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QM departs from his beloved EQ5


Quatermass

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Well he has got his uni course to finish off I guess but Im sure he will make some more when he has done all that. In the mean time though there is still a lot you can do with the eq5 mount and just the dual axis controller so don't be too worried. I took this photo of the lagoon nebula and the triffid a couple of years ago now with just the dual axis kit my canon 35od and my 200p and ed80 and eq5 mount. Short subs of 80 sec each totalling 85 subs at an iso of 1600. Short subs are great don't think long subs are needed for everything most targets respond really well to lots of short subs.

Lagoon+and+Trifid+wide+shot+master+image

Trifid+Nebula3+master+image+copy_filtere

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Colour is amazing Mark! You know you always put my mind at rest. I've been wondering about my setup. I've modded my lifecam and think I've bodgesd it up. Now considering buying a light planetary cam. Thinking the QHY5L-II colour cam will do the job. Good Jupiter shots and good guiding I hear. Think it will last me. Still yet to get out and try my AstroEQ properly but you images above give great hope for us all.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Taking the images is the easy part to some degree once your eq5 mount is tracking if your target is bright and its a good dark night you just have to get good focus and take about 80 main shots. With that data captured so long as its in focus and fairly crisp then the rest is down to stacking and processing that part is the hard part.

If you stop and think about it once your telescope is focused and your tracking your subject and able to get a 50 or 80 second exposure then your half way there. 3 main factors apply Focus that must be spot on, a good dark sky and a long enough shot that has no star trailing. Once you have achieved all that and have 80 good subs to work with your pretty much home and dry. This however does depend on your subject some are harder then others to do depending on how bright they are. The lagoon and triffid are pretty easy to image if you can get out to a dark sky as they appear low down in the summer months.

With Toms brilliant Astroeq mount controller fitted and a laptop you have more to lug around so a home base where you can get it all set up on a permanent basis is a good idea but there is a great deal you can image in the mean time. And lets not forget why we are doing this, to have some fun and enjoy ourselves I hope.My advice would be make the utmost of what you have got and try to squeeze every last drop of imaging know how out of it that way you will be ready for the next stage. Although I now have upgraded to the HEQ5 mount I will never regret sticking with my old EQ5 mount for those 4 years and all the many nights I spent with it under the stars. Good times  :grin:

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Thanks Mark, Thats great advice. Too true its the fun factor thats most important. :)

When I'm not spending my spare time doing chores in and now outside the house (garden needs care) then i will be spending some time begining to learn AstroEQ and EQMOD. Would you give a simple Step list of what I need to check, in order of steps. ie. I already know how to polar align, and balance and level mount. As I can get good 30 second subs. Just need a run down of what steps next using CDC , EQMOD, etc to get setup aligning to stars and then steps to using PHD/ AStro Tortilla. Quite overwhelming it seems at first. Im sure I will get the hang of it, im a good learning. Just a few pointers around setting that up. Then I can go watch your tutorials and look up others tutorials and techniques to perfect. I know I'm at the limit of my EQ5 mount, so im quite weary that i will be pushing it too hard too with little knowledge of what im initially doing. :p

Thanks, Andy

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You should be able to get longer subs then 30 seconds I have managed full 3 minute subs in the past but generally your looking at 50 to 80 second subs as a rule of thumb. To achieve this you need to check 3 things.

Number one check that the slack as been removed from your worm gears first check my utube channel boodlwoodle for that vid

Number 2 make sure the reticule in your polar scope is well aligned astrobabys webpage has a good tutorial on doing this

Number 3 do the best polar alignment you can do using any of the methods out there I like the PHD method which is outlined in my blog this uses my webcam and finderscope and of course astroeq and eqmod and phd however there are many ways of doing it I suggest you try them all and see what suits you.

It is probably faster if you just give me a phone call during the day time and I can explain things to you that way if your stuck using astroeq eqmod and atrotortilla as they all mix and mash together and its hard to write a guide that covers individual set ups. 

Hope that helps :grin:

QM

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I had a bit of a shopping list - now its back to square 1.

Ok - two motors £100 

ED80

Wires?

Software?

Dam - all confusicus again.

Ah the cost of doing astrophotography lol it soon mounts up no pun intended..

I had the dual axis kit so already had the motors but I had bought the single ra kit first sold that then got the dual axis kit now all gone.

An ed80 is nice used to have one, but very pricey the sky watcher 130pds will be a good choice to get a simpler result and its a lot cheaper.

Wires and adapters Tom can give you advice on that one for the astro eq when you get one not worth skimping on those..

I look for second hand if possible it makes sense to get second hand stuff if you can as your always going to upgrade in the end if the bug bites hard enough

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