Worst Orion yet but I am happy

[xelasnave]

Probably my worst collection of Orion ever but they were taken in Sydney under the light polluted sky.. 73 sec 1600iso..the mount was not aligned and I had to hit the button every half a second to track it manually..but it seems as though there is hope as the nebulosity seems to be coming out.. How do you polar align when you only have a 30 degree window above.. it didnot pas the trees until 11.45pm.
It is drifting North which way should I correct I have given up trying to figure it..I thought I should increase the elevation but I gave that idea up when the dial said 40 degrees (Sydney is 33 approx) I usually take a time exposure of the pole and use it to adjust the mount so I have forgoten my drift training..
Anyways could not be happier as I thought the way people complain that I would not get more than 30 secs.
alex

[asimov]

Not bad Alex, not bad:) You have some dust on your sensor too BTW.

[xelasnave]

Yes everything needs cleaning, the sensor and the scope as well is filthy. I was not worries about either as I am hopeful of a new cam and a bigger scope in the near future... but the mount works although I havent sortted auto guide and at least I can get some sky when I am living in Sydney.. I was not expecting as good a result..forgeting everything that is wrong I recon the polution is managable... doubt if I can get a 45 minute wide field however.
Thank for the encouragement
alex

[tornado33]

Howdy Alex
You normally live in the country under very dark skies? Guess Sydney is bright in comparison.
Scott

[jjjnettie]

For a manually tracked piccy, it's pretty darn good.

[sheeny]

Not a bad effort at all Alex, given the conditions.

If your subject is drifting north:

When overhead: push the south polar axis to the west;

When in the east: increase latitude angle;

When in the west: decrease latitude angle.

30 degrees doesn't give you a lot to play with, but you'd be surprised what can be achieved with some patience and perseverance.

Al.

[xelasnave]

Yes Scott "normally live" is right but now it is going to be two weeks here, time at home (the 200 acre bush block) and time with my daughter and her Mommy at their "forest" they now live in the middle of one of those forrest plantations... so normal unfortunately is escaping me. However I must say I found the number of stars I could see very encouraging such that I can handle it, after 1 am its not bad really as no neighbours lights to worry me.
alex

[xelasnave]

I recon the mount is a beaut if I did that with either of the other mounts I have it would have been "jiggly". I am going back tomorrow cause I am giving a star party lecture whatever for the kids and maybe parents at Tabby school so I hope to get the eq6 running under clear absolutely cloudless dark skies..I hope I hope I hope.
Here is a shot about 30 secs where I let it run ..I dont think I could trail it that bad if the scope was slewing at top speed...and that was what I had to recon with for the manual guiding ..all praise to the EQ6..and of course because its white like the Tacky and Astro Physics mounts it definetley works better than those black EQ6s.
Thank you very much for the encouragement.
alex

[xelasnave]

Thanks Al...er as foolish as I now appear when over head I figured if I increased the elevation that would fix it..no wonder I got to 40 degrees and the problem did not go away. As I said to my Dad today I will probably get more fun out of getting a perfect polar align under this situation than taking the photos because it will I think notwithstanding your encouragement be a little trying... and thinking about it just mucking around with the gear is always a lot of fun. I was surprised how disoriented I was given that Tabby is 29 degrees approx and Sydney near 34 degrees approx.. and because of my limited ability to identify stars the goto was useless as not one came up for an alignment that I knew..it didnt have Sirius which I thought strange..and things seem about face..cant put my finger on it but something is out of wack goto wise..I dont think its me actually. But when pointing South Dec was showing + and I would have thought that - was the go.
Thank you very much for your input I feel so much better and your advice will be very helpful next time I have a go down here.
alex