Ryan Adams

13 hours ago, Nerf_Caching said:

How do you plan to focus a star through your telescope then? Live view does make focusing less of a pain, unless you want to squint through the viewfinder!

I guess squinting through the view finder it is 😂

10 hours ago, Adam J said:

Better to go for a 450d as you get live view function.

The only reason I am going for the 350D is because it is a camera I already have and means that it is not another purchase I have to make when I am just starting out with astrophotography.

48 minutes ago, Anthony1979 said:

Ive got the exact setup but a 450d and D3500... But mounts no goto just the dual motors fitted... Ive not had a chance to take it out yet... Got the 130pds on tuesday 

Clear skies, be sure to post some of the images you get when you have chance to take it out.

Ryan

Hi there,

I recently posted a thread getting ideas for what scope and mount I should get for beginner astrophotography.

After researching on my own and getting thoughts from others on scopes and mounts here is what I have come up with.

Mount - Skywatcher EQ5 GOTO

Scope - Sky-Satcher Explorer 130P-DS

Guide Scope - Skywatcher Evoguide ED50

Guide Camera - ZWO ASI120MM Mini

DSLR - Canon 350D

I understand that the camera I am using is fairly old but it is an old DSLR that I have at home and it saves me money on buying a new camera. All in all this setup comes to just over £1000; I just wanted to people's get thoughts on this set up and if it can be improved in any way without stretching the budget by more than £100. Also I wanted to know whether any of the equipment I have chosen isn't great.

Thanks in advance,

Ryan

4 minutes ago, michael8554 said:

Well it was worth a look.

Did it ever work correctly ?

Michael

As far as I can remember we never managed to align the mount correctly and only used it for some Lunar imaging and recording which came out pretty well and I was pleased with it. However, I'm starting to think I might just have to get a better mount and upgrade the scope while I'm at it.

Ryan

2 hours ago, michael8554 said:

Looks okay

Time Zone ?

Do you have to enter leading zeros ?   eg  003 12 W

For Brightest Star you have to enter a Select Region eg Northern Sky ?

For 2 Star, you have to centre the first star with the HBx, so the mount shouldn't be making any vertical moves on its own ?

Michael

My time zone  is set at 0, I'm from UK.

When entering coordinates I make sure to enter the 0's.

With both alignments you are correct but the scope when slewing to the second alignment star wants to go past 90 degrees vertically.

Ryan

17 hours ago, michael8554 said:

Hi Ryan

I think it would help if you posted the actual figures you entered for Lat/Long, Date, Time, Daylight Saving etc.

As you've eliminated Runaway due to power problems, it's back to the all too common incorrect data  entry.

Michael

 

Hi there,

For lat/long I enter 3 12 W, 52 54 N, time I enter the exact time on my phone and likewise with the date in american format. I also have set daylight saving to yes.

Thanks in advance,

Ryan

21 hours ago, Shimrod said:

Have you used the power supply successfully before? You could try a factory reset on the mount in case there is a wonky setting in there somewhere.

No matter whether I use 8AA batteries or the 12V 1A DC power supplly I get the same result I hav1e also tired a factory reset to no avail.

3 minutes ago, Knight of Clear Skies said:

Think you mean the HEQ5?

As I understand it, it depends what scope you put on it. The NEQ6 doesn't necessarily track more accurately but has a higher payload capacity, whereas the HEQ5 does track better than some cheaper mounts. Both mounts require guiding (guide-scope + camera) to achieve long exposures.

Thank you 

1 minute ago, Knight of Clear Skies said:

Essentially, tracking accuracy and payload capacity.

So in your opinion is the jump in quality between the NEQ6 and the HEQ6 worth the extra £200? 

1 minute ago, Knight of Clear Skies said:

It's a learning curve, certainly. Looking at your budget and if you'd prefer to image DSOs have you considered DSLR imaging with camera lenses? There are some large targets up there and everything is more forgiving at short focal lengths. For example, here's my latest effort with a couple of 135mm lenses.

I’m not sure how into it I would be as I quite like viewing the objects with the telescope but thank you for the suggestion though

11 minutes ago, spillage said:

I do deep sky stuff and have not touched the planetary stuff for years. I think if I went back to it I would have a learning curve to get over. Deep sky stuff yes is challenging but not ridiculous to do. It all comes down the the end user and how far they want to go.

If you want a starup no fuss set up then as @carastro mentioned above a heq5 minimum for your mount and something like a ed80 for a scope. The scope is a not fuss out the box ready to go. A cheaper option again recommend by @carastro is the 130pds. Much cheaper scope but will need some tinkering.

If you are prepared to do a bit of work then this hobby is cheaper. If you want to buy without much fuss then the prices will go up quickly.

Keep an eye on abs for second hand kit.

heq5 second hand £500

neq6 second hand £700

130pds second hand £100-120

I always look to sell and buy at around 70% of the original cost.  Just do not make the mistake many of us have and buy new kit that needs changing in 5 minutes and end up costing you money.

 

HTH

Sorry if this is obvious but what is the difference between the mounts as you increase in price. I know that they are better but in what aspects? 

1 hour ago, Cornelius Varley said:

A 12v 1A psu might be insufficient. I had a similar problem using a 1A psu, changed to a powerful one and have had no problems.

What is the voltage and current on the power supply that you are currently using, thanks ever so much.

1 hour ago, Cornelius Varley said:

What are you using to power the mount ? A lot of issues with goto mounts can be due to an inadequate power supply ? What numbers did you enter into the handset for your co-ordinates ? If you have an android phone download SynscanInit2, this will give you the correct values for location, date and time.

I am using a 12 v 1 A dc power supply with positive tip and I have triple checked that I have entered the correct coordinates along with the date and time.

1 hour ago, Cornelius Varley said:

Another question. What method of alignment are you using ? Brightest star or 2-star ?

I have tried both methods with the same result - the scope trying to go past 90 degrees

4 hours ago, Knight of Clear Skies said:

A big question is what you want to image. I see you've tagged the post with both 'planetary' and 'deep sky' but the scope and mount requirements are quite different I'm afraid.

I would much rather do deep sky astrophotography but I’ve read that it can be challenging so I thought planetary imaging would be better for a beginner like me. However, if it isn't too difficult to do deep sky astrophotography then I would rather get a scope for that rather than planatery imaging.

Thanks, 

Ryan

2 hours ago, teoria_del_big_bang said:

Ryan,

Around 2 1/2 years ago I was more of a newbie than you consider yourself at the moment. I had never owned a telescope at all but always had a real interest in Astronomy so heading towards retirement with some time to spare now I decided it was time to get one.

Luckily I found this forum and got some great advice otherwise God knows how much I would have spent on wrong equipment.

First of all there are no silly questions on this forum so never be afraid to ask, you will never be belittled for any lack of knowledge, not on this forum,  and help is here.

Being still a relative newbie I am not in much of a position to help you that much myself. You already have some knowledge with your Lunar photography, I was really green when I first posted, and from the start I always wanted to get into Astrophotography, so I asked about  a setup for under £1000 that would capture images of everything in the heavens. I learnt pretty soon that there really is no one scope / camera setup that will do for all and really planetary and DSO's require quite different setups if you are to get the best from it.

Yes there are plenty of scopes that will cope with both and some cameras as well but you will probably end up with a "Jack of all trades" that is not he best for either.

I originally thought magnification was what you wanted and the best scope would be one with the most magnification. How wrong could I be.  More strange to me as well was that DSO's , the furthest things away, require the least magnification. It's all about the amount of light yo can gather, and for DSO's you need a reasonably wide field of view as these things are so big. In fact there are some excellent DSO images taken without  a scope at all, just a DSLR camera and lens on a mount. 

One thing that is common it the mount and that should be where most of your budget goes if you are on a tight budget. The HEq5 is ideal and many come up 2nd hand so can be had from around £500 - £550.

For people to recommend a scope and camera it may help if you can say what your main interest is, planetary / moon or DSO's. Or do you really want to do both ?

Do you have a DSLR ? If so that is a great start and saves a lot of money on a camera. Even if not a 2nd hand DSLR is also a real money saving way into AP and can produce great images. 

Anyway, I will leave it to the experts to advise better but do not be in a rush to send your hard earned cash, there is no astronomical darkness at the moment so imaging sessions are short and difficult at moment, so you have lots of time to make sure you get the equipment that is right for you.

And Enjoy it, its a great hobby obsession 🙂 

Steve

I currently have an old cannon DSLR that I believe is good enough for astrophotography.

In regards to which type of astrophotography I would rather do deep sky however, I’ve read that it can be challenging so I thought planetary imaging would be better for a beginner such as myself.

Thank you,

Ryan

1 hour ago, Astrosharkey said:

Nexstar is an Altaz mount and although fine for moon and planets will not really do the job for long exposure long duration deep space photography, the eq5 will achieve but ideally you want the HEQ5 as a minimum (I started with an eq5 goto mod)

What scopes would you recommend then with the HEQ5 mount? 

Hi there,

So I got a Skywatcher Skyhawk Bk1145 AZ Syn Scan GOTO telescope a few years back as a birthday present.

I decided to get it out again and after setting it up with perfect sky’s, during alignment the scope keeps slewing vertically upwards or downwards until it physically cant any longer and it won’t align no matter what I try. I have tried a constant power supply, reassembling the mount and a bunch of other things. I have triple checked I’ve been entering the correct information but no matter what I try the scope will always skew vertically until it physically can’t any longer due to it pressing against the mount.

Has anyone had problems like this and know what to do about them??

Thanks in advance,

Ryan

Hi there,

I am relatively new to astronomy, as well as this forum so I'm sorry if anything seems obvious that I don't pick up on. However after using a very basic set up to capture some photos of the moon I wanted to invest in some astrophotography equipment.

Ideally I am looking to spend around £800 - £900, and I wanted some ideas on good mounts as well as scopes that can be used to take decent images of the moon along with other celestial bodies in the solar system. 

I have been looking at the Celestron Nexstar 6SE as well as the sky watcher explorer/evostar series attached to a EQ-5 Pro GOTO Mount but as I said I am relatively new to the hobby and have no idea what's good and what's bad. 

I would also prefer it if the mount is suitable for deep sky astrophotography along with planetary imaging as once I get the hang of planetary imaging I would like to take a stab at deep sky astrophotography.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Ryan