200P or 200P FlexTube Auto ... Argh!

[GeorgeH]

Yay, congrats ... what are you getting? I've heard this season tends to absorb scopes, I would have had to reserve a classic 200P adding a few days till the next shipment came in. Good luck for tomorrow!

Ha, which method did you use? I just went on and on about which scope to buy for a year and it seemed to do the trick. Last I heard is 'just get what you want!' ... dangerous words!

I've got permission to get a Skwatcher 250 flextube goto/synscan, will be getting it from Photoexpress Lakeland in Ulverston. I think I've used the same persuasive technique as you until she caved in... It took longer than I thought

[GeorgeH]

ps...If I take longer than 2 days to order it, I'm liable to change my mind and want to buy something else....

[It's Full Of Stars]

Oh no! Now I want a 250, I could have ditched the tracking for the classic version ... always the way ; )

It took longer than I thought

I was fairly subtle throughout the year, but ramped up big time over the last few days, not intentionally, just kept asking her what I should get till she didn't want to hear any more! ... glad I asked the question here as it really helped me make up my mind.

If I take longer than 2 days to order it, I'm liable to change my mind

Worse still, if it takes longer than 2 days she may be liable to change her mind! : )

[telesto]

Hi iv got a 200p flextube auto and im very happy with it as to your question about taking photos with them here are a few photos iv taken with my cannon 1000d fixed to the scope,and a lot of help and advice from my mate todd who is also on this forum, and im sure you will be pleased with what you will see through your new scope

quality shots.tif

[littlebeagle]

How do you fix the camera to the scope? What attachments do you need?

[karlyboo]

brill telesto !!

[telesto]

hi you need T ring that fits to the camera you have got, you remove the camera lens and the t ring fit on the same as the lens does

[telesto]

Thanks Karlkboo

the moon shots are just single shots no stacking Orion is 120-2.5 second shots then stacked in deepsky stacker

[telesto]

sorry spelt your name wrong

[It's Full Of Stars]

Wow Telesto! I'm trying to keep my expectations low while I'm waiting for the scope, but you're not making it easy, fantastic shots.

When no one mentioned photos at all I assumed it was a complete no go for DSO's so it's great to see your M42 ... is all that colour taken by the camera (i.e. not added later after stacking)? I really didn't expect to see colour!

I'll be using afocal with a compact for now, which will hopefully get me going with the moon (looking forward to trying out a mosaic). I have a friend with a decent SLR though, so I'll have to ask nicely to borrow it for a few nights.

Thanks for posting ... will try to go back to assuming the worse now : )

[todd8137]

hi and welcome from me ,if its auto tracking,am sure you would get 1/3 mins worth of video from a cheap web cam and adapter and you could stack the planets or moon ect with deep sky stacker ,or what ever else you use

as telesto said you can get some decent shots with a camera theres lots of options to atach a dslr/point and shoot camera but for me get a cheapo web cam and you can not go far wrong

[karlyboo]

i would love to attach my laptop and get good views usink that...is that possible or worthwhile ? my laptop has windows 7 and is few moths old with core i3 whatever all that means like

[It's Full Of Stars]

Hi Todd, thanks for the welcome.

I've heard good things about the flashed SPC880, has to be worth a go for the price, especially if my compact+clamp doesn't work out ... my previous canon compact had far more control over exposure etc, but it when mad : (

Looking forward to trying things, will no doubt have lots of questions when I've had some experience ... it's just good to know there's a chance of getting some snaps out of the scope even though I've gone the visual route. Glad I went for tracking too, has to make taking stacked images easier?

i would love to attach my laptop and get good views usink that...is that possible or worthwhile ?

I have no experience, but it'd be worth searching for posts about the phillips SPC880 or SPC900. Modified, they fit into your scope like an eyepiece and you can download free software for use with it (doing a variety of jobs).

I believe for the moon you can use afocal which is what I'll start with, where you get a clamp that holds a compact camera in front of the eyepiece ... basic, but I've got to start somewhere ; )

[It's Full Of Stars]

SkyWatcher Skyliner 300P Flextube Telescope ( in 3 days )

I just noticed you also have a scope on the way, congrats on the 300! : )

Please don't buy anything before someone with experience replies or you read other posts about the whole subject. I'm not sure, but tracking may be required for something like the DSO photo above? I know the moon's up for grabs as it's so bright meaning nice short exposures.

[karlyboo]

im a million miles away from takin pics or AP....gonna sit and enjoy the sky before i even think about capturing pics.....mabe next year i may look into AP....its expencive and even the pro's have there own problems getting good results....expecting my 300 dob today....its sooooo big god knows where i will store the wife !!

[It's Full Of Stars]

expecting my 300 dob today

I think you just brought me massive good luck! I'd just read your post and was making a cup of tea when my wife said 'It's here!' ... and sure enough, it's two massive boxes! I wasn't expecting it till Thursday ... thanks! : )

As for photos, I decided not to go the AP route too, although it'll still be fun trying to get something out of the dobs and Telestro's pics are certainly inspiring!

I hope your delivery arrives today nice and safe. Looks like it might even be a clear night! Surely not!

[telesto]

Hi

the picture of M42 in my previous post has not been in a paint program only done in deep sky stacker lining up the colours with the histogram,luminance and saturation this is a 2.5 second shot straight off the camera and you can see colour in this.Have you got your scope yet ?

[It's Full Of Stars]

this is a 2.5 second shot straight off the camera and you can see colour in this

I'd be happy with the 2.5 second shot : )

I've created a device out of a hair band to get my compact to take multiple shots, so looking forward to trying out deep sky stacker & registax, but yeah, I think I'm going to need a better camera, my current one only has 15, 30 or 60 second exposures ... I've managed to get 1-2 second exposures out of the other settings though.

Have you got your scope yet ?

Yes thanks, arrived yesterday morning and I put it together last night. It's taken me many hours to do my first collimation (turns out the secondary was out of position which didn't help) and I've just made a light shroud out of neoprene and velcro. Not been out, but tried it through the window and saw my first star through it ... even took a shot of it with the compact held up to the eyepiece and to my surprise it came out!

Hopefully the wind & rain will go at some point! ; )

Thanks again!

[GeorgeH]

Glad your scope arrived

Mine is now tested and tucked away until Christmas.

I have a few wetsuits in the garage that I can no longer get into so I feel a light shroud will be next on the list...ahh a Christmas Day project to get me away from sprouts and The Two Ronnies