Testing 19 subs 8 seconds zwo 2600

[xelasnave]

I am beginning yet again...trying to get my new cameras working on the 80 mm before I start on the RASA
After such a long time not doing anything i forgot everything...so first night was only to do polar alignment but I thought I would try the zwo 2600..I tried the osc and got message that the camera disconnected, so restarted, changed cables but found out after a goggle the camera needed power which I had not bothered with because I thought it was for cooling by then
I had put on the zwo 2600 mono ..anyways i wasnt after images as I could not get good polar align because of cloud but took 21 subs of only 8 seconds of M42 before it went behind the trees ....and could not even find my focuser mask.. but as I have a new lap top and all new programs I
i wanted something to just run thru stuff.
new DSS no problems but Start Tools threw me but I went thru and produced this which I post as part of testing...it is only a total exposure of 2.5 minutes...nothing..funny my first stack I had 3x drizzle on 18500 x12700..that slowed things down a little
i dont know what to expect so here goes...I ended up with 200 odd kb..so probably a waste of time.
alex

mmm ok but this was no drizzle and you could see the trap sort of in that one..
I dropped 3x drizzle cause processing was so slow..trap looked like a 4 leaf clover.
it is so good to be doing something again

[Kuz]

Nice to see you posting photos again Alex. Looks like a good start mate

[xelasnave]

Originally Posted by Kuz

Nice to see you posting photos again Alex. Looks like a good start mate

Thanks...looking past the things that must be fixed I am rather happy with the camera and from this image it can only be up from here.
Alex

[JA]

Lookin' good Alex

Best
JA

[xelasnave]

Thank you JA.
The alarming thing, which serves as a reminder to carefully inspect your image, was that I did not notice the in oval star shapes until the his morning looking at the image here..how can that happen..such a basic thing forgotten????...processing on my lap top in bed with the screen tilted and not blowing it up for a careful inspection...But I am not going to worry until I have balanced the mount and achieved good PA...then I can worry about back space ..hopefully not.


I want the mount giving round stars with out auto guide before I maybe put auto guide on this unit...

And I have no idea what I have done with my focuser mask??? So plenty to do to follow up on the results of the testing session.
Alex

Am I going nuts???
Looking at the image now on my tablet now the stars look round ... this morning, on my phone the looked oval...
I just don't know anymore...what do you see?
Alex

[raymo]

At 400% screen I see no evidence of ovality Alex.
raymo

[xelasnave]

Thanks Raymo. I think it really is my eyes...I went for a test to satisfy the folk who give out drivers licience and there was a hint my eyes have changed since I got the glasses six years ago but since then I notice they have gone downhill..the medication I bet...but that does it your input tells me to see the eye doctor again.
I definitely saw ovals yesterday morning .. orientation 45degrees ..maybe my lens distorted during sleep so I got that view in the morning???
Thanks again I greatly appreciate your help.
Alex

[Sunfish (Ray)]

Stars look good to me. Maybe your image software preview was stretching to fit. Big field of view.

[xelasnave]

Thank you Ray. I signed in on my phone and took a he opportunity of looking at the be image and notice if you dont hold the phone perfect the stars are oval.
I could not figure how 8 second subs would have a PA issue so I was secretly worried that I had a tilt issue...anyways another happy ending for me..I am just so very lucky.
Alex

[Startrek (Martin)]

Originally Posted by xelasnave

Thank you Ray. I signed in on my phone and took a he opportunity of looking at the be image and notice if you dont hold the phone perfect the stars are oval.
I could not figure how 8 second subs would have a PA issue so I was secretly worried that I had a tilt issue...anyways another happy ending for me..I am just so very lucky.
Alex

Alex,
As your probably aware the 2600MC had the thermal pad grease smear issue over the sensor ( I think the 2600MM to a lesser degree ) for cameras built between July 2020 to January 2021 ( Obviously a ZWO QC error on the production line ) I was one of the unlucky owners. My camera was sent back to my supplier for rectification and was returned to me in 10 days , quick turn around for which I was thankful. The next imaging night I noticed my stars were slanted or slightly eggy so checked all the normal things like PA , coma corrector etc... found out that the tilt plate wasn’t even all the way around ( obviously the repairer didn’t check it during re assembly )
As I didn’t possess feeler gauges so I used the corner of an A4 sheet of paper and carefully adjusted and tightened the tilt plate screws until I could just slip the paper gently back and forth.
Anyway long short it worked and my stars were round again ( with exception of some coma in the corners which I fixed later )
The tilt plate on the 2600MC and 2600MM can be an unexpected source of problems in regard to your Star field.
Just thought I’d share
Cheers
Martin

[xelasnave]

Er.. thanks Martin I think

No problem..I have a phone that you tilt and get rid of the those tilt problems. if you hold it right.

What surprises me is that you did not have a feeler gauge given your occupation...

There is no obvious smears of oil on my sensors but given how long these have just sat in their box in a sometime hot observatory, any smear would now be a film I suspect..I will have a decent inspection during next testing session.

One of the reasons I am setting up the 80 mm is to find any camera issues before I get serious setting up the RASA..already I found that six of my filter drawers are actually the wrong size ...I would have not been happy finding that out during my first serious rasa imaging session...I think I will change the holder to match the draws (The filters fit either and I could get by changing all thru the drawer that fits...but..it is asking for disaster) but I have yet to talk to John at Bintel...

I am hopeful that while I am working on the RASA and presumably getting no where, to be able to bang off some nice widefields with the OSC and sort out the lap top and new software via the 80mm.

The 115 mm is set up and should work using the old lap top so I can do narrow band just taking off its cover)...but getting the RASA producing obviously is my goal but it does not seem to be a plug and play toy...

The first image ( 19 x 8 seconds unbelievable) here thru the 80mm shows me a large sky coverage which I guess I had not even thought of..a pleasant surprise...I would really like to get a better image of M42 before it goes...I am thinking an image from the OSC spiked with a HA from the mono.

I am just going to be patient as I have no alternative.
Alex