Sterrenland Posted February 11, 2022 Share Posted February 11, 2022 Having been struggling for a while with poor guiding and elongated stars I decided to upgrade my mount with the Rowan belt drive. Last night was the first time I got to try it out and I can only say I'm amazed at the difference it's made. From guiding between 1.0 and 2.0 RMS for months, I immediately got 0.5 last night and my stars were pretty round. Probably not the easiest target to pick to try out the belt upgrade, but I fancied trying to capture a 'real' dark nebula and decided to go for LDN1251 as it was far enough away from the moon. Considering the moon was at over 70% I was amazed at getting just short of 4 hours of data. Previously the mount had struggled settling after dithering whereas last night the modification seemed to make settling sooooo much quicker and reliable. Using an L-Pro filter helped a little with the lack of contrast caused by the moon. As my first 'proper' dark nebula I found the processing a challenge...trying to separate the dark dust and process it against the background of stars and the stars themselves. Having separated the stars and nebula through masks I've done my best to highlight the dust without overdoing it. Anyway, here's my first go at LDN1251. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carastro Posted February 12, 2022 Share Posted February 12, 2022 (edited) Fantastic result, especially if done with the Moon about. This is a target I have been wanting to get for ages, but since I also live in Kent but bordering greater London, I have to wait for a chance to get to a dark location, especially as where it is now it's in the London sky glow. Where are you in Kent and what is your Bortle scale? Carole Edited February 12, 2022 by Carastro 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sterrenland Posted February 12, 2022 Author Share Posted February 12, 2022 4 hours ago, Carastro said: Fantastic result, especially if done with the Moon about. This is a target I have been wanting to get for ages, but since I also live in Kent but bordering greater London, I have to wait for a chance to get to a dark location, especially as where it is now it's in the London sky glow. Where are you in Kent and what is your Bortle scale? Carole Thanks Carole....must say I was surprised to get what I did considering the moon. I think the L-Pro filter probably helped increase the contrast...and careful processing to bring out the dust (which I struggled with!). I'm just outside Dover and it's Bortle 4 here (just a bit of light glow from Dover to the east). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carastro Posted February 12, 2022 Share Posted February 12, 2022 Ah yes Bortle 4, our astro cmaps are in Bortle 4. Much better than where I live in Bortle 8. Carole 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmack1 Posted February 13, 2022 Share Posted February 13, 2022 Great image. Did you do the bold mod yourself or have it done. If yourself, how difficult easy did you find it. And are you engineering minded / skilled. I'm thinking if doing my NEQ6 but not sure if I'd be technically capable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sterrenland Posted February 13, 2022 Author Share Posted February 13, 2022 12 minutes ago, Dmack1 said: Great image. Did you do the bold mod yourself or have it done. If yourself, how difficult easy did you find it. And are you engineering minded / skilled. I'm thinking if doing my NEQ6 but not sure if I'd be technically capable. Thanks. I did the mod myself...I'm not particularly technically-minded. There are some good videos on YouTube that take you through the process and the mod comes with instructions. The process mostly involves undoing/doing up small grub screws (hex keys come with the mod set), removing the old brass toothed cogs and replacing them with the belt drives (again secured with small grub screws). Once it's done you can switch on and test things before replacing the cover. I think the important thing is to make sure the belts are under 'some' tension and not too loose. I've only tested it this once so far, but based on the other night I'm glad I went ahead with it. I'm not sure if the NEQ6 mod is the same as the HEQ5 so I would check, but I think it's more than do-able by the average person. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carastro Posted February 13, 2022 Share Posted February 13, 2022 I took the cowards way out and had mine done for me. Carole 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmack1 Posted February 13, 2022 Share Posted February 13, 2022 1 hour ago, Sterrenland said: Thanks. I did the mod myself...I'm not particularly technically-minded. There are some good videos on YouTube that take you through the process and the mod comes with instructions. The process mostly involves undoing/doing up small grub screws (hex keys come with the mod set), removing the old brass toothed cogs and replacing them with the belt drives (again secured with small grub screws). Once it's done you can switch on and test things before replacing the cover. I think the important thing is to make sure the belts are under 'some' tension and not too loose. I've only tested it this once so far, but based on the other night I'm glad I went ahead with it. I'm not sure if the NEQ6 mod is the same as the HEQ5 so I would check, but I think it's more than do-able by the average person. Thanks for that. I'll watch few videos and see if I can find some courage! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartinS Posted February 13, 2022 Share Posted February 13, 2022 Clearly the Rowan belt mod is working for you, a good image with nice stars and nebulosity. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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