SStanford

Thanks Dave, Do you know if the EQ3 Pro offers a comprehensive range of stars to choose from? I'll be limited to a selection in South to East.

I have a Canon 450d. Yes, I'm a little stuck as I need a mount but I'm not sure if splashing out on a HEQ5 would be best if I'll struggle to align properly. I asked a similar question in an earlier post and was relieved to hear its possible to align without Polaris using 2/3 star with go-to.

That's great, thanks! Unfortunately I'm only able to make 30 second exposures with my dslr so it seems go-to is my only option.

Hi all, I have what might be a silly question regarding alignment of the start adventurer: Are you able to align the mount without being in sight of Polaris? I'm weighing up my mount options and was curious if this is possible. Most of my AP will be done from my balcony and unfortunately the North star isn't visible at all from this point. S.

I was initially thinking of getting the Star Adventurer or something more compact but I settled the more substantial EQ5 as the first purchase as for £300 more in getting something with much more power and versatility. I will likely get the Star Adventurer in addition. I assume I can attach my dslr straight to the EQ5 similar to the Star Adventurer with an adapter?

I'd like to image deep space targets mostly. Planets would be good to although I the focal length of my current scope isn't ideal. I'm thinking of getting an lp filter at a later date but tracking is at the top of the agenda. Would this be because of the potential weight? I think EQ5 would be "future proof" should I start to exceed 5kg (I'm at 3kg now with just the camera and scope!)

Excellent! Great tips too. Just need to find one for sale now...

Hi all, I'm looking at acquiring my first goto mount and have decided on the Sky-Watcher EQ5 PRO Go-To. Stock seems to be low everywhere at the moment so I'm keeping my eyes peeled. I have a few questions regarding alignment. Although I will be taking the mount "out-and-about" I will mostly be using the EQ5 on my balcony at home; this will make alignment with polaris impossible. I'm relived to see the EQ5 allowas bright star alignment (with the scope beginning at north) which is great for the location. My question is; am I able to choose which bright stars the mount will align with? for example, if the mount asks me to confirm the position of a star I cant see at all from the balcony, can I choose stars that are visible from my side of the building? I'm very new to astrophotography and would like to be prepared before splashing out! S.

Hi All, For what has seemed like forever, the clouds finally parted late last night and the Orion constellation was very clear from my balcony. I had a brief window of opportunity earlier this week and had difficulty focusing on stars at all using my DSLR (Canon 450D) and APT. Last night was a breakthrough; I was able to capture starlight in APT liveview and even bring the stars into (significantly better) focus! I now face my next challenge; I am unable to focus sharply on any of the stars. Using my telescopes focusing wheel I seem to get only blurry spots of light coming through, despite very carefully adjusting the wheel for quite some time. At the risk of embarrassing myself, I've attached the images of Rigel and Betelgeuse I captured last night (on both long and short exposures, details of ISO and exposure are detailed in the image titles). This is as sharp as I can them. Is there anyway I can fine tune the focus? I've seen AP videos on Youtube where jam jar lids have been glued to the focus wheel or motorized focusers attached. Are these gimmicky or do they make a significant difference? I should mention that I don't yet have a tracking mount: I've eyed the Skywatcher AZ-GTI wi-fi as good candidate for my first meaningful mount (with the EQ wedge coming shortly after). Having emailed a number of retailers it seems these are in very short supply, here's hoping stock replenishes post-Christmas! I think this will let me get to grips with the equipment I have right now, definitely would like to get a sharper image, even if I'm only capturing star trails. to capture the images shown below I used: - Celestron 100AZ (100mm Aperture, 660mm focal length) - Canon 450d - Barlow lens x2 (Celestron) - APT (connected DSLR directly to laptop via USB) - Stock Celestron Alt-Az Mount All the best. Single__0049_ISO400_0s4s__20C.CR2 Single__0034_ISO1600_30s__20C.CR2 Single__0027_ISO1600_30s__20C.CR2 Single__0012_ISO1600_1s__20C.CR2 Single__0011_ISO1600_30s__20C.CR2

Bahtinov masks are new to me, will be checking one out. Imaging stars is my main objective but I think I've got equipment necessary to get some good snaps of the planets. I was able to get uranus into the view of the camera yesterday but was near impossible to focus! I think I'll be focusing on planets closer to home...

Thanks Gerr. Will try this out when the weather is favourable.

Hi All, Following my previous post I've bought myself a DSLR and plugged it into my 100mmA/660mmFL refractor telescope. I've had my first opportunity tonight to start playing with the APT program and caught some good images of the moon. I really want to start imaging the stars and I've hit my first hurdle; I cant find any! The stars are visible with the naked eye but the Live View on APT doesn't pick up anything, despite the ISO and Exposure being maxed. I've taken a couple of long exposures and can see the star trails but they quite out of focus. Has anyone encountered this issue before? Very keen to start imaging the stars! All the best.

APT looks perfect, can see from the user manual that saves directly to connected computer so that works for the time being. I'll be playing around with this, trying a few sort exposure stacks and seeing what I can achieve with a limited setup before splashing out on a meaningful mount. Does anyone have an opinion on light pollution filters? The ones I'm looking at are at the £100 and I'm curious if they really are value for money... All the best.

No lens with the camera unfortunately. With regards to mount I'll be looking for tracking and potentially even GoTo but I don't really know what to expect in terms of price here! I don's suppose you know of any sites I can browse for mounts ahead of time? It would alos be great to know what kind of thing to look out for. I'll be looking to take long expose shots; the ideal is to have a setup that will track the target and require little interference during the course of an evening. My next challenge will be finding software for the camera that, once the camera is plugged in via USB, acts as an Intervalometer (this is of course only really meaningful once I have a tracking mount but good to be prepared!) I will definitely be experimenting with star trails whilst I only have an altaz. Question for those with a 450D or similar; do I need a memory card in the camera or will pictures be saved directly to the computer whilst plugged in with the USB?

I've just bought a second hand Canon EOS 450D for just under £110 so my mount will definitely be the next purchase. I have a multitude of questions regarding mounts but will play with my camera and single shots before I start tracking! Thanks for your help all.

Thanks for this, any recommendations on DSLR to look out for? are the prices shown on cheap astrophotography typical? I'm most interested in capturing galaxies and nebulae but it would be nice to capture pictures of the planets as I see them. As an absolute novice, I have only the following equipment: - Celestron Inspire 100AZ refractor (100mm Aperture, 660mm focal length) - 10mm and 20mm Eyepieces (both Celestron) - 2x Barlow Lens (Celestron) - AltAz mount In considering what next to buy to improve the setup my thinking was a DSLR (rather than a mount) so as to practice long exposures and get to grips with stacking/other AP software. That sounds very reasonable! Did you modify the ir filter yourself or ship of for modification? Where did you buy the camera at this price if you don't mind my asking? Sounds perfect; I'll be checking this out today. Will also take the time to go through this thread. Hopefully further answers here! All the best.

Hi all, I'm new to Astronomy having been gifted my first telescope a little over a month ago, it's safe to say; I'm hooked. With my 100mm aperture, 660mm focal length refractor scope with 2x Barlow and 10mm eyepiece in able to discern the rings of Saturn, the moons of Jupiter and pretty intricate images of the moon (during the rare cloudless night during November). I'm keen to continue into astrophotography as I learn to star-hop and I have so many questions the research is sucking up most of my free time! One question a Google search can't answer: With magnification being easy to calculate for observation (focal length (x barlow lens) / eye piece length); how do you do the same for a DSLR camera? If I plug a DSLR straight into my scope with the specs above with a t-joint, how will I know the magnification? I'd also be interested to hear what you think is the best DSLR for a budding astrophotographer. Thinking of treating myself at Christmas (nothing bank breaking!) I've seen that the ir filter can be removed from most DSLRs from home however it would be great to get something pre-prepared. Perhaps ebay is my best bet? All the best and look forward to discussing further with you all!