Retired-Not-Dead

As mentioned above, the best ways to eliminate as much shake as possible are to set the delay timer on the camera, use mirror lock-up, and shoot remotely - all of which help to decrease the shake. Having said that, you can also shorten the length of the tripod legs to give it a more stable platform. If needed, you can also add a counterweight to the tripod to reduce the wind movement. 

While not the postman, the UPS fairy just dropped these off... 

Tomorrow promises to be a fun day. 

On 26/12/2020 at 10:44, Aston said:

Hello!

I have had a warehouse type telescope for a couple of years, and used it a lot. This year i saved up some money and had planned to buy a 8" Sky watcher Dobsonian, but to my big disapointment, none of the scandinavian dealers has got any telescopes at all, they are all out! The ones i spoke to said i might get a 8 or 10" dobsonian by the month of june. Its a long wait... Is there situation as bad everywhere? 

Same is true (at least for Celestron) in North America - I parted my old (8" SCT / Advanced VX) out on E-Bay and got more for it used than I paid for it new. Currently waiting on a CPC 1100 HD due to be delivered Wed. Found it at Hight Point Scientific by pure blind luck. Hopefully, the market improves and you are back to seeing through new glass before too much longer.   

On 15/12/2020 at 14:33, Celestron4 said:

My main telescope is a Celestron Nexstar 6 SCT and I mount it on a Celestron AVX mount. The telescope's focal length is quite large approximately 950mm with the Celestron f6.3 reducer and I was wondering whether it would be possible to mount my DSLR and telephoto lens on the AVX mount to be able to image larger objects (M43, M31 etc.).  Is this possible and what would I need? My other option is the original Alt-Az Celestron Nexstar Evolution mount that came with the telescope. I know this would not be as good as the equatorial mount but would it track sufficiently to allow me to get some decent length exposures (1-2 mins?).  

(I know that the Skywatcher Star Adventurer or something similar is the best option for this but I haven't got one yet and am hoping to avoid spending a lot of money for the moment if I can!)

 

I have a Nikon  w/ 150-600mm lens mounted to the Advanced VX via the len's quick release plate. It mounts to the AVX the same as the dovetail on the OTA. I guide it with a tablet attached to the AVX and use QDSLR app to live view the photo.  

I am retired military and under (pandemic) house arrest so I decided to move my photography from wildlife to astrophotography. I have followed (AKA: Stalked) the forum for a while to pick up some tips on the gear needed and to get a perspective on what is possible in the way of astrophotography. I don't expect to have my pictures on the cover of a magazine, but would like to have something more than a bunch of glowing lights in the night sky. At the very least, I will be able to piggy-back my camera (Nikon D810 or D5300 full conversion) on top of the telescope to take some long exposure night shots.