Hi there,

So I've got back into astronomy, when I say back into I mean start !

The last scope I had was a 6"refractor with a really bad mount about 10 years ago, never knew anything about polar aligning it or how to use it properly, didn't know where anything was in the sky either. However despite that I managed to see Saturn and Jupiter which I loved. Then after trying to image the moon with an old SLR and the pictures coming out really bad I never used the scope again!

This time I thought I would do it properly, get the right stuff to start with and learn by making mistakes along the way and getting feedback from a good forum community.

I've been reading a lot of guides and reading forum posts but there is some stuff I cant seem to find out about or isn't documented.

I got myself the following for my 30th from my lovely wife:

• Skywatcher Equinox 80ED APO
• Skywatcher ST80 (Guide Scope)
• QHY5 Guide camera
• EQ6 Pro Synscan GOTO
• Revelation EP Kit (Free)
• Badaar UV/IR blocker filter
• Generic LP filter
• Canon 20d (unmodded)
• Canon timer remote for 'B' mode
• Canon T ring
• Compaq N620c (second hand from ebay)
• StarryNight5 (second hand from ebay)
• The Sky6 (second hand from ebay)
• DSLR Focus

It was all that or an Aprilia RSV1000.. so it was a hard choice and very close as I sold my CBR and regretted it ever since, but I think I made the right one. Instead of my wife becoming an actual widow she's going to be astrophotography/ astronomy widow instead!!!!

So far I've downloaded and installed EQMOD which I'm using connected through the hand controller and have linked to SN5 and TheSky6. I've made sure the Polar finder scope's reticule is in the right place by spinning the RA 180 making sure a distant object stays in one place, which it now does after a few adjustments with the tiny screws.

I have taken the scope out once and have come across many issues, which I expected.

I live close to a city centre and an industrial estate so it's fairly light polluted, I found it very hard to see Polaris in the Polar Scope, let alone line it up accurately. It was nearly a full moon too but still !! The red light inside the scope also didn't help but made it worse, once that was on I couldn't see any stars !!! Wearing glasses also didn't help ! Any advise here?

After an hour (or two) I had lined it, well I lined up 2 bright stars in Cassey and 2 in Ursa Major!

I then added my scopes (piggy backed) and weights to balance it. Then spun the RA back to line up the above stars again.

After that I wired it all up:
Laptop -> Synscan Controller -> Mount
Laptop -> QHY5 -> Mount

I left the Canon 20d off for my first go but I'll be doing this to image more than observe.

Turning everything on and opening PHD and SN5 I thought I was set.... however I couldn't get anything from the QHY5, PHD wasn't showing anything, I had the settings to 'On Camera' and a 1 sec exposure. I saw nothing, just lines going across the screen.. However if I move this in a dark room and then to a light room it whites out so the actual camera must be OK ????? Is it, is there any other way to tell ???

I have piggy backed the scopes by using 4 normal rings, two upside down and screwed into the top of the other, making do with what I had laying around. Run out of money to buy the correct mounting plates... I was very unsure what I needed to have for side by side mounting, can someone please provide me with links to what I actually needed including guide rings for the ST80??

Everything was getting wet with dew also, the laptop, scope, mount and the foam in the cases.. Guess I'm going to need to invest in some dew heating strips, can anyone recommend these, they seem quite expensive for what they are. Plus I am going to need to plug them into a normal mains outlet not a powertank, I see most of them come with a type of jack on the end!?

As soon as I was about to slew to my first target... clouds formed up and that was the end of that for the rest of the night !!

So not the best start, but at least it is a start and I don't mind it went badly, it gives me a starting point.

So I guess I'm looking for answer to the questions plus a guide on setup procedure, aligning the mount and or N star aligning in EQMOD. I thought a rough Polar align would be OK as long as PHD guided where I needed to scope to stay.. But I guess not.

Nice read, unfortunately though I am also a noob.. Recently slewing my scope into the mount! I will be very interested in the replies you get here as I think it will help a lot of people.

Do you have a blog as I would like to follow how you do?

Astronerd

Tough call .... Aprilla 1000 or a load of good quality astro kit?
And what a fantastic wife you have too!

It looks like you've made some great progress. If I could offer you some advice, think about getting to where you want to be in a series of smaller learning steps

-Learn how to set up the kit for visual especially connecting the mount to the planetarium software and EQMod. As an aside, why do you prefer SN5 over TheSky?

- Find a reliable method of getting a good polar alignment. If it's difficult using your polar scope, have a look at use drift alignment. It's not as difficult as some make out. Do you always place the mount in the same position? Look at how you can place it in the same position position reliably. This will help you set it up consistently and a little quicker

- Use the goto etc in EQMod/SN or Sky6 to find your way around the skies

- Once you've ironed out the mount software, then progress onto connecting the camera for imaging, ie taking a few photos with shortish exposures and downloading them. Don't worry too much about guiding just yet before you've got a reliable technique for acquiring the image

- Finally turn your attention to guiding with the second OTA and build up your exposure times

- Learn how to take darks, flats etc to improve the quality of your images

Simples!

.... and good luck

Steve

Yes I do have a good wife, but she knows when she's 30 I'll have to better it...... With interest !!!!

Good advice about smaller steps, like you said I think I need to just take the mount out and concentrate on polar aligning it and getting it into a the same position each time. I have a patio up the top of the garden so when I have successfully aligned it I'll mark it on the floor and then drill 3 small holes into the tiles so the tripod will sit in those each time.

With regards to SN, I found it simpler to start with seeing as I was learning everything else at the same time. I prefer the look of The Sky6 and I feel it has a lot more to offer as I progress but to start I think SN is better suited to a real beginner like myself.
The three things that are really unknown for me at the moment is:

Side by side mounting without spending as much money as a Dob, I have no idea about what I would need for this. Currently I just use the attachment mount that came with the 80ED straight into the EQ6 then I have 4 normal mounting rings two round the 80ED and then two upside down screwed into those with the ST80 in those !

Making sure the QHY5 camera does work, what I expect to see in this as so far even though the scope moved no stars are visible.

Lastly setup procedures, these seem to be like the Holy Grail, I know each persons kit is different but there must be a pattern, balance the scope before polar align or after etc etc.

Great advice which I'll follow SteveP

Yes thunor I have a blog, you can view it at www.astronerd.co.uk.

Any help with the side by side mounting on a budget and anyway to make sure the QHY5 is working?

hi
i bought one of these for side-by-side Parallelmontage von zwei Optiken auf einer Montierung - Teleskop-Express: DER Astroshop + Fotografie + Naturbeobachtung
works great.

alfi

hmm £130, that's perfect but I wish there were cheaper options!

AN

You might want to have a look here... andysshotglass.com

Andy takes you through various aspects of his procedure for setting up his Atlas - very similar to an EQ6 & also made by Synta. If you look around the site, he also shows how to do 'drift alignment'. You will probably need this once you get into AP

Steve