Rustang

Thanks guys for all the info. Just to check, are my above calculations correct? I shall look into all suggested options 👍

I have recently brought a second hand 600D, Baader astro-modified for £250. IT came with a battery grip which is really handy for a long nights imaging, and shutter release cable, and camera bag, a great buy!. I posted up a wanted add on astro buy and sell and was contacted buy two people so they are out there!

By the end of the year I would like to be guiding so I'm slowly sorting out what I need (baby steps!). I have been doing my research, nearly gave up again just reading about what I need!, is nothing easy in this hobby!? 😄 My scope SW 130PDS - 650FL, camera Nikon D750 and Canon Modified 600D, mount HEQ5 Pro. Ive brought Adam's Altar Astro 60mm guide scope so I'm now looking at cameras. I have read that mono is better so I'm looking at (to keep costs down) the ZWO ASI120mm and the S model!. Looking at the specs and whats compatible, I believe the following calculations will give my the correct set up: So Canon APS 4.3 x 206 / 650 (scope FL) = 1.36 APS Nikon 5.97 x 206 / 650 =1.89 APS ZW0 guide cam APS 3.75 x 206 / 225 (Astro guide scope FL) = 3.4 APS Guiding ratio = Cannon 3.4 / 1.36 = 2.5 Nikon 3.4 / 1.89 = 1.79 I believe a maximum ration of 4.1 is suggested so these calculations fall well in regards to this? Also, apart from the USB port, size and weight extra are there any other differences to consider between the ZWO ASI120mm and the S model, for me the USB 3 port would be better. I will also be looking into this but for a beginner and to keep frustrations down, what would be the best/easiest software to use to start guiding? Cheers Russ

Yes I see there is still alot going on, I have work tomorrow so it will be a long day if I stay up tonight! 😊

Hello, my astro modded 600D turned up today and im keen to get back to imaging. Obviously its not getting dark till late but I wanted to ask whats up there in regards to DSO's during the night hours that might be worth staying up to capture and what sort of time are they at a good height!?. I have only ever done astro photography at the beginning of the year so I'm not familiar with whats up there this time of year. (I'm based in the UK) Cheers Russ

Thanks guy's 👍

Thanks, i will check that out. Cheers

Ok cool, so the number of slots does not necessarily mater either !?

Silly question but are Bahtinov masks universal to a point? I'm looking to make my own as I have access to either a 3D printer or laser cutter but obviously there are a few designs that I can see online so does it need to be made specifically for my scope (skywatcher 130pds) as in number of gaps, spacing size of those gaps, structural bars size etc, etc need to be correct!? The variants and confusing Im getting from online sources is why I ask. Cheers

Photoshop, maybe a little bit of light room for colour which I know is not correct in my images but I'm not to worried about that for now. I think there is just to much to learn for my poor little brain and I struggle to pick out whats more important to start with and try and over come issues in baby steps! This forum is awesome but alot goes straight over my head because the lingo isn't written in dumb dumb language, to many abbreviations etc I just cant keep up! There's mods, tips, equipment ideas that go on and on and on that to try and work out whats best, makes it all really difficult which is why I guess for someone like me you just keep asking the same questions others have asked because trying to pick out information from some threads and the internet can, hand on heart, be really difficult! This hobby for someone with my very slow understanding is not the best to tackle but I'm not giving up! I thought just normal photography when I first started was hard to get my head around but this, this is on a very different level of complexity! Its very easy to try and take on everything at once but also can be difficult to find the most important but simple steps to start with that make the biggest difference and go from there.

Thanks for your time in replying guys and for the info. I forgot to say I do come at this with some knowledge, and I do take as many exposures and subs as I can ( normally 1min to 1min 30) but not as many as I should. For my best Orion and Andromeda images from what I remember was around 2hrs worth with the flats, bias dark's etc. I definitely need to improve on what I'm doing and I know I can improve its just now gaining the etc info to do so. All the info on what certain objects give off and how to capture this has been a slow sinking in process but I'm getting there. I already know that I should look to get a crop sensor camera which will get me in closer, I may look to get something that has been astro modified as you say when the time comes to get a crop sensor and this will also improve somethings. I know you need to spend well in this hobby so I just dont want to keep buying lots, I want to buy well and little even if it costs more. I like my set up, and i guess i need to keep going with it a little longer before changing scope etc but I'm certainly happy to look at a crop sensor camera right now because as mentioned that will get me in a little closer. I was using deep sky stacker which again I need to learn better but when ready I will look at PixInsight. I've been having a nose around the internet as I didn't want all of you to do the hard work and looking at some of the nicer 80mm 480mm refractors, its surprising to see from looking at astronomy tools field of view calculator, that with a crop sensor camera, it will get me the same field of view I have with my current setup! Something to think about.

Hey, I know the info is probably out there in a round about way and you have probably gone over this with many others, time and time again but I promise Ive looked and I'm not intentionally trying to be lazy but I really struggle with understanding everything so I would like some clear, precise advice to spend my money wisely. I know where I would like to be but never and still dont fully undertand the fundamentals of whats going to get me there. So I live in the UK, Hertfordshire, my current set up: Sky-watcher EQ5 pro mount, Sky watcher 130pds scope (130mm f5 650mm focal length) Nikon D750 DSLR. I started imaging at the beginning of last year, in regards to the Orion nebula and Andromeda, I'm happy with my first results. I'm also fairly pleased with my first dumbbell nebula image. Ive been away from it for a while, busy with house move etc but I'm starting to look at over coming the issues Ive found so far and also where I want to go from here. Firstly like many, light pollution as I live in a town. I have tried using an IDAS LPS_P2 filter that has made a small difference. Even with a 130mm f5 scope, light/data gathering is limited with obviously the size of aperture although not that bad but also the exposure time allowed due to light pollution. I would say i sit comfortably around 1min to 1min 30 second exposure time before things get to bright. I struggle to get data for the Horsehead nebula and I thought the great American nebula was big and bright but all i get after a few i min exposures is a very faint, red hint of whats there. So at the moment I'm stuck with Orion and Andromeda in regards to their size and brightness for what my equipment can capture fairly well, beyond that it becomes a struggle. Secondly my focal length isant great for those objects further away, the Dumbbell nebula is stunning but very small, when my image is cropped it loses sharpness and detail to much. This brings me onto where do I want to go. Firstly I need to gather more data/ light, how can I do this? (with out finding a darker area) Change camera? Filter? scope? I'm stuck with where I live so i will have to deal with it, I know it can be done. Secondly I would like to bring those further away objects closer, I have come across so many stunning images that appear to be taken on small refractors say 70-80mm that are sharp, detailed cropped images of objects again such as the dumbbell nebula so how are people managing this with a small aperture and focal length? Is a long focal length really key for capturing objects further away or is it the quality of the scope etc. With my limited knowledge and thinking, if i ask myself the question what do i need to gather more light/data and capture far away objects I need to look at a really big refactor, wide aperture and long focal length. That will cost a fortune and I'm pretty sure that's not the really the case. Please help!? Again I'm not being lazy, i just easily get myself confused and frustrated trying to read whats on the web. I would like to keep my set up fairly simple aswell so if to solve my issues I need a ton of equipment then I'm going to struggle so with that said i would ideally like to keep my mount and camera set up so more looking at changing scope, filters etc but open to consider all options. Any advice will help work out if I need to work out if its my approached and combined lack of experience that i need to work on or change some equipment. Regards Russ

Thank you ?

Beautiful, because of my newbie lack of knowledge, what is this of? ?

Understood ?

I can finally add something I'm proud of using this scope, I'm still very new to all this though.