How is the mount attached to the pier? I cast a concrete pier, then bolted an A-P SPA Standard Pier Adapter to four 5/8" threaded rods embedded in the concrete. I put nuts on the rods to allow me to a

With an equipment change, I might need to re-balance my AP1200. I've done this before, and am familiar with the procedure to balance in the Park 4 (or Park 1) position, then start up, slew to a star,

Does this apply to dark skies or only to bright skies? I remember you said you spent considerable time on the math, but I'm unclear on your conclusions. I typically do 10-minute subs with my OSC camer

I agree the color saturation isn't as deep as images I made with an ST-8XM and Astrodon filters, and I'm disappointed in that. It seems difficult to get deep reds instead of them having an orange cast

Thanks, I didn't recognize itat first. I too have had good success with combining full-color and Ha subs on a one-shot color camera, in my case, an ASI-1600MC Pro. Here's my IC443 with 4 hours full-co

Is there a link where we can see the image? --- Mike

This is one of my lunar images acquired as described: <http://astronomy.mdodd.com/moon-02.html> Note that the individual exposures were only 1.5 milliseconds -- the Moon is very bright. Details are li

Can't help you with the math, but AFAIK, the more pixels your target covers, the better it will be. It will indeed have higher resolution. Take it to an extreme: Would you want a 1-degree-wide image t

Incorrect. The resolution is the number of pixels within the image, so if the image on the sensor grows by 2X, you have doubled the number of pixels in both directions. Suppose Mare Imbrium covers a s

I use a 60mm f/5 scope for guiding, with an old SBIG ST-402 camera. Regarding small and lightweight guide scopes, years ago Chris Peterson (Cloudbait Observatory <https://www.cloudbait.com/>) sent me

Is there any chance the evaporating volatiles from the Pliobond could fog the objective lens? --- Mike

I have an ASI-1600MC Pro on a TMB130SS f/7 APO on an AP1200. I usually shoot 10m subs. For galaxies I often use Pixinsight's HDRMultiscaleTransformation to recover core detail. Here is my attempt at M

Yes. Something didn't "click." Sorry for my confusion. --- Mike

I don't understand that, Ray. A pixel is a pixel regardless of the color filter over it. When an image is debayered, the debayering algorithm gets light values from every pixel, and assigns RGB values

Thanks (and Bryan too). I have the manual, and I will check it out. That's specifically why I'm considering APCC Pro. I have a 130mm f/7 OTA, and typically take 10-minute subs. My guiding usually runs

#APCC

Hmmm.... I don't see anything about that on the AP website. Is it needed along with APCC? --- mike

#APCC

I must have slept through the class -- what is APPM? I know about APCC, and an considering that myself for my 1200 mount. But I don't know anything about APPM. --- Mike

#APCC

That's what I was going to say. Technically, all the points made were valid, but practically, to power an AP mount, don't over-think it! Get some 16AWG insulated stranded copper wire (14AWG for REALLY

In the "cleaning up" domain.... Back in October during the Mars opposition, a friend told me about Topaz Labs DeNoise AI that removes noise and sharpens images. <https://www.topazlabs.com/denoise-ai>

Which mount would that be? Periodic error has nothing to do with Dec, only RA. If your mount requires Dec corrections, that indicates your polar alignment should be adjusted. Dec adjustments should be