M20 Trifid, my first go at autoguiding

[spearo (Frank)]

Hello everyone!

Been a while for me what with clouds and too many things to do....
I have been working on a set up to try out some autoguiding.

Still working things out but tonight was my first descent success at a trial long exposure autoguided.

I managed this 322 sec shot at ISO 800. I was only doing it to see if trails would turn up because i expected the shot would be ruined by the moonlight but it looks pretty enough to me put here....for posterity HAHAHAAH (i always post my first horror shots it seems!)

Anyhow, the other 5 min shot seemed to trail for some reason and the 10 minute shot was a real write off, not sure why yet...could be that I'm due for a good drift alignment which i have been neglecting lately.

here it is, cropped, I'm happy enough and encouraged to refine the technique i nthe hope to be ready for the next new Moon.
details are on the pic but basically: C9.25 F6.3 on CG5 autoguided (guidedog) by a Modded TOUCAM on a 100mm Acuter spotting scope (yes that's right...and you should see how it's rigged up to the scope....) EOS 20Da ISO 800 exposure 1x 322 seconds. Some processign including Microsoft photoeditor, PS, noiseware (of course)

cheers
frank

[Dennis]

Hi Frank

That is a beautiful image and one to be proud of for your first auto guided image. I see you started at f6.3, a very wise move. People like Mike Sidonio, Brad Moore, Striker and a few others here on IIS make it look easy, from the wonderful images they post. I found moving up from a 4" f9 refractor to a C9.25 at f6.3 and f10 quite a big step and am still struggling to get consistent results.

Well done and I look forward to more of the same!

Cheers

Dennis

[[1ponders] (Paul)]

Hey that is a ripper of a fine shot Frank. Posterity be damned, that one is a keeper for the photo album.

[tornado33]

Yes a very nice shot. The trailing that happened in the other images, was it in one direction only? and was it in RA or Dec?
If the drive has backlash that may cause guide errors, I find having the mount just slightly out of balance improves things, as the gears are under a constant load, keeping them meshing.

If the polar alingment was really off, youd get field rotation, the trailing would be curved, with the axis of rotation around the actual guide star.
Scott

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Great work Frank!

Looks really nice and I completely understand the feeling when the autoguiding works! Some nights it has been satisfying just to have perfect guiding even if other things prevented a good image form being taken :-)

I can't really talk cause I don't take'em... but that image looks like it would benifit from a flat field division?

Mike

[spearo (Frank)]

Thanks Guys!
ill check the balancing tonight i try to have the slight imbalance but i might have it too much on the "slight" side and might need to shift it a bit more.
still fiddling with guidedog settings too but I'm basically happy to see progress for me in that I will likely be able to use auto guiding in future
thanks
again
frank

[Striker (Tony)]

Definetly your best Frank....much happier to see you imaging at ISO800 then 3200 or even 1600.

Well done Frank...look forward to seeing more from you.

[Lester]

Hi Frank,

Very nice image. Auto guiding must make life easier.

[acropolite (Phil)]

Great effort Frank, I'll be interested to see how the CG5 performs once you get the setup aligned and your tracking tuned.

[spearo (Frank)]

Thanks again.
Mike, hope you noticed i have tried to learn how to reduce the image without too much loss of detail..
Lester, the autoguiding i think will make for superior results once i've mastered it a bit but believe you me..everyone who said there were lots of frustrations along the way weren't kidding! HAHAAHA
frank

[Lee]

Thats a really great shot Frank.... I only hope my early cracks at guiding are so good....

[RB (Andrew)]

Fantastic image Frank, also love how you've got beautiful colour in the stars.

Well done.

[seeker372011 (Narayan)]

very nice first effort Frank

[matt]

Great stuff Frank

You've come a long way, fast!

You'll have to show me how you do this the next time I'm out at your place.

A modded ToUcam, eh?

[spearo (Frank)]

Thanks
Matt, I think next new Moon would call for another session at the Claireview dark site!
You'll have to teach me about planetary imaging!
f

[matt]

It's a deal, Frank

[TidaLpHasE]

First attempt that is very good Frank, you must be happy with that.

Keep em coming.

[EzyStyles (Eric)]

beautiful work frank. stars are perfect.

[spearo (Frank)]

Thanks Guys,
yep very happy, event though far from perfect yet, i know the days of short 2 and a half minute exposues will soon be behind me!
frank