Ande

After much deliberation I have put an order in for the Samyang lens. All being well, it should be in my eager mitts by tomorrow. Just hoping that I get one that can achieve infinity focus, as a few seem to have received ones that fall just short. Not sure how many of these people have had a filter removed from their camera though. I watched a few YouTube videos last night, and the Samyang seems incredibly well lauded even by regular, terrestrial photographers. So I should be able to get much more use out of it hopefully. If it performs as well as I hope, then I might even shelve the telescope for imaging notion altogether. The Samyang would certainly be a lot simpler, and more portable. Just need to find the best way of attaching a guide scope, but that’s a way off at the moment. Huge thanks to everyone who chipped in. It really is much appreciated.

Excellent Alan. Sounds perfect. I have just put my order in for the Canon 80D, which is arriving on Saturday. I’ll have to content myself with the kit lens initially, as I may struggle sourcing a Samyang this side of Xmas. eBay isn’t an option as I’m working away from home, and they do not allow for alternative delivery points.

Yes, I did spot that there was the option of WiFi control. In fact, I downloaded the official Canon app last night in eager anticipation

Thanks Alan. You have given me much to think about. I’m off to do a bit of Googling

Is the mounting system a must-have? I can see the obvious benefits, and would happily purchased one. However, the fact that it is overseas, coupled with a pandemic and Xmas makes the pessimist come out in me. I’m keen to get going this side of Xmas, weather permitting.

58 years old, and a dodgy back means I want something fairly high-end so I can benefit from a flip screen. The thought of scrabbling about on my knees trying to catch a glimpse of the screen does not appeal, lol. Then factor in COVID, and the sparse choice on offer right now leads me to the 80D.

Okay, so I’ve just had a quick peek at the Samyang thread. Wow! It sure does pack a punch. Now I’m thinking it may be better to cut my teeth on one of these, and forego the telescope for the foreseeable future. Give myself a chance to absorb lots of tricky concepts before it gets too serious. If I do buy one, I shall be coupling it up to the Canon 80D, and mounting it on the Ioptron Skyguider. It’s my intention to then purchase an ASIAIR Pro too, and a guiding camera as soon as they are back in stock. Apart from software, am I missing anything else that will prevent me from getting started?

To be honest, there is very little in price between body only, or bundled with the 18-135. I just figured that I won’t be Astro-modding the camera, so the lens might come in handy for day to day use. I couldn’t find a deal with a decent prime lens. I shall look at the Samyang thread although I don’t really want to go down the buying expensive lenses rabbit-hole as I have my heart set on the Redcat. All I really wanted to do is get a bit of practise in with the new equipment before I can get my hands on the scope. Starguiders, guide scopes and equatorial mounts are all new to me, so I have plenty to learn. I’m coming from a dob, so even polar alignment presents a challenge.

Okay, after a bit more digging, it appears that the STM lens is the poorer of the two, but is better for video. I won’t be prioritising planets anyhow, so the video capabilities will be wasted on me. So, given that the USM will give the better image AND covers a greater range it seems to be a no-brainer. Sorry for my ramblings, but do expect many more 😄

Hi all I’m about to take the plunge and buy a Canon DSLR. I have decided, after much deliberation, to settle on the Canon 80D. I am hoping to get into astrophotography with it. I have just purchased a very sturdy tripod, and ball head. And I also have an Ioptron Skyguider Pro winging it’s way towards me. What I don’t have is a telescope at the moment. I have my eyes on the WO Redcat, but the pandemic has put this in hold for a bit. Which leads me to my question........ I can either purchase the Canon with an 18-55mm IS STM lens, or with an 18-135mm IS USM lens. From what I can gather, neither are particularly well regarded. I’ve read reports of focusing problems being an issue around the infinity mark, and also of the image quality being quite poor. But, which of the two will be the most useful to me while I play the waiting game for a telescope? I realise that the results will probably be disastrous when I factor my own ineptitude into the equation as well, lol. I had considered buying a prime lens of a fairly long focal length for some deep sky stuff, but the good lenses are the price of a decent telescope anyhow.

Damn! I thought I was the only one with the Pleiades fetish 😀. Currently I’m without a telescope, but couldn’t resist getting out into the garden last night armed with my finder scope. First port of call was the Pleiades. Ever since I was a boy, I have always searched the heavens trying to seek her out. It was a beautiful sight. The conditions seemed super clear. Was even able to get a tiny taste of the Orion Nebula too. The Milky Way was well placed, but, unfortunately, my finder scope struggled to present it well. I have a ridiculous street lamp overlooking the garden that washes out so much of the night sky. I was rather hoping to buy another telescope this month, as an early Xmas present to myself but I had no idea that COVID had managed to decimate stocks in quite the way it has. The shelves are pretty much bare. I keep scouring the classifieds, but very little seems to be coming up lately. Just need to exercise some patience I guess. Sure was nice to see a clear sky though

Yeah, definitely one for Blue Peter. I think Valerie Singleton was in charge last time I looked

There probably is something in settings on iOS, if I can find it. I’ll have a mooch. Still don’t like having to keep looking at the phone just to find the buttons though. Maybe I could make a little cardboard template, with holes cutout for the buttons.

Having thought about it, I think it would be a great idea if the app was able to access the microphone, and you could issue simple voice commands, ie the slew rate and up, down, left or right. And then align when it’s centred. Why am I thinking about Bob Monkhouse roundabout now?

I’ve got this mount and, on the whole, using a mobile phone app is a great idea. It is certainly a lot easier to set the mount up, and get it aligned, with the phone offering up it’s precise GPS data, and time etc. And all of the info about the night’s viewing is wonderfully laid out. It’s a very easy, and intuitive app to use. However, for me, the biggest problem is when it comes to using the app to move the scope. On my iPhone, the virtual buttons are very small, and my thumb invariably wanders away from where it should be. Which then means that I have to look at my phone, and it’s bye-bye night vision. Although the SynScan app uses a black and red colour system, the iPhone always insists on showing an info bar at the top of the app screen, which is very bright. It wouldn’t be so bad if the app had a full-screen, buttons only page option that could be called up. I find a handset far better for keeping my night vision intact. Maybe I should just wrap an elastic band around the offending menu bar.

Keep an eye on the classifieds. I’m probably selling mine soon. Bought not long ago from FLO, but I’ve since purchased an EQ5, so can’t see me using it much.

I remember camping as a youngster in the Lake District, and the skies were incredible. Not too far for you

Thanks Stu. That’s most kind. I’ll give you a shout if it remains a problem, which is quite likely, because it does seem to be a gearing problem.

I’ll see how the next session goes first. Not really a fan of returning things when Its not exactly a fault of the seller.

Thanks for the reply. To be honest, the software couldn’t be more intuitive. It is absolutely clear what stage it is at, and exactly what it is expecting of me, the user. The alignment process itself could not be easier. The mount is doing everything it should, albeit with very poor accuracy. I think that because it is able to locate a target star successfully if it is fairly close to it’s current position proves that it is calibrated. That the accuracy deteriorates the further you ask it to travel suggests to me that maybe the gearing inside the mount is poorly meshed. I’ve manually adjusted, and confirmed every target in the centre of the scope. As I said earlier, I shall input startup data manually next time I use it (if the clouds ever part again), just to see if it makes any difference. Regarding power supply, I ran it off batteries last night. I do have a psu, so shall try that next time too ?

Haha ?. No, I didn’t mount it on the wrong side. I’m pretty sure that I’ve got a Friday afternoon special. I can’t see anything more that I could be doing. Think I just need to accept that it does it’s own thing, so I’ll have to forget the goto side of things. Bit of a shame as it wasn’t exactly cheap. Thanks all ?

Thanks Geoff. When I next use it, I shall enter all location/time data manually, and see how that pans out. Although I have checked the automatically generated data on both iPhone and iPad, and it is consistent, and seems accurate. But, and please correct me if I’m wrong, I was under the impression that even if the longitude and latitude was only roughly accurate, it wouldn’t equate to an 8 degree discrepancy in the sky. I also thought that with each star confirmed as being centred, the accuracy would improve throughout the evening as the mount became evermore certain of it’s whereabouts and orientation.

As well as the 250px dob’, I also bought a Skywatcher AZ Gti 127 Mak as a more portable option. Apart from pointing it at the moon, last night was the first chance I got to play with it, as the weather gave a small window of opportunity. Although optically, I’m very impressed with it, I was underwhelmed, to say the least, at it’s tracking capabilities. I initially tried the North/Level alignment process, and am confident that I was as accurate as I could be with my orientation. The results were very poor, even after I had aligned and confirmed many more stars beyond the initial two. I was using a 32mm eyepiece, and had expected each star to enter my view, giving me the option to go with a more powerful eyepiece if I wanted. Using the Telrad as a gauge, the target star could be missed by as much as 8 degrees. I then tried Brightest Star Alignment, and the results seemed to improve, but not by much. The only time the mount was able to get the target in the fov was when the destination was within about 50 degrees of it’s departure star. I was frequently having to check Stellarium to work out which star it had settled on as it often seemed to park itself between 2 stars of similar magnitude. Needless to say, it was a complete waste of time trying to get anything other than bright stars in the eyepiece as the accuracy was so far off. I would have been hunting all night for anything faint. I had read other people’s accounts of using this setup, and everyone seems delighted that targets are placed right in the eyepiece time after time. Am I unlucky, or inept? The tripod was spirit-levelled, alt-az securely tightened, and the motor mount moving freely. I also double-checked the app to see that my location was correctly recorded. It was set to use the internal gps coordinates, and seemed fine, as I also ran it off the iPad as well as the phone, both showing the same results. Not sure what, if anything, I’m doing wrong? Any suggestions?