Anne S

I use Astrobin quite a lot to get suggestions of exposure times and filter to use. As to sky quality, I do live in the wilds of Carmarthenshire. Unfortunately I don't have many clear nights! As the the Iris nebula, the above is broadband. Some targets show much better like that. I'm still getting to grips with dark nebula imaging. I managed the Witch Head nebula is January but that was in the Alentejo, Portugal! I wouldn't have done that well at home. Sky conditions are key. In light polluted areas you need a light pollution filter or narrowband (duo/tri band) to use with your dslr. If you do get a tec cooled cmos osc, you'll find it makes life considerably easier. Although I use mostly CCd cameras, I do have a ASI533mc which is brilliant and only needs short exposures - less than 5 minutes - to do many targets.

A ccd camera some years with several hours using LRBG filters. As to your stars, you've a larger field of view than me so the stars should be smaller. Also the camera was mono and much more sensitive.

They're nice images. As to the Iris, lots of dust around it. It's stretched to show the dust! Possibly a bit too much.

I use SGPro, not NINA but the process should be the same. To calibrate, I connect everything then do the calibration using Phd2. Look under Tools, I'm pretty sure that's where it is. Phd2 then more or less takes over and slews the mount to the correct place for calibration. Once finished just start your imaging in NINA. You won't be pestered with calibration error messages. I always had an issue with calibration and the correct location. It's now really easy and quick.

Returning to calibration, I see you're using Phd2. As long as you're using pulse guiding, ie using the mount connection, you only need to recalibrate if you take down your setup. Phd2 can do the calibration for you by slewing to a good position and moving the scope to do the calibration. You don't need to do one after a meridian flip as Phd2 will adjust the corrections as it will know it's now working on the other side of the meridian.

The focal reducer was causing some reflections from off axis stars as well but that only became apparent after I'd replaced the filters. No issues with the new filters and replacement reducer. The scope is an f7, though works at f5.53 with the reducer. It's good to hear that the 26M should be fine with 36mm filters. I can concentrate on saving up for it!

I had a similar problem when I installed a focal reducer on my 102mm Wave some years ago. A smaller ccd, just a SX694. Completely solved with 36mm filters. When I removed the reducer everything was fine. My ccd was only 16mm diagonal though. I'd like a 26M camera some day and I'm concerned that I'd need to go up to 2 inch filters. My 694 backfocus is 17.5 approx. The reducer steepens the light cone which increases the risk of vignetting.

I agree with you. I'm of an age where the first computer I encountered was one that ran using a cassette player to load programmes! I can use programmes but only if they do what they're supposed to do! I've only ever lost subs due to silly mistakes by me. The MINIPC behaved impeccably in my two astro trips this year. I can't use ASIair as I don't use much ZWO kit and my iPolar only supports Windows at present.

I thought I'd cloned the MINIPC but I obviously hadn't done it properly! My recovery dvd didn't work either.

I've had to reinstall W11 from scratch. All went smoothly and I've got most of the auto stuff loaded on. I've also removed most of the Microsoft junk. At least I was offered the option not to sync my folders this time to one drive. I don't know if deleting it before the MINIPC failed to boot stopped it from using the recovery programmes. Let's hope this is the last time I need to repair it!

Terry often replies during the evening. We had a problem with an Ultrastar earlier this year. He sent a firmware update which I applied. Very easy.

I've got the previous model to your Lodestar Pro, only bought it in December. I'm using it unbinned with no issues. I think I'm using the Ascom driver in Phd2. Can't check as I've had to reinstall everything on the mini pc concerned! Have you installed all the latest drivers? Years ago I used a MX716 which uses the same ccd, no issues with that either. I was using Maxim dl5 at the time and I don't recall changing anything in the driver. Have you asked Terry Platt at SX?

I know how to bring clear skies, switch my Ritchey Chretien in the dome for my Lunt50 ready for the summer! That'll make sure there's permacloud daytime and clear nights! I like your profile picture, I want to image that but it was too far to the north in Portugal. Maybe I can do it when we go back next February. The weather was patchy in Jan and Feb, runs of up to 5 nights interspersed with hazy or wet and windy ones. At least it stays dark longer in the Spring and Summer. It was good to escape most of our winter! When sunny temperatures got up to 19 or 29 degrees in the day time.

I've dabbled in Linux but don't really understand it. I can't use an ASIAIR as I've Starlight Xpress and Atik cameras etc. I also use SGPro for imaging. The MINIPC is used for starparties etc but my dome isn't motorised so there's no point removing to that as I need to rotate the dome. I always use an old laptop for that. I have used an active usb cable at star parties which worked well. I haven't tried that with my ASI533 as that's usb3 and may or may not work successfully. The mini pc is perfect with that. i just wish i understood what's making the mini pc play up. It's done it two years running after a September update. This time it's different but is seemed crash when asked to copy a zip file over the house network from the laptop removing into it and then when I gave up and copied the file via a usb drive, it copied ok but then wouldn't extract it. I was just about to copy the uncompressed version when the MINIPC wouldn't let me log in and when restarted refused to boot up. Fingers crossed it'll let me fix it tomorrow!

I cloned it last September after its last breakdown, hoping it'll be fine once I've restored it from that. Anne

Thanks, though I'm not sure I understand it. I've already been through the auto diagnose and recovery options. Nothing worked, it just rebooted and started again. I'll try restoring it from a disk image tomorrow. Otherwise I'll have to start from scratch with the Beelink software etc. I did that the first time I reloaded everything. It's just tedious reinstalling all my software. If the disk image works it will have everything on as of last September. Let 's hope. Fortunately everything important was copied off to be processed.

I'm in Carmarthenshire too, managed 2 images last autumn and 2 at 2 Kelling starparties. Just as well we spent 6 weeks in Portugal with 9 images. Though I've probably jinxed it now, bought a new 80mm triplet. It'll probably rain until Xmas! Nice image there. I hope you've fixed your issues. I dread to think what my equipment will do when it's clear again. We have washed the observatory in between the rain though!

This is the first pc with preloaded w11 that I've had. I didn't realise what one drive was doing, I discovered that I'd been using the documents and pictures folders in the one drive folder when I was in Portugal. I'd already made the folders to be on the pc. So I stopped it syncing as it started warning me that I was going to run out of storage. Once home I eventually found how to select which folders synced but lost a load of files, which I retrieved from one drive. I then realised that the docs/pictures folder was in the normal place. So I unlinked the pc and deleted one drive as per ms instructions. Today I wanted to install Platesolve3 and, when copying the files, it seemed to crash. I managed to get the compressed file on but couldn't extract it. So I turned off the pc, disconnected remote access, rebooted my laptop and once I reconnected, saw the Lock Screen briefly and then just had a black screen. At this point I connected my keyboard and display but didn't get the login screen. I had to recycle the power as the off button wasn't reacting. After that it wouldn't boot. Tomorrow I'll try restoring using the ISO I made after the last September's problems. If this doesn't behave soon it'll be in the for sale thread as I'm obviously too stupid to get it working properly. Though it worked perfectly all 6 weeks in Portugal!

I actually uninstalled one drive. I'm surprised it couldn't restore W11 pro automatically, I thought it was linked to my MS account. My 2nd reinstall kept my files and reinstalled Windows. I'll try the ISO tomorrow. Then I'll find out if anything else has gone wrong.

The first 2 reinstalls were after windows updates! After that I bought a small screen and keyboard so I could see what was happening. It's surely not necessary to update quite as often. The laptops often go several month between being used. Particularly over the Summer.

Their services are the problem, I don't want remote storage, Xbox, outlook or any of that rubbish. I didn't know I had one drive on the mini pc. Usually the weather means I can't do much imaging but we spent 6 weeks in Portugal! That's a lot of 5 minute subs....

I was using my mini pc remotely copying Platesolve3 preparatory to updating to SGPro 4. On restarting after an issue, the mini pc refused to load Windows and none of the recovery options worked. Does anyone know if removing One Drive short while ago prevented it recovering itself remotely? I removed it because it was insisting on backing up all my subs thus leading to me not having enough storage! I don't use 365. Fortunately I have an ISO which I will try. Once I've restored everything, what do I do about One Drive? Or do I use a local account instead of a MS one? Also when I stopped One Drive syncing, it kept deleting my astro files from the mini pc. I obviously don't want that. This is not the first time I've had to reinstall everything, it's the third time! Fortunately it'll be quite a few months until I need to use the mini pc again. Anne

It was fresh in my mind because I fitted a Focuscube on my new 80mm a couple of days ago!

You access the screws that hold the coarse knob on via the small hole closest to the coarse knob. If you rotate the knob while looking in this hole you will see two screws 180 degrees apart. There's normally a small grub screw in this hole, it's probably fallen out! Thats assuming the focuser is the same as my Altairastro refractors. It certainly looks very similar. Anne

Ideally at least 2 hours per channel, ie 8, but it usually starts raining here! Even with the 533 and ultranarrowband filters I try for as much as I can get. I haven't tried longer than 5 mins with that but I intend to. I've been getting to grips with a new mount but as it's been managing 96 subs over the evening with no bad ones, it can certainly do longer. The rule with ccd and nb is to go as long as possible, whatever possible is! I tend to stick to 15 mins for ccd because of satellites, aeroplanes, Starlink etc. At least you can use nb with a moon around. We don't have any astronomical darkness for the 12 nights around the longest day. Here's one of my images using the duoband filters with the 533. 8 hours data and really easy to process. Hubble palate.