Hi Carlton,
Like Raymo and Peter say.....Patience grasshopper.....
PA is vital. I was pretty rough with my PA for a while and also my scope wasnt quite square with my mount so my alignment was always a bit out. I'd do a visual and then a drift and it was out so I'd go back to a visual alignment not realizing it was out a bit so I'd start to get stretched stars.
Then it dawned on me it's not the scope that needs alignment it's the mount!!
It helps if the scope is spot on with the mount and that's why a drift alignment works because it picks up errors with the mount.
Also a bahtinov is a must. The screen on my 450d is tiny and without a mask there's no way I could get focus. I also got an app on my phone that I can conect my camera to my phone and with a bigger screen focus is easier.
At the moment im getting 2 minute unguided subs and only getting coma so I must be doing somthing right.
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...d.php?t=174169
Is was getting frustrated for a while until I went back to basics and stated learning from the Masters....
Now im trying to learn processing and thats another hurdle but with the years of expertise on this site and people willing to help it makes it so much easier
PS Have you tried nightscapes yet.
They're pretty easy and you get not too bad results.
They kept me going when all i was getting was washed out stripey stars!!
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...d.php?t=167819
Cheers
Andy