MarkS

Hi Fabrice, The El Nino finished around May 2016. The SOI returned close to zero after then. However, I do know that cloud cover was higher than the previous year and that it had a bad habit of coinciding with New Moon times! Mark

I hope this signifies the end of almost a year of bad weather in this part of the world..... This nebula is a very active star forming region in the LMC - second only to the famous Tarantula. Therefore it doesn't receive the same attention as its bigger neighbour. This image was shot in the 3 hours between dark start and moonrise on 21 January. SQL 21, seeing 2.5 arcsec, Humidity 90%. DDM60, ASA10N at f/6.8, G3-16200 camera, RGB only all binned X 2, plate scale 1.44"/px. Processed in Pixinsight and CS5. Mark

Thanks Luis - this galaxy is certainly worth spending time on! Mark

Fine image Luis. Nice to see this one - it is a long way below my horizon. Your good astro year was balanced by my awful one! Mark

Welcome Fabrice. We've already had discussions. I am sure the others on this forum will help as much as they can - -just ask ! Mark

I can imagine it would be! Not what I want to take on! Thanks for the feedback. Mark

I think it is worth asking ASA about this. My DDM60 has never failed - not even once - to homefind correctly, with all versions of Autoslew since 5116. So it seems to me to be more likely a mount problem - and a fairly common one, judging by this thread. Mark

Is anyone using camera software other than Maxim DL in with Autoslew/Sequence ? In particular, I would like to use the Moravian SIPS software, as its control of the Moravian cameras seems superior. Unfortunately I have no idea what would be involed in such a change.... Can anyone shed light on this????? Mark

Happy New Year Wojtek, The questions raised by your last post are: 1. Is polar alignment good? 2. Have you synched Autoslew to your planetarium software? 3. Did you synch Sequence before starting the Pointing File? If the answer is yes to all three questions, you should be OK - pointing inaccuracy will then almost certainly be due to factors other than the mount or Autoslew. Flexure is always present in any system. Other than the above, I don't have any ideas - hope this helps! Regards, Mark

Hi Wojtek, Here is an instruction sheet on how to re-enter the key. Mark

Hi Wojtek, Looking at your ClServolog I see two significant differences to those from my DDM60. My log entries as follows: 1. The first line should read: "Using magnetic angle from key Axis1 = xx Axis2 = yy" 2. Under [Homefind both axis]: "Use homefind to reset magnetic angle = TRUE" There are a number of other differences, but these two need fixing first. It appears that there may be a problem with you DDM60 key. The last set of numbers refer to the magnetic angles for your mount and my understanding is that they are essential for start-up. You should re-enter your key. I don't know why the first line is missing from your log: it is present on all logs of both my DDM60 and DDM85A. Maybe sorting out the key will fix this. Hope this helps, Mark

Very slim pickings in this part of the world this year! I had hoped to get a lot more time on this splendid target, but that will have to wait.... This is my best offer for a Christmas card. It is seriously under-exposed at only 2 hr 25 min LRGB binned X1 with the ASA10N running at f/6.8. Happy Christmas to all, and I hope we all get much clearer skies in 2017. Mark

Hi Patrick, The Autoslew Upgrade Report comes in the Autoslew files. If you want to see it before you install 5231, you can find it on the ASA-USERGROUP website. Mark

Three very nice images, Thomas! I particularly like the Dragon. Mark

The only time I've had a similar experience - Sequence Run quitting before it is supposed to - is when I have not set the start time properly in Sequence Set-up. When I ensure that the Start Time is correct, I never have the problem. To be doubly safe, I now check that the Start Time in Sequence Set-up is close to when I actually start, and just before pressing Run Now, I check the 'Show path for Now' box. Maybe someone else could say whether this latter step is sufficient alone - I have not experimented. This might solve your problem, but of course there could be another issue altogether! Mark

Hi Christer, I am using 5.2.3.1 on Windows 7. I have ACC checked in AS>Telescope>Add/Remove Components, and it works exactly the same as previously with the OK3. Only one ACC window opens, and it works fine as long as AAF3 is selected. I also have ACC standalone loaded. I have no idea whether or not it makes a difference, but there is an AAF3_ASA ini file in it which I don't see in 5.2.3.1. Mark

Great capture, Antonio! I guess dark nebulae can look noisy, but this is a very clean image. Mark

Lukas, I have compared raw subs shot with the G3-16200 with equivalent ones shot with the G2-8300 (both 10min Ha to probe the camera noise). The 16200 is definitely smoother in the dark regions. Mark

Max, I have not seen full independent tests of the FLI or Moravian 16200 cameras. I can tell you that the G3-16200 the G2-8300 are both sky noise limited on my ASA10N f/3.6 system at 5min subs R, G or B. That is, the background measured on dark areas of subs taken with the two cameras in nearly identical sky darkness (SQL 21.4) are very similar. I would expect this to be the case for a f/3.6 system - that is, for exposures longer than about 3 minutes (R, G, or the sky noise should dominate RN of the camera. I have not yet done the same experiments with Narrow Band filters. Mark

NGC 55 is an irregular spiral galaxy about 7 Mly away in Sculptor. This area of sky has a relatively low density of stars. The main Sculptor group is around 12Mly away, so this galaxy (and NGC300) are much closer. It is thought to be similar in structure to the Large Magellanic Cloud, though much larger. This image is 3 hours RGB, shot on a fairly dark night (SQL 21.34 max), although the seeing was not great at about 4", due partly to fairly high winds. The image is about 23% of the full frame area. ASA10N/AAF3; G3-16200; Astrodon filters; DDM85A unguided. Mark

Benoit, The second adapter supplied with the AAF3 correctly places the Wynne on the ASA10 or 12. However, it is not really suitable for mobile use where you need to disassemble the system at the end of each session. The spacer I made places the Wynne in exactly the same position as the one supplied with the AAF3, but uses the Red Wheel to attach it, rather than three grubscrews. The OK3 set-up has a spacer exactly like the one I made, but because the OK3 is 30mm less deep than the AAF3, the spacer is 45mm long, instead of the 15mm required for the AAF3. Hope this clarifies the situation for you. Mark

Benoit, The only drawback with my solution is that the 15mm wide knurled depth is hard to grip as the Red Wheel obstructs it somewhat. This is OK if there is room to fully rotate the camera without fouling the mount. In my case there isn't, but this has not proved a problem so far! I have the 10N Mark

Hi Benoit, The Red Wheel is from the OK3 set-up. The system shown in the picture does not use the AAF3 spacer with the three grubscrews. That spacer is replaced by the one I had made. You can see it on the image between the Red Wheel and the focuser barrel. It screws directly into the AAF3 barrel exactly like the spacer on the OK3 barrel, and the Red Wheel then attaches the corrector/camera assembly in the same manner as on the OK3. Mark

Thanks for the info Christer. The adapter/spacer you are using doesn't work for me with the mobile set-up. Undoing the 3 screws whilst holding the camera to stop it dropping to the ground is too tricky! Accordingly I had made up a spacer exactly like the old 45mm one used with the OK3, but 15mm long instead of 45mm. It all works perfectly, and allows safe mounting/dismounting of the camera. See enclosed thumbnail. The set-up has now actually shot some data, and the subs look good. I was also told by ASA that the the new ACC software for the AAF3 only works as a standalone. But I tried it in Autoslew anyway, and it functions exactly the same. Sequence accesses it for AF, and no problems have arisen. Maybe problems will emerge, but until they do....... Mark

The AAF3 unit connects via an 8-pin DIN cable to a junction box which has a mini USB socket and connection to a 12V power supply. 12V supply and USB-mini-to-USB- standard cable are supplied. Mark