Imaging with my Az Eq 6 Pro Gt

[ttgib]

Hello all,

I'm fairly new to imaging, and managing some reasonable exposure's up to 2 min's. I have been using skysafari 6 via a wireless connection to my mount, it crashes often but ok.

I read snippets about the Eqmod Ascom etc, is it a required piece of software to greatly improve my imaging?. Listed below is the equipment I currently have.

Az Eq 6 Pro Gt.

80mm vixen Refractor for visual observering.

72mm skywatcher Evostar for imaging.

50mm skywatcher Evoguide for guiding (not even used it)

zwo 120 guiding camera.

I use my old faithful Nikon D90 for capturing.

Any sort of guidance will but fully appreciated.

Many thanks.

 

Scott.

[wimvb]

That's a decent starter setup. The mount will give you much pleasure, even if/when you get caught by aperture fever and upgrade your imaging scope.

To get longer subs (necessary if you want to image deep sky objects), you really need to start using the guider.

The minimum setup you need is PHD software on windows/mac/linux. Connect your ASI120, and use the ST4 cable for guiding control. If you wat to control your mount and imaging camera from a computer, you either need ASCOM (= communications protocol for astronomy equipment) on a windows (/mac?), or INDI on a Linux machine.

Good luck, and have fun

[Pompey Monkey]

15 minutes ago, wimvb said:

To get longer subs (necessary if you want to image deep sky objects), you really need to start using the guider.

 

I agree completely with Wim. Get guiding! 

And have fun

[ollypenrice]

37 minutes ago, Pompey Monkey said:

I agree completely with Wim. Get guiding! 

And have fun

So do I. Guiding is everything. Without it you are faffing about. It really is that simple.

Olly

[ttgib]

Paul/Wim, 

Thank you kindly for your replies, I've downloaded PHD and getting my head around it although it doesn't seem to complicated. Guiding it is.

I'll keep you posted on my journey.

Thanks again.

Scott.

[Mr niall]

1 hour ago, wimvb said:

That's a decent starter setup. 

Starter setup? I reckon I should probably pack in now if two grands worth of kit is considered just a starter setup!

[ttgib]

Lol, I was recommended by the experts at Rother Valley optics. Awesome shop and service. Just need clear sky's to test my skill's with it. 

Happy clear sky's to all.

Scott.

[wimvb]

7 hours ago, ttgib said:

72mm skywatcher Evostar for imaging..

 

5 hours ago, Mr niall said:

Starter setup? I reckon I should probably pack in now if two grands worth of kit is considered just a starter setup!

The mount is definitely not a starter version, but my guess is that Scott will look into upgrading the imaging scope at some point. The short fl is great for wide field imaging and nebulas, but it limits the resolution (2.7 "/pixel without reducer), and will struggle with smaller targets, such as galaxies, globular clusters or planetary nebulas. Also, the Nikon D90 is an older model, and probably considerably noisier than more modern dslrs.

[Laurin Dave]

Hi Scott

I started out a year ago with a very similar setup..  and soon found out that, as others have said,  guiding is a must..  I then tried ASCOM and Eqmod together with Carte de Ciel to control the mount and for pointing,  which was great but it crashed a lot.. after much frustration I found my laptop was powering down the USB ports for power save..  this may or may not be your issue with crashes.. it’s now infallible.  ( well almost). I also started with a D90 and a cheap intervalometer but soon moved to Backyard Nikon software ($50), much more flexible and makes focussing a lot easier as it has live view. You can get a free trial of it, as you can other capture software. 

Dave