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[Lookingout (Bob)]

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[mswhin63 (Malcolm)]

I am not sure, maybe someone else can confirm this but the scope appears to be out of collimation.

[jahnpahwa (JP)]

I've no idea about collimation, but I'm impressed by what you're doing with that small sensor! Good stuff, Ian

I know it's the wrong thread, but I noticed you asked about the 183mc in another thread. I thought that maybe something with bigger pixels like the 533 might be good so that you have a better chance of imaging at native focal length as well as with a reducer on your scope? At (what I guess is) 2000mm focal length, the small pixels in the 183 will be a handful.

[Outcast (Carlton)]

Originally Posted by mswhin63

I am not sure, maybe someone else can confirm this but the scope appears to be out of collimation.

What makes you say that?

The image is similar to my own early efforts through an 8"SCT on Orion Nebula with a similarly small sensor. A great effort within the limitations the rig presents...

Stars tend to be a bit blobby & at 10sec exposure time on an Alt/Az mount, a little star stretching begins to occur as you push the limits of tracking... plus, I think he's using a generic 0.5x focal reducer which, from my experience aren't particularly well corrected.

What indicators make you think it might be out of collimation, am I missing something?

To the OP:

A great start to your imaging journey, it's exactly where I started.. be careful, it's a slippery slope to great expense... I'm only a sporadic imager, still get way too much kick out of visual observing but, have delved in somewhat deeper since producing my early Orion images... still not up to par with the standards of many others on here...

Are you using a bhatinov mask to achieve focus or are you attempting to do it by eye? A bhatinov mask is an essential bit of kit & not expensive (look on Ebay, there's a chap in Melb who 3d prints them & I know he has one for an 8" Meade SCT coz I gave him the specs to make me one - cost you about $16 posted)... it will help you immensely in achieving tight focus...

Another extremely helpful acquisition would be a 0.63x focal reducer which is designed to work with these SCT's. Both the Meade & Celestron ones will work (not the Celestron one for the Edge HD). These are not particularly cheap new but, they do appear in the classifieds from time to time at a much more reasonable price. A well corrected reducer will also tighten up your stars.

Cheers & enjoy the journey

[Lookingout (Bob)]

Originally Posted by jahnpahwa

I've no idea about collimation, but I'm impressed by what you're doing with that small sensor! Good stuff, Ian

I know it's the wrong thread, but I noticed you asked about the 183mc in another thread. I thought that maybe something with bigger pixels like the 533 might be good so that you have a better chance of imaging at native focal length as well as with a reducer on your scope? At (what I guess is) 2000mm focal length, the small pixels in the 183 will be a handful.

Thanks JP. I will take your advise onboard I have so much to learn regarding Astrophotoghy I have been a visual star grazer for around 40 years now and all this camera business is rather confusing to me. Thanks again I will study up on all the camera options.

[Lookingout (Bob)]

Originally Posted by Outcast

What makes you say that?

The image is similar to my own early efforts through an 8"SCT on Orion Nebula with a similarly small sensor. A great effort within the limitations the rig presents...

Stars tend to be a bit blobby & at 10sec exposure time on an Alt/Az mount, a little star stretching begins to occur as you push the limits of tracking... plus, I think he's using a generic 0.5x focal reducer which, from my experience aren't particularly well corrected.

What indicators make you think it might be out of collimation, am I missing something?

To the OP:

A great start to your imaging journey, it's exactly where I started.. be careful, it's a slippery slope to great expense... I'm only a sporadic imager, still get way too much kick out of visual observing but, have delved in somewhat deeper since producing my early Orion images... still not up to par with the standards of many others on here...

Are you using a bhatinov mask to achieve focus or are you attempting to do it by eye? A bhatinov mask is an essential bit of kit & not expensive (look on Ebay, there's a chap in Melb who 3d prints them & I know he has one for an 8" Meade SCT coz I gave him the specs to make me one - cost you about $16 posted)... it will help you immensely in achieving tight focus...

Another extremely helpful acquisition would be a 0.63x focal reducer which is designed to work with these SCT's. Both the Meade & Celestron ones will work (not the Celestron one for the Edge HD). These are not particularly cheap new but, they do appear in the classifieds from time to time at a much more reasonable price. A well corrected reducer will also tighten up your stars.

Cheers & enjoy the journey

Thanks Carlton someone mention that the collimation may be off always a possibility I used a method to achieve good collimation by centering the corrector plate insuring the secondary mirror is well centered over the focus tube I and getting good concentric rings on the in focus and out focus. the mask you mention would be a benefit in the kit as manual focusing is always a challenge I will look into the better reducer when I pickup a new camera. The camera you mention is is worth looking into thanks for the tips.