Hello all, Thought I would share some of the data that came from the torture test I put the Mach 2 through. For those not aware, I loaded up about ~68lbs of scope, camera, and accessories on the Mach

Tonight I tried a different experiment and before starting the sequence, I manually sent the mount home. When I started the sequence, the first slew was to the target and the mount did not rotate into

Great! Glad it's working and not needing repair. Yes, the spur gear locking screw can come loose over the years on the 900/1200 mounts. Both on the RA and the Dec gearboxes. Rolando

Hi All, Problem is resolved. The lock screw on the worm spur gear was loose. Diagnosis by George...Thanks! Big improvement in guiding too. Steve

Being a totally visual guy, I wouldn?t know which one to get but, congratulations!! Jim

Congrats!! I would recommend getting both at the same time as the scope. Get them while readily available. David

Well, I was just called by my favorite "Karen" tonight and I will soon be the owner of a new Stowaway. I can't believe my good fortune. Now, do I want the flattener or the reducer? Decisions ...

👍 Thanks.

It's 5 nm. The 10 sec exposures are for the Trapezium stars and the surrounding area. More than 10 seconds and the Trapezium stars would begin to saturate and bloat out. Roland

👍

Roland, At the risk of opening up a can of worms (sooo many opinions on this matter), do you mind if ask what the passband width of H-alpha filter you used for this image is? It seems like it

Tom This question comes up over in general imaging forums. Some 'interesting approaches arise. See https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/408507-mount-balance-meridian-flip-and-automation/ Thank you,

Fantastic image. It never ceases to amaze how much detail can be captured with Ha only.

Yes, even the 900/1200 had spring action in the gearbox mounting. Mach1 also. Rolando

Roland, does that include the older mounts like the 900/1200 and Mach 1? Jeff

For Astro-Physics mounts best practice is to balance. Our mounts have spring loaded worms, so do not need to be unbalanced. Rolando

Hi I have read that best practice is to have the balance heavier on the counterweight side when imaging to the east. Ok, makes sense. However what happens at Meridian flip? It's now completely

Really nice Roland and one of my favorites too, in fact, the very first deep sky object I saw with my first telescope, a Sears 2" F11 achromat. I've noticed that you and other skilled imagers manage

Just got around to processing my winter project. Images were taken back in February on one bitter cold clear night at our northern Illinois observatory. This much-photographed object is still one of

Hello, Just a reminder for those who procrastinated – the deadline for completing the form is noon, central daylight savings time – TODAY! Yes, I know the last week passed very quickly.