AP flirting

[tjr]

I have been flirting for some while now with trying out a little AP. My reasons are modest - to build my own visual record of the messier objects, planets and multiple star systems as I make my way through them.*

My set-up is a Skymax127 on the synscan goto AZ tripod. I realise it is far from ideal but I'm not expecting to produce Hubble-esque images (yet!).*

I don't want to break the bank for this so I'm hoping a webcam will capture a lot if what I'm looking at.

My questions are...

- Should I even bother or will this be a fruitless exercise without throwing money at it?

- Will my setup and a webcam capture non, some, or all of what I'm hoping?

- Will I require anything other than a laptop and webcam? If so, what? I'm pretty handy with photoshop so I'm hoping I can post-produce with that.*

Thanks.*

[sologuitarist61]

Unfortunately you have to throw some money at it. I was thinking along the same lines - I have all the DSLR gear I could want, but then you need the programs (PHD, APT or whatever - some are free), then you need the leads (the ones that come with the cameras are woefully short. Then you get really interested and realise that you need a guiding camera ...... and so it goes on. Great fun though to see your own pics, doesn't matter if they are as good as anyone elses.

[Carl M]

You should be fine with just a webcam to be able to capture the planets and the moon with that setup. Use SharpCap for the image capturing software and then stack the frames in Registax, you can then use Photoshop if you want to finish up the image a little bit after using the wavelets in Registax

Deep sky objects you would really need the opposite setup with a motorised EQ mount and a DSLR. However a few people have done some pics with long exposure modded webcams.

[malc-c]

127 Mak and a webcam are fine.. however long exposure with a dSLR and an Alt AZ mount isn't really ideal as you'll get field rotation.