Merry Christmas Mr. Andy! I hope you can translate becose my english isn' quit good. Usted es un valiente astrofotografo!! este hobbie de por si es sumamente demandante con un solo telescopio, ahora con dos es una pesadilla. Sin embargo le repito es un hombre valiente que " toma al toro por los cuernos". No desista, tome un descanso, disfrute la temporada navideña con su familia. El proximo año quiza pudiera considerar, dadas las condiciones climaticas en su pais, el utilizar sus dos telescopios pero en monturas separadas. Con todo lo que ha aprendido estoy seguro que se le resultará más fácil. Un abrazo desde México and God Bless you and your family!.
Oh man I had that struggle too. Being the but of jokes after spending a very significant amount of money and my mount actually binding and not slewing properly. It was not enjoyable to receive so much angst. I too nearly gave up. Having taken months to fully strip and repair my mount it now works. There is a sense of accomplishment im sure and thanks for sharing it as part of your journey too. It’s not always just instagram but posts of perfect images. This channel is very real.
Merry Christmas Andy! Thanks for sharing your experience. You are attempting something much more complex than most astrophotographers do, and I think that's cool. Keep doing what turns you on.
Happy Christmas Andy. Very brave with the dual set up, I am sure extremely frustrating at times but stick at it and I am sure you will win and then it will feel like a huge triumph. Wishing you clear skies or snow and a happy New year
Hey Glen, hope you are well merry Christmas! The dual telescope is not going disappearing, it needs a bit more work. The lightweight mount needs replacing though. Have a good one and all the best for 2025!
You might want to consider using a telegizmo cover and leaving it setup for a long period. I leave my stuff outside pretty much the entire year. If I had to setup the gear each time, I think I would go nuts. In terms of cable management, that setup is about as hard as it gets! I have the iOptron CEM70, and one of its best features is through the mount cabling, and has power and USB on the saddle. Not cheap though.
Nice video Andy, the twin scope set-up is looking very different to sort out and get working but it's a fantastic project, maybe time for a break from the frustration of the twins and get the small refractor set up just to have some fun , thanks for taking the time to make these video looking to seeing what 2025 has in store for you, hope you and yours have a great Xmas
Great video, and super image, I think you need a bit of a reset, don’t give up, we have all had these wobbles in the hobby. Take a break and have a think about it. Also on a side note, you don’t, or even shouldn’t use both Dark flats and bias for calibration, as they do the same thing with modern CMOS cameras, just use one or the other. Merry Christmas to you too..👍🏻
The problem is in the UK winter, there are so few clear nights that you don't want to be chasing gremlins on the only clear night of the month. That said, it looks like a good candidate for a couple of raspberry pi s and EKOS.
Merry Christmas Andy! Got a bit hit by reality watching your video sumarizing the dual-telescope setup, since I'm about to go that same route xD all the best wishes from germany
Invest in Astropixel processor to stack and when you use LNC the edges will be so much smoother But you will definitely with trial and error get some stunning results. Merry Christmas Andy
Thanks. Not sure about ioptron mounts, the GEM45 I had was a nightmare, ended up getting a refund. But in comparison to the Eq3... Thanks for watching and Merry Christmas!
@@AndyofAstro I have the HEM15, Compared to the EQ-AL55i Pro I had its a dream. Had no issues. Under an arc second guiding out of the box. Strain wave RA, Worm gear DEC.
Merry Christmas Andy hope you all have a great time. I agree that the EQ5 & EQ3 are pretty poor performers as compared with my other half's HEQ5 which is now ancient & still out performs a lot of mounts & it's not even belt modded. I used to own an NEQ6 which I sold when I bought an AZ EQ6 & out of the 2 the NEQ6 did guide better but the thing that let that down was the latitude bolts as after setting up & tearing down a lot the thread started to go very stiff over time whereas the AZ has a better system. You can buy HEQ5's at a pretty decent price second hand a guy we were speaking to bought his dirt cheap, admittedly it were a few years old but a well looked after one. I do still use my EQ5 with a lightweight setup & it's ok with that but I have to keep things at a minimum weight wise.
Hey Tich, how are you? Yes, I made the mistake a while ago of buying a secondhand eq5pro to repair and that was starting with the wrong mount. It has plagued me ever since. The AZEQ6 is good, west side guiding is poor, east to very good. The ioptron I had briefly was hopeless, usb disconnects, poor guiding, badly engineered mounting bolts - it felt so fragile. Much as it pains me to say this, I think there is no compromise with mounts, you simply have to spend the money. I've realised that if someone is selling theirs, there is probably a really good reason, it's probably not worth owning due to an issue. If something works well and doesn't cause issues, you tend to hold onto it. The other issue is I don't really like many of the mounts on the market, they all have pros and cons and I struggled to find one I like. Anyway rant over. Best wishes for Christmas and 2025!
Always good to have a rant & get things off your chest mate I've made some pretty bad choices over the years too so I know exactly how you feel. I'm fine by the way just still waiting for the operation which hopefully now will be on the 6th so fingers crossed for 3rd time lucky I guess.
Cant you put a power box and a usb hub on top of the OTA and have all your cabling above the scopes with only power and main USB cable dropping from the set up rather than a nest of cables.
hey Andy! I see you have a considerable amount of gear but none working properly, focusing on a single rig and making it work flawlessly will bring you more satisfaction (guaranteed) . for example, that dual telescope setup is really cool but could easily be outperformed by a single 6" f4 or 8" f4 newt, cheaper, faster and WAY simpler, Merry Christmas!
Why dont you try off-axis guiding? Looks like your setup for the guidescope is quite heavy, so it would save you some weight there and possibly improve your guiding a little bit. It really is an interesting project but it looks like you’re disappointed with the results and i thought it would be a shame if you gave up on it. I hope we see more of this!
Merry Christmas Andy. I'm wondering whether you'd be able to outsource the second instance of NINA to another laptop? I suspect you're running out of bandwidth having 2 cameras running. They use USB 3 because they need to for transfer volume. Re: Cable management. Surely you can tie up the cables as you need and then remove them all in one as a "wiring harness"?
Merry Christmas. The issue is a Nina feature, Bray Falls also has this issue with his triple rig. I need to raise a support ticket with Nina. To synchronise the dither and exposures it has to be on one pc. I consolidated some of the cables but as I de rig, the dew heater cables have to be loose to enable this, so it's a challenge. Thanks for watching.
@@AndyofAstro One option could be using APT (running two instances). It works well with double rigs setups. I've used it and haven't had disconnections of equipment, and dithering works fine as well. But as you said, a double rig setup is complicated (I used to run two Evoguides 50 ED on an EQ6R-Pro, and the first session always took about two hours (sometimes more) to get everything aligned and focused. Good when the data starts to flow, but man it is fiddly. I can't even imagine how hard it would be with two newts! As for the small mount, have you tried maybe guiding only in RA? I have an EQ5 and I feel your pain: guiding it's not good, too much oscillation. Merry Christmas, good luck and clear skies!
Merry Christmas Mr. Andy! I hope you can translate becose my english isn' quit good.
Usted es un valiente astrofotografo!! este hobbie de por si es sumamente demandante con un solo telescopio, ahora con dos es una pesadilla. Sin embargo le repito es un hombre valiente que " toma al toro por los cuernos". No desista, tome un descanso, disfrute la temporada navideña con su familia. El proximo año quiza pudiera considerar, dadas las condiciones climaticas en su pais, el utilizar sus dos telescopios pero en monturas separadas. Con todo lo que ha aprendido estoy seguro que se le resultará más fácil. Un abrazo desde México and God Bless you and your family!.
Oh man I had that struggle too. Being the but of jokes after spending a very significant amount of money and my mount actually binding and not slewing properly. It was not enjoyable to receive so much angst. I too nearly gave up. Having taken months to fully strip and repair my mount it now works. There is a sense of accomplishment im sure and thanks for sharing it as part of your journey too. It’s not always just instagram but posts of perfect images. This channel is very real.
Nice rigg.
Don't be so hard on your self. Everyone struggle in one way or another.
Love the song. Wishing you clear skies, keep looking up.
Merry Christmas Andy! Thanks for sharing your experience. You are attempting something much more complex than most astrophotographers do, and I think that's cool. Keep doing what turns you on.
Merry Christmas Andy,
I enjoy your channel 🔥🏆🔥
You’re the best! 🤠
Merry Christmas Andy 🎄
Happy Christmas Andy. Very brave with the dual set up, I am sure extremely frustrating at times but stick at it and I am sure you will win and then it will feel like a huge triumph. Wishing you clear skies or snow and a happy New year
Hey Glen, hope you are well merry Christmas! The dual telescope is not going disappearing, it needs a bit more work. The lightweight mount needs replacing though. Have a good one and all the best for 2025!
You might want to consider using a telegizmo cover and leaving it setup for a long period. I leave my stuff outside pretty much the entire year. If I had to setup the gear each time, I think I would go nuts. In terms of cable management, that setup is about as hard as it gets! I have the iOptron CEM70, and one of its best features is through the mount cabling, and has power and USB on the saddle. Not cheap though.
Nice video Andy, the twin scope set-up is looking very different to sort out and get working but it's a fantastic project, maybe time for a break from the frustration of the twins and get the small refractor set up just to have some fun , thanks for taking the time to make these video looking to seeing what 2025 has in store for you, hope you and yours have a great Xmas
Great video, and super image, I think you need a bit of a reset, don’t give up, we have all had these wobbles in the hobby. Take a break and have a think about it. Also on a side note, you don’t, or even shouldn’t use both Dark flats and bias for calibration, as they do the same thing with modern CMOS cameras, just use one or the other.
Merry Christmas to you too..👍🏻
A dual scope set up is a great way to go, I'd love SharpCap Pro to develop into this. Thanks for sharing.
The problem is in the UK winter, there are so few clear nights that you don't want to be chasing gremlins on the only clear night of the month. That said, it looks like a good candidate for a couple of raspberry pi s and EKOS.
Merry Christmas🌲 and a happy new year to you and your family. 🔭
You got a thumbs up for me just for the song. Everything else was good too but the song really pushed it over the edge
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas Andy! Got a bit hit by reality watching your video sumarizing the dual-telescope setup, since I'm about to go that same route xD all the best wishes from germany
It is a worthy exercise, it is a lot of work though. Best wishes for Christmas 🎄 and all the best for 2025!
Merry Christmas Andy, wishing you clear skies for 2025.
Thank Jim, have a great Christmas 🎄 and all the very best for 2025!
Invest in Astropixel processor to stack and when you use LNC the edges will be so much smoother
But you will definitely with trial and error get some stunning results. Merry Christmas Andy
If you want something light I can highly recommend the HEM15, 8KG without counter weight 12KG with. If you need heavier payload. The HEM27
Thanks. Not sure about ioptron mounts, the GEM45 I had was a nightmare, ended up getting a refund. But in comparison to the Eq3... Thanks for watching and Merry Christmas!
@@AndyofAstro I have the HEM15, Compared to the EQ-AL55i Pro I had its a dream. Had no issues. Under an arc second guiding out of the box. Strain wave RA, Worm gear DEC.
I feel your pain - so few clear nights and then the Gremlins come in and ruin it. I generally go with the KISS principle :). Lovely video though
Merry Christmas Andy hope you all have a great time.
I agree that the EQ5 & EQ3 are pretty poor performers as compared with my other half's HEQ5 which is now ancient & still out performs a lot of mounts & it's not even belt modded. I used to own an NEQ6 which I sold when I bought an AZ EQ6 & out of the 2 the NEQ6 did guide better but the thing that let that down was the latitude bolts as after setting up & tearing down a lot the thread started to go very stiff over time whereas the AZ has a better system. You can buy HEQ5's at a pretty decent price second hand a guy we were speaking to bought his dirt cheap, admittedly it were a few years old but a well looked after one. I do still use my EQ5 with a lightweight setup & it's ok with that but I have to keep things at a minimum weight wise.
Hey Tich, how are you? Yes, I made the mistake a while ago of buying a secondhand eq5pro to repair and that was starting with the wrong mount. It has plagued me ever since. The AZEQ6 is good, west side guiding is poor, east to very good. The ioptron I had briefly was hopeless, usb disconnects, poor guiding, badly engineered mounting bolts - it felt so fragile. Much as it pains me to say this, I think there is no compromise with mounts, you simply have to spend the money. I've realised that if someone is selling theirs, there is probably a really good reason, it's probably not worth owning due to an issue. If something works well and doesn't cause issues, you tend to hold onto it. The other issue is I don't really like many of the mounts on the market, they all have pros and cons and I struggled to find one I like. Anyway rant over. Best wishes for Christmas and 2025!
Always good to have a rant & get things off your chest mate I've made some pretty bad choices over the years too so I know exactly how you feel. I'm fine by the way just still waiting for the operation which hopefully now will be on the 6th so fingers crossed for 3rd time lucky I guess.
Cant you put a power box and a usb hub on top of the OTA and have all your cabling above the scopes with only power and main USB cable dropping from the set up rather than a nest of cables.
hey Andy! I see you have a considerable amount of gear but none working properly, focusing on a single rig and making it work flawlessly will bring you more satisfaction (guaranteed) . for example, that dual telescope setup is really cool but could easily be outperformed by a single 6" f4 or 8" f4 newt, cheaper, faster and WAY simpler, Merry Christmas!
Why dont you try off-axis guiding? Looks like your setup for the guidescope is quite heavy, so it would save you some weight there and possibly improve your guiding a little bit. It really is an interesting project but it looks like you’re disappointed with the results and i thought it would be a shame if you gave up on it. I hope we see more of this!
Merry Christmas Andy.
I'm wondering whether you'd be able to outsource the second instance of NINA to another laptop?
I suspect you're running out of bandwidth having 2 cameras running. They use USB 3 because they need to for transfer volume.
Re: Cable management. Surely you can tie up the cables as you need and then remove them all in one as a "wiring harness"?
Merry Christmas. The issue is a Nina feature, Bray Falls also has this issue with his triple rig. I need to raise a support ticket with Nina. To synchronise the dither and exposures it has to be on one pc. I consolidated some of the cables but as I de rig, the dew heater cables have to be loose to enable this, so it's a challenge. Thanks for watching.
@@AndyofAstro One option could be using APT (running two instances). It works well with double rigs setups. I've used it and haven't had disconnections of equipment, and dithering works fine as well. But as you said, a double rig setup is complicated (I used to run two Evoguides 50 ED on an EQ6R-Pro, and the first session always took about two hours (sometimes more) to get everything aligned and focused. Good when the data starts to flow, but man it is fiddly. I can't even imagine how hard it would be with two newts! As for the small mount, have you tried maybe guiding only in RA? I have an EQ5 and I feel your pain: guiding it's not good, too much oscillation. Merry Christmas, good luck and clear skies!