Imaging with Skywatcher 200p & EQ5

[Pedraximus]

Hi Guys,

Its pretty much been a year now since I purchased a Nexstar 5. I had little success in Imaging allthough my wife and I did enjoy some good observing sessions with it. After 2 or 3 months it developed a problem with one of the motors so I sent it back for a full refund in the hope of purchasing something a little bigger and better suited to imaging. My wife and I are very busy in the summer months out here in Spain so have only really just begun to even think about renewing our love affair with the night sky.

So at 1am this morning, after a lot of Peroni and Caramel Vodka with some friends, I bought a Skywatcher 200p & EQ5 Mount from Opticstar. Cost was 414 sterling with free delivery to spain including a red light! All sounds good. Should be with us in 3 to 5 days according to their site.

I already have an unmodded Cannon 300d, T-ring, remote shutter controller and a cheap logitech webcam that I beleive is sensitive enough for use as a guidecam. I have also spoken to another forum member regarding some Dual Axis motors for the EQ5 that he doesnt need anymore and is willing to part with. Ive seen the post by Quartermass regarding the DIY upgrade to enable autoguiding and I believe we are capable of doing the basic soldering etc to achieve this.

So, any advice concerning imaging with this setup would be greatfully received.

Also, whats the best exposure time I am likely to achieve with good polar alignment? If anyone has achieved good exposure times and images with this setup I'd love to hear from you.

Pedro

[dmahon]

Once you have guiding set up, your exposure length is theoretically not limited. Unfortunately your scope is heavy and your mount is lightweight, which means that it is relatively unstable and you will have to throw away a percentage of subs. The longer the exposure, the higher the percentage.

Persevere, balance the scope well, use a finderscope as a guide scope to keep weight down and be prepared for a slow start. However, as others have proved, good results can be had.

[Pedraximus]

Well, not the start I was looking for. Optic star got back to me on Sunday morning. They said they wanted an extra 114 pounds to ship the scope to Spain. WOW! There was no mention of this at checkout despite me keying in a spanish address. Anyway, Ive just placed an order with Camarthen Cameras. Lets see how they do. 444 pounds delivered. Not bad. A few pounds cheaper than most of the others. Something tells me I wont be using it by this weekend whitch is a shame, but I remain hopefull.

Pedro

[kirkster501]

....after a lot of Peroni and Caramel Vodka with some friends, I bought a Skywatcher 200p & EQ5 Mount....

Lol.... yes, had a fair share of purchases "under the influence" myself

[Pedraximus]

Lol.... yes, had a fair share of purchases "under the influence" myself

Lol. I didnt think I was on my own in this category !

[Matt Scunthorpe]

I have the 200p on EQ5, and photography is something i want to get into gradually. I am getting an RA motor at least for xmas, probably not the duel set as its going to be a group present from the family.

I use a DSLR to get pics of the sun and moon, so hoping i can get short exposures of DSOs to stack (i know theyre will be alot as because of the scope/mount alot will get binned) and come out with something half decent at the end, without having to upgrade the mount, which i could do without spending atm

[Velvet]

With a 200p and EQ5 you will have to balance your scope accurately. With the extra weight of DSLRs and all the other

kit you are very close to the limit of the mount. Lots have folks have done it with good success though.

Canon will need t ring and should be put straight onto OTA no adjusters, ep's or anything. Focus is at first difficult

but persevere anf take it very slowly. It is easy to run right by the focus point.

But please watch the weight you are putting on and the balance and you should be good to go. You can also just use DSLR

for images. I mounted mine directly on EQ5 and got great images of M31. i use iso 800, exposure time will depend

on how accurate setting up and polar aligning is LOL.

Velvet

[Matt Scunthorpe]

What kind of lenses do you use when mounting the camera directly onto the EQ5? I keep meaning to try shooting star trials too, but whenever its clear, i go straight into 'telescope' mode. What i really should do is take the camera + tripod to the dark site with me, and do both at the same time.

[Velvet]

I have used 300mm lens for M31 and also wider angles for wide shots milky way etc.

The 300mm normal canon lens worked a treat for M31, was my very first image. It is posted on the forum will try and track it down

Velvet

[MBJ]

I have the 200p on an eq5 mount and using both a canon 450d and an spc900 webcam have had some pretty good results unguided on m31 m57 and Jupiter,ive managed subs of around 60 - 75 seconds after spending an hour or so getting my PA spot on.

[mart rich]

I have the 200p on an eq5 mount and using both a canon 450d and an spc900 webcam have had some pretty good results unguided on m31 m57 and Jupiter,ive managed subs of around 60 - 75 seconds after spending an hour or so getting my PA spot on.

An hour!! Well I guess that explains why my images are rubbish (so far)!

Well done - I admire your patience. Mostly my whole observing sessions only last an hour.

Martin

[Pedraximus]

Hmmmmmmm.....Well........Camarthen Cameras also let me down on the postage side of things, so that purchase is also cancelled now. I have now ordered one from Astroshop for 535.80 euros delivered and it was shipped out last night from Germany. 3 working days Im told, so it should be with me early next week hopefully. I finally know that there is a telescope on the way!

So, its time to buy those dual axis motors, modify my Logitech C270 webcam for a planetary imager or guidescope, and buy all the other bits needed to set it up for autoguiding. It will be really nice to finally start imaging with some decent kit.

Pedro

[Sammyb]

I'm not sure if the dual-axis motor kit will be OK to use with auto-guiding? I could be wrong but I thought you would need the Pro-synscan upgrade?

I went down a similar route - imaging with a 200P on an EQ5 synscan using an SPC900/finderscope for guiding with PhD and using Cartes du Ciel/EQMod. I had limited success - some images can be seen on my flickr site. The EQ5 mount isn't suitable for serious attempts at imaging with the 200P. Its not beefy enough. It found it quite challenging with cables everywhere in the dark and freezing cold and difficulties with calibration/backlash and drift so I kind of put DSOs on the back burner until I get some more suitable gear.

I could manage 30 second subs unguided. The idea is to get loads of subs, chuck out the duff ones and stack the good ones.

[Sammyb]

to clarify - for planetary/lunar/solar - the 200P on an EQ5 with motors should be OK

[Pedraximus]

I stumbled across a blog from one of the SGL's members outlining a procedure for auto-guiding with the 200p on an EQ5 mount. Linked below.

http://astrocasto.blogspot.com.es/2012/02/how-to-set-up-guiding-system-for-your.html

On doing further searches, I'm sure I have come across people who have managed 10 minute exposures using this method with that equipment. This is ample for me and I'll be really pleased if I manage exposure times half of that length.

If you haven't already seen this info, maybe have a go!

Pedro

[Sammyb]

Well I stand corrected. Good luck with that one. Be prepared for many, many frustrating nights and an occasional very rewarding one.

The above modification isn't suitable for me as I have the EQ5 synscan and can control via CdC and EQMOD.

You'll have to balance well as the EQ5 is at the limits of its weight capacity and you are going to be adding lots of kit onto the front end. The EQ5 also suffers from a lot of backlash which can be a problem.

[Pedraximus]

I hear ya on the frustration side of things. Imaging for me has been nothing but frustration since I started astronomy a couple of years ago. With regards to weight, I am considering buying a small refractor (4 inch'ish) to use with the eq5 for imaging and use the reflector for observing. That will take care of the weight issues I hope. For the time being though, I will use the 200p with good polar alignment and balance and see where it takes me.

Regarding backlash, in the same blog by Quartermass, there is a youtube link which shows some pointers on this. Linked below.

Ultimately, I understand that this equipment is not Ideal for imaging, but, its what the wallet allows for and I do enjoy a challenge, albeit a frustrating one!

Pedro

[Sammyb]

I completely agree the wallet comes first! You should be able to get some good results with that set up so good luck.

[Aenima]

This is my set up, too.

My first efforts with webcam imaging and basic dslr stuff was initially quite enjoyable, a few lucky nights and fiddly processing - now I have got bits that will start me using a laptop, and software way above my head I'm thinking maybe the simple ways are not so bad.

Hopefully my brain can churn it over and spit it out in little bits, slowly.

Whatever happens that may be of interest i'll post here, looks like those with this set-up already have their work cut out.....

Regards

Aenima

[RikM]

I hear ya on the frustration side of things. Imaging for me has been nothing but frustration since I started astronomy a couple of years ago. With regards to weight, I am considering buying a small refractor (4 inch'ish) to use with the eq5 for imaging and use the reflector for observing. That will take care of the weight issues I hope. For the time being though, I will use the 200p with good polar alignment and balance and see where it takes me.

Ultimately, I understand that this equipment is not Ideal for imaging, but, its what the wallet allows for and I do enjoy a challenge, albeit a frustrating one!

Pedro

A good approach and attitude

A small ED refractor will give you better results than a 200P on that little mount. (Quatermass is using an ED80 now ). It is not only the weight but more the focal length that causes the grief. At 1000mm, the 200P really shows up tracking errors, crosswinds, or drift from iffy polar alignment. So long as you understand all that and are up for the challenge, great. It's a lot of fun.

Even if it turns out that you find it too much hassle for the results you get, the 200P is a great scope for visual observation. Gathers plenty of light for deep sky objects and still has enough focal length and resolution for good planetary views. Not as good as a 200P Dobsonian for visual use but still very good indeed.

[Catweazel]

A small ED refractor will give you better results than a 200P on that little mount. (Quatermass is using an ED80 now )

What would be a couple of good targets, that are easy to find (apart from Orion Nebula) to practice AP with a small ED frac? I have had some nice results with the moon and Orion, but have struggled a bit with where to go next, as I have a lot of LP in my area, and struggle to find anything faint with the little Megrez72. Thanks. CW

[RikM]

How about the double cluster? A lovely rich starfield, loads of different star colours to work on but no faint nebulosity to have to tease out, so you can suppress the light pollution quite aggressively.

[Catweazel]

How about the double cluster? A lovely rich starfield, loads of different star colours to work on but no faint nebulosity to have to tease out, so you can suppress the light pollution quite aggressively.

Thanks Rik, will give it a go next time; it's about time I got more adventurous