Skywatcher 190MN DS Pro

[DDH]

Hi,  I have read some posts about this telescope from some of you who seem to be fans, however since I have had mine I have to say how disappointed I am over the viewing and Photography with my setup.  I used to have a Sony A7 DSLR which has gone faulty and now have a Canon EOS6D mk2.  Initially I had problems with the stock focuser, in that with the camera attached and the extension tube of the focuser racked out, the camera was wavering about which seems to be a known problem with some of the focusers.  I bought a new focuser to try to get around the problem, it is a Lacerta octo plus for newtonians, but I have found a problem with this in that you need extension tubes to achieve the correct focus and it is annoying to keep changing the tubes.  First question, does anyone know of a solution to this without having to spend a fortune again.  The second question is why are my photos so poor compared to the results I see from others on this site.  I attach a recent one of the Orion nebula.  The third question is sort of multiple, I have two Baader Hyperion eyepieces which can connect to the camera, however now with the new focuser I am having huge problems finding how to achieve correct focus.  I did ask for advice from a astronomy shop and they said to try a 40mm extension which I purchased but its not able to give good focus also even with the camera set to slowest speed, maximum ISO I am unable to see much detail to get focus through the viewfinder or on the screen, so this is one reason for the poor results.  With regard to visual use I have tried to view the Andromeda Galaxy, but all I have been able to see is a faint small smudge, could there be a problem with the scope as I had to remove the corrector and mirror to fit the focuser, however when star aligning I have to de focus to centre the object and the collimation looks quite good.  Sorry for the long post and I would really appreciate some help so to get better results.

[DDH]

The first two photos were from the Canon and the very blue photo was from the Sony

[Juicy6]

You have a lot of information to still stretch from your picture. Did a quick and dirty mod of your jpg file (which is not recommended really) and there is a lot to reveal...

[wimvb]

2 hours ago, DDH said:

The third question is sort of multiple, I have two Baader Hyperion eyepieces which can connect to the camera,

Are you using eyepiece projection? If so, I would suggest that you use your camera without an eyepiece. Connect it to the focuser without any extension.

[DDH]

thanks for the two replies.  Juicy6, your reply is very interesting and I am wondering how you achieved that result, maybe you could explain how you managed to get this extra detail.  Usually I don't use jpeg, sometimes raw and jpeg or just raw but I don't know how to extract that detail. I do not have any fancy computer processing software, is this required to get these results?

Wimvb,  the Baader eyepieces connect to the camera using a  Hyperion T adapter M43 / T2 which then connects to the Canon T2 adapter.  I also have a Omegon variable projection focal adapter which can take a small diameter eyepiece or none, this incidentally gives good results when connected to my Skywatcher Skymax 127 but no good with the 190?  why!   I have now almost given up with using the camera on the 190 due to the problems with the focusing and experimenting with different length adapters.  To be perfectly honest I find the 127 preferable to use than the 190 now, I seem to get better results all round.

[The Lazy Astronomer]

28 minutes ago, DDH said:

thanks for the two replies.  Juicy6, your reply is very interesting and I am wondering how you achieved that result, maybe you could explain how you managed to get this extra detail.  Usually I don't use jpeg, sometimes raw and jpeg or just raw but I don't know how to extract that detail. I do not have any fancy computer processing software, is this required to get these results?

Astrophotography is nothing like point and shoot daytime photography, and some degree of processing of the image is required. You don't need anything fancy, but at least some form of basic image processing software is recommended. GIMP is a good starting point - it's free and quite similar to photoshop, plus plenty of online tutorials for some basic processing of astro images.

Do you have the RAW file still? If you post to here, I can quickly run it processing software to see what's in there. 

[Juicy6]

3 hours ago, DDH said:

I am wondering how you achieved that result, maybe you could explain how you managed to get this extra detail.  

I use Affinity Photo. It is 50 euro for a very capable software. I just stretched your photo once with LEVELS and once with CURVES. Search youtube for Affinity astro tutorials and you will find a lot of good advices.

[newbie alert]

What mount are you driving the mn with?  It's a big heavy scope and the better you can track the object the better you can grab those finer details  within it

The top image shows the stars as doubles, meaning the target had jumped within the exposure 

How are you focusing,are you using a bahtinov mask? Or by eye?

Are you  stacking?

Nailing down glitches will improve the image without doubt

[wimvb]

4 hours ago, DDH said:

Wimvb,  the Baader eyepieces connect to the camera using a  Hyperion T adapter M43 / T2 which then connects to the Canon T2 adapter.  I also have a Omegon variable projection focal adapter which can take a small diameter eyepiece or none, this incidentally gives good results when connected to my Skywatcher Skymax 127 but no good with the 190?  why!   I have now almost given up with using the camera on the 190 due to the problems with the focusing and experimenting with different length adapters.  To be perfectly honest I find the 127 preferable to use than the 190 now, I seem to get better results all round.

My advice: remove the eyepiece and connect the camera directly to the focuser without any extension. This is by far the best way to use the telescope. You should have no problems reaching focus.

You don’t need any fancy software to process your images, but you will need to process your images. You can get deep sky stacker and GIMP for free. But you will need to stack multiple RAW images and you will need to use calibration frames (at least flats and bias). There is no shortcut to getting good astro photos.

Edited January 21, 2022 by wimvb

[DDH]

Thank you for all the replies. At the moment I have no raw files and we have not had many clear skies lately, but as soon as I can I will try some more shots .

Incidentally I had an EQ6 pro goto mount for the 190, which is now used for the Skymax 127 Maksutov and I purchased a new EQ6-R goto for the 190.

I did find 1 jpeg I took a while ago of the Orion nebula it was taken using a Baader Hyperion 8mm eyepiece on the same Canon camera

Edited January 23, 2022 by DDH
forgot jpeg

[SamAndrew]

As others have said, you should be using prime focus without any eyepieces; buy a t ring adaptor so that you can connect the camera directly to the scope. 

Unfortunately you've been sent down the wrong path, the stock focuser should have worked as it is designed for use with a DSLR. 

EQ6-R should be perfectly capable of doing 30 second exposures with reasonably tight stars without having to discard too many frames.