First ever image, few issues.

[nickp87]

Hey all.

First ever DSO image captured and overall I am very pleased with the result after much frustration with my scopes and camera combo. I decided to step back and use my camera lens first.

Insert

Image was shot on a stock Canon 550D mounted on a AZ GTI in ALT AZ, stacked in astropixel processor and edited very poorly in photoshop 

40x10S exposures

ISO 800

F5.9 

So, question time 😁. I was unable to go higher than 10s subs, even at 10 there is noticeable star trailing, now is this bad setup, poor tracking on the mount or just a limitation of the kit, would an autoguiding setup help?

 

Thanks

Nick

[Elp]

It's a decent image, I'd be happy with that but for more detail you need a lot more total time. I'm guessing you've used around an 80-100mm lens. With my azgti in alt az imaging the same thing at 370mm focal length (telescope) I could only do 9s images with it.

Autoguiding only works if using it in EQ mode and a computer controller managing it all with an additional camera and guidescope tracking the stars. The azgti in EQ I can do two minutes fairly reliably, I've also done five minutes with it though I'd say the top limit is three.

Have a look at the azgti owners thread to see what we're doing with it.

Edited November 18, 2023 by Elp

[nickp87]

2 hours ago, Elp said:

It's a decent image, I'd be happy with that but for more detail you need a lot more total time. I'm guessing you've used around an 80-100mm lens. With my azgti in alt az imaging the same thing at 370mm focal length (telescope) I could only do 9s images with it.

Autoguiding only works if using it in EQ mode and a computer controller managing it all with an additional camera and guidescope tracking the stars. The azgti in EQ I can do two minutes fairly reliably, I've also done five minutes with it though I'd say the top limit is three.

Have a look at the azgti owners thread to see what we're doing with it.

Thank you.

This was shot at 300mm.

Yeah lots more exposures are planned next time, along with time constraints I was also hit with really bad len's fogging. 

While I would ideally like to run it in EQ mode, where I shoot from has no view to Polaris so I would need to drift align every time, and that seems rather time consuming, control is fine, the mount and camera etc already connect to a PC. 

I guess I was expecting a little better on the exposures, 20-30 seconds would be amazing, so I may have to bite the bullet and go EQ with a guiding setup. 

[Icesheet]

Nice image! Definitely invest in a wedge and convert the AzGti to EQ mode. This will make a world of difference! As mentioned, as much integration time as possible 

[knobby]

The AZ-gti is a great little mount but won't track reliably in Alt Az mode.

You mentioned an EQ mount, you could get a small guide scope and camera for less I would imagine, thena wedge and you'd be able to do 2 minute subs easily 👍🏻

But that's a great start though .

[nickp87]

2 hours ago, knobby said:

The AZ-gti is a great little mount but won't track reliably in Alt Az mode.

You mentioned an EQ mount, you could get a small guide scope and camera for less I would imagine, thena wedge and you'd be able to do 2 minute subs easily 👍🏻

But that's a great start though .

 

Yeah sorry should have been more clear, what i meant was to turn the AZ GTI into an EQ mount with a wedge.

The only thing putting me off is the lack of a view to Polaris, so polar alignment would be a pain.

Thanks

[Elp]

Software nowadays has all sky options whereby you don't need to directly see the pole to align.

[nickp87]

46 minutes ago, Elp said:

Software nowadays has all sky options whereby you don't need to directly see the pole to align.

Thank you, will have a google later, is it as accurate as a good normal polar alignment?

[happy-kat]

You can guide in altaz mode, I saw a tip on YT about using just the one star option and not multiple stars when guiding in altaz mounts, it's something I'm currently playing with on the az-gti in altaz mode as although I've put the latest eq firmware on the mount I'm not using eq though I've mounted the telescope on the right and I do use a counter weight bar

 

Edited November 19, 2023 by happy-kat

[knobby]

NINA and APT both free,  have polar align by plate solving.

They both give similar results to my Ipolar.

Edited November 19, 2023 by knobby

[Elp]

3 hours ago, nickp87 said:

Thank you, will have a google later, is it as accurate as a good normal polar alignment?

Supposed to be very similar. I've never tried it as Polaris is usually always in view but the all sky alignment option is there under experimental features on my asiair. Other people have used it without issue.