martiandictator

Now I have the materials I see exactly what you mean. I don't think I can trust the entire weight of the mount, cam, and lens on such a tiny glued nut. What I'd be happier doing is embedding and gluing the nut in the bottom side of the wood and then securing the top portion with another nut. However, the screws on bullheads are ridiculously short.

Panasonic and 100-300mm equivalent lens. Total weight of body and lens is 500-600g. It's ridiculously light.

Right I have all my materials, just need to assemble. Does anybody know where I can purchase a cheap but sturdy ball head for the mount? It only needs to hold a very lightweight camera and lens so I don't want to pay any more than £20 really. Can't wait until it's ready and we have some clear weather

If a British stargazer is willing to lend you a telescope for a single night I'm guessing the weather forecast isn't great haha.

I hope it wasn't your only scope and it was a relatively inexpensive one. I gave my Wii to the charity shop about 2 years ago

Or rather than using a 1/4-20 tee nut to secure the base of my mount to the tripod ball head, do you reckon a 1/4-20 hex nut sunk into the wood and glued into place would provide adequate support for the mount and camera? Bear in mind that the total weight of my camera and 300mm lens is less than 600g.

Thanks for the advice guys. This little barn door mount is quickly getting expensive mainly because all the odd fixtures and fittings are difficult to source. Does anybody have a 1/4 20 tee nut they'd be willing to send me for a reasonable price?

For simplicity I want to turn the rod at 1rpm.

Hello, I'm attempting to build a simple one armed barn door mount however I'm unsure of some of the calculations. I have an M8 rod that's 18 threads per inch, though I'm unsure how to calculate how far away it should be from the hinge? Also, does anybody know where I can get a couple of 3/8 tee nuts to attach the mount to my tripod and the ball head to mount - preferably from a non-web source? Thanks very much

Your best bet would be to head to the coast, somewhere with a relatively clear view south. I can normally see the Milky Way from my backyard (albeit faintly) but it isn't possible at the moment. Maybe the South Welsh Coast or Cornwall?

I think most people in the UK could see the Milky Way if they were willing to take a midnight stroll and knew what they were looking at. Now I know what I'm looking for, on a good night I can make out the Cygnus Rift in my back garden despite the local light pollution. In decent conditions a 30 minute walk out into the farmland surrounding most medium-large towns will be enough to see the Milky Way in some capacity. The view is extremely lacking compared to Africa etc, but it will tide you over until you make a trip to a genuine dark sky site. I definitely think taking a walk into the country

Will these planets be visible to image tonight with a 300mm lens? This is the first potentially clear night I've had in about a week so would like one final chance to image them together.

For Milky Way imaging I'd recommend a wide angle lens 14mm with fast aperture. Maybe the Sigma 14mm 2.8? In my experience Sigma has always delivered great products at reasonable prices.

I have an over-active imagination so walking down dark country roads in the dead of night is pushing it for me However, it's worth it just for the good views I can get of the Milky Way just outside my town. Though once I tried to venture into a little wooded area and an animal snorted somewhere in the darkness, and that was that! I'm sure you'd be fine braving the woods alone as long as you are smart about it and tell people where you are going, but in my opinion, there are a lot of weird people in today's society and while the chances of something bad happening are probably less than 0.1%, y

I was out astroimaging last night and saw three shooting stars during the 3 hours I was out. Seeing them in the solitary darkness of rural countryside was especially pleasing. Felt magical.