Bobby1970

I have a Pixel 2 and find its pretty good also. I managed to install a different camera apk and now have the "astrophotography" mode. 

I had a go with it a few nights back, was aiming for Cassiopeia area but think I missed, I have an adaptor for a camera tripod which is needed for the astrophotography mode.

I plan on trying multiple exposures, taken using my star adventurer with the Pixel 2 and then try stacking them, see what I get. lol

iPolar arrived today. Need to modify/make an adaptor to attach to my Star Adventurer. 🙂

What a great video and collection of images. Love the soundtrack too. Very atmospheric. 

Just ordered an iPolar myself. I intend to 3D print an adaptor and use it on my star adventurer and potentially on my AZGTI if inget around to trying it in EQ mode.

I have used Sharpcap on the odd occasion but always found it a bit hit and miss tbh.  For £200 the iPolar seemed to be worth a punt. 

I saw one for sale on ABS. Think it was in the £150 area. 

Think it's gone now. Just wondered what they were like really as a cheap way of improving over a DSLR. 

4 minutes ago, carastro said:

I had an Atik16i for a short while.  Not sure what the difference is to the HD version you are talking about.

Assuming it is more or less the same camera, if it is mono it will be a lot more sensitive than a Canon camera, but the FOV will be tiny plus you would need filters and a filterwheel.  If it's the colour version, I would not bother it will ot be more sensitive and the FOV small in comparison.  Even the cooling was hit and miss with this camera. 

Carole 

I think the sensor is 2/3". Which I appreciate is smaller than the canon. But it is significantly larger than the old Samsung SCB2000 I picked up for next to nothing and also the Altair gp cam which is 1/3" I believe and also not really suitable for DSO imaging at all. 

I appreciate this is an old camera, but, would it still give reasonable results? And specifically how would it perform compared to my Canon 450? 

Cheers 

Thanks for all of the info guys. I have been considering a wedge for a while as I really enjoy viewing in white light. I did used to have a Ha scope too (Lunt ls35dx) . But somehow always preferred the simplicity of white light. And especially imaging in WL. I'm still unsure of getting a baader solar continuum filter though. 

13 minutes ago, Space Hopper said:

I only have experience with the Baader HW's which are excellent and a class above everything else.

But i appreciate you've not listed them and they are expensive, hence possibly your other two choices.

However, keep in mind they take up a big chunk of lightpath : there may be some difficulty obtaining focus with either of them with a 72mm scope.

How are you for back (in) focus ?

Thanks for the reply.

I have taken a punt on the APM/Lunt one. £138 inc delivery seemed pretty reasonable.

Im unsure what you mean by the "in focus" comment. I have no issues focussing visually or for imaging the sun in WL with the scope with a home made solar film filter. 

I am torn between these two options:-

https://www.365astronomy.com/Lacerta-Brewster-angle-Herschel-Wedge-with-30mm-Prism-T-thread-ND3.0-1-25-Nosepiece-and-1.25-Eyepiece-Holder.html

or

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/lunt-solar-white-light-systems/lunt-white-light-herschelsolar-wedge.html

I will be using this with my 72mm Semi Apo scope.

The lunt seems to be supplied with a nice case and is a little bit more expensive. The lacerta seems a bit different with the 56 degree angle rather than 90?

Anyone have experience of both?

6 minutes ago, johngm said:

Unfortunately Bobby, that would not really be an upgrade to your modded 450D. To see any kind of benefit, you really need a Cooled camera. The cooled version of the 183MC is £200 more expensive, so you would be better off saving a bit more and going for that. There is a used one on UK Astro Buy/sell at the moment for £500, 

https://www.astrobuysell.com/uk/propview.php?view=156790

He states its less than 12 months old, but he is the second owner ? Curious to know why though.

 

John

Thanks for the info John. 

I don't want to go just throwing money at something that's no improvement on my 450d. 

I just assumed that something like the 183 would be "more sensitive" than the 450d. But happy to be corrected. 

Thanks again. 

Currently I have a modded EOS450d that I have dabbled with some EEVA and also short exposure alt az imaging with my AzGti mount, using my Altair 72mm scope. 

Now, I have around £500 which i am considering spending on a camera. 

I was considering the ZWO 183C, like this:-

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/zwo-cameras/zwo-asi-183mc-usb-3-colour-camera.html

Would this be a good choice to use with my scope? I like the idea of the FOV this camera and scope combo will give me. But beyond that I don't know if there are better options for £500 or less. 

Would appreciate some advice. 

Many thanks

Awesome capture. 

Got the Altair 72mm scope set up on the AZGti. weather wasn't looking too promising, but between the clouds I grabbed a few shots with my Sony A57.

Had another crack at this last night, but using my Canon as mentioned.

This was the result of 15min of 15s exposures livestacked in sharpcap and processed in Startools.

Any better than the Samsung?

Thanks again for the helpful insight and amazing amount of info. I will certainly be trying the Canon. Hopefully with platesolving too. But I might also try the 0.5 reducer I have on the Samsung and GP Cam. 

Many thanks for the shed load of info. 

Thanks for the info guys. 

I am definitely going to try my Canon for EEVA, I also want to try platesolving to improve my goto accuracy prior to capturing an image. 

I am surprised that my GP Cam can't perform better than the old Samsung tbh. The Samsung just seems much faster at gathering the images but the GP Cam crawls along. And seems to require much higher settings in terms of gain and exposure time. I wonder if something like the ASI224 would be huge improvement over the GP Cam??

I think the Samsung has a 1/3 inch sensor. 

I was wondering about the Altair Astro 183C or maybe a QHY equivalent?

A slightly larger sensor would be good in terms of positioning of objects onto it. 

Carrying on with my ebay £5 camera I managed to grab this 15 minute live stack using the AZGTi and 72mm Altair scope. Processed in Startools.

I feel that my Altair GP Cam is nowhere near as sensitive as this tbh.

So, if I were to buy a modern camera, to use for EEVA with my 72mm scope, what should I buy? Are there any options around £300 to £500 ?

Thanks for looking

There's a modded 550 on astrobuysell for £200 right now. FYI

39 minutes ago, happy-kat said:

Isn't there something about in the settings enabling the additional encoders from the default shipped setting, and this sorts alignment accuracy.

Yes. You have to enable it via the app everytime. Not used it enough yet to see if it's any better tbh. 

In on my second mount now after returning the first one to FLO. I'm still not convinced that the second one is all that good tbh. Need to.have a few more outings with it. My intention was to use it for some imaging and some EEVA perhaps. But I'm not sure the "GOTO's" are accurate enough the based on the time I have spent with it so far.  Perhaps I will try using sharpcap to platesolve for more accurate imaging first. That's is the tracking is good enough. Lol

So, I picked up 2x ancient Samsung SCB2000 cams for the princely sum of £10.

I know these are proper old school these days, but couldn't resist for a fiver each. 

Anyway, I hooked it up to my 72mm Altair scope along with my AZGti mount, and used sharpcap to produce the following image of M13:-

This was a "live stack" of around 15mins. x256 for the camera exposure, and AGC set to low, I think. lol

I am intrigued by the "economy of effort" involved with EEVA and is something I will be exploring further during this "season" 

I also have an ALtair GP Cam, and I have a question. Which cam, between the altair and the Samsung will be best for EEVA ?They both have the same size sensor AFAIK, but im sure the Samsung is more "sensitive" for this sort of activity.

Hoping to try M27 next.

Thanks for looking

Tips and comments welcome.

Star adventurer, DSLR, Lens. 

About as cheap as you can go imho. 

I was keen to try this with my Fire tablet. 

I have an old Samsung SCB2000 and a capture device. Can something like this be used with a tablet via an OTG cable?

Thanks