Anvil Basher

Cheers. I see them now. I think it is handy.

Yes, so there is one. Excellent. I have bookmarked that link page. I shall be a purchaser in the near future..............job sorted. ?

Good point. The easy answer for these mount and goto companies is to offer a gps module as an extra or aftermarket buy. We can already buy gps modules for cars @5 notes, the pcb boards are cheap as chips, and adding a routine into the software should be a sinch. So the real reality of cost is not that high. They could do that very quickly, all the products are out there available. It does not need to be fitted, just put it on the ground..........a standalone item. The important part is writing in the new routine and adding an outlet on the handset for connection to mobile. Wi-fi can be another optional extra but not necessary. They could even offer a deal to those with a goto system to upgrade the handset only, so they can still sell the ones without. I think most of us would take up such an offer of upgrade handset, even though we might initially not, it will become the norm. I also think that the cost would be affordable to all.

Right o.........I shall start calling.....not ? Honestly.........are you serious? You have me cracking up right now with laughter. Why would I start phoning companies? This is a forum......I believe.......and my question was not to get a petition up or form a grievance committee, it was simply a question to start a chat about it. You may not like my questions, so you need not answer, but the question will not go away. I am sure there are others that enjoy a chat over something we have interest in, and give their opinions, not links to websites. Why did you join this forum? to give answers such as above? To me, you are being sarcastic. You know you are being sarcastic. Anyone reading your answer knows. I joined to have a chat, talk about our hobby, ask questions..............did I do wrong thinking that?

Again, this is not available.........but should be. I should easily be able to connect my phone to the controller via usb, and download the data. None of that is really going to cost much. I expect the usual reason is they have to sell all the ones without gps first, rather than be left with warehouses full of them. They will bring them out when stocks of the old are dwindling, because if it's available they would sell few without it.......and I bet they have the prototype already with updated software.

Hi. Although I am new to astrophotography, I am not new at software, computers, or digital cameras, (to a certain degree). Many years back when sports cams and webcams were the must have, I remember buying this sports tube cam, and I could swear blind it used the sharpcap software. Sharpcap seemed to come with all the cheaper stuff where image manipulation was concerned. I also had photoshop. So was sharpcap written to cover a mass marketplace mainly in the cheaper domain? Was it written by the Chinese? Just odd that it should come into my head, it did pretty much the same as the sharpcap we use on telescope cams. So I suppose what I am getting at is, are the software vastly different between packages? are the purchased ones able to produce better results?

Hi all. Just a question about the goto systems. Why do we need to input our location into the handset when we have gps? Why are they all not set up with gps as standard? We can get gps on our mobiles that cost next to nothing, but not goto's........unless of course there are.

Lens for a refractor scope?

Another thing worth mentioning with the eq5 upgrade is to be very careful lining up the motors. The set comes with 2 new cogs. I noticed on the ra motor that if you tighten the long allen bolt too tight it locks up the cogs. Plus the cog supplied is nearly touching the mount. On the dec one, again the bolt should be carefully tightened, the motor has a bit of side play and if not held correctly it will mis-align the cogs causing them to either lock up or not catch sometimes. Apart from that, the only part I did not think clever was putting all the cabling in the 2 sided plastic mount where you connect those 2 din plugs, on the same side so you have to sort of squish the 2 sides together to screw them up. Anyway.........any luck?

I want it as a guider. It can still take video through the spotting position. I want my dslr in the eyepiece for pics dso. Apparently, I need to change my spotting scope to one that accepts 1.25 lenses, etc. So I have purchased one. Thanks.

Very similar to myself James........thanks. Bill

Yep, aint that the bitch ?.......you still end up upgrading!

Cheers Adam, reassuring to read. I was thinking of doing the ir glass removal myself, done a few before. I know there's a utube video showing how, so I will watch that a few times. Yes, sometimes people have excellent kit but simply never reach it's potential. I do not really want complicated.......as some of these cameras are, for us laymen. I just need what is required to do a fair job. Bill

I originally bought the scope with very little knowledge in mind. I did my oh so important searches relating to scopes and mounts. Finally went with what I have so as to not need to upgrade either. I wanted eventually to do the astrophotography, so that was part of choice. The moon, (ours), has always fascinated me, I love looking at it..........but did not realise that my scope would be quite big for the moon alone. So I am making the best of what I have basically. Finding out if I can do x,y,z,...........Pleased with my choice, I have the room for it, (in my man-den), and I now have the rest. I guess the moon through the spotter/guider should be smaller, (or put on the reducer), so I can use that for video, and the camera for pics utilising the spotter one as a guider. Am I correct in my thinking? or have I missed something out that I need to get started? Oh, I see you ask about the scope. 1000mm f.l., 200mm dia.

Thanks Dave. That indeed was an honest, friendly, reply. Dave,.......if I read anymore my head will start spinning ? ..........honestly, that is all I do mostly.....read. Trouble is most everything on the net is based around marketing. One reviewer thinks it's good, another does not. Same with reviews written by so-called individuals, it ends up like marmite..........you either love it or do not. Yes, I have very little light pollution, I am in the country area. I have decided on my kit myself.......and god help me! I have the skywatcher 200mm on an eq5 with goto. I purchased a new spotter scope so I can fit the usb camera to it, I went with the Altair gpcam2 290C Colour Camera/Guider, and a start off dslr the canon xsi. So I will soon be trying it all out.........when it gets delivered. Been cloudy here the last 3 weeks with no let up in sight. When the sky is clear it is fantastic just by eyes alone, but with the scope.......pretty cool. Bill

And just for good measure.......I have not even got a camera shop near me.........another 2 1/2 hour drive to actually see them, touch them, or speak to anyone. Plenty of chemist shops selling cameras, and we have argos. Camera shop in town closed after donkeys years being there. The footfall outside Dublin, Cork, Galway, and Limerick, is really low in specialised markets, and therefore these type of shops are rare outside the specified areas. I have seen countless shops open in town to close 6 months later. So I am at this stage pretty used to what I can get via shops here. The internet is my sole distributor. There are no clubs, I think there is one in Wexford, but I doubt it is on the scale you have in the UK. Then the Dublin crew......and I am not doing a 5hr round trip in the car. I enjoy speaking to people when I have a question. I enjoy a bit of banter. I get no joy of reading swathes of pages of info that I primarily know. I enjoy interaction with others, that is why I join a forum.

Thanks. I honestly do not fancy reading books at this stage. My concern is the camera I buy, without it there will be no photos. I refer you to my answer to Andrew.

Thanks. I have contacted many sellers regarding questions. Some never reply. Some point me towards 1000 euro devices. I get a bit fed-up asking tbh, plus they want to sell you what they sell usually. I cannot go to any store to ask or look because there are none. I choose my internet sellers carefully, and with items such as these I make sure I am not too far away........returns etc. From looking at the photos in the competition, it seems there are quite a few with the needed kit. Did they just buy that bit of kit initially, and stuck with it? or did they work their way up to having it, meaning they have some experience over myself? Do I have to join the freemasons to find out?.....lol........just having a laugh. I used to live in England, born there. It is so easy to go to a store and look, and ask questions, feel the goods. I rely on internet solely right now in Ireland. Don't bother trying to point me in the right direction for an outlet here, what they have for sale is very little, usually top-end, usually they order it in.....at a cost.......and I would have to drive 2 1/2 hours each way for the privelage, and a shop can close overnight......especially with a small market of customers. So every now and then I join a forum. This forum is the only astro one I am on. I ask questions just like any other newbie. No problem if I cannot get straight answers. My astro days are now starting, I want kit, I will get it. I just thought there would be at least 1 person that has gone through this and could give sound advice.

Thinking further.........do these types of cameras require focusing? Just wondering as I see them stand-alone on the top of scopes, and attached to spotter scopes, and in the eyepiece. The eyepiece has focus, so do some spotters?, but stand-alone..no. Anyone able to let me know?

So after more research into this model, it seems it is only suitable for fitting in the eyepiece. I wanted to use it as a planetary video (moon), and a guider as I intend to get myself a dslr camera also. Apparently it has no available connectors to use it either with my spotting scope, or in place of it. So that buggers that up ? My attention has now been drawn to this Altair gpcam2 290C Colour Camera/Guider. I have contacted the seller to see if I can use this as my spotter or with it.

the 200. So I assume you have the 150?........that clears it up.

You sure you have it balanced correctly? I did a test with mine tonight and put only 1 weight on. There is no way on earth it would balance, definitely needs 2. I think that would put strain on the motor.

Hi all. I did some research on this site trying to find reviews, comparisons, etc., regarding cameras. Yes, some exist, and start off with normal questions, but then techies start to make it more confusing. I have always followed the thought of......if someone new needs guidance then getting technical is just going to lose them. Technical aspects, though needed, mean little to the novice. We know they exist for a reason, we even partly understand some of it, but we are not in the industry or been at-it for years. So when you get so far reading replies, you are simply more confused. There are plenty of cameras that will work as we require, but the price between them is vast, so obviously there is a difference in quality. We are in a technological age where new chips come out as fast as from a fish'n'chip shop, and within 6 months the camera you purchased is old........technology improved...... we are told. We have the usual type hand camera dslr or mirrorless, or cmos, then we have the new breed of usb cams to fit in the eyepiece and also act as guiders. There is a plethora to choose from. Not many of us new to the game wish to spend a 1000 on a camera, some of us simply do not have that amount to buy a camera. But funnily enough, when you read descriptions of what these cameras can actually do, they all sound very similar. A 300 usb cmos camera states it does pretty much the same as a 1000 one........but that cannot be. They both do dso, roi, guider, planetary video in hd, they all seem to use the same software, they claim low noise, good heat displacement or cooled. Then get into your typical canon-type camera!!!!!............for a novice it is just mind-numbingly ridiculous. For someone that is into their cameras it's fine. I am sure I can put up a video of me opening a motorbike gearbox, stripping it, giving technical terms, and putting it back together again, but how many of you that had not one clue about mechanics would feel confident doing it? This is how those of us that are just starting out feel about discussions on cameras. Mono, colour?.......who bloody knows!......I don't. Do you need a filter wheel for mono? or does the software allow use of digital filters.....is there a difference using either? Filter wheels are another expense. What are the benefits, (if any), of mono v colour? I would have thought that seeing as we are in the new era of technology, where new people coming in to this hobby are continuous, and these new people want to use technology, why there is no sticky giving advice to buyers of cameras? Why is there not advice on what to avoid?.........the most important thing to a novice. Advice on anything below a certain cost is not advised? Comparisons of dslr against cmos? Images without any work done to the image, of one against the other? Video reviews of what the camera claims to how it performs. What are the cheap ones, (50-100), really like and what you can expect from them. I mean, c'mon. I am sure someone can get supplied with even loan cameras from these companies so as to give a review? and if you do not want to put the time in to actually doing the reviews, then maybe a novice such as myself is willing to. Maybe we need a laymans video on these cameras and let us that understands the basics give our opinion as a novice. I do not want to sit through some boring review where they show unboxing it, laying it all out, giving the technical jargon, showing how it fits in/on the scope.........and all the while listening to some crap music in the background. And after all that no images or raw footage???.....another 30 minutes I will never get back. I am still as confused as ever regarding choice of camera........all I know is that I have the cheap one, but I want to move up a notch to start getting some good photos, plus planetary footage.......as I suspect many others also want to do. I am not asking advice here on what camera to get, because it will just start to get technical again. I am having a rant through my frustration about this whole camera thing. Maybe sticking to 35mm film is the way to go?

If you are aligned, it has to be the goto system. I really cannot see any other reason. Either the info you put in is incorrect, the system needs a reset, or worst case....faulty. We have counted out many things, bringing us back to the goto system. It moves in the right direction, but not to where you want it...........maybe the psu will sort it, if not it is back to the drawing board.

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