M51 - RGB - First Test DSO from MN190

[Ewan]

Thank you Ewan Looks like the clear skies are going from here but whether they'll be with you next I wouldn't know

Last night wasn't too bad Gina apart from that moon :-( i'm just calculating how big a fence panel i would need to blot that natural lamp out so i can do DSO's

Not hijacking your thread Gina but..........

Had another bash myself last night on M51 & M81 but even though i PA the exact same way & PHD were the exact same settings nothing wanted to play ball, the red line was going off the graph again like my first attempt, i did manage to grab 35 subs @ 3 min long of M51 as the moon was almost gone by then but got slight eggy stars which is a real shame as the data looks good, there was a post or tutorial on Making Stars Rounder on SGL but i have misplaced it, anyone point me in the general direction of it please ?

[Gina]

I've had nights like that - plenty of them, in fact The red (Dec) line going off the graph is what I've had a lot of lately - think it's due to poor PA. I've got to nail that before I can do any more serious imaging. A test run on M101 last night after a go at PA showed it still needs more work.

Good luck with yours

[Komet]

I have had some very bad experiences with PHD in the past. This with good PA. DEC would just waft off for no apparent reason - totally frustrating. This ended when I found out just how good Astroart5's guiding was - excellent and if they offered it as a standalone product it would sell I am sure.

I have to say though that a while ago I tried PHD again because of its integration into Sequence Generator Pro and was pleasantly surprised how solid it seemed. I had no problems at all. That said, past experience meant I never really took my eye off it. I still use AA5 now because I know I can trust it.

[Gina]

I have had some very bad experiences with PHD in the past. This with good PA. DEC would just waft off for no apparent reason - totally frustrating. This ended when I found out just how good Astroart5's guiding was - excellent and if they offered it as a standalone product it would sell I am sure.

I have to say though that a while ago I tried PHD again because of its integration into Sequence Generator Pro and was pleasantly surprised how solid it seemed. I had no problems at all. That said, past experience meant I never really took my eye off it. I still use AA5 now because I know I can trust it.

Thank you Mick That's very interesting - must check my PHD version in case ther'e been an update. Might be worth thinking about something else too.

[Gina]

PHD Guiding (v1.14) is free.

New version - I'll download it.

Might consider AstroArt if it does the job where PHD struggles. Compared with the thousands I've already spent on this (daft) hobby £130 is not that extravagant! Will the spending ever end? Probably not OTOH can I take it with me when I move off this mortal coil? Nobody has managed it yet! AA does many other things I know and may have other benefits apart from guiding - might investigate.