patraip1

thanks guys, I will update on my progress.... lets hope it stops raining soon

here is another processing attempt at m31 with startools this time.

and here is the first try with gimp

Skywatcher heritage 130p on an az gti in alt az mode. Nikon D5500 prime focus. 78 subs of 13 sec exposures @ iso 800, 18 darks, 35 bias, 25 flats

On 06/10/2021 at 17:12, AstroNebulee said:

A counterweight may help you as you've suggested, it's worth a try first or if your confident and not worried about voiding your warranty on the az gti mount you could try taking off the cover to regrease the worm and gears, or try adjusting the motor spring tension to fixed or just adjust it.  I followed this video on adjusting the spring tension https://youtu.be/hgEzeXrhhEg

Or these two videos for tuning and greasing your AzGti https://youtu.be/MoAF6tYcby8

https://youtu.be/iwJdrAFLPpU

 

But only do these if your feel confident to. I stripped mine down and regrease and the tracking was much better. 

Also an easier fix is to update the firmware of the az gti mount to the latest firmware as this says its fixed the tracking issues. 

http://skywatcher.com/download/software/motor-control-firmware/

To update your firmware via WiFi follow this link here, I update via eq mode cable but have done it over WiFi before. 

https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/305296-sw-az-gti-mount-firmware-update/

thanks for the suggestions! I did upgrade the firmware of the az gti and I tested it yesterday together with the counterweight. It has improved the tracking by a LOT!! I managed to take 25 shots of 25 sec subs of M42 in a window of clouds and the images did not drift at all in the FOV!! 

I then took 25 darks, 25 flats, 25 dark flats and 25 biases all new as I tried iso400 this time. I stacked with and without the darks in DSS and found  the stacked image with no darks to look much better (after the same processing workflow) 

I then tried startools for the first time (youtube guided) and liked the final image so much I immediately bought the license. 

Here is the result from 20 lights  @25sec iso 400 (had to throw 5 out because of lightnings in the sky.... lol), 25 bias, 25 flats and 25 dark flats stacked in DSS and processed in Startools (with very minor final touches in my cellphone in Snapseed....). NikonD5500, prime focus, skywatcher heritage 130p on AZgti in altaz mode

and here is my result with the same data processed with gimp and snapseed

boy do I want to get more lights on this target..... I wish the weather clears up quickly

Thanks astronebulee!! 

I will try updating the firmware. mine is 3.26. I will then test the tarcking again. I already constructed a homemade counterweight with a m12 rod an old sprinkler and some wrist weights I had handy... it eliminated the tension on the mount head but clouds prevent me from testing at the moment. Opening the mount will be a last resort. 

@happy-kat I don't collapse the rods and my dslr is not detached from the telescope (I don't use it for daytime photography any more). I also have a homemade light shroud on and just move the telescope outside to my backyard, level it, connect the app, north level align, fine focus with the live view in maximum zoom on the second alignment star, go to my target frame it and begign imaging in 10mins tops. I was imaging with my smartphone afocally for 3 months using the astrophotography mode of gcam with actually decent results, as I could not find a nikon focuser adapter locally and the order frim china took over 3 months to arrive to Greece so I got the hang of setting up quickly. 

Here are some examples of my attempts so far.(the milky way is with just the smartohone against a wall!!) Google cam is impressive!! 

The great advantage was that I could have a final image of my target in just 10 minutes including the processing with snapseed!! I remember in Junes new moon capturing 12 targets in 3 hours

I just wanted even  better pictures so here I am trying to image with the dslr and the calibration frames etc. 

Cheers 

it actually handles the 420g quite well.... have not had any issues yet. I did try 20 sec exposures but got elongated stars. I noticed that my tracking is drifting quite a bit though. In 10 minutes the core of the galaxy was almost at the edge of my (4degree by 3 degree) FOV. I had the same issue when I took the 13 sec exposures as well and had to recenter the image every 30 shots. DSS threw out 42 out of 120 subs. Alignment and goto worked ok and I am suspecting that I will need a counterweight as I can see the head of the mount that connects to the dovetail is tilted by the weight of the OTA+camera (specs for the az gti is 5kg my setup is 3400+420). Any thoughts on what else could be causing tracking issues or is the drifting normal ? 

thank you astronebulee!! 

I will be trying again a little sooner in the night to catch m31 at a lower altitude so I can take 25 sec subs. I will also give a try at ISO 200 and restack my original data without the darks to see if it will make any difference in the noise level. Will be reporting back

Hello everybody

Here is one of my first tries at this sport. Skywatcher heritage 130p on an az gti in alt az mode. Nikon D5500 prime focus. 78 subs of 13 sec exposures @ iso 800, 18 darks, 35 bias, 25 flats. Dss, Gimp and final touches of the jpeg on Snapseed on my smartphone. M31 on 1 oct 2021 at 23:00,  60deg up in the sky from my bortle 5 backyard