Expectations?

[Mansnake]

Hey guys,

I will be getting an Skywatcher 150P on an EQ3-2 GOTO mount at some point soon as my dad has decided he will go halves with me as he does photography and want to try astro stuff (saves me money )

The scope will be kept at my dads who lives on the Norfolk coast. I know there are a few members here who live around the Norfolk coast i'm just wondering what the sky's will be offering on a good clear night and what i can expect to achieve with my setup.

Thanks guys !

[Catweazel]

Hi Mansnake, I can't speak for the Norfolk coast, but unless you have a lot of light polution where you live, you should be Ok. As far as the 150P goes, you might struggle a little with an EQ3-2 for astrophotography, as you will be at the edge of the weight levels for the mount, and EQ5 might be better as the mount is the key element for AP, and the EQ5 will bear more weight.

[Mansnake]

Thanks Catweazel.

hmm i think the EQ5 might be better but the money is getting serious ! lol

[richbyers]

skywatcher 150p is a great scope-again im not near your skies but my scope (which isnt as good as yours) has given good views of jupiter saturn venus mars (not as good)

also many deep sky objects are within reach such as globular clusters, open clusters, galaxies, nubulae

rich

[rfdesigner]

On the AP side, start with the moon and get some success under the belt before proceeding to anything else.

When people say 'weight can be a problem', we don't mean you could break the mount, the mount will be fine, we mean the mount won't be able to hold the weight securely enough, so it will wobble just a bit and ruin the photos.

In "old school" photography the rule used to be the image speed needed to be more than the focal length. i.e. 1/250th sec for a 250mm focal length, whilst things have improved it's still not a bad rule.

So if you're using 1000mm focal length a 1/1000th second image there is no problem (this is roughly where the moon is)

For the planets you need more focal length, by using a barlow, so we're looking at say 3000mm with 1/30th second images, 100 times more sensitive to movement.

For widefield astrophotography using a normal lens, it might only be a 50mm or 100mm lens, but if it's 600 second images or more, clearly it needs to be steady and fairly well tracked as the earth on which you stand is always moving. This is 60,000 times more sensitive than 'hand held' but your mount will get you this far.

For deep sky astrophotography using the camera on the scope then it's over 500mm focal length and 600+ second images, steady isn't the word to use, and all the while the stars are streaking across the sky and need to be tracked, another order of magnitude more sensitive. Your mount will struggle here.

But you have a mount that will allow to do moon planets and widefield and you can always have a try at the really bright deep sky objects, so go succeed at that first bits before worrying about the dim and distant deep sky stuff.

Derek

[Mansnake]

so mounting a Nikon D40 on a SW150P using an EQ3-2 mount would work but may cause unwanted wobble occasionally ?

I may just opt for the EQ5 that way if i ever wanted to upgrade the OTA to say a SW200p then i already have the mount.

thanks for all your replies

[boabsta]

I have the EQ3-2 mount and a sw skymax 127mak which I would reckon is lighter that the 150p and a Nikon D90.

I have tried basic astro with this setup and suffered from shake when releasing the shutter. I was using a remote release to minimize any vibration but it was still there. I shall be trying again soon as the 1st time I just quickly set everything up and went for it so I cant say that everything was as tight or balanced as it should be.

However, I did get some cracking shots of the moon by using the video on the camera and then screen grabbing from the video. Not ideal I know but decent compromise for the moment.

I also managed to get some decent shots of moon again by piggybacking my camera on the ota and using my 500mm lens. never tried any long exposures as havent had the skies or time but again, this shall come with time.

All the best with your attempts and I look forward to seeing some results on here

[Mansnake]

I think i may just go for the EQ5 to be on safe side.

boabsta do you use any EP's with your Nikon D90 ?

As soon as ive got some shots ill defiantly post them up. i may go overboard and post the whole experience from receiving the scope and setting it up etc as its going to be my first.

[boabsta]

Not yet but I have just this minute ordered this Astro Engineering AC721 Digimax-Z 7 to 21mm Zoom eyepiece projection system

so I shall see how it goes with that for a while. Not sure what to expect tho tbh.

I initialy just connected camera using a t-ring adapter and screwed it straing onto my sw 2x barlow which is threaded for t-rings (thankfully). I took some shots with the 2x lens on and a few with lens removed which basicly turns the barlow tube into an extension tube. results were ok but like I said I suffed shake. Was a shame as I managed a few shots of mars, venus and the moon. Will have a quick hunt through my memoery cards and see if I have any of these shots and I shall post them for you to see.

I am hoping however that the threaded zoom ep will mean I can take pics of what I can see visualy but will have to wait for delivery then a clear night, then the missus to be in a good mood to let me out and only then if I'm not working late that night or early next morning.

Such an awkward antisocial hobby lol

[boabsta]

Ok a few examples

The 1st was with barlow with x2 optic removed.

2nd is with 2x and you can clearly see the vibration. This was shot at 1/40 iso 1250.

3rd is venus and no too bad considering. If you squint you can see 3 moons.

4th is a vid cap of the moon using vlc player screen grab.

I never used any filters on these but shall next time out.

All very basic but I am also just starting out. I hope some of this helps you and your dad and dont get disheartened when something doesnt work 1st time.

[Mansnake]

Thanks boabsta,

Some good info there. some nice pics also.

i might have to invest in one of them zoom EP's. let me know how you get on with that and what kind of results you get.