M81/M101 now I've got guiding working again.

[Fay]

Robert what program & camera do you use for guiding?

[RobertM]

Fay, you're very kind but do me too much credit, the computer does all the work these days !

[Fay]

Your guiding looks spot on Robert.

I have been in the garden, tonight, waiting for a miracle. Waste of time!!! Back indoors now, so much I want to try out etc etc

[RobertM]

Miracles do happen so don't give up !  I'm visiting Kelling Heath tonight as I'm holiday that way but the forecast is bleak so I'll certainly be praying for one. 

Funnily the guiding is one thing I'm not so happy with, it's good when working but it looses the guide star from time to time.  I think the QHY5 is just too noisy to get a consistent lock with all this LP, I'd prefer a cooled camera for guiding.

[Mike]

I have been in the garden, tonight, waiting for a miracle. Waste of time!!!

Shouldn't have wimped out of Deep Sky Camp we had clear skies

[Fay]

I didn't wimp out & I'm not a wuss.
I evaluated the weather situation & decided it would not be good enough to come down. If I camped, it would have to be for 2 nights because otherwise it is not worth the effort.
I don't like coming down & then driving home, I am not good at driving in the dark, seeing that I have never thought of putting the headlights beams full on, & you can't relax when you know that you have that drive in front of you.

Sky could not have been that good as John could only get 2x3 mins. of M51. I was in the garden & saw ISS go over but mostly cloudy & was not prepared to stay up until the early hours.
I was in the undecided part & would have let you know if I had made a definite decision. I would have bought my own meal down as you may not have been prepared for an extra one at the last minute.

[Mike]

OK my wink smiley seems to be a bit hard to see. is this one better... ?

[Mike]

Sky could not have been that good as John could only get 2x3 mins. of M51.

I think that was down to technical issues rather than time constraints.

[JohnP]

Mike - it was combination of both... main issue as usual was guiding (PHD) but there just wasn't enough time between the clouds to do the tests.. everytime I was about to give it a try again phd would loose guide star due to clouds... I'm sure if phd worked straight off for me I would have got a few more subs... Trying to guide on a 'HOT PIXEL' for 1/2 hr or so didn't help either... doh I put that down to the Stella...!!!

It was all good fun though.. As you know yourself you didn't bother setting up the imaging kit on the friday night because of the on/off conditions...

Cheers,  John

[Mike]

....As you know yourself you didn't bother setting up the imaging kit on the friday night because of the on/off conditions....

That was mainly due to the fact i'm too bloody lazy.

[Rocket Pooch]

Very nice image Robert, I'm now trailing behind you and John so I suppose a trip somewhere dark is in order to get something up for this year.  If only work did not get in the way of astronomy...........

Chris



P.S. Looks like the mount is working ok

[RobertM]

Yes, the new mount does seem to work ok.  Dark skies would definitely help though - know of any decent spots ?

[Fay]

The only place could be the North Pole, at the moment!

[Rick]

It's past the equinox, so you'll have a long wait for nightfall at the North Pole. It's the South Pole you want...

[Fay]

Just testing to see if you were alert, well done!