Sensor tilt

[smr]

I'm pretty sure my 2600MC Pro has sensor tilt. 

I've had a look at remedies for this and can see that there are two options - one is to adjust the tilt of the Camera at night whilst imaging, and I can imagine this is extremely frustrating - or is it ? Has anyone tried it? 

The other is to build some sort of DIY laser device setup to correct tilt indoors - which I can't say I'd be confident of trying.

So, I was wondering if there are any astrophotography stores which can do this ? 

[rickwayne]

Are you just using the 2600's built-in corrector?  That would  be frustrating, it's a nice feature but as I understand it you have to disassemble the train to adjust it. The GN corrector is adjusted from the side, which is absolutely brilliant: https://www.gerdneumann.net/english/astrofotografie-parts-astrophotography/ctu-camera-tilting-unit.html

If you're not already aware of the free program ASTAP, it is a terrific tool for in-the-field corrections. Han has been making some changes and adding features in response to an active thread on Cloudy Nights, it's pretty amazing to watch. You may think of ASTAP as primarily a plate-solving tool but it has a LOT more going on.

In particular, there is an "Image Inspection" tool which can render a tilt diagnosis quite rapidly from a starfield image. If you select the "triangle" rendering, you can orient the tool so that it corresponds to the adjustment bolts of your tilt plate and thus get pretty direct input.

Here's a screencap from the  discussion showing some of the output you can get from the inspector along with the image the numbers came from. This is a composite, mind -- it will only show one of these views at a time.

Edited March 27, 2022 by rickwayne

[Fegato]

I've used Hyperstar and now have a RASA 11, and tilt (of sensor, or image train) can be a major pain. I tried the camera only / laser method, and decided I didn't really have the DIY skills or patience to get it right (and if the tilt is elsewhere, it's a waste of time). 

rickwayne is right - you need an effective tilt device. I can see the Gerd Neumann ones look well engineered. For the RASA I use an Octopi device.

And indeed ASTAP is really useful. But also worth noting that the Hocus Focus plugin on NINA now has the ability to draw you focus curves for each corner of the image, which is really useful in diagnosing tilt and backfocus issues.

If you want a long read (!), that Cloudy Nights chain is here https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/809050-tilt-discussion-astap/