NEQ6 Pro Sky-Watcher & EQM 35 GOTO Sky-Watcher

I had a few night clear skies but long days and getting home late working on the shed I went to bed early. last night we go home a bit earlier so I just picked a simple target set the mount off went to bed. I moved a lot slower after the three days of heavy lifting and ladder climbing. Happy with the result tracking is better stars are rounder due to less weight of wires hanging from the scope. Clouds and rain.... two week forecast. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/47_Tucanae QHY183C -10c 180 shot 2 min MeLE Mini PC Prima Luce Essato Focus Optolong LeNhance filter, Skywatcher Black DiamondED80 OTA Skywatcher NEQ 6 Pro SVbony 50MM Guide scope QHY QHY5L-II-M Guide camera Guided PHD2, SGP Pixinsight, Ps.

The very latest update of Pixinsight brought out a lot more of the finer details in the nebulosity. Contrast the first one I ever did this is the very same set of photos as the first( March 2021) just the updated stacking and processing. Processing is a little longer but I believe it is worth it. Enjoy a few cloudy /rainy days learning. ZWO ASI071MC Pro @ -10c ZWO AEF, Optolong LeNhance filter, Skywatcher Black DiamondED80 OTA Skywatcher EQM35Goto Sequence Genorator Pro Guided PHD2, Stacked /Processed PixinSight , PS and Lr.

My trial was to try and take a photo with Nina while it did not work 100% the resultant photo give me some hope. nighttime-imaging.eu and use the Nuc away from home with a mini screen 7" and mini keyboard. while not what I was after it is still a shot and happy with that. what I was suppose to get and what I got where two very different things this is a program you build yourself how you want it to behave, so it may have been unlucky as a 7" screen is small and we where using a magnifying glass to try and see the small print on the small screen.. but it did work I have stars tp prove it.

I probably bit off more than I could chew I wanted to do a 4 panel shot of the SMC which meant it had to be rotated. In SGP 3 goes I can get below an error of 1.5 degrees. Nina fail in rotation first I was asked to move 8 degree anticlock wise , second was 44 degree anti , then 65 anti, then 65 clockwise , then 55 anti so I moved 30 anti but I was still asked to move 85 anti. I just gave up I took this photo where the camera was rotated but It had to have rotation canceled completely. going forward no rotation in Nina till i can find out why but it worked well. Everything worked as it should have which is a big plus. I am going to try and see if this can be used on the other three panels but I dont hold out much hope but at least I got a good look at Nina below is a look at the interface of nina 9 more pages you cant see. This is the "brief" shoot info.

You can see the photos being stacked LIVE only 3 very top right of shot and graph bottom right ON the photo. to the right the focus V, below that the position in the sky of the target and the mount is the dotted line. The red bottom right is the guiding graph if you look you can see when I touched the mount to peg down the plastic cover, high Blue line in the middle . The green line is the shot time that is taken far left. You go blind trying to work out all the rest but its all part of how you build it, Nina you build it yourself how you want it and how the steps fall. So far I am totally impressed but I have not hit a Hicup yet and had to get my self back on line. Its coming. Today I totally rewrote how the file header is saved and the info that I want on it. camera was set to -10 C and shot time was 300 sec and 100 of them more than a nights all this info you can find on this page. the result of close to 80 shots .

The first real result in Nina. the only snag I have hit and cant figure out why the mount is not flipping over to the other side at meridian. The two night that this ran I had to stop and restart after the time 12:15 am had passed so it set up correctly as the auto flip did not work. We think one of two things the set limits for the flip to happen where not being picked up, so I have redone them manually the setting of the limits. Cable snag but I don't believe so as there is enough cable now there is even more. Ps the setting of the limits manually the mount flipped correctly. This in a shot for Ko and the next Galaxy. ZWOASI071MC -10c 90 shot 10 min MeLE Mini PC Prima Luce Essato Focus Optolong LeNhance filter, Skywatcher Black DiamondED80 OTA Skywatcher NEQ 6 Pro SVbony 50MM Guide scope QHY QHY5L-II-M Guide camera Guided PHD2, Nina Pixinsight, Ps.

A galaxy that is very faint and was not the best to do as it was small and in moon light. This really was more done to try out the second camera and Nina. Happy to say all went well but for this rather dim view that is BEST Viewed LARGE. The mount flipped perfectly, Nina is getting to a program that is easy to use.This is a better target done in Narrow band with coloured filters but I am not there yet. This was taken over two nights and sits not far under the String Of Pearls Galaxy. this is my last two under clear skies. This in a shot for Ko. QHY183C -10c 90 shot 10 min MeLE Mini PC Prima Luce Essato Focus Optolong LeNhance filter, Skywatcher Black DiamondED80 OTA Skywatcher NEQ 6 Pro SVbony 50MM Guide scope QHY QHY5L-II-M Guide camera Guided PHD2, Nina Pixinsight, Ps.

I am again a live exhibit at this months Astro fest . First real true full sequence on Nina, also one night it was set off to go on its own as I was not home worked flawlessly. Unlike all other years where we where given a target to shoot we have been asked to sort out a target ourselves. NGC456 is the small part just off the Small Magellanic cloud. It looked a good target but when its processed and in shooting and live stacking it does not really show up so have canned the target. If you look at the photo below NGC456 is top right of the shot. As my next idea is the two white targets on the right hand arm of the SMC two very distinctive shapes. QHY183C -10c 90 shot 10 min MeLE Mini PC Prima Luce Essato Focus Optolong LeNhance filter, Skywatcher Black DiamondED80 OTA Skywatcher NEQ 6 Pro SVbony 50MM Guide scope QHY QHY5L-II-M Guide camera Guided PHD2, Nina Pixinsight, Ps.

This will be my second Target at Astro fest the two white Nebula's are a very distinctive shape and look very good stacked as the shots are taken. NGC346 Always reminds me of the personal fly suit that people use of high places and the Hexagonal NGC371. Nina has worked so far flawlessly. I was reminded most people would not watch for ten min so had to search for a new 2min target so I will start the night with the lagoon nebula as it falls in the sky. This is still Part of the Small Magellanic Cloud as 47 Tucanae is. QHY183C -10c 90 shot 10 min MeLE Mini PC Prima Luce Essato Focus Optolong LeNhance filter, Skywatcher Black DiamondED80 OTA Skywatcher NEQ 6 Pro SVbony 50MM Guide scope QHY QHY5L-II-M Guide camera Guided PHD2, Nina Pixinsight, Ps.

www.irida-observatory.org/Namibia-Tivoli/NGC1955-68/NGC1955-68.htm I set out to create my own Sequence in Nina and get use to it so it all runs smoothly at Astrofest. I struck a few problems I was sent a Mono Chip for this camera so no matter what I do the Live stack comes out 15 shade of grey even though it a colour camera. I found out at close to meridian The wires are pinching tight causing the camera to cause star trails. This is stacked removing the trailed photos sadly my third night was cut short by clouds rolling in at midnight so I could not see if final lay out worked but guiding certainly was better. Looking at this area It is so interesting I will do after astrofest a panorama of the area. This is part of the Large Magellaninc Cloud but not a part I have shot before at the top part of the shot below. QHY183C -10c 90 shot 10 min MeLE Mini PC Prima Luce Essato Focus Optolong LeNhance filter, Skywatcher Black DiamondED80 OTA Skywatcher NEQ 6 Pro SVbony 50MM Guide scope QHY QHY5L-II-M Guide camera Guided PHD2, Nina Pixinsight, Ps.

I was suggested my target I had chosen was good one but at astro fest no one is going to hang around to see a 10min shot. So I went for the area next the Star bank in the Large Magellanic cloud ( blueish area to the left.) . The other advantage in live stacking the colour chip in this camera shows up when stacked. I tested out the sequence before I went live at astrofest. Its looking like this year is only indoors Saturday is Rain and total cloud cover. Oh well I got to learn a little more about Nina and the shot gets seen even though its not live. Part of doing the sequence the photos get saved in the stack from my trial night and the night at astrofest would only add to the stack but a better looking photo from all the combined shots. The PIPS show closer detail from the QHY183 of the same area. ZWOASI071MC Pro -10c 134 shot 2 min MeLE Mini PC Prima Luce Essato Focus Optolong LeNhance filter, Skywatcher Black DiamondED80 OTA Skywatcher NEQ 6 Pro SVbony 50MM Guide scope QHY QHY5L-II-M Guide camera Guided PHD2, Nina Pixinsight, Ps.

The inner working on Nina , EACH square has the info that makes up this type of photography. Below is a very fast overview of the imaging tab the blue circle far left edge of photo. screen is roughly 9 boxes 1. Top left is information about the camera Running at -10 2. below that is data from the Focuser position , 17.3C outside. 3. Next box down data about the mount and its position in the sky. 4. Middle box is the stacked photo made up of 143 photos . 5. to the right of the middle box you can see the focus curve and its data. 6. Below that you can see the target position in the sky relative to sunset left and sunrise to go with that there is a dotted line that show where the mount is on the night journey. 7. Top Right is the manual box for taking a photo manually. 8. The box below is the sequence steps the blue square is the stop button to stop the sequence manually. 9. The graph below that is the PHD-2 Guiding graph. At the very bottom you can see a green box that is the shot time of the camera in this case 65% of a 2 min shot. Also on the bottom flashes up the stacking steps what is happening to that photo till it get to the stack. The photo shows the edges of each photo as its stacked as its is put in place the green line around is the data that will be lost from the movement of dithering each photo. you always have to crop a small amount each side of the shot to get a clean edge and not show stacking artefacts.

This was my first trial with Nina to do a panorama. In the program it has the capability to plate solve the camera position and then change the view to match the camera angle. I did this with 6 panels but decided to add three more wider but the very big thing I did not plate solve the added. So this is only three wide by two deep as the extra panels where way off line. in the shot below its the area at the top of the shot in the PiP I have decided to start again and do it properly and correctly. while this was only a nights worth of shots per panel for detail it would be far better 2 nights. ZWOASI071MC Pro -10c 34 shot 10 min MeLE Mini PC Prima Luce Essato Focus Optolong LeNhance filter, Skywatcher Black DiamondED80 OTA Skywatcher NEQ 6 Pro SVbony 50MM Guide scope QHY QHY5L-II-M Guide camera Guided PHD2, Nina Pixinsight, Ps PTGui.

The addition of the small Pegasus power box was the last bit of my up grade to remove cables. The unit sits on a piece of flat aluminum that the Velcro fixed to the supports of the scope and some on the back of the small unit. It was not without work it was case of Solder new fittings and make a whole new power cable extension from the power adapter to the unit (Not plugged in). To the right of the blue box is all the power plugs to the computer (just below) , the red focusor right end of the photo and the camera outside of view. Below I had to remove USB fittings and replace with RCA for both the heaters. to the left the computer cable for the unit( see two screens Below) and just below the 12 V 10A power inlet. Then it was fix and tie all the cables so everything it tied up and tight. Also has auto dew heater tied up to the unit from the top cable and is the top part of the screen I prefer to have heaters on low full time, not auto. Blue , Red line and the large green part. This shows the heaters powered up and camera powered. Net result even more cables removed from the bottom of the mount to the top. Now its only two cables so far less weight than the 9 cables the mount had before. So far guiding has improved immensely. The effort has been worth while. Photo to follow from two nights note red and blue lines following the center line for a TOT bottom left corner 0.63 deviation.

Part of the Large Magellanic Cloud area but a part I have not taken before. N70 is the unmistakable Circular nebula top right. this was taken over two night to test out the New power supply box and how stable it is. The other effect of the power box was to reduce the number of cords that have to go from the top to the bottom to lessen the weight on guiding. the number of cord has reduced to two a far cry from the heavy load of the original 9. Now its fine tuning PHD2 to get the very small movement of guiding and better round stars. ZWOASI071MC Pro -10c 90 shot 10 min MeLE Mini PC Pegasus Astro Pocket Mini power box Prima Luce Essato Focus Optolong LeNhance filter, Skywatcher Black DiamondED80 OTA Skywatcher NEQ 6 Pro SVbony 50MM Guide scope QHY QHY5L-II-M Guide camera Guided PHD2, Nina Pixinsight, Ps PTGui.

This is a bit of an odd ball as it does not follow anthing like I have done before. I found this Dark looking structure on Stellarium but it was not named so could not select it by writing the name. I was able to use the cool feature in Nina Select it in Stellarium and it brings it into Nina as a target. The star is HIP 54413 at least I knew that part from Stellarium This is two nights worth of shots and about 5 goes at trying to edit this which is so different to how I have done all the others. This is the 6th edit this looks more like what the shot should have from the start a lot of editing to get to this point. telescope.live/gallery/cederblad-111-1 I think this is pushing the limits of the ED 80 with all this very light dusty part of the sky. The mount performed flawlessly so really happy with the two upgrades. ZWOASI071MC Pro -10c 90 shot 10 min MeLE Mini PC Pegasus Astro Pocket Mini power box Prima Luce Essato Focus Optolong LeNhance filter, Skywatcher Black DiamondED80 OTA Skywatcher NEQ 6 Pro SVbony 50MM Guide scope QHY QHY5L-II-M Guide camera Guided PHD2, Nina Pixinsight, Ps PTGui.

The shot here is cropped out of the panorama as the light from Orion is just so bright that area is almost white and totally blown out compared with the Running man Nebula. QHY 183C -10c 138 shot 2 min MeLE Mini PC Pegasus Astro Pocket Mini power box Prima Luce Essato Focus Optolong LeNhance filter, Skywatcher Black DiamondED80 OTA Skywatcher NEQ 6 Pro SVbony 50MM Guide scope QHY QHY5L-II-M Guide camera Guided PHD2, Nina Pixinsight, Ps PTGui.

This was more trial than proper shot. The blue light shows up from Rigel in this shot more than the first shot I took of this area. I think its worth doing the whole line of the Witch Head about 2-3 more shots to added to the top will wait for Less moon as well. This utilizing Nina's self line up/rotation mode when framing the subject. this is three shot of the Witch Head on top of each other to make this panorama , they ended up perfectly on top of each other rather than off..... The only draw back is you cant do the frame up before hand you have to do it when the camera can see the subject to get the alignment of the camera. I took these three shots as the trial but it was the wrong target to pick because of the the moon light but the right target to try out the panorama on. The Nikon gets the bright light from Rigel. And the ZWO ASI071 MC astro camera is very badly effected by the same bright light of Rigel, just to the right out of shot. I have put the Nikon 50mm F1.8 lens on the Nikon Rig to take the whole of the Orion area and Barnards Loop. QHY 183C -10c 41 shots each night 10 min each over three nights. MeLE Mini PC Pegasus Astro Pocket Mini power box Prima Luce Essato Focus Optolong LeNhance filter, Skywatcher Black DiamondED80 OTA Skywatcher NEQ 6 Pro SVbony 50MM Guide scope QHY QHY5L-II-M Guide camera Guided PHD2, Nina Pixinsight, Ps PTGui.