Hello community.
First time here. Can someone please answer the following:
I have a filter wheel with filters and a ZWO 1600 pro mono…
For Frame and Focus should I use my Lum filter ? and with which binning 1x1 , or 2x2 ?..and what should be my exposure … 7- 10 secs?
Then in autofocus everyone says do 2x2 binning with a Lum filter ?..!,???
I have read , YouTubed etc… Please help to clarify!
Thank you for taking your time to answer me.
Cheers from Quebec, Canada
Hi Rotax.
I’m using 1x1 bin, L filter, 10 sec for LRGB, 20 sec for OIII, Ha, SII.
That work verry well for me.
Clear sky Iosif.
If binning helps with smaller files and faster download speeds then you should do 2x2. If it doesn’t then don’t bother.
For exposure you want to make sure the stars are not saturated while still having enough stars in the field for SGP to get a good average of their HFR across the whole field.
You will want to spend some time figuring out what each filter requires for time and then spend time doing a few focus runs per filter to find the average focus position and to make sure there isn’t any focuser slip. Once you have each filter focus position figured out you can enter those values under the filter offsets in the focus panel.
Then to really go crazy you can run the temperature compensation trainer under tools at the top of the screen. This will determine how temperature affects your focus and plots the curve needed for retaining perfect focus as the scope cools.
Hello oisif.
Thank you for answering…
Your answer is for Frame and Focus I guess… Yes ? Please be more accurate because I had two questions?.. 
But do you use autofocus? And if you do use autofocus do you use 1x1 binning or 2x2 binning? … and with which filter? Thanks…
Hi Michael.
Thanks for answering me… It seems you are very knowledgeable about all of this… I understood a bit what you are saying… I’m a tenacious Newbie of 49 yrs old but am not an engineer in any way… Let’s assume that I have a fast computer and all… Recently purchased a 2.5 inch Moonlite Focuser in addition to a 7 position filter wheel with Baader 36mm filters and a ZWO ASI 1600 pro mono cooled camera all to fit onto my Explore Scientific ED102 refractor…
Winters in Quebec, Canada are long and I bought everything during winter… now my learning curve is quite steep… I am postitive you can understand… Very much a newbie, but treated myself…
One thing Michael… for my frame and Focus do I utilize only my Lum filter at 1x1 binning ? My computer is fast…
At say 7 seconds…?
All the HFR stuff right now is a bit too much… but I’ll get there…
Then second question is for autofocus … should I use only my LUM filter at 1x1 binning, or 2x2 binning ?
Or when I do narrowband eventually do I use my narrowband filters to autofocus at 2x2 binning ?
I am sorry . It is all a bit overwhelming for me …
If you can simple answers to my many little questions if you do have the time Michael.
Merci. Thank-you very much. I appreciate your time…
When you bin an image you throw out data making the size of the file smaller. So the camera can download it to your computer faster. This simply means you are not waiting as long for each focus point. But some cameras do hardware binning and some software binning and there may not be a lot of difference. So I was asking if the download speed of the camera is twice as fast if you bin it 2x2 vs. 1x1. If so, use 2x2. If not, don’t.
If you are shooting with your LUM filter then yes, you use that. But each filter may have a different focus point because the glass of the filter is different. Parfocal filters are great but not always are.
So you may need to focus anew every time you change the filter. And use that filter to focus. So focus for L when you shoot L. Focus for R when you shoot R and so on.
Until you get the hang of things and work out the correct offsets.
Hi Michael.
Thank you so much for answering me once again and taking your time…
I will start by doing what you suggest.
I am far from an engineer to understand everything as I fathom that you perhaps may be ? I’m an artist trying to capture exquisite perfection…
I am not too bad, but I’ve aquired quite a lot at the same time and the learning curve is steeper than I imagined… ( I started with a DSLR )
I you don’t mind I will keep your name for future help and reference…
Thanks once again for helping.
From Quebec, Canada.
Cheers Michael.