Hello from Deddington, Oxfordshire

[davidowenrogers]

Just joined and I'd like to say, "Hello" to all.

I've had a refractor and a 6" Newtonian on an EQ mount for many years but these were relatively modest instruments and in a moment of staggering generosity my neighbour offered my his Nexstar 5 (original version) which he purchased in the States many years ago.

A number of very kind people in a number of Astronomy suppliers have offered boundless advice and I've added Celestron X-Cel eye peices (25mm, 12mm and 9mm) a Celestron x2 barlow and a Televue x3 barlow along with a ZWO 120MC camera along with a new HP i5 laptop with lots of RAM running SharpCap 2.6, Registax 6, Castrator and VirtualDub.

The goal has been to get a "good" image of Jupiter but I'm struggling to do better than the attached image.

The scope is collumated at the start of each session. I've tried a Bhatinov mask to aid focusing and I think I can get better results without using it. What I find suprising is that the image through the eyepeice is fantastic but I can never get close to that level of image sharpness on the laptop screen. I'm putting down to poor seeing conditions and problems focusing but am very willing to accept that I may not have the patience to achieve the very best focus possible as every time I touch the focus knob the image takes an age to stabilise and the very finest of focusing moves are lost in the general abberation of atmospheric variation. There doesn't seem to be a better focuser available for this original model Nexstar nor an available motor focuser (an American company lists one but no-one has been able to supply it)

So, hello from Deddington and any suggestions other than move to Barbados and buy a 14" are very welcome!

PS - Merry Christmas.

David

[JamesM]

Hi David and welcome to the forum. You might want to post your question over on the imaging section as there is plenty of expertise over there and who rarely visit this part of the forum. I'm sure there is enough experience there to get you up and running with their suggestions. Imaging in general does seem to come with a steep learning curve at the beginning but does flatten out over time - especially if you have access to a good size wallet!   

Clear skies and hope you enjoy your stay here.

[Mr Spock]

Hi David, welcome to SGL I can't help you with imaging, but we have the best and brightest here so someone should be able to help. As suggested you may be better posting a question in the imaging section as not everyone visits the welcome forum.

[davidowenrogers]

Many thanks, have reposted in the imaging section.

Best regards,

David

[laudropb]

Hello and a warm welcome to the SGL.

[Pete Presland]

Hi welcome to SGL from Pete in Bedfordshire  ​ 

[PeterCPC]

Hello and welcome.

Peter

[hippie]

Welcome to SGL David .

[glowjet]

Hi David and welcome to SGL, I think many would be happy to be able take an image of our big gas giant, like the one you have already taken, but I appreciate your desire to improve. As already pointed out, there is a wealth of information and help in the imaging sections of the forum. Image jitters I found was basically down to my mount, once I changed it for a more substantial affair, the problem just about disappeared, enjoy the forum

[Dave Lloyd]

Hi David, welcome.

[badger111]

Greetings from Maldon, Essex

[michigander]

Welcome to SGL, David!

Dana

[triton1]

Hi there and welcome to SGL

[CJE]

Hello and welcome from just up the road in Banbury.

Regards Chris

[Vox45]

Hello and welcome to the forum

Clear skies !

[seo]

Hi David and welcome aboard.

[swag72]

Hi and welcome to SGL - Glad that you found us, As an imager I'm afraid I know zero about planetary, but there's definitely folks on here that can help. That looks like a decent image to me

Look forward to seeing you around

[Charon]

Welcome to the forum David.