ALS224 MC help

[Neil H]

Hi this not a top imaging set up , but I need some help I have the ASL224MC and using it with my bresser AR127L now for the questions 

Can this set up be used for solar I have the lacerta wedge ?

The guy I got the telescope from did image with it but used all extensions but I don't know what camera he used do I need all extensions to get camera to focus ?

Due to the weather I have not got it out much to try at night but last time I could not get focus with the refractor but can focus with the VX8L which makes me think I need extension on the refractor ?

I do have more questions but I will wait and ask once these questions answered 

Kind regards neil

Edited March 22, 2021 by Neil H

[CraigT82]

If you've got the camera in the wedge it shouldn't need any extensions as the wedge itself is an extension... Or have you not got the wedge yet and are just trying out the camera straight through the scope? The camera should focus fairly closely to where eyepieces come to focus, or maybe a little further in.

[Neil H]

Hi yes I tried with the wedge I put in a 20mm eyepiece got focus then popped in the camera and no matter what I do with camera settings In Sharpcap the screen is a wash out it's like the image is so big it filled the laptop screen with light this is why I asked if you can do solar with this camera 

When I tried Orion nebula with the visual diagonal in the stars are not a point of light they are out of focus and very large  

Edited March 22, 2021 by Neil H

[CraigT82]

Did you check what the zoom level screen was showing ie. Was it zoomed right in at 1:1, or fit to screen? ('Auto' i think for that in sharpcap). If you can try it all out in the daytime on a distant object it should be easier than messing about in the dark.

[Neil H]

Thanks I will try it may be the sun is not best target lol , but can't see much at a distance there is a power pylon top I can just see over the roofs at the back of the garden will try that 

[CraigT82]

Oh yeah the sun is notoriously hard to focus on if there are no sunspots! Moon would be good but something like a distant pylon will work well

[Fuzzyjack]

I use my ASI224 with a 1250mm SCT so about the same focal length as the 127L but I do find that there is a difference in the focus between that and a 25mm eyepiece especially if I don’t use the star diagonal because of the change in back focus.

Even with the camera just swapped out for the eyepiece on the diagonal there is a difference.  I haven’t tried the sun as I don’t have the filters etc.

The FoV for the 224 with the Sun will just fill the screen if you are lined up right.   http://astronomy.tools/calculators/field_of_view/?fov[]=45||266||1|1|0&solar_system=sun

So it could just be the focus and getting washed out with the sun.  It could also be the exposure/gain or white balance settings.   I had fun the other day when I used it on a different computer and for some reason the default white balance settings even on a clean install of the ASI software meant I had 0 red/blue and the whole screen was just green.   I guess if the settings are all the way up you could just be getting a screen full of white instead?

The focus difference without the diagonal is huge and if I “just pop the camera in because SCTs are forgiving” as some other posts have suggested the stars are big blobs/rings until you wind the focus in quite a lot.  I can then see stars a lot smaller and more or less in focus but I have extensions on order to try and get the back focus to the optimal focus of the scope.   The back focus from the front of the 224 is 12.5mm, my scope wants 127mm so I definitely need to add a bit to get to the prime focal point. 😉
 

Edited March 24, 2021 by Fuzzyjack