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Thanks Mike, I have two of the same tripod, it's the TP-PTMMC65C. It's not fantastic, but does the job. I'm 6' even, so height matters to me. www.amazon.ca/Platinum-Tripod-Monopod-PT-TPM665-C-_Black/dp/B01F63VUD6

Hi Jeff, flats make a big difference, there - I re-processed the image from this video with updated flats and the bright spot in the center calibrated right out. Best of luck with your processing, and Clear Skies!

Nice! Glad the video helped. Clear Skies!

Thanks @ionfreefly - I'll see if I can borrow one (or an L-Extreme) from somebody at my club the next time we have a dark sky observing night.

Thanks Tich! I hope you kept your data! I went back over and re-processed 12P/Pons-Brooks, but of the two data sets I had taken, I had already deleted one of them to free up storage. Now I'm kicking myself, because I could have done much more with what I had captured.

@@Felldisulfide I probably wont bother revisiting my data as the focus was off so not really much point, but still happy to have captured it anyhow

Thanks Stefan! C/2023 A3 is moving away from us but the way the Earth is currently positioned, the comet is traveling almost parallel to apparent motion of the surrounding stars. This means that if you take long exposures, you'll be stretching the comet's nucleus along the path of its tail. This is masked when you adjust the curves during processing. Check out this short: ruclips.net/user/shortsjIFhzzEC1C4?si=d93FHE--hRb91x0W Clear Skies!

That had been bothering me. I re-processed the image, restacking 67 frames using an older flat from my library (I have a few for each lens just in case). The brighter spot in the center was calibrated out. I have posted the new image to the channel's community tab if you want to have a look. If you used flats and still see the glowing spot, you might need new flats. I highly recommend the UPPDMAT style flats I've been using. I have adjusted the way I take these sky flats so that instead of having them take as long as the lights, I set the exposure duration much lower (a few seconds) but I up the gain to compensate. Clear Skies!

I came across this video - if you can get Siril up and running with starnet, then you should be able to use Siril to stack with. ruclips.net/video/e6vniIQGazs/видео.html

@@Felldisulfide -- I don't have Siril installed, but I'm not opposed to installing it. I'm only partway through installing and configuring PixInsight, but I'd be happy to try Siril instead. I do need to check to see how the SeeStar S50 does darks or flats, and if I have turned on that option. And I need to transfer all the subs to my laptop. Thanks again!

@@shubinternet I have been torturing my MacBook Air for years with Siril. It might not be exactly self-explaining, but very powerful and does the "magic" very well we all love 🤩!

Had a quick look around, Siril seems to be the most popular way to go on Mac!

I was debating whether to make a detailed video about that. 1) in DSS, use the comet icon to select the comet core. Use the shift key for free select if DSS can't identify the comet 2) pick a reference frame and stack using the comet option so that the stars trail (stack on comet and stars does not work well, leaves ghost trails) 3) using THE SAME reference frame, stack again, this time using standard stacking on stars 4) remove stars from both stacked images (I use SIRIL to do this) 5) combine stars from the second stack with comet from first, if you used the same reference frame, the comet should line up exactly where it aught to be

@@Felldisulfide - sorry, what is DSS? I’ve heard of Siril, which I would be happy to use. I am also working on getting PixInsight installed and configured. But I don’t think I’ve ever heard of DSS.

Deep Sky Stacker is pretty much the go to for most people when it comes to stacking. It works great and is open source and free. I posted my workflow process for you in the following video: ruclips.net/video/x2ZOho8nRsg/видео.html Good luck, and Clear Skies!

Thanks, I had a look at some of your adventures. Weather and sky conditions have not been good lately. I had a much easier time capturing 12P/Pons-Brooks even though that comet wasn't nearly as striking. I hope you get another chance at this one! Clear skies!

I agree, that was a wow moment! Clear skies!

Well, historically, comets were believed to portend momentous happenings, sounds like for you that was certainly true! Definitely unusual to have two such bright comets this year. Hopefully they will also signal something momentous and not represent a warning! Clear skies!

Thanks! I had to use binoculars, but I did see the comet. There were others around me who claimed to see a smudge unaided, but sky conditions were pretty bright. The moon was more than 97% full, and the comet was in the direction of a small town with a casino and race track just beyond, which added to the sky glow. I was pretty stoked to catch the anti-tail! Clear skies!

Thanks Tich! I certainly hope that you get a chance to catch it as well. You are owed clear skies. The aurora was from last week. I went out driving looking for a good spot to image it from, and ended up missing the earlier part of the aurora. Others in my area had these really cool purple and red shades, while all I saw was pale washed out green. When I got back home, I set up a camera for time lapse, pointing North, and that's what it picked up over the course of the night. Again, hoping you get very Clear Skies this weekend!

Thanks Kevin, I appreciate the comment, and Clear Skies to you as well!

Haha! Thanks Stefan. I'm not sure if I can be more emotive, but believe me, on the inside I'm ecstatic!

Thanks Dennis! I was getting a little worried with both the weather this past month as well as the full moon. I hope you were able to experience it as well. Clear skies!

@Felldisulfide Hi Chris, I live 35 miles east of Los Angeles and experience severe light pollution like bortle 9. I don't get around much anymore and haven't had the opportunity to view the comet. That's what's so great about other people posting their videos. I get to enjoy the night sky and other celestial events through the eyes of others. Keep up the good work and making quality videos, thank you.👍🔭

The orange telescope (Optical Tube Assembly, or OTA) is a 945mm focal length lens with a diameter of 150mm (6") which has a narrower field of view than the smaller, 135mm wide angle lens that is sitting on top of it. The 135mm focal length lens has a wider field of view, and a diameter of about 68mm which makes it an f/2.0 lens (135mm/68mm). The Orange 6" telescope has an f ratio of 945/150 = 6.3 or f/6.3. The lower the f ratio, the faster the telescope, meaning the more light it catches. So to answer your question in a long way, the orange tube (the 6" Celestron NexStar 6SE) is a slower telescope, which gathers less light BUT it has a longer focal length, which makes smaller objects like galaxies, globular clusters, planets, etc. appear bigger. The smaller lens sitting on top (the Rokinon 135mm ED lens) gathers light much faster, but it has a much shorter focal length, so it captures a much wider view, making it great for large nebulas. This short video was captured with the wide angle 135mm lens. Goes without saying that in front of the orange tube is a dew hood which prevents condensation, while the smaller 135mm is using a heating band as a dew hood would get in the way of the wide angle lens' field of view. Clear Skies!

@@Felldisulfide Oh thank you for the detailed explanation! I just got the 4SE as a gift and was trying to figure out its main points. I am guessing that the 4SE gathers even less light for as you said it does have a long focal length but it doesn’t gather as much light. I’ll most definitely get myself a dew hood soon! Thank you again for the information you’ve provided me.

Do you put the UV/IR Cut filter in front of or behind the l-enhance?

@@Felldisulfide Behind it,seems it's the same no matter were I put it,how about your situation?

Also behind, but it really seems to emphasize red tones. i.e. without the uv/ir cut filter I get the blowed up stars, but with the filter it's like imaging in the red channel.

Hey Arvind, I use a rubber wedge cut out of an eraser to jam the aperture fully open on lenses that don't have a manual control. Check out the following video at the 1min30s mark: ruclips.net/video/ahR48Kmf3l8/видео.html Clear Skies!

@@Felldisulfide this is what I was looking for, thank you so much ☺️. I recently bought same ZWO 294MC Pro and trying to use it with my 50mm f/1.4 lense. Hopefully will capture something soon. Clear skies 🙏

No idea, seems like an odd choice. Unless I'm missing something, this isn't exactly front and center on the product spec sheets either. Perhaps it's one of those situations where 'people in the know, know'. How was Kelling Heath?

@@Felldisulfide I managed 3 nights out imaging M31 so we shall see how it turns out we we get back home as this is our last night here

@@dumpydalekobservatory Awesome! Looking forward to seeing what you captured!

Hey Tom, interesting comment (also, thank you for your comment, ramble on as much as you like!). I've been pondering what the outcome would be of pairing a high-pixel-density planetary camera with a short focal length ED refractor. Obviously you'd be limited by the resolving power of a smaller optics scope, but the overall image quality would be pretty good, I think. Celestron sells the AVX with a 9.25, so it aught to be able to 'handle' it, but whether it can throw it around with ease is another question. Unfortunately that's outside of my realm of experience, but wish you the best of luck, and clear skies, to test out!

Hi Tom, I got a notification of a comment from you re. an image you wanted to share, but can't find the comment here. I have a Discord server set up for exactly that purpose. You are welcome to join! Here's the link: discord.gg/3ENG4ACF

@@Felldisulfide Hi, I apologise for time getting back to you with my M31 image, just hooked up to Discord and looks as if the link you sent has expired.. Regards Tom..

Thanks! The Rokinon lens is really great as well!

ruclips.net/user/shorts9YWGfdrHzlQ?si=2bZvrDyRO4WBb4vM

Nice, Martin! Have you tried running the video you took through PIPP and AutoStakkert? I bet you could get more detail out of it. What barlow/eyepiece did you use?

@@Felldisulfide no yet. I will as soon as I can.

I can share you the whole video, if you will, as I am not quite experienced with stacking images.

@@Felldisulfide no Barlow. Just the 7 mm luminos eyepiece and an iPhone 11

Thanks! From what I've seen of online conversations, there are a lot of people who are keeping out of the hobby because of all the negative opinions around fork mounted/wedge astrophotography. Main reason this channel exists is to show what you can actually expect, which, IMHO is enough for what a lot of us are looking for. Let me know how your imaging goes! Clear Skies!

Thanks Darren, I appreciate the comment! That raises the existential question of 'why do we bother imaging from [enter your light-polluted location here]?'. I've been giving it some thought lately, because I get the sense that it's kind of like fishing. It's not always what you catch, its the cathartic experience you get out of it. And if that's the case, then how do you explain the popularity of SeeStars, and Dwarfs, and Origins? Are those just an empty experience, trying to capture the pure joy of cursing at one's over-complicated mount while the stars pass out of view overhead?

@@Felldisulfide technology is always a double edged sword. If you didn’t practice your technique at home, could you take advantage of skies like this when post-processing is really 70% of the solution? Even Dwarf3 and Seestar look fairly underwhelming without significant manual post-processing.

Thanks Stefan! I've been trying very hard not to over-process images this year.

Thanks Tich! I've seen your other Kelling Heath videos, and it seems like the weather can be a bit unpredictable. I hope you have a great time regardless, but just the same, Clear Skies!

@@dumpydalekobservatory I also saw that video, and you sir are an incredible optimist!

@@Darren-vf2qw I just look at it as a holiday & if there's clear skies some astro is a bonus

@@Felldisulfide yeah, gravity recliners with binoculars are awesome!

Hi Martin, you can attach the SLT or GT mount directly to a camera tripod using the 1//4 bolt most tripods use, but your tripod will be very off balance due to the weight distribution of the mount, so to get around this, I have used a metal rod to shift the center of gravity. You can see more details in the following video where I talk a little about making the 'wedge': ruclips.net/video/67R9AK1lrOA/видео.html

@@Felldisulfide thanks a lot for your kind response

Hi Martin, first of all, thank you, I appreciate the comment! Second, since I don't have direct experience with either filter, I would point you to two great reviews of the Altair filters posted by Cuiv (Cuiv The Lazy Geek), and Walt (Delta Astrophotography), and one from Cuiv covering the Askar. Now, if it were me, I would look for the tightest (4nm) filter with the greatest signal transmission. I'm not sure if you were looking at the Askar Colour Magic C or D, but have a look at the performance graphs of both filters before you decide! THE Perfect Narrowband Filter for Color Astro from the city? Altair Astro 4nm Filter Cuiv ruclips.net/video/WeHCtgakaGY/видео.html Altair 6nm Dual Band Filter Review: A Light Pollution Killer Delta Astro ruclips.net/video/pTi2tGItYH4/видео.html The best Narrowband Filter Set for Color Astrocameras? Askar Colour Magic D1 and D2 Cuiv ruclips.net/video/e1EnBrXBOUg/видео.html Clear Skies!

Thanks! Send me a link to the Blood moon video!

@@Felldisulfide Hi when I've tried sending links on RUclips before it thinks I'm spam & blocks me but this is my other channel, go back 8 years & you'll find it 🙂

Cool, I will check it out. Have fun at the kelling heath star party! Also, Clear Skies!

Thank you!

Oh boy your voice IS rough! Hope you feel better soon!

Haha, thanks, lost it completely over the weekend, at least I can talk again!

Thanks! Hope your skies stay clear!

Hi Julio, the mount has to be in equatorial mode in order to counter field rotation and allow for long exposure imaging. The only alignment method to polar align when on a wedge is Equatorial (EQ North or EQ South depending on which hemisphere you are in.

Thanks Moses! That topic is on my list, but basically what you do is you suspend the OTA from a cord or belt, and adjust it until it feels even on both sides. You mark that spot, and this is where you center the mounting clamp. Clear Skies!

@@Felldisulfide Thank you for the method. Keep your vlogs coming.

Thanks for the feedback Jacob. I've heard this from a few people now, so it's time for the narration music to go. CS!

Sounds like you are really getting along! I also track in RA only, but find that guiding should definitely continue to use both RA and Dec because if your mount flexes, the Dec will need to be adjusted. Clear Skies!

Hi Heather, can you double check the wedge setting in CPWI? What you are describing makes me think that you are still in Alt-Az mode. This option shows at the beginning when you are connecting to your mount.

⁠@@FelldisulfideIt’s definitely in wedge mode. I’m assuming you didn’t have the same issue? It’s so weird!

That is weird - it could be firmware, but don't like to jump to that as a catch all. What happens if you switch CPWI to alt-az (don't actually take off the wedge). Do the directional controls work?

This could also be a usb cable issue, I have had problems before with some USB cables where the mount would either not move or not stop randomly. It made centering stars difficult. I'm now using separate cables for my camera and everything else.

I have also had some issues with certain versions of CPWI software itself with regards to Game controllers, Where not all directions would work properly, and either one or two directions would move at a much slower rate or not at all or be reversed.

Hi Tom, thank you, I really appreciate your comment. Congratulations on your retirement, you now have more time to spend on this awesome hobby! I'm about ten years from retirement myself, however, I find that my wife also controls my urge to buy new things, so I appreciate where you are coming from. With regards to your question, yes, the limits can be set in CPWI, but there appear to be some nuances: www.cloudynights.com/topic/802562-avx-running-through-cpwi-ra-slew-limits/ Just so you know, I find myself using the game pad less and less. I have enabled plate solving in APT (also available in other tools such as NINA) which basically directs the mount to the spot I want and synchronizes the mount position at the end. You can make the jump to plate solving right away, however I found it valuable to go through the phase of using the game pad and visually trying to determine my target locations based on visual references (other people's images, star charts, etc.) as it helps to familiarize you with the sky. Best of luck with your setup, and Clear Skies!

Thanks Tich! I was using SVBONY rings for a little while, but switched back to the T-Adapter so I could use it as a rotator. The problem I've been running into is that the flat spacers I have added to correct back focus have shifted the orientation of my filter tray so that it now points at my counterweight, so it is timely to look at an actual rotator instead.