GazAstro

Wow ! So smooth yet detailed 👍🏻

I use Sky Safari, that says 28 mly or 8.6 MPC. I guess with such an incredible distance any source can only be a scientific educated guess.

Very well caught with a half moon lighting the sky up 👍🏻

So, I finally gave in as I was wasting so much time on this. Sent to Darkframe - got it back in 3 weeks ... Had a fair old crack with it last night trying different settings ( 1 to 3 seconds guide images, EQmod guide rates etc) Settled on 3 seconds PHD2, binned guide cam (ZWO 290 mm) 0.5 guide rate in EQmod and followed guide assisitant recommendations. Had good spells below 1 arc minute, still having occasional spikes but so much better than previous attempts. Logs attached in case anyone sees any room for improvement. Also a wee Horsehead, about 45 mins of 300 second Ha s

Very interesting camera, is this the one with a larger pixel count but bins to give higher sensitivity ?

Interesting colours , nice job !

Really like that 👍🏻

Nice job David, I've never been able to 'see' the head likeness but I can in your image 👍

Yep, it's going to be very chilly even if it stays clear !

Looking good, nice and noise free too, could probably take a bit more sharpening.

So ... Clear outside wants it to be clear so you buy more equipment. Met office have just looked out the window and had a rough guess. BBC have looked at Clear outside and took a punt. 🙂

SW 72ED/OAG/EFW/ZWO 1600MM - SW AZ-GTI - Manfrotto tripod - Star adventurer wedge. Fairly portable ish.

Yep, you're right ! I tried to defend it but it's rubbish :-)

I don't think it's the bolts that are faulty, it's the internal design of the mount. The angle the bolts are pushing against to adjust the altitude is too acute, and it causes damage not only to the bolts, but also the mount too. Agreed it's poorly thought out ... But it's worked fairly well for most people for a long time.

Skywatcher say the bolts are soft deliberately so the bolts bend rather than the mount threads strip ! Baaah pathetic excuse ?