I decided to go with Jupiter 1st , I adjusted a lil' bit from the time before . The humidity and temp wasn't as bad as the 11th when I 1st ran on this target, I tried different settings as I ran away running avi's. I then went for m57 and plate solved with the planetary setup aftr solving on vega I clicked for guiding on a star around vega and was totally blown away when I was guiding a lot better than all previous attempts, my luck SGP kept telling me it couldn't solve {too low to the horizon}. Vega was straight up at zenith and how can m57 be too low to the horizon? I didn't get to run RGB Sharpcap lost my efw controls and I couldn't figure that one out?

Jupiter GRS


Guiding didn't drop or rise on either axis

My modified Meade lxd55 mount is pretty good for doing Lunar/planetary imaging but, dso's is another story. It's all good though , I take my licks and keep going because astronomy is awesome. Thanks fellas ! Summer is mainly solar system imaging , the fast frame rate can catch a good frame more often unless a cold front settles in the it's game on from tree city. Our state has so many huge old Oak trees that when we get a lot of rain trees uproot and knock out the power which really s---- in the summer.

It was hot , it was humid , I was dripping and I had the opportunity to get some imaging time on m57 and Jupiter in 2 nights after 2 months of astro withdrawals and better data . My output paths are now in the in the correct manner and I had a good night collecting several thousands of frames in 4 hrs. I was capturing @ a rate of up to 237fps "what a night".

asi174MM cooled 2x barlow Jupiter w/ satelite

I've had the past 2 nights to gather data on m57 and everything but, guiding has been awesome . 2 months of boiling heat and humidity has thrown a wrench in my enjoyment, boiling heat is back tomorrow and back to trying to process a lot of sleezy data from Winter. I've got to get with you on that PHD again and try to get that darn guiding going one more time . I just had a central air unit go out , 8 days in the boil with nothing but fans "Sucks being me" . A new mount is on hold for a while .

Stay the course bwa , you've pulled more than I could on Jupiter and haven't had a chance for a try at Saturn this summer. I gave up on Planets there's just too much humidity and the heat is out of control. Nice job.

Looks really good Brian , keep it up , at least someones getting some AP done. I'm sitting out at the mount ready to go and clouds won't leave , I've attempted to get tested and going 10 times in 2 months , every time wind and clouds ruin the fun .

Stunner Jim, you've got some awesome data as I can see Tweak away . I 'm getting nothing but, heat and clouds with popups almost everyday . I need a miracle?

Ed , that looks amazing side by side setups that's awesome !

So far so good , it at least goes to my target on the camera sensor without having to figure out which way to go with the control. I call it a successful improvement and without backlash , I don't know how I pulled that off. I've still got to do a sequence , to see if my dec in phd has improved . My glasses broke right after she told me that she pulled the trigger on a surprise ! incredible ! there wasn't any through the roof stuff wanting to cancel the order or anything after that . I didn't really care for the {no line bifocals} that broke. It has been so crappy for a month to the day and I'm still working on data trying to get my luminous to line up with my rgb stack and I'm learning that I better get my key straight or I'll have to go through all this hell again. It's all a learning process in this hobby.

Well done, I've not had a go at this one . Looks promising Jim, thanks for the heads up.

Thanks Sonny , It hasn't been worth a crap and what better time to totally screw my mount up or not. I just hope that it can get me through another year or so . I was really not wanting to try anything like this but, I had to do something . I got fed up when I was trying to stack my subs from the late Winter on m81 and 82, that's the kick in the pants that got me going Sonny.

I grew some and against my better judgement , I gave my lxd55 DEC axes a tune-up and re- grease every moving part. The large dec gear came out so much easier than going back in , the kicking and screaming at my mount didn't help in go in either. Five days in a week period to get this done and though it moves like slicing butter, only testing on astronomical targets will tell if it fixed my problem with my dec drive. I had stiction and now I don't either turning it by hand or with the OTA mounted and adjusting those tension screws was a real time consumer but, while taking the worm housing off I observed where the threads were and jotted that down so I new where it had been and had to decide where to set it to get rid of the backlash. I haven't had any time out under the stars for more than 3 weeks and hopefully this will not persist much longer. This mount did ok on lunar and planetary before but, it's not up to par for longer exposures hoping that this will improve . If nothing improves , it was a learning experience .

DOG GONE SONNY ! that's a Tale of astrophotography, so many factors coming into play when dealing with astronomy that's why I enjoy the challenge but, the frustration level is turning me gray. I won't give advice on mounts , there are just too many to chose from and I'm sure they all have there shortcomings and glitches bwana. I'm using a 20yr old mount that cost under $300 with the tripod for learning the deep AP and has attitude but, when everything is in sync, it 'll go and do what it's supposed to . I run for short 20 second exposures as many as I can catching my targets in between the holes and until I get the autoguiding corrected then it'll be a glorious night. I have to refocus everytime the mount changes position in the sky and when a filter changes. It's all a learning experience , Enjoying the ride.

Good job on capturing a lil' piece of heaven.

I use the polemaster Europa, I've worked on everything I and others have told me to check and still pulling my hair out and kicking stuff in frustration. Alanna is fed up with my "MANIC OUTBURSTS" over guiding and I believe I've got a new guide system coming either a new guide camera or a guidescope to go on the rings. Woohoo ! So, I've been running shorter sequences for the past week collecting and grading usable frames along with centering my target every 5-10 subs. I have to do what I have to do to get it done before my targets are out of my windows of opportunity.