C8 Soft Focus

[hornedreaper33]

Hey all,

I have slowly been improving my astrophotography setup over the years and I have never been able to achieve the images I would like. I am finally getting into guiding and I still cannot produce those pin sharp images that you we all strive for even after focussing with a Bahtinov mask. While attempting to image NEOWISE_F3 last night I finally came to the conclusion that there is something going on with my telescope (was taking short subs with good enough polar alignment, still soft). Has anyone else on here struggled with achieving sharp focus with an SCT? I have Bob's knobs and collimation looks good but possibly I haven't spent enough time on it. I don't know, a little dismayed. All help greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks.