Problems with ZWO224MC

[PatrickO]

This is my first go with an astrophotography camera.

My setup is:

Skywatcher 150P, 1.25" adapter into the 2" focuser, x2 Barlow, ZWO224MC.

Tried it in the daylight and using FireCapture all I can get is a fuzzy blob in the middle of the screen. This is what I got just pointing across the field. If I point the scope at the ground then it's just a black screen.

 

 

[Knighty2112]

Have you tried it without the 2x barlow in the image train?

[PatrickO]

6 minutes ago, Knighty2112 said:

Have you tried it without the 2x barlow in the image train?

Yes. It was just the same.

 

[happy-kat]

did you try slowly winding the focus all the way in and then all the way out

[PatrickO]

12 minutes ago, happy-kat said:

did you try slowly winding the focus all the way in and then all the way out

I did, yes. Possibly worth trying even more slowly.

[happy-kat]

I preferred sharpcap when I first tried my camera as the auto settings worked for me

also during the day you would likely needs more than ms 5.37 as that is very fast for day time, there are a 1000 ms in a second

and this bit is confusing as I thought your telescope was 1.25 ' 1.25" adapter into the 2" focuser'

sorry not sure how helpful my ramblings are

[Cosmic Geoff]

The most effective way to find focus is to focus visually on a small bright object e.g. Venus, Jupiter or a first magnitude star using  the stock 25mm Skywatcher eyepiece.  Pull the eyepiece out by 5 to 6mm and refocus. Now remove the eyepiece and fit the camera with its 1.25" nosepiece.  The camera will not be in focus but shoud be close enough so that you can now see a blur circle (or blur donut) on which you can focus if you have a roughly suitable gain and exposure time (try gain =300 and exposure time of 10 to 100ms). The in-focus exposure time for Jupiter is only 2 to 4 ms, as the camera is sensitive. 

Apologies for stating the obvious, but you should remove the fisheye lens from the camera, and if you want to attain the correct colour balance in your images, you should buy and fit the ZWO IR-cut filter to the nosepiece.

If your focuser has insufficient in-travel you may not be able to get focus for the camera without using a Barlow lens etc. I recall that when I had a 203mm Newtonian, the planetary camera I had only focused with the focuser at the inner limit of travel.

[AstroMuni]

15 hours ago, PatrickO said:

Skywatcher 150P, 1.25" adapter into the 2" focuser, x2 Barlow, ZWO224MC.

I would remove the barlow and try to get focus (as already suggested). When I first got my ASI224, I pointed the scope at some distant trees to help focus and at night street lights, moon should help too. I figured that the leaves stand out in different colour so more easy to notice. But given the season we are in, you might struggle to get such candidate trees   Good luck.

Have you got it working with the all-sky lens provided with the camera?

[david_taurus83]

As mentioned above, have you removed the wide angle lens and not just popped it into the Barlow and clamped up the lens? 

[PatrickO]

3 hours ago, AstroMuni said:

I would remove the barlow and try to get focus (as already suggested). When I first got my ASI224, I pointed the scope at some distant trees to help focus and at night street lights, moon should help too. I figured that the leaves stand out in different colour so more easy to notice. But given the season we are in, you might struggle to get such candidate trees   Good luck.

Have you got it working with the all-sky lens provided with the camera?

 

2 hours ago, david_taurus83 said:

As mentioned above, have you removed the wide angle lens and not just popped it into the Barlow and clamped up the lens? 

Thanks for that. I just attached it to the scope with the lens attached. 

So should it be with no lens, just straight to the sensor? This could be a RTFM situation!

Edited March 10, 2022 by PatrickO

[AstroMuni]

27 minutes ago, PatrickO said:

So should it be with no lens, just straight to the sensor? This could be a RTFM situation!

Be careful when you screw the fish-eye attachment (picture attached) as if you screw too tightly it might scratch the sensor. The fish-eye attachment needs to be removed before attaching to scope and replaced with the nosepiece adapter (picture attached)

[david_taurus83]

5 hours ago, PatrickO said:

 

Thanks for that. I just attached it to the scope with the lens attached. 

So should it be with no lens, just straight to the sensor? This could be a RTFM situation!

Yep! With the lens on you were taking wide angle shots of the inside of the barlow!