POK question related to the small refractor idea...what about raw camera/system resolution...so is there a "sweet spot" as far as resolution...native, 1x1 binned my system is .632"/pixel...better to u

I would think the Aeroshell would most likely be fine. WE had a heck of a monsoon this year, 12.62" of rain since June 1... Mike J. Shade: mshade@... Mike J. Shade Photography: mshadephotography.com

I use and have used Aeroshell for a few years...in SE AZ, elevation 5000...100 in summer, 20s in winter-or occasionally colder...AP1600/AP1200/AP Mach1...seems to make everyone happy. Mike J. Shade: m

There has been some discussion as of late about mount tracking and guiding. I have a several year old AP 1600 with a Planewave 17" on it, 2940mm fl. I am able to get 5 minute unguided images out of th

I would offer that eliminating that from your system and guiding through the main instrument would be a fair assessment of the tracking abilities of your mount. I can go three minutes unguided on my o

You are guiding through the guide scope while imaging through the main scope? Mike J. Shade: mshade@... Mike J. Shade Photography: mshadephotography.com In War: Resolution In Defeat: Defiance In Vic

Simple question that I may have missed the answer to...can you do UNGUIDED exposures and get round stars through your main imaging OTA? Not talking about say 10 minute unguided but 30" or a minute? If

While likely not a major issue, it is possible that your RAPAS is not quite dialed in and your polar alignment is slightly off? Perhaps a solid drift alignment and check results again. Also, if you ar

Curious as to what folks might be using for a quick and easy alt-az mount for say a 130 GT? This is going to be my eclipse setup. While I do have a Mach-1, looking for something that is a bit more "gr

Looking for a portable power supply to run my Mach-1 in the field. I understand that a deep cycle battery is an option but then there is the charger and so on...what other options do folks use? I unde

I am running an a 1600GTO with a Planewave CDK 17 (2945mm fl) on it, permanent in an observatory. Camera is an SBIG STL 6303E (.63"/pixel), focuser is an Optec Gemini focuser/rotator. Software workflo

Silly question...1600GTO, CP4...when downloading the PEC curve that is already in the mount from the mount with PemPro, does it remove the curve from the mount or is it just the data? In other words,

Thanks George, I am using ACP...so it is ASCOM direct... Mike J. Shade: mshade@... Mike J. Shade Photography: mshadephotography.com In War: Resolution In Defeat: Defiance In Victory: Magnanimity In

Have some questions regarding setting up guiding through the V2 driver. I am guiding a 1600GTO CP4 using the V2 driver, Maxim 5.18, SBIG STL6303E camera. I have set the guiding in Maxim to ASCOM direc

This sounds like a good project over monsoon... Mike J. Shade: mshade@... Mike J. Shade Photography: mshadephotography.com In War: Resolution In Defeat: Defiance In Victory: Magnanimity In Peace: Go

Ray...was Running driver V .04 happily with good ASCOM direct guiding...yesterday upgraded to .07. No other setting were changed, no additional software installed, nothing. Ran the same observing plan

Upgraded to .07...ran system as I did the night before, running ACP, same plan as last night, same guide star, same object. Noticed that the guider errors were huge for some strange reason, like in th

It may well be, I don't think I noticed this with guider relay guiding...but I would not swear to it 100%. The telescope seemed physically parked but it continued to say "parking". Weird...but it does

Sounds similar to my problem except ACP is involved... Mike J. Shade: mshade@... Mike J. Shade Photography: mshadephotography.com In War: Resolution In Defeat: Defiance In Victory: Magnanimity In Pe

I'm a little unclear...Maxim does not determine the park position. The only "link" is that Maxim is set to guide through ASCOM direct. I DO NOT have it guiding through the telescope function (in guide