Ratlet

57 minutes ago, Adam J said:

 

Is that rigged up as a single unit?  So you can just mount the whole lot on the az-gti or piggy back on another telescope as required?

Very nice setup!  Love the labels.  When all you have is a hammer everything looks like a nail and when you have a label maker everything needs a label!

Cheers for the recommendations Daves  I really appreciate it. 

For the time being I'm going to stick to gimp, but at least I don't have to go trawling for recommendations.  I can just come back here for info that is useful to my exact circumstance.

Now I just need to keep out of the classified section lol.

 Got a long way to go before I get to that level of quality elp.  It's a great example of what the mount can do but it's also great testament to your skills. 

So far my attempts at image processing have resulted in something that looks... Not good. And that's okay.

Fortunately I know what the problem is.  I have no idea what I'm doing.  Need to understand how the levels and curves work first (what effect on the output the setting have on the input).  

The Chinese skywatcher site has the user manual up.  Nothing revolutionary in it though.  Looks like it does exactly what the advert says.  Manual seems to suggest that it'll come with the az-gti style tripod.

26 minutes ago, ollypenrice said:

I agree with everything except the alt-az mount.  Alt-az is fundamentally wrong for AP* and I believe it's best to use kit which is fundamentally right. My only experience of a 'wedged alt-az' was a nightmare, but you've clearly read up on this and been convinced.  It's just that you're deviating from your intention of getting it 'right first time,' in my view.

While you're thinking about your setup you might also be wanting to be thinking about your image pre-processing and post-processing software. Like many people who've been doing this for a long time, I use a confusing and promiscuous mixture of software. I wouldn't recommend this to a beginner!  I'd nominate Astro Pixel Processor, probably, but there are others which I've never used.

Olly

*Without a field de-rotator.

Cheers man,

Aye.  I had a fair amount of reading up on the mount.  It looks like the az-gti has seen improved performance for equatorial mode since its initial release. 

I'll be honest that I'm still a ways off from dropping money on it and I'm kind of waiting to see if/when the star adventurer GTi actually launches.

In the mean time I've been playing with some freely available subs you can download and practicing image manipulation.  I'm awful but I'm sure it'll come.  Mostly gimp and DSS but I'll try some other software when time allows.

Good spot that.  It'll be interesting to see where it lands in terms of price.  I'm in the market for a portable mount and I'm eyeing up an az gti but this is just dangling out of reach.  

Using some rough equivalences from the EU shops, it looks like it'll be be £430-£530.  Low end looks very tempting being about £100 more than the outlay for an AZ-GTI plus counter weights and wedge.

Cheers folks,

Good job casue I've already ordered the canon T3i and got the Takumar 200mm lol.  Whilst I wait for the mount I'm going to test out some old Nikon lenses I've got and see what they're like for chromatic aberration.  If there are any that are decent I'll keep em and get a converter.  If they're not good, they'll go onto fleabay and help buy me a Samyang 135mm.

20 minutes ago, LaurenceT said:

That's an almost exact mirror of my philosophy in starting astrophotography with the AZ GTI in equatorial mode. Keep it light and simple in respect of the capabilities of the mount in particular and also ones own experience of AP at this stage and, particularly in my case, keep it as cheap as possible. I made a false start using Sony gear as I've been a long time Sony shooter generally and was heavily invested in Sony. Nothing wrong with Sony gear at all but there were limitations when it came to expanding the gear. With Canon or Nikon as a starting point you will have more capacity in terms of gear compatibility.

Magic.  I've seen your posts on the AZ GTI thread.  That thread and this forum is a big reason for me looking to get into this.  Lots of help and support.

56 minutes ago, Same old newbie alert said:

No probs with kit other that a Az GTi?  You be better off with a equatorial mount... something like a ioptron star tracker, or skyguder pro skywatcher star adventurer, ioptron 26, astrotrac , or even a eq3... Az mounts will create field rotation and give you Issues.. unless you put it in a wedge to make it equatorial

That's true.  I'm planning Equatorial mode so will need the wedge (and couterweights, etc)

Hi,

I was wanting to get my logic checked for my plan for starting out with astrophotography.

I want to see if doing the hobby is as fun as watching you lot make it appear.  

My thinking is that I get an az GTi in equatorial mode, canon DSLR, and some vintage lenses (135mm and 200mm takumar) and go for it.  Oh and a powerpack and intervalometer and mounting bracket and...

There almost seems to be no end of pretty things that look good in those focal lengths.

Seems like there is a lot to learn and by minimising the equipment and focal length I'll make life a bit easier on myself.  I've been on astrobin and I'm quite impressed what the old lenses can do (chromatic aberration and all).

There almost seems to be no end of pretty things that look good in those focal lengths.

The gargantuan thread on the az GTi/EQ on here has me sold on it as a small scale mount.

In terms of progress this presents an organic and flexible 'upgrade path', so long as I am realistic about the capability of the mount.

Guiding would obviously benefit, but if I keep the focal lengths down I shouldn't need it initially.  Shorter subs will have to do.  Once I figure out the basics I can worry about guiding.  That then opens up other possibilities.  But that is for down the road.

The main appeal to me of this route is that it seems low risk (light weight, quick setup, minimise the amount of new things to learn in one go, minimise frustration) but also everything remains useful going forward since the az GTi is still a very portable system compared to the big mounts.

So basically:

Keep it simple and avoid buying stuff which you'll need to replace later because you didn't buy right in the first place

Seem reasonable?

It was unrelated.

However, it is now on their website.  Just a landing page.  No manuals, etc.  Yet...

http://www.skywatcher.com/product/star-adventurer-gti/

One thing I've found informative is to go on astrobin and search for a lens.  You'll be able to see what other people have achieved with the kit.  One man's example doesn't make a good sample, check out astrobin and get some more data points on the range of quality the lens will produce.  Just don't be too precise (you'll get more hits for "canon 75-300" than "canon EF 75-300").  Personally, from astrobin examples, I think it's acceptable.  To my eyes.

One man's unacceptable is another man's masterpiece.  I'm just planning stuff out, but browsing astrobin is helping me dial in my expectations and giving me something to aim for.  Eg, I can now at least recognise chromatic aberration but find is aesthetically pleasing sometimes and I like my nebula garish pink.

Might be unrelated, but skywatcher has a product announcement on YouTube tomorrow at 6pm UK.  Wonder if they are going to announce this?

Sorry to keep coming back and asking questions, but what are you guys using as a tripod?  Is the original one good enough or are you using something beefier?  I'm just pricing stuff up and trying to figure out if I should get the mount on it's own or the mount/tripod/extension pillar?

The kids are expressing an interest now, thanks to the photos on here, so I might have to get an actual looking scope too lol.  There is a kit with the 130PS however that seems like a limiting option (it would be good for viewing, but there is limited forward use of it).  The 130PDS is available separately, has similar performance optically for viewing and has much greater scope for being useful down the road for more than visual.  Not saying it would image on this mount, but if the bug caught and I got a HEQ5 or something, then the 130PDS would be usable for imaging on that mount.

10 hours ago, powerlord said:

1. thats how I started. first az, then setup in eq mode. no guiding, computers, etc. I could get 3-4 mins subs ok with my 200mm. As others have said, key is good PA. The way to get this is to go around the loop several times:

1. setup azgti and align. then pa align.

2. now turn it off/on, and clear calibaration, and do it all again (be quicker this time, and you'll get closer to PA alighment)

3. do it about 3 times should get you really close, and then start your imaging.

balance is the main thing for heavy loads, if it's all balanced, and you have a bit of weight on the screw, 6+kg is possible.

 

3-4 minute subs unguided?  Wowzer.  Thanks for posting your method too.  Very helpful

1 hour ago, RayWUK said:

Out again tonight, although guiding not quite up to last nights effort. 1-2RMS. I did tweek some settings which i thought may have improved it over last nights 0.8-1.5 guiding but it didn't pay off. It's a bit breezy tonight so that might account for it. Anyway here's my first attempt at the Orion Nebula from last night. Although its getting a bit low in the sky now i'm quite pleased with the result. 60x120sec subs. Still a lot to learn especially with processing.

 

That's really nice.  I really like the pink shades in nebula rather than the blood red.

Guys,

Thabnks so much for replying.

The info in this thread is great (I spent most of last night going through it all).  I'm pretty much sold on the mount given the feedback.

I've basically assigned myself a budget for an initial outlay (10 year anniversary so the wife is being generous) so I can scale down some things and scale up others (less lenses and guidescope for example).

But this thread is at least let me nail down the mount.

Not an AZ-GTI owner yet, but very interested as it ticks a lot of boxes for what I'm looking for.  Could I ask a couple questions to you owners?

1.  Are any of you running it unguided in eq mode for astrophotography?  I was looking to do unguided with a 200mm focal length and crop DSLR and wanted to know the art of experience you have.  Possibility I might want to increase to 300mm down the road.

2.  What sort of payload are you getting for astrophotography unguided/guided?  Seems some people are getting good images from pretty heavy loads which on the face goes against the perceived wisdom of half the rated loading for imaging.

3.  Have any of you used a star adventurer or similar?  How would you compare the experience of it Vs the GTi?

Thanks for the great thread hugely helpful!

9 hours ago, Elp said:

If you learn drift alignment (darv method) you won't need anything else.

To start you can use a manual compass with an East West scale on it to get the tripod/mount to point roughly to true north, and a digital inclinometer to get the altitude pretty accurate to your location, then finish using drift alignment.

Good Lord.  I had a look at Drift alignment a couple weeks ago and couldn't really understand.  I Must have been tired.  I did a google and it looks pretty straightforward.

It also has the benefit of being a 'learning the ropes' challenge rather than a 'how do I make this camera speak to this computer and control it from my phone' challenge, which seems much more appealing.

I'm trying to be practical with dipping my toe in and planning this out.  I don't want to go down a route where I getting equipment that I'll need to replace because there is a better fit for my anticipated goals.  Drift alignment seems perfect because even if I do get a guide scope, polar scope and a top of the line mount, drift alignment will still remain useful.  Perfect.

I'm hoping someone here might be able to help.

I'm doing some research before I get out and start doing some astrophotography.  I've been reading up on FOV and searched astrobin and forums and I think I'm pretty dialed in for what to expect and I'm going to go down the DSLR/lens route (35mm/200mm vintage and a more modern 14mm).

In terms of mounts I think a star tracker would be the best option due to the portability of the system (if I decide to use heavier equipment, then I'll need to get a proper mount, but I'll still be able to use the tracker as a portable setup).

I've been looking at the Sky Watcher AZ-GTi in equatorial mode and it looks very flexible due to the goto and portability.  My only concern is that it doesn't have a polar alignment scope.  I see that polar aignment is possible, however it seems to be largely a guidescope based solution or require a laptop.

Is it possible to do polar align a AZGTI without a guidescope, using the DSLR?  Ideally (to keep it portable) through a phone app or similar.  I've seen the ASAIR plus, but that looks very expensive.  I've also seen the Astropi which looks like it might work through the DSLR.  If anyone has experience with these options, or even just getting a good polar alignment in the field with it without a lot of equipment I'd be grateful.

Many thanks,

Graham

Just did a quick Google and there are a couple European shops advertising it.  Apparently delivery in May.  €600 price with no tripod.

Looks funky.