Kluson

Hi Guys

Not sure which forum to ask this question but here goes.

I have a now redundant red dot finder from my Celestron SE6. Is there a way to fit this to the hot shoe of my DSLR? My finder has a clamp  which looks like the kind of thing you would find on a telescopic sight, it would be good to put this to use on my DSLR

Many thanks in advance

D

4 hours ago, BinocularSky said:

Oops - apologies for the misattribution.

No need to apologise 🙂

Thanks so much for your advice Steve, . I had already ordered from Amazon before I saw this last post. It arrived today. I have not yet opened the product packaging. I can see that the top of the unit has a large oblong button? and a smaller round one. Is this the right one. I can always send it back to Amazon. there is no rush as our Dew shield has not yet arrived

I wish you clear skies

D

4 hours ago, Paul M said:

My new RPi 4B and cute purple heatsink case has arrived   

An feel an evening of Astroberry coming on...

That's great, please let me know how you get on , I would also like to get a Raspberry Pi

cheers

D

5 minutes ago, BinocularSky said:

It's a terrible tripod! I put my Star Adventurer on a second hand (ie cheap) Manfrotto 055 if I'm just using the DSLR, or an 075 if I want to use my little Skymax 90 (pushing it - OK for visual).

Actually it was Fenland Paul who said that not me. I just quoted him. He was giving us a run down of how he got on with his start adventurer. I was very interested to know as a beginner also going down that road. I am going to mount mine on a vanguard pro 2+ tripod which is a very sturdy beast. 🙂  Thanks and wish you clear skies

D

Hi Andy, another newbie here. This is a great place. I have been given some great help already and help based around fact not opinion.  Good luck with your adventure.

all the best

D

Wow what a beautiful picture

2 hours ago, Waldemar said:

Hi James,

How come the person who advised you to buy a Nikon for AP could not answer that question?
The least you will need a Nikon T-ring (https://www.firstlightoptics.com/adapters/t-rings.html)  and the rest depends on your setup

To be honest (nothing bad about the Nikon) I would go for a Canon for the simple reason that most people use those for beginning AP,
so more info is available,  several mods are available, as well as a lot of software solutions.
B.t.w., I noticed the Nikon D3200 is out of production...

I sincerely advice you to buy this book before getting your feet wet: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/books/making-every-photon-count-steve-richards.html

 

you may find the book Digital SLR Astrophotography useful too, it's author is Michael A. Covington.

This is a great post and has at least put my mind at rest that I am not doing anything really wrong 🙂  If I see a bit of fluff, I'm quite excited! Mrs K is in awe of anything we see through the telescope. It really is incredible. we love it.  Think it may be quite nice to upgrade to one of those Hubble things, but at the moment we are happy with our Nexstar 6SE 🙂

31 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

+1 for Black Diamond Cosmo 225

Thanks Alan  and Jeremy, it looks ideal

33 minutes ago, Alan White said:

Black Diamond, Cosmo 225.

Adjustable output, has a red output.
When switched on it defaults to last setting used, so if on red, stays on red.

But do be aware you tend to look at others when you speak, a weakness of a head lamp!

 

Thanks so much for your tips

cheers

D

25 minutes ago, Demonperformer said:

Learning the sky does take a bit of time and effort, but it is worth it. A few things to try from Ursa Major (as you have found that!)

* Follow the 'pointers' the wrong way and you will come to a bright star - Regulus in Leo. Leo is a great constellation, because it is one of the few constellations that does look vaguely like the object it is supposed to represent. Contains two great 'triplets' of galaxies and (one that can be easily overlooked) NGC 2903 just off from the 'nose' of the lion.

* Follow the curve of the bear's tail and you will come to a bright red star. This is Arcturus in Bootes (a massive, but pretty obscure constellation, truth be told) which does contain some interesting double stars.

* Continue the curve beyond Arcturus and you come to another reasonably bright (white) star - Spica in Virgo, which is the largest constellation in the sky and contains thousands of galaxies, many within the range of a small telescope. It has a sort of 'Y' shape and the 'bowl' of the Y is where you will find them.

There you go ... three constellations to look for. Find them once and they become a lot easier. Orion is another great 'signpost' later in the year. As you find constellations, just start to fill in the gaps. This time next year, you will be navigating the night sky like a pro.

Thanks so much, That is brilliant advice.  Exactly the kind of thing we need. We both really appreciate your kind post. So glad I found this place and thanks for your continued advice. it really is great

Thanks and all the best

Dave and Lou.

1 minute ago, wookie1965 said:

Download Stellarium free astronomy software that will help a lot and get yourself a Planisphere that will show you what is in the sky on any date and time. You can get a pdf of Celestron alignment stars here  https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/427603-list-of-alignment-stars-grouped-by-constellation/

Good luck 

Paul

Many thanks Paul, Planisphere ordered. Thanks very much indeed

Cheers

D

Hi everyone

after fumbling around in the garden last night we realised we need some kind of illumination. Can anyone suggest a decent red LED headlamp. Are the ones form Amazon any good?

Many thanks and all the best

D

21 hours ago, FenlandPaul said:

Of course!  Managed to get out last night with it for a couple of hours, with a DSLR and 135mm / 200mm lenses.  Observations so far:

• The instruction manual could do with a proper proof read and sense check!! 🙄
• It’s a nice solid unit - well built and with controls in sensible places, with a nice level of red illumination at night.  The only thing I was disappointed with was the design of the illuminator for the polar scope, which basically means you have to unscrew the cap completely to turn it off - necessitating messing around with fiddly batteries and trying not to drop / lose them (fine at this time of year but in the winter that’ll get annoying!).
• I’ve attached mine to the lightweight skywatcher tripod that came with my AZ5.  Initially I had it on the little extension pillar that comes as standard I think with that tripod.  The tripod is bordering on hopeless - very wobbly when handled - but once I’d removed the extension pillar it has was robust enough for a dslr and heavy lens.  I operate the dslr remotely so don’t need to handle it much. 
• The whole arrangement felt a lot less secure when I attached my 70ed, star diagonal and Nagler eyepiece to do so some solar work yesterday.  Touching the focusser would cause vibrations that lasted a while, but it was just about tolerable.  It felt the whole arrangement was more strained, but I’ve not used it in anger with the camera and scope in tandem yet, so might be fine. It easily kept the sun at x45 dead centre for 5 minutes or more using the solar tracking speed and a general “point north” rather than polar align.
• Under the stars with the dslr it was a dream.  Polar aligning (rough) was simple, the dslr felt sturdily held and it just did exactly what it said.  I managed 60 second subs with the 200mm lens and they stacked with no problems, but didn’t try any longer.  Interested how long I can do.
• Output from the evening was these two pictures of Lyra and Corona Borealis with the 135mm lens, with subs of 30 seconds each (I think for Lyra I stacked about 8 of them, from memory).  As a complete newcomer to imaging, I’m excited where this might go - these won’t win any competitions, but they’ve definitely encouraged me that I can do this with some practice and patience!!
• One thing I do need to do is order a ball head for the dslr.  In its native form, the Star Adventurer doesn’t allow you to alter the orientation of the frame - you just get whatever it spits out!  So a ball head will solve this.  Wouldn’t be a problem with my 70ed as the focusser can be rotated.

Definitely glad I bought it. 😃

 

Sorry Paul here's the clip 

Wow, we got out last night. 🙂 . First attempts at aligning with the StarSense failed. We were too close to the house. !After a move further out into the Garden we had success. The preliminary alignment was completed. Next came the Calibration. Pick a star????? With our level of experience picking a named star was a little tricky. The phone app ( Sky Portal) doesn't look like the sky does it !  😞 plus the fact we couldn't find the constellations in the Sky portal ( Have now switched on constellation names in settings 🙂 )  Great we found Ursa Major and we found Dubhe.. The scope slewed a little and the moment of truth. I ventured a look into the 32mm eyepiece and Bang there it was - A Star  "Dubhe" We then followed the instructions given by Celestron  to calibrate. Which we managed to do without any issue using both the 32mm and  13mm eyepieces. We were sorted. Wow. what to look at next. This is indeed the difficult bit, we stuck around Ursa Major.  Then we realised things were getting a little blurry - DEW. What a disaster, we also realised that it was 12-45 and my wife had to get up for work in the morning. Tired and elated we decided to call it a night.  Big Lessons of the Night -

1. Order a Dew shield  and heater.

2. Learn our way around the sky

Number one is very easy, place an order with favourite supplier and wait a couple of days. Number 2 is a little more tricky and will require a little more patience and understanding, but can be done, might just take a little longer. We decided not to go out again with the telescope, until we have the Dew protection., we will use the time trying to identify the night sky and use our binoculars. We saw some shooting stars and satellites last night too , it would be good to know what they are.

It was really great to get out, shame about the Dew issue, but that can be resolved. Also the telescope alignment may not be spot on; not sure how much of that is down to not being able to see so well because of dew build up, but next time we can go through the process again. This really is amazing, just looking at a star and knowing it's name and the information  about it  is amazing. Just thinking how long that light took to get here is mind blowing. We really are hooked now and can't wait for the next chance to get out 🙂

Bye for now, stay safe and well and we wish you clear skies

D

21 hours ago, FenlandPaul said:

Of course!  Managed to get out last night with it for a couple of hours, with a DSLR and 135mm / 200mm lenses.  Observations so far:

• The instruction manual could do with a proper proof read and sense check!! 🙄
• It’s a nice solid unit - well built and with controls in sensible places, with a nice level of red illumination at night.  The only thing I was disappointed with was the design of the illuminator for the polar scope, which basically means you have to unscrew the cap completely to turn it off - necessitating messing around with fiddly batteries and trying not to drop / lose them (fine at this time of year but in the winter that’ll get annoying!).
• I’ve attached mine to the lightweight skywatcher tripod that came with my AZ5.  Initially I had it on the little extension pillar that comes as standard I think with that tripod.  The tripod is bordering on hopeless - very wobbly when handled - but once I’d removed the extension pillar it has was robust enough for a dslr and heavy lens.  I operate the dslr remotely so don’t need to handle it much. 
• The whole arrangement felt a lot less secure when I attached my 70ed, star diagonal and Nagler eyepiece to do so some solar work yesterday.  Touching the focusser would cause vibrations that lasted a while, but it was just about tolerable.  It felt the whole arrangement was more strained, but I’ve not used it in anger with the camera and scope in tandem yet, so might be fine. It easily kept the sun at x45 dead centre for 5 minutes or more using the solar tracking speed and a general “point north” rather than polar align.
• Under the stars with the dslr it was a dream.  Polar aligning (rough) was simple, the dslr felt sturdily held and it just did exactly what it said.  I managed 60 second subs with the 200mm lens and they stacked with no problems, but didn’t try any longer.  Interested how long I can do.
• Output from the evening was these two pictures of Lyra and Corona Borealis with the 135mm lens, with subs of 30 seconds each (I think for Lyra I stacked about 8 of them, from memory).  As a complete newcomer to imaging, I’m excited where this might go - these won’t win any competitions, but they’ve definitely encouraged me that I can do this with some practice and patience!!
• One thing I do need to do is order a ball head for the dslr.  In its native form, the Star Adventurer doesn’t allow you to alter the orientation of the frame - you just get whatever it spits out!  So a ball head will solve this.  Wouldn’t be a problem with my 70ed as the focusser can be rotated.

Definitely glad I bought it. 😃

 

Thanks so much, That's very helpful. I found this you tube clip which seems quite helpful. His view of a Ball head may be of interest.  Thanks again for your findings. I'm trying to order my sky Adventurer as we speak 🙂

On 12/06/2020 at 06:57, FenlandPaul said:

Thank you. I have two Canon EOSs (an unmodified 1000D and a modified 450D without the IR filter), my little Altair Starwave 70ed frac and a small collection of old Vivitar lenses.  So that’s my starting line-up, but I’ll see how I get on!!

Good luck, please let me know how you get on with the Star Adventurer

My Plan is an HEQ5 Pro. However to get started I am going to use a Sky Watcher Star Adventurer pro kit. This will make a good place to start and then develop form there. (forgive the pun)

Thanks

D

Hi Everyone, not sure if anyone has seen this guy , but he uses various software packages and I found this very helpful, So might be good for beginners like me.

Just now, scitmon said:

If you are looking to buy for just astrophotography, I would also consider buying a dedicated astro camera.  While DSLR's offer good value for money in terms of pixels per £, they also come with poor noise control.  Worth looking into and deciding what you want.

That's a great point. I will use my micro  four thirds set up for our normal domestic photography so it would indeed make good sense to use a dedicated astro camera. I was a little put off by the complexity as a beginner, however I intend to attend some society meetings etc  ( Once we can) and build up some knowledge. Your point is a good one and may well be the way forward.

All the best

D

19 hours ago, FenlandPaul said:

Not a thread I’ve contributed to before, but this arrived for me today: 

unfortunately accompanied by this:

Up until recently I’ve been a purely visual observer, but I’ve had some fun of late with a DSLR and some prime focus work on my two (Undriven) scopes, so this felt like a natural next step.

So it's your fault. 🙂  I would be very interested to hear how you get on with your new purchase. I was thinking to get one of those 🙂  If you would be kind enough to let me know how you get on with it, I would be very grateful. What Camera are you going to mount on it?

19 hours ago, toxic said:

i use a the atik 383L mono now for most astro stuff ,but i still use the eos 200d non moded for widefield your micro fourthirds would be best for smaller deep sky objects or planets and the 750d for more wider shots dependent on the scope used.

Thanks Chris. I was thinking along the same lines. It will be interesting trying the Olympus with the Celestron.

Thanks, We have only had a short look through it , but looking forward to some clear skies eventually

 Thanks and all the best

D

4 hours ago, toxic said:

i had an eos 10D back in 2011 it was what i had to start with here is a single exposure from it in 2012 no processing at all strait from the camera and at the time i didn't shoot in raw it was just jpeg i didn't know any better  that's one of the reasons i joined SGL hope this helps but if you all ready have it then use it.

Hi Chris

Thanks, I have other Cameras, I was just trying to decide whether it would be worth using it or putting in it's box and leave it in the loft. It's a shame as it is in such nice condition. My wife often likes to use it so maybe I'll give it to her., I went to Olympus micro Four thirds to reduce the weight and bulk of large DSLR. I think the OMD may be useful. I think a Canon 750D in reasonable condition would be good to then have converted for Astro use.  Thanks for the tip. What was the exposure on the picture above?

Clear Skies

D