So Finally I got the chance to properly test out my new setup in the desert after a long hiatus.

It had been quite some time since me and  my  friends last did that, and I was eagerly anticipating gathering some dark sky data. Determined not to waste any precious moments of the dark skies, I powered up my PC and carefully selected a target that would remain visible throughout the night. I planned my sequence meticulously, ensuring everything was in order.


However, as we all know life is hardly ever this simple and Astrophotography is no exception.

Night 1 

Quickly set-up my rig polar aligned, and decided to take advantage of the dark sky and setup my filter offsets, then start the sequence.
As I initiated the sequence I noticed that the guiding was slightly more than I was use to, but still very good so i thought nothing of it.
I stared at the screen eagerly waiting to see the first 10 minute sub, which was amazing,  and then  sat in my chair lost in the beauty of the starry sky. 

When I went back to check in an hour , Noticed that the dithering was completely crazy, it would take more than 5 mins to settle and that was very weird.
I went through all the settings, and everything was in order. I was frustrated and annoyed, cause now it was starting to affect the images, as the exposure would start before the guiding settled. 
And then it suddenly hit me, I know what the problem is, it was a very very stupid mistake on my part, and TBH I'm surprised guiding was working at all.

      So here what my sequence was :
                Cool camera
                Slew to the celestial equator with 45 degrees from the horizon
                Do 2 runs of autofocus 
                Calibrate guiding 
                Slew / rotate to the target 
                take the set of exposures.

The issue was a very rookie mistake on my part, which was rotating the camera after calibrating the guiding, anyways the night was young so no big deal.

Fast forward a couple of hours >>> my mount started beeping.


To my surprise, my NSPPS (not-so-portable power station), a 62ah car battery housed in a customized toolbox, was running low on power. This puzzled me, as per my calculations, it should have lasted at least one and a half nights under maximum power consumption <------------ If anyone has any insight on this please message me.

Luckily my Friend @Alaa El Bedewi connected me to his NSPPS, and saved the night.


Night 2 

With a dead battery, I connected to Alaa's battery and resumed imaging. However, midway through the night, his mount started beeping too. I decided to disconnect from his battery so he could continue imaging, unintentionally consuming two hours of his night.

My initial plan was to image the Heart Nebula in LRGB & SHO over two nights, totaling 20 hours. Unfortunately, due to the unforeseen challenges, I ended up with only 12 hours.

Despite the setbacks, here is the result. I hope you enjoy it.

CS