[Screwdriverone (Chris)]

Hi All,

Now that I have (hopefully) sorted my tracking motor issues on the Eq2 (yeah I know its crap) I would like some advice on the best settings for the Toucam to take long exposures of say, M42 and globulars etc.

In the past when trying this, I have been unsure of what to set the gain and gamma and shutter speed (probably doesnt apply I know for LE) to get the best LE subs.

Apart from Darks, flats and bias frames etc which I will worry about later, what should I try for a passable LE shot of M42, should I set the LE time to 20 secs, and take craploads of them or try for longer but take less shots?

Can anyone assist please? I am hoping to get some practice in on Saturday night so any tips would be great.

I have heard people say that without tracking you can get up to 2 minutes only, but I cant get anywhere near this without trailing stars of some description, even when the mount is spot on with drift alignment. I assume they mean without AUTOGUIDING? The issues with my gears are hopefully sorted now so I should be close to spot on dead centre for minutes at a time with the RA motor on.

Before you suggest an HEQ5 pro or better, no money for that, also considering that its a waste of time mounting my SW135 tube on it but thats another story.

Thanks and cheers

Chris