Well, astrophotography the modern way with computers and software is somewhat more difficult than expected.

[UkDave]

I will give my tuppence worth , when I used a dslr a canon 1000d and a Nikon d5300!I used a dummy battery that connected via usb 5v 2.1A obviously some electronic gizmo in a little box on the lead upped the voltage to required voltage for camera and cost at the time about £16 off AliExpress reduced heat from the batteries was a bonus as less sensor noise due to heat worked very well never had any problems, if using ASTAP for platesolving as I do in Astrophotography tool( APT) you only need very short exposure I use 4sec and that works even with a LExtreme filter in the imaging train longer exposure cause issues in Astap and can cause solve fails , most times solves take 3-4 seconds and I use it for blind and near solves , polar alignment I use Sharpcap using my qhy290mm guide camera I wouldn’t worry too much aligning guide camera to imaging camera platesolving will sort alignment out , if you do have issues with Astap Hans the developer is very helpful drop him a message.

Regards Dave

[cumbrianwolf]

I will give my tuppence worth , when I used a dslr a canon 1000d and a Nikon d5300!I used a dummy battery that connected via USB 5v 2.1A obviously some electronic gizmo in a little box on the lead upped the voltage to required voltage for camera and cost at the time about £16 off AliExpress reduced heat from the batteries was a bonus as less sensor noise due to heat worked very well never had any problems, if using ASTAP for plate solving as I do in Astrophotography tool(APT) you only need very short exposure I use 4sec and that works even with a LExtreme filter in the imaging train longer exposure cause issues in Astap and can cause solve fails, most times solves take 3-4 seconds and I use it for blind and near solves, polar alignment I use Sharp cap using my qhy290mm guide camera I wouldn’t worry too much aligning guide camera to imaging camera plate solving will sort alignment out, if you do have issues with Astap Hans the developer is very helpful drop him a message.

Regards Dave

I am awaiting the converter that you speak of as I can not be bothered with the batteries no more, as soon as the temperatures reaches 0 or lower they die off on me very quickly. Furthermore, I never thought about the batteries adding heat, which of course they will when the current draw picks up, so it is a win-win for me. I shall edit the timings of the exposure for plate solving the next time I am out, I think I was using 15 seconds at ISO 640 and that is a waste if I can do the same in 5.

[cumbrianwolf]

Sorted for a mere £17.99 here it is for anyone that may need to consider it and I can assure you that the cable length is around 3 m when connected up; https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/313730163979

[OzEclipse]

I use the DSLR for plate solving for two reasons. First, for some shots, the rotation angle of the DSLR is important for capturing the entire object (M31 comes to mind). Second, not perfectly aligning the guide scope and main scope gives me one less thing to check when setting up. The guide camera field and the main camera field overlap each other, that is “close enough” for me. Astrophotography Tool talks to the main camera and PHD2 communicates with the guide camera, so there is nothing to switch during the session.

And welcome to the wonderful(?) world of digital astrophotography!

Bob

You have some good points, so a question if I may in that if I were to use the SVBONY temporarily in the eyepiece and selected for this task in the image capture software as the main camera for polar alignment via plate solving methods do you think that would help, or should I just do what I do currently which is leave the DSLR in place and buy more batteries, hence simplifying what could become more complex? I am just not that accurate at polar aligning to such a level and take far too long, mind you I have just upgraded the altitude bolts as those were acting like springs when they had 18 kg leaning on them, the new stainless steel bolts have strengthened the mount up considerably.

All bolts have a number stamped on the head. This class is representative of the tensile strength of the bolt. I’d use at least a class 8.

I can’t help you with polar alignment. I live in the Southern Hemisphere. It’s much easier here. There are two stars just a few minutes each side of the south pole that make polar alignment very quick and accurate. In the northern hemisphere you don’t have any stars visible in a finder that are close to the pole, just Polaris but it’s a useless 40 minutes away.

[cumbrianwolf]

OzEclipse I now have absolutely no issues with polar align now that I have upgraded the bolts to marine grade 7 stainless (had already bought them before I noted your post), before that point it was a total waste of time and would jump around and be in the minutes whereas now I am into around 20 arcseconds of accuracy and could do better, but it becomes a case of diminishing returns. Certainly something I would advise anyone to upgrade without question as it saves a lot of headache.

[OzEclipse]

Grade 7 or 8 both high enough tensile strength for holding that sort of weight. Some of the cheap galvanised bolts sold in discount hardware seem like they’ve been made of soft plastic.