Samop

My 'scope is a skywatcher Explorer 150p (with the 6"mirror) and the camera, I have the choice of a Nikon 200D or an Olympus EP8 Pen. Preference is the Olympus as it's lighter and the sensor has more pixels

Well 900SL, I do have a DSLR but the telepohoto lense ins my telescope, which doesn't have adjustable apeture 😐 But those rules of thumb are still a good starting point so thanks for that. Also, thanks Vlaiv I just need to wait for a clear sky and a free evening.

Thanks guys, At this point, as an aged (😄) astronomy newbe I'll be trying to photograph the moon and planets.. Deep sky will be some time in the future..

I have a reflecting 'scope. As I understand it, it's a long toilet roll with a mirror at the end, and yhe mirror concentrates the light and reflects it into another mirror that points it sideways into the eyepiece and yhat provided the magnification. Right so far? So, if I then attach my camera body in place of the eyepiece, where does the magnification come from? I appreciate I'm missing something basic here...

Hi, I'm just having my first go at astrophotography. I've done "ordinary" photography for many many years so I know about exposure (when I first started it was all manual) but I'd like some guidance on how to calculate shutter speed. I could of course set the camera to spot metering and trust that my object is dead in the centre. Is that what you do or is it more hit-and-miss?

Sorry for the delay in responding. Thanks for all the suggestions. In general I wouldn't buy any batteries or chargers from an auction site - you never know what you're getting although you guys have done alright. The powerbank option seems the cheapest (I already have one) so I'll go with that.

Oh, I was sure I'd seen an attachment somewhere but I 'd obviously got hold of the wrong end of the stick. Something (else) for the Christmas present list then

Thanks for your words of encouragement. I bought the 'scope early this year and it clouded over as I opened the box so I really haven't had much of an opportunity to practice with it in the warm evenings... but I will play during the daytime to get familiar with how it works (particulaly the mount, which at this stage seems to me to be totally un-intuitive). I think I probbaly should get one of those prism/mirror things that goes on the end of the finder scope that enables you to look "sideways" rather than along the length of the scope... that'll definitely help the back problems. - can you buy these seperately as an attachment? There doesn't seem to be any way to disengage the RA motor other than undoing the grub screw, but that seems a recipe for loosing things in the dark. Cheers

I'm very new at this astronomy game and still not totally comfortable with how to drive my telescope and mount. I've just got an RA motor but haven't used it yet. So I came home at around 11pm and saw Jupiter shining brightly and thought "wow, I'v got to have a look..." I took me ages to get the telescope set up in the dark, probably nowhere near polar aligned. I couldn't work out how to actuallly point the 'scope with the RA motor attached; everything got wet with the condensation and I got a back ache leaning over the scope trying to see anything. I didn't get to see anything before I gave up So what I learned was... unless I'm really confident with setting up and aligning don't try an improptu session... it'll just depress me. I'm going to bed now.

Hi I've just got myself an RA motor for my Skywatcher EQ3-2 mount and intend - if we ever get clear skys - to initially have a go at photographing the Moon and planets. So I have two questions (actually I have loads, but we'll stick with the two for now). The cost of D-cell batteries will undoubtable mount so I'm looking at getting a 6V power supply, but does anyone have any idea what the current drain would be? I've seen two from reputable suppliers, one that's "300 → 600mA" and the other 1.5A, both similarly priced. Thoughts please? 2nd question... now that I've attached my motor I assume I've lost the ability to manually adjust the RA position.. yes? or is there a clutch somewhere Cheers

Thanks Just to check my understanding, I'd thought that the ST-4 port is only for use with a guide camera, which I won't be getting. Is that correct or it be guided by other things (e.g. a laptop)? Cheers

Thanks. I have to "consider" my budget (don't we all) and I can't ever see me being able to afford a guide camera, so I don't think I'll be needing the ST-4 port. I'm quite new to this hobby, but, assuming we ever get decent skys my plan is to do some astrophotography, mainly the moon and planets but don't envisage too much deep-sky stuff. So, I think I'll need both motors for this. Yes? Based on that will the un-enhanced version give me all I need?

Hi Guys Can someone please explain to me what the difference is between the Skywatcher EQ3-2 enhanced dual motor drive and the non-enhanced version, in practical terms. I've been doing some digging on the internet but can't find anything that explains what you get extra with the enhanced version. Cheers

Hmm Yep, they are still going. I think I'll sport the £27 and sign up for a year to see..

Anyone a member? Opinions?

We've all been trying to think of a witty reposte..

Doesn't it?

I'm looking for some sort of box to keep all my bits and pieces in... eye pieces; filters; camera adaptor; barlow lens; etc etc . Currently they're rolling about in the bottom of the box my 'scope lives in when it's not being used. I've been Googling but not really come across anything that looks suitable - they're either too big or too small What do you use?

Haha.. no, there was definitely one this year, I saw it. I'm in the UK and it was seriously cloudy but one meteor shot through a gap in the clouds. That was it, though

I bought my 'scope at the beginning of this year, and it clouded over as I was opening the box and there hasn't really been a decent clear sky since. So althought I've had it for 8 or 9 months I still haven't really had an opportunity to work out how to use it yet..

It was, once again, cloud cloud cloud last night, but there were some small breaks in the cloud so, nothing on the telly and not sleepy I sat in the chair and gazed up, and within 10 minutes saw one of the Perseides meteors streaking through a gap in the clouds. Restored my enthusiasm a bit.

A little poser for you all. So, given that a meteor is the death of an asteroid or bit of space rock, and that the Perseides shower visits us every year and has been for a very long time as far as we know, how many years will it be before there's none left? Something to think about...

Haha.... can you imagine the outcry if they did that?

I'm not so sure, knowing some astronomers I've come across 🙂 🙂 🙂 Actually, my son-in-law is a police dog handler and I don't think they go on "fishing trips" by releasing the dogs and see what they catch. More likely that they just needed to stretch their legs and have a run about.

Thanks all for explaining. My long-term plan is to do some astro-photography. Planets/Moon and some DSOs. I have no plans to add a Goto (would like to but can't afford it) so, given that I have slo-mo knob extensions it seems to me that a DEC motor is a luxury that wouldn't really add anything to my viewing and photography abilities. Obvs an RA motor is a must. Yes?