Moonshed

That looks to be the perfect solution. I followed your link and was pleased to find it only cost £60, I shall be ordering one! Thanks for the info.

I already use an electronic focuser as it’s a must for astrophotography but I do wish they came with a screen with markers from min to max so you could make a note of different focus positions, save a hell of a lot of time and trouble.

Thank you. The only problem I have with that is the focussing, which can be very challenging. If I focus for the EPs then when I swap over with the camera it will obviously be out of focus and need refocusing. Hopefully though if Mars is still centred, a bit iffy me thinks after the fiddling around, I will see a faint orange donut and take it from there. I certainly give it a try. What do you mean by “having previously noted where camera focuses.”? Because that’s the problem, how can you tell?

I have a Celestron 8” and I’m using a 2x Barlow and a ZWO ASI234MC colour camera. The mount is an EQ5. I have aligned my Telrad Red Dot finder as close to perfection as possible. If I use the GOTO it doesn’t find it so it does not appear on the FireCapture screen, even with using the spiral search function, even though it looks ok in the Telrad. If I manually line it up dead centre in the Telrad it still doesn’t find it until I have spent ages playing around with the hand controller buttons whilst watching the screen. The difference in movement around apparent dead centre is incredibly small but very significant. The Telrad, although great for finding objects for eyepiece observing, just doesn’t cut it for the accuracy required for photography. There must be an easier way of locating a planet, surly? Any ideas anyone? because it’s driving me nuts and and I’m trying to get the hang of my new Zwo.

fifeskies lukebl Thank you both for the advice. I knew there must be a way and using the Bahtinov on a star first did not occur to me for some reason. Thanks again

I couldn’t agree more! When I started back in 1960 I had a 4” reflector on a silly little table top tripod. My first astrophotography in 1991 was using my current Celestron 8” with a film camera, no digital cameras in those days, and no such thing as a GOTO mount. It had a wooden tripod. I now have a GOTO mount, PoleMaster, electric focusing, Canon EOS camera and of course my new ZWO camera. All the technology today makes astronomy and astrophotography so much easier. Yes, this really is a great time to be in astronomy, especially with Mars so incredibly well placed at the moment.

I took my first image of Mars tonight with my new ZWO ASI 224 MC Colour camera. I found it difficult to determine when it was in correct focus. I know it sounds a bit daft but with the image looking blurry anyway even at best focus I found it really difficult so I am looking for any tips. I use an electric focuser and I viewed the image on FireCapture. For stars I use a Bahtinov mask but I’m not aware of any focus masks for planets. Any advice would be appreciated.

Hi Stu, By coincidence I also took my first image of Mars tonight using my new ZWO1224 colour camera. Conditions were not ideal, it was a bit breezy causing the image to jump about quite a bit. I went ahead anyway so I could get some hands on practice in. Hopefully next time with better weather and more practice I will get a nice sharp image such as I have seen from other members with the exact same gear as mine. This is how it turned out after stacking and rushing it through PhotoShop. With more processing time I’m sure I can improve it, for a start it’s too dark!

Thank you, that proved to be very helpful.

After much consideration and looking online at the specs and reviews, plus advice given here, I have opted for the ZWO AS1224 MC colour camera. Telescope House are selling it at £219 and I have been dealing with them for years, I even bought my Celestron 8” from them back in 1992! Thanks for all the advice, much appreciated. Keith

I have looked at both the ZWO AS1224 MC colour camera and the Celestron Neximage 93711. What puzzles me is that the ZWO has a 1.2 MP chip while the Celestron has 5 MP They are both the same price £219. Doesn't having more MP automatically make the Celestron a better buy? Or is there a lot more to it than that simple comparison?

I know it sounds like that but the focus was good, the image originally started off very large so using the electric focuser shrank the image down until it started to increase again and ended up with it spot on. It appeared more overexposed than anything else but nothing I could do by adjusting the sliders made it any better. I have since downloaded SharpCap 3.2 Pro and hope that will help, along with a new planetary camera when I get it.

Thanks for the information but I am afraid I don’t understand it. Is it saying that all I should see of Mars is that tiny red dot? The image I did get, even though it was just a white featureless overexposed blob, was a circle about an inch diameter on my laptop screen.

The camera is an Orion Starshoot Solar System Colour Imager IV. I have been using SharpCap 2.9 but today I have upgraded to SharpCap 3.2 Pro.

My camera is a Canon 1100D, un-modded, and I am using Sharpcap capture software. I can’t show an image as I was unable to get one. Your suggestion of looking at used cameras is a good idea. Thanks.

Those images look amazing so I will definitely look into that more. Thanks for the recommendation.

I would love to show you but they were so bad that the frame rate drop out was massive. I set capture for 1200 frames but after ages it had only captured about 30 so I gave up.

I have been trying, unsuccessfully, to take some images of Mars through my scope. First I tried using a tele-extender and my Canon 1100D, but that proved hopeless, couldn’t even get an image. So last night I tried again using a cheap £50 planetary camera I bought a few years back for getting images of the moon, which it is very good for, but all I could achieve was a decent size disk of Mars but pure white with no detail whatsoever, it looked overexposed no matter how much I adjusted the settings. I think I need a decent planetary camera. What planetary camera would members recommend bearing in mind I am on a tight budget? My max would be around £150 but may be able to stretch a little further. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks, Keith

Thanks for the info. I do have a planetary camera, just a cheap £50 or so job that I use with Sharcap. I have used it on the moon but never tried it on the planets, I will give that a go, as soon as the weather improves!

Thanks for the info, that looks like a good solution.

Okay I will give eos a try and see how it goes although I have always found APT first class in all my imaging. Regarding Barlow lenses I sometimes use them for visual observing but cannot use them when using my camera.

Hi Peter, I do not understand what you mean by a flip mirror, could you explain it for me please? Also I said that when I strip it back to just the eyepiece I can see Mars in the centre of it, so I do not understand what you mean when you say I am not on target. Thanks Keith

I’m not having a problem with target acquisition, my GOTO works great and my Telrad also confirms. It’s only when I switch to this high power I cannot get an image. Are you saying backyard eos is better than APT?

No, I’m not using a Barlow, just a 10mm eyepiece and a tele-extender that gives eyepiece mag x 4. I’m watching it on APT.

I can see that you are new to astrophotography, but don’t worry about it you will get the hang of it after a few years, plus there are many experienced members here who can point out where you have gone wrong, BTW it would be nice if you could also think of a way to present your images nicely. Only kidding! Great images.