TobyW

Just now, SimM said:

Did you use his email address directly: juan_fierros@yahoo.co.uk

Hi,

No, I used the one from his website. Ill try that one instead.

Cheers

Toby

Hi,

I am looking to get my Canon 650D modded. I have sent several emails to Juan at cheapastrophotography but I have never heard anything back from him. Does anyone have any other suggestions for people that can do this?

Thanks

13 hours ago, vernmid said:

Definitely Juan at Cheap Astrophotography

https://www.cheapastrophotography.com/

Cheers

Vern

Hi Vern,

I tried contacting Juan about a month ago and have to this day never heard anything back?

Do you know of any other people that do modding?

Thanks

What a fantastic tutorial. 

Thanks so much for your time in putting this together.

Toby

HI All,

Is it possible to use a powered USB hub to run my DSLR, Guidecam so That I have 1 cable coming back to my laptop?

Thanks

2 minutes ago, MarkAR said:

I use one of these.

https://www.dewcontrol.com/Mains_Power_Supply_Unit_-_12V_10A/p3099125_19688635.aspx

Excellent, Thanks Mark. Exactly what I was looking for

Hi all,

I have an HEQ5 Pro mount and running 2 dew heaters as well. I am using a Hitec Astro dew heater controller which has 2x 12v outputs and 4x dew heater outputs. According to specs that I have found I can run both the mount and the 2x dew heaters from this controller. Can someone offer any background on this? Will that actually work? Has it been  tried,

Also, when I am at home and in the garden it would be good to have the hitec controller running from the mains power. Does anyone have any suggestions on a 12v power supply that can run up to 10a that I could run the controller and ergo the mount and heaters from?

Cheers

Toby

Clear Skies

2 hours ago, Knight of Clear Skies said:

Good luck with your new purchases, hope you enjoy them.

Thank you. I am really looking forward to setting them up and getting outside. However, in true form, as I have new equipment to play with the clouds have come in and now the forecast for next week is rain...

Clear skies...pffft   🤣

31 minutes ago, MattGP said:

Ah sweet, expensive?

it wasnt too bad. Picked it up off a chap based in essex. The scope with all the mounts was £300. I am happpy with that. It has a scratch on the outer paint but the guide scope rings hide it. 

1 hour ago, MattGP said:

Well, ended up finding a 72ed in stock and only a smidge more than usual shops, also got a OVL flattener for half the cost of the SW one.

All arrived today so can see what it’s like now  Will post a pic once taken some  

Nice one. I managed to find myself a lovely used William Optics Zenithstar 73ed. That sit nicely on the star adventurer.

Now trying to find a guide scope and small CCD to use with it.

Cheers

Just now, Knight of Clear Skies said:

I use a low-tech alternative, a thick sock with a heat pack in it held on with rubber bands.

Hope you enjoy the lens, it's a good one.

Astro-engineering I like it...

I will be sure to post up some pics once I get things up together and actually get a clear night.

Thanks and clear skies

1 minute ago, Knight of Clear Skies said:

Probably more like an HEQ5 to take the 130pds, if you want it to track accurately. (It is possible to run it on lighter, cheaper mounts but isn't really recommended as it's a recipe for frustration. Imaging is much more demanding of mounts than visual work.)

Ahh got you, So more like £789 from FLO then? 😬

I think for the moment (for me) I will get some practice with the S.A and try and find a Samyang lens. I think thatll give me a great starting point over and above my 150p reflector.

When picking up the lens and going this route, should I also be grabbing a dew heater band?

Cheers

Toby

3 minutes ago, MattGP said:

Will do, the 72ed is out of stock everywhere until June at least  So at this the moment part of me is thinking of a bigger scope and separate motorised mount - the 130pds thread looks like some pretty cool images taken - it’s just the added expense, but then once to add the flattener not too much more..:decisions decisions 🤔

Haha thats what I found. Everywhere out of stock. I must admit though.  I have been watching some of Alyn Wallace's youtube vids and he has done some great work with the S.A and the Samyang 135mm F2 lens.

The 130pds is a big lump. Thats the reflector isnt it? I have a 150p version but I dont have the large motorised mount only a std EQ3. So to upgrade I'd have to go to something like a EQ3 Pro GOTO which is £400.

21 minutes ago, MattGP said:

I’m in the same boat as you, have a Canon, 300mm lens and a Star Adventurer and also toyed with I needed a 72ed

Having used the 300mm for a few weeks now, i do defo want the 72ed. The 300mm is ok for wider shots and have got a couple of pics of the Orion Nebula and Just about got M51, but their just not close enough for me  

These are all 300mm full zoom single edited pics 

 

Hi,

The 72ed does look good and its fairly small and light and would work on the S.A well. That said, its currently £262 and then you need the flattener which is another £181. My big question was would I gain anything over and above spending the same amount on a lens?

Tricky isnt it.. Like your pics thou. I too, want to be able to get the images close as well...

Let me know what you do

Toby

19 minutes ago, Knight of Clear Skies said:

Thanks, glad you like it. I wanted to show what's possible with this lens and a cheap modded DSLR. (Your 650 should be a bit more sensitive than my 1100D.) The key to the image was shooting Ha through a clip-in filter and blending the nebulosity into the red channel of the RGB image. Imaging from a dark site also helped, especially with the colour image, although Ha is forgiving of light pollution and moonlight.

For most beginners I'd recommend a fast lens over a small scope, especially when using a DSLR. Tracking is more forgiving at short focal lengths and it's easier to work around fickle UK weather with fast optics (1 hour at f2 is equivalent to 8 hours at f5.6). But other than M31 & M33 galaxies will be small at 135mm focal length.

Great info and thanks for the reply.

May I ask what would be a good filter to start with for my 650d once its modded? I live in a class 5 sky area. I am not in a city centre but there is still a fair amount of light pollution.

To be honest i'd happy with being able to get good shots of Andromeda, Crab Nebula, Horse head etc etc. I also have the advantage of travelling (when not in lockdown) with work and stay up in the lake district a fair amount. I am guessing using a lens will be that little bit more portable as well.

Any other lenses youd recommend I take a look at? Anything above 135mm?

Thanks for all your help so far..

3 minutes ago, Knight of Clear Skies said:

Yes, it's a great lens for AP. Here's an example HaRGB image taken with a modded DSLR.

That is just amazing.. I mean really, that looks fantastic. This is the sort of image I would like to try and get to... I have a canon 650d (soon to be modded) and a Star adventurer pro but the whole "do I go for a lens Vs Small scope such as the evostar" is really confusing me. Its the nebulae, galaxies and star clusters I am after.

Any suggestions would be really welcome

Thanks and congrats on that pic.

Toby

16 hours ago, Knight of Clear Skies said:

Should be pretty good I'd have thought, there are a few example images taken with it on Astrobin. You may not need to stop it down if you focus on a star a third of the way into the frame.

I meant the Samyang NOT Sigma

16 hours ago, Knight of Clear Skies said:

Should be pretty good I'd have thought, there are a few example images taken with it on Astrobin. You may not need to stop it down if you focus on a star a third of the way into the frame.

Thanks for that. There are some amazing pics on that page you linked me...

I am also hearing good reviews and seeing really great pics of peeps using the Sigma lens. There was a post put up on here the other day. These can be picked up really cheap as well. I am actually looking at picking up a Evostar 72ed but seeing what people are capturing using lenses I wonder is there any point in the 72ed?

Thanks again

2 minutes ago, MarkAR said:

Should be ok for nebula and the larger seen galaxies and clusters.

Great, thanks Mark

Toby

Hi All,

I have been given a Canon EF300mm F/4 L USM lens. Is this going to be any good for nebula / galaxy pics or would I better off in getting something like an Evostar 80ed?

Cheers

Just now, alacant said:

Hi

If you have a permanent setup in an observatory, time to do the processing and sufficient clear nights to justify the expense, then do it.

Otherwise, use your -very capable- canon. If you decide you like it, then perhaps would be a better time to make a decision.

Cheers.

Always good to some sound advice. Thank you.

Toby

10 minutes ago, Cornelius Varley said:

To create a colour image using a mono camera you take three sets of images, one set through a red filter, one through a green filter and one through a blue filter. Another set of images are also taken through a luminance filter. After individually stacking the R,G,B and L sets the images can then be combined to create a colour image. The camera can only record in mono so the filters are used to record the levels of red, green and blue as values of grey which then produce a full colour image when the different values are combined together. One shot colour cameras (OSC) use a matrix filter above the sensor, known as a Bayer matrix, to create the colour image. OSC cameras have a disadvantage of mono camera in that the values of RGB over the bayer matrix whereas a mono camera uses the full sensor each time to record the RGB levels.

OK, that makes sense. Thanks for the input. I am guessing to go down the route of mono CCD and all the filters (x4) required isnt going to be a cheap solution to get into?

Thanks

3 minutes ago, Knight of Clear Skies said:

A mono camera is typically used with filters in front of it to produce a colour image, the separate channels are combined in software. The explanation here may help.

Ahh ok, I understand. Thats a great explanation. Thanks for the info.

16 minutes ago, CraigT82 said:

Hi Tony,

Im not really a DSO imager but I'll chip in some points to consider:

NEVER BUY A CAMERA BASED SOLELY ON HOW MANY MEGAPIXELS IT HAS!!!

1) DSLRs are designed for daytime photography, whereas astro CCDs/CMOS cameras are design for astro imaging. Use the right tool for the job. Not to say that you cant get good astro images from a DSLR. It's just not the optimum tool.

2) Astro cameras have cooling (mostly) to keep the noise low in long exposures. DSLRs dont usually have this. 

3) DSLRs have big sensors, if the image circle formed by your scope cant cover this big sensor then it's a waste of space, not to mention the severe vignetting you'd get.

Most astro imagers start off with a DSLR (as they already have one) then move over to mono CCD/CMOS cameras at some point. This forum is full of posts from people who wished they made that move earlier.

Thanks for the info. So am I right in thinking if I went for a mono CCD its only a B&W pic? Might sound daft / obvious but I am trying to grasps this CCD thang.

Cheers

Toby

Hi all,

Can someone give me some basic level advice?

I am looking at getting an evostar 80ed and I am confused at the DSLR Vs CCD camera route. I am looking at getting pictures of things like Nebulae etc but also like shooting the moon in high detail or grabing pics of Saturn. At the moment I have a 18Mp Canon DSLR and it shoots perfectly fine and yet I see a lot of people talking about and using CCD cameras and they are taking awesome shots with those. My question is this, why would you use a CCD that only has 2 - 8Mp over a DSLR that has a really high Mp (18 - 24) rating?

What am I missing here? Sorry if it sounds a bit basic but I wanted to get some input as to why you would use a CCD over a DSLR. 

Thanks

Toby