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New to SGL Saying hello


Gethsemane

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Hi Just got my first scope, a SW 127 with auto tracking, only had it two days so still trying out, weather been great up until last night.

managed to get good Lunar images in view although only a partial moon.

I did try and set the tracking on, but it either moves very slowly or I have not set it up correctly. how fast should the mount move when in tracking mode?

My main aim is to eventually be able to get some DSLR images and possibly some video.

any advice at all welcome....

Cheers

Mike

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Hi Mike and welcome to the forum. The mount I would imagine is what is known as an alt-azimuth mount and tracks the objects using tiny little steps as it travels in a shallow arch across the night sky. Though invisible to the eye, it will most certainly show up on a camera image. Now if you want to image planets and the moon that are bright using a webcam thats great, as these objects do not require any tracking because the webcam can collect enough data to help you create a composite image using only the best 'frames'. If however you have designs on deep sky objects (DSO's) such as galaxies and nebulae, being fainter and further away, will mean that you will have to use a very accurate mount that can sustain long periods of precise tracking in order to perform longer exposure times in order to collect enough data to create the final image. This is when the fun (...frustration?) starts. So in summary, you can use a webcam but no DSLR. There are other factors as well but giving you more detail of those would make no difference to the basic conclusion.

One last note, the normal tracking is very slow and is almost invisible on a short scope. I trust you are aware that you can alter the slew speed if you want to take a look at other objects or when performing a three star alignment. I am sure you know this but I thought I would check in any case.

Clear skies for now.

James

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