First light equipment review

[Arushin]

Thought I would do a write up on my first ever DS imaging session last weekend with my new rig.

As all the kit is new, I thought I would also do a quick review of each of the component part for anyone who may be thinking of buying these in the future.

As this was the first real test of my chosen kit, I was more interested to find out how it would all work together and what I could image (if anything) rather than the quality of the final images.

I started out by pointing the NEQ6 North and did a basic two star alignment. Plugged the Auto-Guider into the Mak 180 and the Canon 1100 into the ED80 and started taking some 30 second exposures. So how did it all perform?

The Sky-watcher NEQ6 is a great mount. Once loaded with the weights and OTA's I struggle to physically move it, so no problems with the mount as far as stability. One thing became very clear after a 30 second exposure, star trails are pretty, but this mount definitely needed to be polar aligned for imaging.

Now, I had been reading up on this the previous week and was becoming more and more confused as to how this is done, but thought I would dive in and give it a go. Luckily the NEQ6 includes a built in polar scope (which I didn't have a clue how to use) but luckily the polar scope has a star map etched onto it. At this point logic kicked in and the manual got tossed over my shoulder.

I re checked the alignment of the mount to North and found it slightly off. Once corrected I looked through the polar scope, unlocked and turned the RA so that Ursa Major was in the same position through the polar scope as it appeared in the sky and relocked the RA. A little adjustment of the mounts Alt/Az and Polaris was smack in the middle of the marked circle on the polar scope. I unlocked the RA and manually returned the mount back to its home position before relocking. That was too easy and therefore can't be right can it?

After a 2 minute exposure of Vega I was gobsmacked... not a startrail in sight.

This mount is a beauty for the price! When balanced well the motors are very quiet and the pointing accuracy is extremely good. My only niggle is that the supplied power lead does not come with a 3 pin mains adaptor, so I had to purchase one from Maplins for about £18 as I don't currently have a powertank (or a car in my garden).

The Canon 1100D worked faultlessly with hardly any noise at ISO400 and the supplied EOS Utility software is simple to use and perfectly capable of controlling the camera for basic astrophotography. I Know that there are other software packages out there that are written specifically for this task, but as a complete beginner it seems the bundled software will be adequate for now.

I tested the Orion Starshoot Auto guider through the ED80 and was guiding beautifully after just a couple of clicks. This very reasonably priced system seemed to work straight out of the box which is something I was not expecting.

My original plan however was to image with the ED80 and see if I could guide using my planetary scope the SW180Pro Mak. In short, I can't.

The Mak itself is an excellent Lunar/Planetary scope (always loved my old 127 version), which gives amazing views of Jupiter, Saturn & the Moon etc and works really well for S.S. webcam imaging. Although I was warned about mirror flop on the older gold tube versions, this seems to have now been rectified and this is a very nice Mak indeed. Part of my decision in buying this was down to a lack of storage space but this is a nice compact OTA that delivers great planetary views and although not quite as punchy as the C9.25, in my opinion it delivers well enough to avoid paying the extra. Was I asking too much of it to work as a guide scope as well though...It appears I was.

I just couldn't get it to detect a single star for the guider to lock on to. I have very limited knowledge of optics but am guessing it may be down to the fact it is f15. If someone knows why for sure, I would be very interested to know. Not to worry, just means I need to add a dedicated guide scope to the system and then re balance the whole rig. Not the end of the world!

With the DSLR back in the ED80 I decided that as my polar alignment seemed to work, I would treat the mount to a 3 star alignment. This was actually easier to do than I thought so have no idea why I have only ever done 2 star alignments in the past other than laziness/impatience.

Once completed, I thought I would take the handset sky tour and take some 1 minute exposures of a few objects that should be viewable. I was amazed to find that each object I sent the mount to was smack in the centre of the resulting photograph. Not the best of images, but with only 1 minute exposures I am amazed anything shows at all.

So much has already been said about the SWED80 that there is little point in me reviewing it again. The only thing I will say is that if you are toying with getting one, stop toying and get it.

The optical quality of the views are stunning. Now I know why people like Ian King recommend them.

[Alan_B]

Good to hear you got on so well with your kit.

The more posts I read concerning the NEQ6 the more I think I need to upgrade before I start thinking about imaging but have concerns about the weight as I don't have an "obsy" and would need to carry it out from my garage every time I want to use it.

How easy/hard is it to move along with tripod ? or is it a case of removing the head each time & moving it in two parts

[Arushin]

Hi

to be honest, I never remove the head. I have to move mine in and out every time I want to use it at the moment but it's quite manageable. Once loaded with the OTA's & weights though I can't lift it at all. This is a good sturdy bit of kit and excellent for the money. I am well chuffed at how well it tracks and with the accuracy of the goto. I thoroughly recommend it.

Kind regards