M27 with guided EQ3 Pro

[Welrod50]

Folks,

Many good posts lately with good pics of the Dumbbell Nebula, but thought I would post this, to again give hope to those who use the EQ3 and want to have a go at autoguided imaging.

There is hope!!

EQ3 Pro guided with OSSAG and 50mm guidescope through the 130PDS, prime focused. The seeing was superb and this is a collection of 1.25 hours at iso 800, 300 sec subs. Again, the Orion kit guided spot on all night and I lost just 2 subs (one to wind shear I think and the other because I was wandering about too close to the mount).

Really pleased! The only thing to consider now I think is perhaps have the Pentax modded, but for the expense involved, am quite happy to leave this on the back burner for now. One thing to note however, the Baader MPCC coma corrector has made a difference to the coma, giving me a decent 60% frame now, whereas only about 25% was coma free before. I was expecting better for the cost.

C+C most welcome.

[JamesF]

Looks very nice and I'm certainly impressed that it's possible with the 130PDS on an EQ3-2.

James

[Scott]

Scott, that's pretty damn impressive if you ask me (which you did ). I finally got around to getting a guide camera (QHY5-II) but I'm having an absolute nightmare getting phd to play ball. Anyway mate, it's great to see what that S-O-T determination can achieve. Kudos

[SnakeyJ]

That's a very impressive image of M27 and very sharp starfield across the fov - impressive for any setup, but a lot more so with the 130PDS on EQ3-2. Nice process and star colour as well. Certainly raises the bench on what I am achieving with my 200P/HEQ5 Pro, albeit unguided at the moment.

Out of interest did you ever have a go with the SW F5 CC/FR? I think with all the CC's the spacing is pretty critical between the corrector and imager so might be worth checking to see you've got this spot on to get the best/widest correction. There's an Interesting comparison betwee the SW and Baader CC's at

[Welrod50]

Scott, that's pretty damn impressive if you ask me (which you did ). I finally got around to getting a guide camera (QHY5-II) but I'm having an absolute nightmare getting phd to play ball. Anyway mate, it's great to see what that S-O-T determination can achieve. Kudos

Cheers Scott What's your issue with PHD? PM me if you want and I will try to assist.

Out of interest did you ever have a go with the SW F5 CC/FR? I think with all the CC's the spacing is pretty critical between the corrector and imager so might be worth checking to see you've got this spot on to get the best/widest correction. There's an Interesting comparison betwee the SW and Baader CC's at http://stargazerslou...coma-corrector/

Thanks Snakey TBH I have just used the CC as a direct replacement for the adapter nosepiece I used before and have not experimented with spacing. I will give it a go and see what difference it makes. Never tried the SW version. Cheers for that link too, I'll have a read.

Hoping for some clear nights this weekend. Just got home from the noon shift and going to bed shortly, but will be having a go at a few other targets this weekend if the skies play nicely.

Thanks for the comments so far peeps

[Jannis]

Very nice, and especially for your mount! Giving this a try myself as i write this.

I finally got around to getting a guide camera (QHY5-II) but I'm having an absolute nightmare getting phd to play ball.

I'm actually mainly just giving my new guide cam a test today, the QHY5L-II mono, and i'm using PHD without problems with my finderscope.

Focused camera, let PHD use default settings, use the guide port on camera, and 1-2s exposures.

Though, do use the ASCOM camera in PHD.

I had 4x 3-star alignment fails before i got alignment successfull, so the QHY5L was no problems at all in comparison.

Edit, i notice now you had the QHY5, not the 5L. Might be some differences there. >_<

[andyo]

That's a nice capture well done

[Scott]

@Scott, Jannis... I'm hoping that it's something simple. under the mount dropdown I was selecting ascom and I've been advised to try "on-camera" just waiting for a descent night to try again:). thanks for the word of advice and offers of help though. who knows, you may be hearing from me very soon if things don't sort themselves out

[lensman57]

Folks,

Many good posts lately with good pics of the Dumbbell Nebula, but thought I would post this, to again give hope to those who use the EQ3 and want to have a go at autoguided imaging.

There is hope!!

EQ3 Pro guided with OSSAG and 50mm guidescope through the 130PDS, prime focused. The seeing was superb and this is a collection of 1.25 hours at iso 800, 300 sec subs. Again, the Orion kit guided spot on all night and I lost just 2 subs (one to wind shear I think and the other because I was wandering about too close to the mount).

Really pleased! The only thing to consider now I think is perhaps have the Pentax modded, but for the expense involved, am quite happy to leave this on the back burner for now. One thing to note however, the Baader MPCC coma corrector has made a difference to the coma, giving me a decent 60% frame now, whereas only about 25% was coma free before. I was expecting better for the cost.

C+C most welcome.

Folks,

Many good posts lately with good pics of the Dumbbell Nebula, but thought I would post this, to again give hope to those who use the EQ3 and want to have a go at autoguided imaging.

There is hope!!

EQ3 Pro guided with OSSAG and 50mm guidescope through the 130PDS, prime focused. The seeing was superb and this is a collection of 1.25 hours at iso 800, 300 sec subs. Again, the Orion kit guided spot on all night and I lost just 2 subs (one to wind shear I think and the other because I was wandering about too close to the mount).

Really pleased! The only thing to consider now I think is perhaps have the Pentax modded, but for the expense involved, am quite happy to leave this on the back burner for now. One thing to note however, the Baader MPCC coma corrector has made a difference to the coma, giving me a decent 60% frame now, whereas only about 25% was coma free before. I was expecting better for the cost.

C+C most welcome.

Very nice, there is a little vignetting that could be corrected by good flats or post capture, very sharp capture. I might try the 130 pds just for the heck of it , did you have the corrector in place?

Regrds,

A.G

[Welrod50]

@Scott, Jannis... I'm hoping that it's something simple. under the mount dropdown I was selecting ascom and I've been advised to try "on-camera" just waiting for a descent night to try again:). thanks for the word of advice and offers of help though. who knows, you may be hearing from me very soon if things don't sort themselves out

Yeah, I choose 'on camera' and it works fine. If you want, I will advise on what settings I use. I have made alterations to the default settings which seem to make adjustments too slowly and can lead to slight trailing.

Very nice, there is a little vignetting that could be corrected by good flats or post capture, very sharp capture. I might try the 130 pds just for the heck of it , did you have the corrector in place?

Regrds,

A.G

Thanks Yeah, coma corrector was in place, but I've adjusted the stopper ring (if that's what you call it) to increase the distance between sensor and CC lens by a couple of millimetres to see if it makes a bigger difference. Wanted to try it last night, but BBC and Weather Outlook both said it would be lovely and clear for me last night and guess what - cloud city!! Maybe tonight?? As for vignetting, it is a bit too much. I do need to shoot some better flats to be fair (and some better darks when it gets nice and cold outdoors again) so should be able to reprocess this at a later date accordingly.

[Scott]

Yeah, I choose 'on camera' and it works fine. If you want, I will advise on what settings I use. I have made alterations to the default settings which seem to make adjustments too slowly and can lead to slight trailing.

Thanks Yeah, coma corrector was in place, but I've adjusted the stopper ring (if that's what you call it) to increase the distance between sensor and CC lens by a couple of millimetres to see if it makes a bigger difference. Wanted to try it last night, but BBC and Weather Outlook both said it would be lovely and clear for me last night and guess what - cloud city!! Maybe tonight?? As for vignetting, it is a bit too much. I do need to shoot some better flats to be fair (and some better darks when it gets nice and cold outdoors again) so should be able to reprocess this at a later date accordingly.

Yeah Scott, that'd be great put 'em on this thread....it may help others

[Gina]

Nice one

[Welrod50]

Yeah Scott, that'd be great put 'em on this thread....it may help others

OK, these are my settings:

1. Mount guide speed set to 1x on the synscan handset. The default is 0.5x and if the synscan is turned off, it defaults back to this. 1x is fastest.

2. PHD exposure time I set to 1 second. Most folks advise 2 secs, but I have found that the camera is pretty sensitive at 95% gain and good guide stars will show up fine at 1 sec and it stops them saturating too.

3. BRAIN

RA Aggressiveness = 120% Dec Guide Mode = Auto.

RA Hysterisis = 25% Dec Algorithm = Resist switching

Max RA Duration = 300ms Dec slope weight = 5.00

Search region pixels = 15 Max Dec Duration = 300ms

Min. Motion Pixels = 0.15 Star Mass Tolerance = 0.50

Calibration Steps = 1500ms Noise Reduction = off

Time Lapse = 0ms Camera gain = 95%

LE Port = 378 Dither Scale = 1.00

Force Calibration ticked.

4. Very precise polar alignment (with the weights on the bar!!) If you do a polar align with the weights off, even with everything nice and tight with the weights back on the polarscope will move ever so slightly I've found. Then do a three star align. The first couple might come up 'Alignment failed'. For some reason, some alignment stars work better than others.

Good luck!

[Welrod50]

Forgot to add to the above post, this works with my EQ3 and the weight of the 130 PDS with DSLR and guide scope fitted, but slight adjustments might be required with different weight ratios. I've found that the RA aggressiveness boost and the calibration step adjustment seem to be key. They allow the mount to make faster and more frequent adjustments and allow me to take 10 minute subs with a 70% keep rate and 5 minutes at 100% (not counting the odd fail due to the breeze). I'm yet to experiment on longer due to the camera sensor getting too hot, but I do think I could go beyond 10 minutes if absolutely necessary, albeit my need is non existent really (just nice to know I could if I wished).

With this set up it is finished calibrating after about 11 or 12 steps each direction. With this shot of M27 in the OP, it is 1.25 hrs of data, but with cool down periods inbetween, I actually tracked it for 3 hours all night with no issues whatsoever.

[Scott]

Forgot to add to the above post, this works with my EQ3 and the weight of the 130 PDS with DSLR and guide scope fitted, but slight adjustments might be required with different weight ratios. I've found that the RA aggressiveness boost and the calibration step adjustment seem to be key. They allow the mount to make faster and more frequent adjustments and allow me to take 10 minute subs with a 70% keep rate and 5 minutes at 100% (not counting the odd fail due to the breeze). I'm yet to experiment on longer due to the camera sensor getting too hot, but I do think I could go beyond 10 minutes if absolutely necessary, albeit my need is non existent really (just nice to know I could if I wished).

With this set up it is finished calibrating after about 11 or 12 steps each direction. With this shot of M27 in the OP, it is 1.25 hrs of data, but with cool down periods inbetween, I actually tracked it for 3 hours all night with no issues whatsoever.

Mate, thanks so much for taking the time and effort to do this for me. It's much appreciated, I was hoping to get another crack at it tonight but the weather just won't play ball. Still, patience is a virtue they tell me .

once again, thanks

[Welrod50]

Mate, thanks so much for taking the time and effort to do this for me. It's much appreciated, I was hoping to get another crack at it tonight but the weather just won't play ball. Still, patience is a virtue they tell me .

once again, thanks

Your most welcome and yeah, tell me about that weather!! All geared up last night and just cloudy all night and tonight even worse. I'm actually in a mood!!