[xelasnave]

Hi Ross

First of all you are doing pretty good so remember that above all else.

My money is on poor tracking.

Often you can balance your scope in RA so it seems perfect but the mount likes a bias either to the West or most likey the East...so perfect balance may not be what will give you good tracking...you need to work out what the mount likes..unguided.


First thing to do is identify that RA drift is the problem so take say a 30 second exposure wait a minute or two take another and see which way the star is going...( You can use high iso or gain as you are just looking to see direction of drift)...East or West..adjust counter weights by moving say 15 mm...take two more photos to see how moving the counter weight has effected the drift.

It can take a long time...further do this without any guiding. ...also wait a while before you start as the mount may need to settle to its new position.

I have a HEQ 5 mount and I can get it to track for a minute by getting balance correct...

Of course before you do anything make sure polar align is as good as you can get it...

In any event take say 30 second, 60 second and 3 minute exposures and see if your trails get longer...I always adjust the length of my exposures on how long I can go before I notice trails...this means some nights may be 2 minutes others may be as short as 20 seconds...

Take heaps of subs and use only half of them as a general rule.

I have recently taken 750 one minute subs and used only 320 ... It is hard to throw out any sub but if it is not perfect get rid of it.

Further after you take a few..stop and examine all you have captured critically..blow up each sub and then inspect it...if you see trails or signs focus is out fix it early.

Anyways try to know your mount before you go to guiding...know its little quirks.

Flex should not be an issue.

Once you have polar and tracking worked out you can look at other issues..distance from flatner to sensor..tilt...internal reflections...flex..or how much money to throw at the problem..however your current image would be excellent if tracking was spot on I feel.


Good luck.
Alex