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Gday Rex,
thanks for taking the trouble to put the camera to the test and I am IMPRESSED with the result. I originally wanted the mono camera as I knew it was more sensitive but when I added the price of a filter set,etc it got cost prohibitive(at least at this point in my astro journey).
I am not sure how far I will delve into the astropics and I have been happy with visual only so far but you never know where it will take you.
I have made no further progress since my last post as the new Star Discovery goto mount on the little SW 102-500 has gone back to Tasco as there is a motor "clutch' problem at lower speeds (the slew "jerks" on all axes-see separate post under "equipment') . Add to that freezing weather and a chronic bad-back and it's a poor situation.
I am heading up the NSW South coast on 4th July and taking the little scope and camera with me as there are some great dark skies there.
I am interested in the settings and exposures you used - my son-in-law and eldest grandson have given me great info to get me started with the camera,but i need to make a start.
I also have a SW 8" Newt on an EQ5 goto which I guess is similar to your setup so i am hopeful of getting good pics when I return home(and it's warmer).
A few specific questions if you have time(which will show how little knowledge I have):
1.you obviously got sharp focus from your camera - why can't i get a sharp focus on a "lit-up" oil rig 25kms away (at night) in the ocean? (it looks sharp in the eyepiece but not through the camera ,viewed on the laptop)
2.Did you use a barlow for your Eagle Neb pics?
3. why can't I get a pic in daylight? (I have been using autoexposure and when that doesn't work,resorting to trying manual settings)
- similarly why did the picture "blow out" with the glare of a gas burnoff
on the oil rig (no amount of manipulation of exposure,frame rate,etc
fixed it) ?
4. can you give basic details of your finder mod to make a guidescope?
Sorry to ask all this basic stuff,but I am still trying to work out if i have a faulty camera or not.
I did a small run 10 days ago on the oil rig at night with it's "normal lighting" and actually got an image,then I stacked it in DSS just to practice the process. No darks,flats or bias frames - the image was not in sharp focus(see above) and I wasn't happy. Hopefully when I point the camera at Jupiter or similar,I wlll get better results
Rgds
Ron
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