Hello from Loughbrough

[Avo]

Hi Steve

L'bro, used to live there.

[mcsheffield]

Hi Steve, Welcome to SGL

[Catweazel]

Hi and welcome to the forum

[ScubaMike]

Hi Steve,

Welcome to the forums

[gingergeek]

Hi there and welcome to SGL

[parklife2uk]

Cheers for the welcomes everyone!

[dag123]

Hello ParkLife2uk,

I have the same scope as you and although I have not tried to image any galaxies I have had some sucess with Jupiter using a cheap webcam. You can see examples posted in the following thread on this forum.

http://stargazerslounge.com/imaging-tips-tricks-techniques/115493-embarrassing-jupiters-webcam-clinic-14.html

Best of luck and please us know how you get on.

dag123

[parklife2uk]

Hello ParkLife2uk,

I have the same scope as you and although I have not tried to image any galaxies I have had some sucess with Jupiter using a cheap webcam. You can see examples posted in the following thread on this forum.

http://stargazerslounge.com/imaging-tips-tricks-techniques/115493-embarrassing-jupiters-webcam-clinic-14.html

Best of luck and please us know how you get on.

dag123

Cheers for the link - makes some interesting reading.

At the moment I'm currently saving for a DSLR - poss a Canon 400d (second hand). Once I've mastered setting up the scope and using a DSLR, I plan on purchasing a motor drive. Is the Celestron MD easy to use and set up?

[dag123]

The motor drive is very easy to set up. You loose the ability to manually control the RA, obviously, so getting on target is slight different. My technique is to loosen the RA knob and then push-pull to get on target, then tighten the knob and start the motor. The speed adjust can then be used to speed-up or slow-down to get your target centred. With extra effort in the initial polar alignment I have been able to get almost 5min webcam captures of Jupiter. And even then it was my DEC being out of alignment rather than the RA driven by the motor that took the planet off screen.

One gripe is that when installed the motor mount does get in the way of certain tube positions, but you can usually get around this by swinging the tube round the other way.

Hope this helps

dag123

[parklife2uk]

The motor drive is very easy to set up. You loose the ability to manually control the RA, obviously, so getting on target is slight different. My technique is to loosen the RA knob and then push-pull to get on target, then tighten the knob and start the motor. The speed adjust can then be used to speed-up or slow-down to get your target centred. With extra effort in the initial polar alignment I have been able to get almost 5min webcam captures of Jupiter. And even then it was my DEC being out of alignment rather than the RA driven by the motor that took the planet off screen.

One gripe is that when installed the motor mount does get in the way of certain tube positions, but you can usually get around this by swinging the tube round the other way.

Hope this helps

dag123

Nice one, I think this purchase will be coming shortly after the camera!

I'm still 'practising' setting up the scope - I've got the balance sorted but I struggle to find the 'target'. Haven't yet looked at polar alignment - how does that work?

[dag123]

There are too many other threads on this forum that can explain this better than I can. Simply put, polar aligment puts your scope in the same plane of rotation as the Earth. So once done, when you leave your scope alone, your DEC position remains constant and the RA moves with the planet. By adding the motor to the RA control this keeps things moving in the RA plane so your scope will exactly track whatever you are pointing at. This is what you need for longer webcam captures or long-exposure photography.

However getting this perfect is something of a dark-art. For casual viewing you don't need to worry too much.

(I think I got those terms correct, reading it back it sounds okay, but I am sure I will be corrected if needed)

dag123

[scandal]

Hi and welcome. I'm fairly local to you, hope you're enjoying some of the lovely clear skies we've had recently