bosun21

Exactly what I do with every new EQ mount. It's a very finicky process but definitely worth doing.

Absolutely beautiful telescope in typical @Franklin condition. Great acquisition Dave!

Exactly what I do as well. I only used the settings circles to set the home position. They are redundant in polar alignment. I just use the adjustment bolts and screws to place Polaris on the respective part of the reticle as highlighted by the app for your given time and location.

I was just about to state this fact but you beat me to it 👍

I loosen the screw on the ring in my HEQ5 when setting the home position. This allows the ring to rotate the 90° required to set the RA home position. As has already been said use a spirit level to level the counterweight bar and once level I set the green ring (setting circle) to 90° and then rotate the counterweight bar down to align with the north facing tripod leg. Depending on which side you placed the counterweight bar the green ring should be either 0° or 180°. Set the latitude with the adjustment bolts until Polaris is seen in the polar scope. I use an app to show the position of Polaris on the polar scope reticle and adjust both the azimuth and latitude bolts to place Polaris in the position shown on the app. I also had to centre the actual polar scope reticle with the three small allen screws on the polar scope itself. This ensures that the polar scope stays centered on the target while rotating the RA through 180°. Make sure that the mount and handset are powered up to command the mount to go to the home position which is found in the utility menu. Then set everything I said above to find the home position and switch the power off as instructed. This allows the mount to remember the home position so you need to set the home position only once. I also mark both axis on the mount with a small mark to enable me to quickly place the mount in the home position.

Yes I noticed that the colour balance was off. I have IM downloaded but haven't looked at it properly or used it up until now. One step at a time but I now know what to do with the next captures. Thanks for the tips.

Had a go at reprocessing one of my last images I captured of Jupiter. I’m slowly learning my way around the software (I think). I think I can see small improvements with the image however the artifact on the limb is annoying so in future I will have to adjust the LD value in Winjupos. It keeps me motivated until the next apparition comes around.

If you are ever passing Oxford then I have a mains 12v power source that you could have for free. I reckon it's the rechargeable batteries at fault. Fully charged they will only supply 9.8v. Also being WiFi it will also have to power that. It's a shame returning a good scope just for the fact that it requires 12v not 9.8v.

If you have the skies dark enough then a >20” dobsonian will blow the other scopes out of the water. But being realistic a >6” apo frac would be my choice.

What an interesting backstory of your new acquisition Dave. Lovely looking telescope and I’m sure will have the optics to match. Looking forward to reading your first light. Congratulations. Ian

Just looks like excessive noise from too much wavelet sharpening to me. I also use Sharpcap and AS4. The only time I've seen this appearing is when I increased the wavelets far too much.

Try and do an indoors alignment on two or even the brightest star looking at Stellarium or Sky safari for their rough position in the sky. If it still doesn't move in azimuth (left/right) then return it.

Definitely the bottom image suits my taste more. Lovely captures.

The dob base is much easier to use with the scope. Wait until you have the eyepiece pointing in unaccessible angles. I would also upgrade the tripod to a SS version for more weight as it looks like it could topple over at certain points.

That was quick Kostas. I also had a slightly difficult time aligning the secondary mirror correctly. I bought another 2" concenter (concentre for the English purists out there). This allowed me to accurately centre the secondary and set the tilt. Maybe it's due to the slightly oversized secondary mirror on the Flextube dobsonian or the fact that they are slightly under f5. I also found the shroud to be a good addition to cut out stray light ingressing into the tube. Looking forward to the next apparition.

If you want a good planetary scope with go to and tracking get the 127 Maksutov. For everything else get yourself an 8” dobsonian(apart from astrophotography).

He will be able to use the codes just fine 👍.

Have you tried resetting the Air plus. There is a small hole with the reset button recessed inside it. Press it in and hold it for 10 seconds or until the Air plus resets.

Great acquisition Kostas. You definitely won't miss the faff with having to manually track the target. Looking forward to see what you can do with the extra 4" of aperture. I'm done now with this apparition but looking forward to their reappearance.

The Seestar is great for adults but I don’t think that it will impress young kids. They are used to looking at pictures on screens and they will definitely get a bigger thrill of viewing with their own eyes. I would also recommend either a go to scope or the Celestron Starsense.

He means that the focuser can sometimes be pointing in very awkward positions due to using an EQ mount with a reflector. This can marginally be aided by when in the home position pointing the eyepiece straight up. This means that when you slew to either side of the meridian the eyepiece will be at a more respectable angle.

I'm going to throw you a curve ball and recommend either a 102 Maksutov or SW 102 ST on a decent photographic tripod. Either of these will be light and easily transportable. The Maksutov will provide better views of the moon and planets, planetary nebulae etc whereas the SW102 ST would provide wide field views. Food for thought.

Have you tried changing the cable connecting the controller?

The main thing you are going to see is a decline in your bank balance.

Definitely stated that he was sponsored.