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I was in the military. Military grade makes me not want to buy it. You are doing the Eagle a disservice.

I was trying to use Skywatcher's SynScan app, PHD2 and ZWO ASI studio to auto guide my EQ6R-Pro. With maddening frequency, PHD2 would not connect to the mount. At the suggestions of two guys I know, I bought a ZWO ASI Air, and on the very first night, I got the mount auto guiding and auto guiding better than I had ever seen the mount auto guide trying to do that through a laptop. I mean it can hit .3 arc second RMS error, way better than the resolution possible with the telescope and ZWO 533MM camera I am using. I have been using an ASI Air unit with an 80mm apochromatic refractor, and soon my 8-inch Celestron EdgeHD. Yes there are limitations to the ASI Air, but the damn thing is the most trouble free way I've seen yet to get polar aligned, focused, plate solved and auto guided and I don't need to bring my expensive laptop along anymore. It saved my sanity. It also controls the filter wheel and filter wheel without issues. It also monitors the current and voltage so I can avoid discharging the battery too much. About the only thing it doesn't do is brew hot coffee for you so you can stay awake at the telescope. An ASI Air does make astrophotography FUN.....and once polar aligned I can go inside and watch the data roll in.

Hi AstroVagabond, your presentation is nice, thanks. I have some problems with the mount limits. After adjusted the mount so that after reaching the one of the limit it stops. This works fine. But when I perform another GOTO - going away from the stop-position - EMOD has forgotten the correct DEC coordinates while the RA are still correct. To "repair" this, I have to redefine the home position.

Really love your setup. I just got mine today, little unsure on how to power it up. Power in says Dual DC5525 IN, not sure which one I should connect to. Thank You.

Nice explanation of how it goes together, usually they assemble it and done. I need to figure out how much Agena is going to get out of me.

That was great, thanks! Question please, how safe is your contribution app, I am very suspicious about online payments if not double verified.. Thanks for reply

Was also struggling with focus with my budget guide set up. Svbony guide camera and scope. Does the backfocus have to be 55mm as the main camera does ? Good information on your channel. Nice to know there are other non experts out there. Just noticed the date of your video 2021. It's now 24 so your probably an expert by now 😉

If the Configure button did not accept input focus in NINA! Thank you. I am a beginner when it comes to NINA and at best intermediate when it come to NINA. This is the first plug-in I have used for example. Stellariun behaved slightly differently for me. For a start I noticed that I had a different version for the plug-in. Mine is 24.1.0. Quite a bit higher than yours unless they have changed the numbering conversion. When I checked Load On Startup the configure button did not light up. I thought perhaps you don't have to do the further configuration with this version of the plug-in. Restarted Stellarium. Searched for Vega in Stellarium. Followed your instructions in NINA. It did not load the co-ordinates. Went back into Stallarium to have a poke around and found that the Configure button had now come to life. Presumably following the Stellarium re-start. Did the additional config. Restarted Stellarium. Went into NINA. It worked. Hopefully this will help someone. Thanks again. I wpould not have done this if it wasn't for your video.

Great idea with the tracing pad! I wonder if you can swap out the resistors for larger ones to drop current running through the LEDs to make them less bright. I may try to do this in the future

I too have an Edge8HD with the AM5 and all seems fine.

Bill , Really appreciate your videos with your Journey. I am struggling with my Flat frames and found the Giotto an interesting product. . May I ask what type of narrowband filters you are using? I am asking because the Flat Panel I use, Pegasus Astro Flatmaster, can not seem to generate enough light and my exposures are getting ridiculously long, in the order of 120-150 sec. I am using Antlia 3 nm filters.

Great setup Bill. I just bought the Eagle5 S to run the gear on my RASA 11. Which model of the PrimaLuceLab dovetail clamps that you have the Eagle mounted to? Thanks for the walk through!

I did this too. I wanted to know which polar alignment was the most accurate..... I has been using Sharp Cap. I bought a very nice used complete imaging rig off Craigslist. It came with a pole master. And i was trying to switch to NINA for everything. And for reference sake, i am using a Celestron CGX mount with a 102mm Explorer Scientific with all the bells and whistles which is probably right about at the sweet spot as far as weight goes. To be fair, i spent about 3 nights with each method AFTER I watched some good tutorials. I also made sure to set up on the concrete instead of my soft grass to make sure my fat butt wasn't messing with my results and i was very fortunate not to have any wind while doing the tests and actually that week was VERY clear atmospherically speaking. Which was the driving force behind making sure my polar alignment was PERFECT. The idea was to use all three alignment procedures over three days while using a different alignment method first to see which one got me the closest to perfect alignment assuming that the less adjustments made in the second and third method should mean the first was the most accurate.... Heres what i found. The most fidgeting i had to do and was quite frustrated at thw end of becaise it took the most time was when i used the polemaster FIRST, NINA SECOND and Sharp Cap THIRD. I had to make fine adjustments at each level. It was quite frustrating. I found that getting the stars lined up into the little holes on the polemaster software wasnt really as accurate. The holes were larger than the stars so i could technically have everything lined up but there was some wiggle room. I did, after further adjustments with NINA, manage to get everything set to 0° total error when i finished with sharp cap. Now when i STARTED with Sharp Cap completely zero'd out..... I had no changes made in NINA and the polemaster software said i was dead on. Now with that all said. Sharp Cap can some times go whacky on me on the middle of an alignment. When that happens i just start over. It almost always ends up happening when im splitting hairs trying to make it perfect and also when i balance the scope "TOO PERFECTLY". I then restart it and ill find out im basically on both zeros. I think if the scope is too perfectly balanced what can happen is theres a tiny amount of backlash in the gears and the scope sort of bounces between them when the wind hits it or something. I try to make mine just a touch camera heavy and a little bit heavier towards the counterweights. Im talking an almost imperceptible amount. I get it perfect and then i remove the cap from the guide scope. That usualy does it.

Hey Bill, I know that I'm a little late to the party but great build based on the information you had at the time. Too bad you don't live closer, you could come out to the Bortle 4 here in Texas, full backyard with little to no trees to get in the way. Would enjoy shooting with ya and drink some good ol Ice Tea. Cheers and clear skies my friend.

I followed it three times, no Vega. Or I am incredibly stupid or the methodology is poorly explained😢

Hi Bill, thanks for your video and for your efforts. I am a neophyte and absolutely confused by your presentation, you very well know your stuff but you do not reach your students. Transferring your knowledge is much more demanding than recitation it. I am a professional educator teaching students how to fly a high tech Boeing 787, sorry but many potential Astro enthousiasts get lost by your explanations. I did! We need to follow a more professional methodology to transmit our (your) expertise .. With most kind regards, Gus.

thanks a lot, very useful video

I appreciate the Discord review. I joined about 6 months ago and hadn't done anything with it. But with my recent migration to NINA, this was very helpful.

why not add a small counterweight - less hassle than all those weights on the TC40?

curious what Losmandy plate and mounts are you using on the top of the 8"?

Hello everyone. I have my doubts about this brand. I purchased the WandererBox lite V3 mini, downloaded the Wanderer Espire and the CH341SER driver, the problem is when connecting to the PC, it does not recognize

He asked me if this device can be operated from the PC even though it has a cable connection installed.

Hello everyone. I have my doubts about this brand. I purchased the WandererBox lite V3 mini, downloaded the Wanderer Espire and the CH341SER driver, the problem is when connecting to the PC, it does not recognize

I have a C8 SCT. What is the guiding results like with your Edge HD on the AM5 . With my image train (ASI071MC Pro, Starizona focal reducer, Celestron OAG, filter drawer) my rig weighs about 19lbs. I keep reading reports that ZWO recommends the AM5 for focal lengths under 1000mm but I see lots of SCT owners using the AM5. If I buy one I would also purchase the PE200 pier because it has an adapter that can be used on my AVX mount. I understand the PE of strain wave mounts is higher than GEMs, so I'm interested in your guiding results in PHD2. PHD2 doesn't seem to like my AVX mount, always complaining about DEC backlash, orthogonal angles and other stuff I'm not sure to do to correct.. I have to set up and tear down after every session so I recalibrate every session. How was the HEQ5 guiding with your EdgeHD? I'm thinking for a GEM replacement for my AVX the HEQ5 and install a belt mod, and even if necessary the bearings. The videos of the HEQ5 mods makes it look so much easier to take apart than the AVX. If you hadn't damaged your HEQ5 would you have upgraded to AM5? Thanks.

I'm retired and travel full-time in a motorhome. I had already been full timing for 5 years and one night last April in Missouri I told myself I should get a telescope. Last June I purchased a C8 and AVX mount. I didn't start astrophotography until last October. I'm still learning a lot and have ups and downs with results but I'm getting there. I'm using NINA with my ASI071MC Pro, Starizona F7.1 focal reducer, Celestron OAG with ASI174mm. I'm staring out imaging galaxies. I don't post any images yet, starting to learn processing with Siril.

The way the military is going we need to use a better term for quality build our military isn’t the one we grew up with I’m 60 so have seen better days

Is it possible to set up the k8 wireless microphone in Google Pixel 2xl mobile? Please reply sir🙏

I was wondering what guide camera you are using with the OTA in this setup. Thanks

If you have the counterweight, why not test with just the counterweight and no scope? that would test it just as well without worrying about the scope falling.

Used a RaspberryPi4 with Astroberry/ EKOs for about a year. I struggled during that year. Took me anywhere between 1-2+ hours to get my gear set up and everything running smoothly on the Pi before I could start imaging. Just acquired a ASI AIR plus and oh my... Im set up and imaging within 30 minutes. Usually less if I have everything planned out. Crazy how seamless it makes the whole setting up process. There were features in EKOS/KStars I liked and might miss long term, but the fact I'm in and out in a quarter of the time is astounding to me. Clear skies!

I agree with others who say get the ADM saddle. It is finely machined and the dovetails fit more snugly, and the saddle will not loosen or slip. One other thing I notice about your EQ-6R Pro is the additional USB3 jack below the hand control and auto guider ports. I have seen this port on every EQ-6R video I have watched in the last 3 months. I bought my EQ-6R Pro in 2018 and it does not have this port. Is it a direct substitute for the hand control port, so you can leave the hand control connected and use the new port for a cable to a computer control or a raspberry Pi device like the ASI Air? If so, can you also delete your hand control and connect to the HC port directly if you don't have the new port? When was that port added?

Great vidio. We all learn every day

Very helpful, another piece of the jigsaw in place. Thank you!

Can you explain how to assemble the tracing panel with the gel and plexiglass?

Ah, it does what my laptop currently does, but looks good for future expansion ty

No idea what wonderbox is but what the hell :)

Hey Bill, late to the party on this one but great video! Just in case you didn't realize you can also set custom horizons on both Nina and Stellarium to match your location. Where I live in Brooklyn, NY it is extremely helpful due to all the obstructions / condensed housing that makes up my horizon!

Does Polar Align Pro app help with accurate alignment during the day?

🤩 "PromoSM"

M101 for edge8” and 533 sensor, which you probably use, is too big. Sensor could be big or FL shorter.

Great stuff Bill and thanks for sharing. Always frustrated as to why NINA could not locate a given Star or any of the planets. This will help greatly and also, I just recently found the option to locate and use the Moon and other solar objects using the Orbitals plugin so that will be helpful too. Thanks again and clear skies..

Please tell me which power supply is used?

Hi Bill. Does the Scope 3D still work for you? It's no longer available and I see that you are also on the RC version of NINA. Took me a while to work out why I could not find it, which is unfortunate. I appreciate these tip videos you've been putting out!!

I am enjoying this process, Bill. N.I.N.A can be a bit challenging at first as we each have different imaging options. But seeing your EON config for the SCT is very valuable.

I still need to dive in and get familiar with Target Planner. It could certainly increase the efficiency of my clear nights. Especially when I eventually have a home observatory built!

This coming weekend is supposed to be nothing but clouds, so maybe I'll finally get the script ironed out, tested, and working. Last night, I found something else I wanted to back up... the Imaging Tab layout! I don't know how many times I've gone to tweak the layout by moving something, and it screwed everything up enough for me to reset the layout and start all over again! 😂 I finally got it how I liked it last night and saved it so I can restore from that in the inevitable future! LOL

I just created a robocopy script copying my NINA files to a OneDrive directory and added that to the Task Scheduler. Assuming an internet connection every now and then you have an automated (cloud) backup.

These are helpful, thank you.

Patriot Astro, here on CZcams, wrote a nice end of night script for use at the end of your advanced sequences that saves a lot of good data, including profiles, I THINK 🤔. I haven't gotten it fully operational yet, because I run Bitdefender on both my imaging PCs, and it doesn't like part of it. I still need to do more research and testing to create the right exceptions so it will run fully. Awesome idea, though, if you have the space for it! It saves NINA logs, PHD2 logs, image copies, and I plan to modify it to add Pegasus Astro data & logs from the Unity software.