Radar

Okay. Try swapping the stepper motors if you haven't already. That's all I have left. Even swap the gears over if they can be swapped. The RA worm may have a tiny dent or something. Ray

Also could be the stepper motor moving the mount too far then reverting to pull it back in, etc. I know I am preaching to the choir but try the smallest possible movements in RA only. Turn DEC and backlash off. Ray

Sorry about the delay in replying, I've been away with the kidlets in Mandurah. Can you try another guide program to eliminate the possibility of software? And have you tried both with PEC on and off to ensure it is not using a default PEC file? I would also unbalance it the (only after you have tried the above two). Misbalance it so that the scope is travelling uphill. Test and then try it the opposite way. This also speaks volumes about the gear teeth. And try it with PEC on and then off. Ray

I wrote a post yesterday and half way through it got a call and forget to submit the reply, lol But you have answered some of my questions. Have you tried different guiding software to see if there are any differences? Have you tried a PEC program to remove the errors? Finally will the mount guide accurately without the primary imaging scope (a mission to unload and rebalance I know). Ray

In that first photo is up and down RA or Dec? Ray

There is no doubt that the better the mount the more rewarding the hobby becomes. The headaches of cheap mounts cause such frustration, we've all been there. When you say that the software cannot cope with the errors, how big or far are the errors? For example, if you are taking a photo, how oblong are your stars? From what you have said it can't be the bearings or gears. I would be leaning toward (depending on how big the errors are) either bad seeing causing the guidescope to jump around frantically combined with backlash. But I haven't seen the errors so it is hard to guess. What does a guided sub exposure look like? Can you post one? With bad seeing, I cannot shoot anything unless the seeing is good to very good. I now use this before every session (otherwise my focus is soft and I'm wasting my time, but I can still track okay in bad seeing) http://www.bom.gov.au/australia/charts/viewer/index.shtml?type=windbarb&level=200hPa&tz=AEDT&area=Au&model=CG&chartSubmit=Refresh+View Also are you able to drop the fl of your guidescope back with a reducer? Ray

lol, classic. When you say your mount "went to shit" (I believe this is your scientific term) what exactly is it doing? I've been here before with my Losmandy, I hated every moment of it, but I became a bit of a mount detective with motors, gears, software, balancing, etc. Ray

Up close and personal, just how I like it mate. Not sure what your focal length is but the closer in the harder life is. I can't tell you how many issues I have had to work through. Those two satellite trails (lower left) are at a perfect right angle to each other as well! Ray

Thanks guys. I am out of practice on the processing (amazing how fast you can forget some stuff), but I need to start dithering more (quite a bit of noise which I managed to get rid of). I have a ton of data on the tarantula that I'll process shortly as well. I'm glad to be at least producing something. Ray

This image shows the inside of the Rosette Nebula. I have captured Evaporating Gaseous Globules (EGGs). Those spherical clumps of dust and hydrogen (EGGs) that are shown at the tips of my green arrows are collapsing with gravity into dense spheres which will (in the next few thousand or million years) generate enough heat and pressure at their cores to fuse hydrogen together and initiate fusion, giving birth to a new star. Every star you see in that photo started as an EGG in the same way, and by studying the nebula we can easily tell where the next new stars will be born. The exposure time for this photo was 45 hours over two months (about 4 hours per night when conditions permit). The object is 5200 light years away, which means we are seeing it as it was 5200 years ago, those EGGs (shown at the tips of my green arrows) have probably already become stars, but we won’t know for another 5200 hundred years. Usual suspects, C14 riding an AP1600GTO hiding inside a Sirius Observatory. Processing PS and PI. C&C's welcome as always. Ray

Awesome effort either way Prof. Ray

3's a magic number Greg. Very cool. Ray

Awesome mate. I'll keep an eye out for him. Ray

Yeah good looking rig. What do you use the four cameras for? Looks like you have two or even three guide cameras. Ray

Not me mate. In fact the fast scope are quite handy for a bunch of stuff. I like M83. I'll have to revisit that one later this year (once the cloud moves away). Ray