RustyShackleford

Hi, I'm having trouble balancing by mount. I have a Star Adventurer Pro with an evostar 72ed, dslr and finder scope. I seem to be able to balance the RA ok using the supplied counter weight but I just cant get the DEC. As far as I can tell, to balance the DEC, I can move the mount rings and use one of the two holes on the dovetail bar but this doesn't give me enough movement. So what Ive tried is moving the rings as far along the scope as I can, towards the heavy side (with the dslr etc) and selecting the hole on the dovetail closest to the heavy end but this still isnt enough. Is there an adapter or something I can use to give me more flexibility/movement on this other than the two holes in the bar? I was looking at buying a new medium dovetail bar (https://www.firstlightoptics.com/dovetails-saddles-clamps/astro-essentials-dovetail-bars.html) but I'm not sure if this will help move the centre of gravity closer to the heavy end? Appreciate any advice.

just quick update. the nikon m48 mount arrived and it all fits together now just need to wait for the weather to change so I can get it outside now!

great, thanks. I'll have a look at those.

Thanks Guys. and thanks for the patience. No doubt I'll be back with more questions but I'm going to get the m48 nokia mount.

got it. thanks. I think thats a bit further down the line for me then but good to know.

NIce! newbie question but how does the guidscope work or what does it do?

Hello, Newbie to astronomy here. My wife has always had an interest so I got her a Skywatcher 200p for xmas and I got hooked. I spend more time on it than she does. Ive learnt a lot of basics since then but I've still got so much to learn. I'm starting to get into astro imaging as well as visual. I took the pic below with my dslr attached to dob. It took me two weeks of playing to get anythign other than a white blur or a dark blur.... I'm also a newbie at photography recently so that probably doesnt help! Ive just bought a sky adventurer and an evostar 72ed so I'm sure I'll be asking a lot of questions about those as well as general astronomy I've already asked a couple of questions on the forums and received great advice. Look forward to learning from you all.

ah, thanks. i'll have a look at that.

no, the first pic that you've labelled m48 measures 54mm. the second one that youve labelled t2 measures 48mm and the nikon adapter measures 42mm

oh and yeah, same adapter I use to attach to the dob.

Yeah, I just measured them with a ruler (I should have thought to do that sooner). The outside of the thread on picture one is 48mm and the inside of the thread on picture two (the nikon adapter) is 42mm.

ah right. No, it doesnt fit. the nikon adapter is too small.

Hi Vlaiv, I tried as you suggested, removed the adapter and tried it against the nikon adapter but its too big. The outside diameter of the nikon adapter is just about the same size as the diameter of the threads on the reducer with the adapter removed.

Hi Vlaiv, I'm confused myself so apologies if I haven't explained properly The camera is a Nikon D3400. This is the t mount i currently have that I use to attach to 8" dob. https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/TMN.html This is the reducer I have - bought this to attach camera to evostar 72ED. https://www.firstlightoptics.com/stellamira-telescopes/stellamira-2-0-8x-reducer-field-flattener-with-m48-adapter.html So I have the reducer slotted into the scope but the t mount doesnt fit. Ive attached pictures of the reducer with the cap removed and then the next part removed (I think thats the adapter but might be wrong?) I assumed the t mount would connect when the cap was removed. The other side of the reducer goes into the scope and fits fine. unless Ive got it all mixed up.

Thanks Daemon. Yeah, looking at it DigiCamControl is windows only and I looked at Backyard Nikon but unfortunately it doesn't support my camera. There seems to be a lot of options for windows but not many for mac. I might look at getting a cheap windows laptop just for this.

Hi, Apparently my camera (nikon d3400) doesn't take an intervalometer as it doesn't have a connection I'm looking at which software I can use through laptop (mac book) as an alternative. The only software Ive found that supports my camera is smart shooter 4. Ive downloaded a demo and it seems to do what I need. It will take multiple timed exposures with whatever settings I program - aperture, iso, exposure etc. I was wondering if anybody has used this software or if there are any you can recommend and also apart from aperture, iso, exposure and multiple pictures are there any other things to consider for this software for astrophotography? Not sure it makes a difference to my question but just incase, I'm using a sky watcher start adventurer pro for tracking. Thanks.

Hi, Newbie question... Ive just received my mount and scope today and I'm having a go setting up but Ive realized by t mount doesn't attach to the reducer Ive purchased. Its an evostar 72ed with a reducer/flatterer with a M48 connection but my existing t mount is m42. I'm going to purchase either a new M42 adapter for the reducer or a M48 T mount. so basically I can be all M42 or all M48. The adapter is slightly more expensive but only about £10 so its not a deal breaker but I was wondering what the difference is and if it will be best to go with M42 or M48 and what sort of difference it will make for imaging? Thanks.

Thats awesome Victor. If I can get pictures half as good as those I'll be happy

I didnt think of an intervalometer. Thanks for the heads up.

Thanks Victor. Thats good to hear So the mount should be fine with the scope and dslr but depending how my tripod copes I may need to upgrade that. I can live with that. if you dont mind me asking, what dslr are you using and do you have any pictures from using this setup? one more question, do you recommend getting a finderscope for this setup? Thanks.

thanks, like I say, totally new to this so thanks for the heads up. Im probably missing something but the scope weight is 2kg and my camera is 0.5kg and the mount says payload of 5kg so I assumed I had plenty spare. What have I missed? Cheers.

Hello there. Hoping for a bit advice. I've recently got the atro bug having bought a 8" dob for xmas. Im having fun learning and have tried a few astro shots with my DSLR with moderate success. Ive been reading about the Skywatcher Star Adventurer Pro and I think I'm going to take the plunge so I can try some more astro shots. Can you tell me if Ive got this setup correct, if Ive missed anything and if it seems a decent starter setup? Tripod = (existing) Neewer Carbon 65" with ball head removed to attach mount direct. Skywatcher Star Adventurer Pro Skywatcher Evostar 72ED DS Pro Skywtacher 0.85x Reducer for Evostar 72ED T-Mount for DSLR DSLR = (existing) Nikon D3400 I'm not planning on using it for visual so I dont think I need the diagonal but I'm not sure if I should get the guidescope? I probably need a light polution filter since I live in a highly polluted area but I think I'll add this later on. Appreciate any help/advice Thanks.