item342a32b675:g:AWcAAOSwsnpe52tN. The Guy is a scammer. It was first brought to my attention on UK Astronomy Group on FB. So, people started asking him questions about the scope, which he couldn't answer. I then asked the ultimate question, can i pay Cash on collection, in which he responded, he would only accept Bank Transfer prior to collection. Dead give away to me. Plus the postage £3.70 !!! 😂😂 Please Pass this on if you know anyone interested in this. You have been warned John

Also, remember you will need the EQ wedge if you want to use it in EQ mode, and a counter weight Bar and Counter weight 👍 John

I'm in agreement Gina. I'm no expert by all means, but i think this would be better purely NB. @Carol, I've just joined your club and bought the Starlight Xpress version of your camera. Looking forward to using it, and yes, blame me for the bad weather today lol John

Totally Agree mate, that sums up pretty much anything we buy. Unfortunately from my perspective, i cant afford the 7/8 position FW with Parfocal OAG. The price difference will almost buy me a set of NB filters. John

I just spotted that, same price to. I'll message FLO tomorrow. Don't mind waiting, looks like iv'e put a Jinx on the weather with my new toy 😔 lol