Quote:
Originally Posted by Leo.G
AMAZING results as always Dennis!
If I ever lose a grain of sand in my back yard I'll give you a call, I'm sure you are the one person who could find it from Brisbane with your telescope.
I'm guessing you have a nice permanent set up where you don't have to align everything every time you set up and can have precision at all times, it certainly seems like it?
You must also be a very patient person with the remarkable results you get.
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Thanks Leo, but I set up and tear down each night as our back garden is exposed.
However, I have x3 off 12 inch circular concrete pavers sunk into the lawn in which I have drilled shallow depressions where the tripod feet pads sit, so I am reasonably polar aligned once I have everything set up.
In twilight, I run a T-Point Model in The Sky X Pro which slews the scope to say, between 70 and 120 user defined points in the sky, takes a 10 sec image for each slew and then calculates where it is actually pointing to versus where the SW “thinks” it is pointing to.
I use these results to perform an accurate polar alignment and when I then activate T-Point, ProTrack and PEC in TSX, they all help improve the pointing and tracking accuracy.
I am just the dumb operator!
It sounds long winded, but now that I am familiar with the process, it only takes some 30-40 mins and by then it is getting dark enough to begin imaging. Of course I have to go to the gym 3 times a week and lift weights so I am strong enough to carry all the gear outside!
There is something quite soothing in sitting at twilight, preparing for the evening’s session, watching the ‘scope slewing around the celestial sphere taking all these 10 sec calibration images.
Cheers
Dennis.
