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Help for a keen newcomer


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Good morning

I have recently become very interested in the night sky, I have brought a sky watcher 200p on the equatorial mount and have a few accessories, I also have an old Casio exilim ex-p505 camera. I was hoping some of you experts out there might be able to point me in the right direction as what is some good essential lenses to have etc. and if anyone knows if and what I would need to connect the camera to the scope so I can hopefully take some pics….

Any help at all would be very grateful ….

Hoping for clear sky’s!!!

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Eyepieces first: Budget comes into it as I suggest that overall you need 3 and preferably 4. Your 25mm likely works OK. Usually the barlow and 10mm are not good. The scope is f/5 (?). Taking maximum useful/practical/common magnification as 200x and then using the BST's as the "typical upgrade set" a 5mm will give that, then an 8mm for when the 5mm is too much then perhaps the 18mm or 15mm for medium magnifications. So in the BST line that is 5mm, 8mm and 15/18mm as well as the 25m you have.

An alternative is the X-Cel range, again 5mm, then 7mm and then the 18mm or 15mm.

The BST's are £49 from Skys the Limit, the X-Cels are £64 from FLO.

FLO also do the Vixen NPL plossls, however a plossl design has limited eye relief at the short focal lengths and this can be uncomfortable. If I recall the Vixen NPL's are £30 or £35.

Camera, not sure what it actually is. Does the lens come off?

If it doesn't then you may be stuck. You can get attachments to hold the camera but for imaging you really need to be able to override the camera auto actions and make it do what you want. This is manually focus, manually set aperture, manually set exposure length and manually set the ISO. Often if the lens is fixed then turning the camera into a fully manual system can be a problem, them comes the attaching it to the scope. Will go search out the camera details.

There is an SGL group for Essex, Essex Cloud Dodgers, under the social groups.

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Try this link http://www.swindonstargazers.com/beginners/eyepieces.htm it will help you to

understand the different types of eyepieces and also how much they cost, 

it's a very good site, and Robin is a member of S G L ,and always gives very good advice,

I have collected all the BST Starguiders and I am very pleased with them, they give

me very good views, but that is just my opinion, have a good read of Robins site,

you will learn a lot from it, I certainly did.

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You might be able to use the camera afocally, with a bracket to hold it to the EP (if it will take long exposures):

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Baader-Microstage-II-Digiscoping-Adapter/dp/B002SYHDIS

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/adaptors/skywatcher-universal-camera-adapter.html

http://www.scopesnskies.com/prod/Astro-Engineering/Ultra/PH047.html

You haven't said what exact mount it is. If you want to do AP, you need a sturdy tracking mount, and for longer exposures, you'd need to autoguide.

Alexxx

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Good morning

 

I have recently become very interested in the night sky, I have brought a sky watcher 200p on the equatorial mount and have a few accessories, I also have an old Casio exilim ex-p505 camera. I was hoping some of you experts out there might be able to point me in the right direction as what is some good essential lenses to have etc. and if anyone knows if and what I would need to connect the camera to the scope so I can hopefully take some pics….

 

Any help at all would be very grateful ….

 

Hoping for clear sky’s!!!

Hi there, I see you are in Essex, if you are at a loose end one Weds night, then maybe http://www.cpac.org.uk/ would be of interest. Or there's our public event on 29 Nov.

All details in the link, regards, Ed.

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Hi, all very good info. I have looked at Robins link, it is amazing.

So this is what I have in answer to a few questions! The mount is the EQ5. I also have the standard sky watcher free lenses plus I brought a celestron X-Cel LX Barlow , celestron 9mm plossl and a PL 40mm (no brand!) ? . I'm thinking if people could advise of me buying the panaview 2 inch, 32 mm , the Baader Hyperion 8 mm in 1 1/4 and the Baader neutral 0.9 moon filter. I want to look at the moon ( I now have an SLR I can use) for pics. Planets and deep space, saw Orion nebular last winter and it was amazing.

Hi Brown Dwarf, I'm on the Essex cambridge border so the cambridge one would be much closer for me but thank you very much for the info, I have friends in Langdon so maybe when I visit.

Thanks Alexxx for the links I will check them out once the 2year old stops looking for the scope or the moon!!

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Hi Rutang, the Baader Hyperions do not perform well in the 200P at f/5, they will be a bit soft at the edges, I would advise to look at a different 8mm, perhaps the BST Explorer/Starguider, 8mm is a good and useful focal length for the 200P.  The Baader neutral density filter ND96 0.9 is a good Moon filter giving 13% transmission, this has been the one I have used up until now (well, the 2" version), although I have just replaced it with a Lumicon.  Here is a link to the BST StarGuider: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1-25-8mm-BST-Explorer-Dual-ED-eyepiece-Branded-Starguider-/380962675706?pt=UK_Telescope_Eyepieces&hash=item58b3251bfa

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Hi Brown Dwarf, thanks for ur feedback. If I could be cheeky and ask you? What do you recommend I buy for my needs? This is all very new and there is so much info and product out there it is very confusing! If you can make a few suggestions that would be amazing ?

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Hi Brown Dwarf, thanks for ur feedback. If I could be cheeky and ask you? What do you recommend I buy for my needs? This is all very new and there is so much info and product out there it is very confusing! If you can make a few suggestions that would be amazing ?

You have a 200p on an EQ5 mount, that's a great starter scope, and also enough to sustain a long term interest, with no need to upgrade for many years.

For now, I'd use what you already have, see how you get on, and which direction you wish to pursue, imaging, visual etc.

Best to get familiar with setting up the EQ mount. A casual polar alignment is good enough for visual, but an accurate alignment is needed for imaging.

After a few sessions, work out your budget, come back here and say what you wish to achieve, lots of folk here to help.

All the best, Ed.

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Great advice from Ed!

Please use your gears some scope time before spending a dime. Operating an EQ mount will need some exercise, same as star hopping to find objects, learning to see faint DSO with averted vision needs a lot of time too.

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Hi Brown Dwarf, thanks for ur feedback. If I could be cheeky and ask you? What do you recommend I buy for my needs? This is all very new and there is so much info and product out there it is very confusing! If you can make a few suggestions that would be amazing ?

Hi Rutang, you can't really go wrong with the BST Explorer/StarGuiders to be honest, I would recommend these whole-heartedly.

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  • 2 months later...

Hi,

Does any one have any ideas on the canon 10 x 30 IS binoculars for star gazing, or the 15 x 50 IS?

Any help would be great.

A clubmate has the 15x50 IS.   I've looked through them, tried to walk off with 'em under my coat :grin:

Seriously, if you can afford them, you won't be disappointed, true grab and go because no need for a mount or tripod.

Regards, Ed.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

Have a look at the Astro Zap ones that FLO sell.

You could make your own but it would have to be about 6" diameter of film with the additional edge circle of 2" making up to the diameter you require. The Baader film is A4 in size so you cannot get 8" of the stuff. Not a problem as the sun is not exactly dim just means a bit more work. Personally I would make my own at 6" and have a 1" surround and the lot made from thin model making ply.

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