Try taking a lot more of those 20 sec subs, Stu. Try 20-40 subs, or even more. The more subs, the more data you'll have to play with and the better the S/N ratio you'll have. Try ISO 800 as well....less noisy. Just means you'll have to take more subs
I found the timer settings on EOS.
I want to make sure I have this right though.
My camera takes a 20 second Exp, but then it takes another 20 secs to process. Therefore I need to set the timer interval to around 45 seconds ?
yep, that sounds right.
just fill your card Stu. I was the Queens of the 20 sec sub for a while there. It's amazing what you can capture in that short a time.
Extreme imaging !!!!
I found the timer settings on EOS.
I want to make sure I have this right though.
My camera takes a 20 second Exp, but then it takes another 20 secs to process. Therefore I need to set the timer interval to around 45 seconds ?
Stu
Sounds like you have "in camera noise correction" on too Stu - so its always going to take a matching dark frame for the length of your exposure. Alternative is to turn that off and use library darks, which gives you more imaging time, but requires you take darks at some conditions (temp mainly). I used to use the EOS software for focusing (liveview) and all my image capture. Very nice to get the PC and camera doing the hard work while you put your feet up and enjoy the sky!
I found the timer settings on EOS.
I want to make sure I have this right though.
My camera takes a 20 second Exp, but then it takes another 20 secs to process. Therefore I need to set the timer interval to around 45 seconds ?
Unfortunately it is the only one I could do and is very tricky. In my opinion to get any further than you have done you will need either - Equatorial Platform (which is what I used) or a Field De-Rotator which maybe the best bet to get long exposures needed for deep sky.
To get mine required 1 minute exposures all 67 of them and only 20 were good enough to make the grade.
On the other point it does sound like you have ICNR on.
I would leave the In Camera Noise Reduction on. Although you are halving your shooting time, the quality of your shots should be better.
Having said that, if the outside temperature is cold (1 to about 4 c), experiment with it on and off. You might find very little difference in the amount of noise in your shots.
When you get to the point that the delay time is a signficicant proportion of your shooting time, that's when its time to start thinking about shooting a library of master darks at various temperatures. For 30sec exposures its probably not worth the effort IMHO.
As to what gives the best pics, that's like arguing over Mac versus PC.....
The new centaurus A is much better tracked, the omega also shows nice stars, I haven't had much to do with the goto dobs ( ok i never had one in my hands ) you certainly have scope for lots of targets, and as others have said, the more frames you take the better the picture will be.
I've added my Trifid Nebula shot in there too now.
This was taken around an almost full moon and in a pretty badly light polluted part of the sky.
So I'm really looking forward to trying this stuff out more at the clubs dark sky location.
) you certainly have scope for lots of targets, and as others have said, the more frames you take the better the picture will be. 
