SW 127 Mak AZ with GOTO?

[jambouk]

That's good. I've been lazy and use my electric focus so i've no idea how many turns it is!

[Paulus17]

That looks back heavy Looee?

I will try and set mine up later and see how it goes.

James i can ask but are all the synscan hand sets the same,and thanks for the offer of using your connector,if there is no need to update the firmware then i will leave alone for now.??

[jambouk]

I honestly don't know if all he handsets are the same, but i suspect all those supplied with the 127 in recent times will be the same. I know you can upgrade the firmware on my handset so it operates an equatorial mount. A lot of the firmware updates make changes which you and i wouldn't notice or appreciate, so as you say, it's not always necessary, but you should find out what version yours currently is and have a look at what updates have been since implemented; there might be something you actually would benefit from. If tou find out the firmware version you've got, i'll have a look for you.

James

[jambouk]

It seems the version of the handset we have is version 3:

http://www.harrisontelescopes.co.uk/acatalog/SkyWatcher_SynScan_V.3_Updateable_Handset.html

James

[Paulus17]

Got the scope set up with the Nikon attached and all seemed pretty good.We haven't got much to look at out our windows so focused on a sign about 300 yards away,then used the camera to zoom in on the lettering and it got really close enough to read,but focus seemed an issue as i couldn't quite get it sharp enough??

I also moved the OTA about 35mm more forward to try and get the balance right,but that is really guess work??

James it seems my Synscan version is-03.08.

[jambouk]

Looks good. I suspect to correctly balance you'd need the scope more forwards with the camera nearer the mount; they ate quite heavy.

Focus? I'm not sure. You are looking through glass. Have you modified the focus knob with a milk bottle top or something similar which does allow slightly easier fine focus. Again that modification is outline on a nearby thread or maybe this one. If might be the extension tube adds a bit too much length and "prime focus" falls a bit too short of the dslr's sensor, or maybe the otherway, that prime focus falls behind the sensor.

James

[jambouk]

The dslr camera won't be any good at imaging planets as they'll appear far too small for detail, but you would see the moons of jupiter and the non-circular shape of saturn, but not sure how much detail of the rings; trial and error i guess. Achieving focus is the key. There will be threads all about that on here.

James

[Paulus17]

Haven't heared nor seen anything about a milk bottle top James??

The focus issue was when i was fully zoomed in on the words,otherwise focus was good.

i have put the OTA and the camera nearer the mount,its about 35mm away on the dovetail?

I forgot to mention that i have been told that field rotation would be an issue with this type of mount and AP,but with long exposures,i am guessing that short expos of 30 secs or less would be ok??

[jambouk]

Yes you will get field rotation, unlike on a well aligned equatorial mount. Exposure duration will depend on where in the sky you are poiinting as not all areas appear to move at the same rate. This data is available online else i'll scan a page out of a book i've got at home.

I have found exposure times of 20 is maximum. If your tracking is poor (as a result of sloppy alignment and setup) your max exposure time will be much less. Trial and error.

Get a plastic top from a milk bottle, cut a bit out of he middle and cut some sluts radiatin away from the small hole, so you can push the cap over the top of he focus knob. So turning the milk bottle lid now turns the focus knob. The greater circumference of the milk bottle lid means its easier to make smaller asjustments in the focus. There is a picture of it somewhere on here, i'm on my phone so not easy to look for it now, sorry.

James

[Paulus17]

Right,good idea i will give it a go.

Can't wait now to get out and try some imaging with the 127.

[jambouk]

The other thing, does your nikon have a built in timer? Some dslr's do, so you could programme it to take say 10 x 20 second exposures with a 5 second interval between them. Also, have a read about mirror lock up, as this will reduce any vibration that the camera may introduce into the system when it flips the mirror up just before taking the image. The mirror is used to redirect the light entering the camera up to the view finder, just before the image is taken the mirror is flipped up so the light entering he camera then falls on the sensor. You'll need to check exActly what happens in your make and model of camera as i only know a bit about canon's.

James

[jambouk]

And plan in advance what you are going to image. Again do some research of what will be visible from your location at the time you are likely to be out. Also investigate what might look ok given your equipment and the sensor in the camera. Ask in the imaging forum. Ignore all the comments about field rotation, and have a play. Do research though what areas of he sky "move" quickest.

James

[Paulus17]

I have a digital shutter release James,only a £9.99 one off Ebay but it works really well so will use that.

Does the gap time between shots matter how long it is,i th ink i have mine set to two seconds,haven't used it since i was out last with the last set up which was before Xmas?

M42 would be good but that is behind the houses now by the time it gets dark.

Looks like the cloud is gonna be with us for some time again now?

[jambouk]

Again there is loads written about the interval between shots in long exposures as the sensor needs time to cool down as you get hot pixels, or rather more of them (i think). For exposures of 5-20 seconds i'm not sure it makes much difference. So 2 seconds sounds perfect. Again, when the weather permits do a run with 2 second gaps then a run with a gap the same duration as your exposure. I suspect there won't be any differences. You need to read about taking "darks" and "brights" to subtract and dark or bright artefact in your optical system (camera and telescope).

James

[Paulus17]

I don't think that i have read before about the time for the gap between shots to be honest,so is there any rules about that i wonder or its just what you feel happy with?

I will do some trials for this set up and post em up as i go along.Migh tbe a long wait though

[Looeewoo]

That looks back heavy Looee?

The scope barrel is slightly forward of it's normal centre of gravity. As the camera body is now closer to the normal fulcrum as it's not sitting on top of the diagonal and eyepiece, then the effect of it's leverage is alo reduced (yes, I do have an 'O' level in Mechanics!)

[Looeewoo]

I have a digital shutter release James,only a £9.99 one off Ebay but it works really well so will use that.

If you have Live View on then the mirror is up, so that'll remove any vibration you'd get from mirror bounce. I also use one of these releases. I always give the scope a few seconds for any vibrations to die down before firing the shutter. It's a good idea not to move around in that period; if you're on hard ground/slabs then that can cause vibration too.

[Paulus17]

Not sure if you have seen my piccys Looee but i have moved the OTA with camera more forward on the dovetail,as in piccy.I have about 35mm between the clamp and the end of the DT.

My camera does have LV,in fact it is on in my piccy focused on a distant tree.

I think i will leave a slightly longer time between shots.

[jambouk]

Modified webcam on ebay, no idea if it's any good:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Skywatcher-Skymax-Pro-150-6-Mak-Maksutov-Cassegrain-telescope-/290889468047?_trksid=p2045573.m2042&_trkparms=aid%3D111000%26algo%3DREC.CURRENT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D27%26meid%3D6904028405889685626%26pid%3D100033%26prg%3D1011%26rk%3D2%26sd%3D290872635805%26

James

[jambouk]

Infact, this is the webcam I use, but mine has a longer nose piece:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Logitech-QuickCam-Pro-4000-ccd-astrophotography-/300888133108?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item460e548df4

James

[Paulus17]

Modified webcam on ebay, no idea if it's any good:

http://www.ebay.co.u...d=290872635805

James

Thats one big WC James

[jambouk]

Haha, I clicked the wrong link! I can't find it now again, sorry!

[Paulus17]

How easy is it to set up a WC?

As i say i am not very techy minded and i really get frustrated using puters when they start playing up,mainly as i don't know what is going wrong,so i think i would feel the same if i was tinkering about using a WC and it wasn't playing,if you see what i mean??

I take it from what has been said that a WC is better for planetary imaging?

[jambouk]

WC is better for planetary, as the image is larger. There is some tinkering; if you are totally useless with computers, then I'd say give it a miss. If there is hope for your computer skills and you can afford to spend upto £40 on a webcam like that Quickcam Pro and have a play around, I say give it a go. You'll need to find drivers to get it to work, and download some free ware to capture some movie footage of the planet in question, then also download registax and use that to make the image, then maybe another program to manipulate the image to bring out the colours. It's all very do'able. Again, you'd be better to start a new thread in the imaging forum and get wider opinion as I'm still very new to this and not that technically minded myself.

James

[Paulus17]

Just reading that James is enough to put me off i'm afraid.

I will give the DSLR a go first and see how i get on with that,then perhaps later on give the WC a try?

I think i need to tighten that nut up more again as i noticed yesterday that i could move it again so not sure if its come loose again while using it?