Astrophotography Christmas Gift

[nathanj89]

 

 

Hi All, I currently own a Skywatcher Skyliner 200p Dobsonian which I use for my visual interest when the heavens open up over the Midlands.

However I am an avid photographer and I would love to get a piece of kit which will let me combine my two interests of photography and astronomy.

After reading a few posts on this forum and a few different articles I have come to the conclusion that the mount/tripod is your number one priority when buying equipment for astrophotography. I also understand I then need to choose what type of photography which I would be more interested in DSO rather than planets.

So I’ve decided I am going to treat myself this Christmas. I am lucky to have a job which lets me support my hobby so I have a budget of around £2000. This I hope would get me a pretty decent amateur setup which will last me a few years.

Before we get into choosing the telescope and mount I would also like to tell you I have a canon 50D which I will be using as the main camera for a while.

So doing a little research from my newbie experience I would of gone for something like the

Skywatcher NEQ6 PRO Synscan - £959.00
Skywatcher Explorer 190MN DS-PRO - £995.00

First optics does a deal on this for just under 2k - http://www.firstlightoptics.com/pro-series/skywatcher-190mn-neq6-pro.html  I believe the f/5.3 aperture gives me a fast image.

My question to all you Astronomy Santa’s is this a good setup would anyone recommend anything else which they may think would be more suitable for my budget?? 

[Astro Imp]

Before you do anything else get and read thoroughly Making every Photon Count:-  http://www.firstlightoptics.com/books/making-every-photon-count-steve-richards.html

[nathanj89]

Before you do anything else get and read thoroughly Making every Photon Count:-  http://www.firstlightoptics.com/books/making-every-photon-count-steve-richards.html

Thanks I've ordered this to read.

[MartinB]

Fabulous scope though it is, I wouldn't recommend an MN190 for starting off.  It is a heavy scope and although your mount could handle it ok it will start to rock about if the breeze gets up.  The tube rings aren't the greatest and although you can do stuff to reinforce them differential flexure is always a probablity which means you are looking at using an off axis guider.  You are adding a few complications to what is already a challenging undertaking.  If you are a tenacious sort, who is prepared to put up with a good few nights of frustration I am sure you could get it performing brilliantly but there may be less painful options.  Another problem is that it is fairly long focal length for starting out.  One good thing is that it is also a very good scope visually.

I think a good quality short focal length refractor is a great way to start out.  Easy to set up, the short focal length is very forgiving of tracking errors and the results can be amazing. You will end up with more than one scope eventually! 

No hesitation recommending the mount though.

[nephilim]

If your only starting out in AP I wouldnt recommend the Mak-Newt, dont get me wrong, ive heard great reports on it but its a heavy beast & unless u have an obs its alot to lug about with the NEQ6 aswell, I'd go for something nice & light such as the Skywatcher ED80 (much less strain on the mount than the 190) then you'll have extra £££ left over for the guide cam & Guide scope + a focal reducer otherwise your budget will be pushing the £2500 mark.

Steve

[nephilim]

Fabulous scope though it is, I wouldn't recommend an MN190 for starting off.  It is a heavy scope and although your mount could handle it ok it will start to rock about if the breeze gets up.  The tube rings aren't the greatest and although you can do stuff to reinforce them differential flexure is always a probablity which means you are looking at using an off axis guider.  You are adding a few complications to what is already a challenging undertaking.  If you are a tenacious sort, who is prepared to put up with a good few nights of frustration I am sure you could get it performing brilliantly but there may be less painful options.  Another problem is that it is fairly long focal length for starting out.  One good thing is that it is also a very good scope visually.

I think a good quality short focal length refractor is a great way to start out.  Easy to set up, the short focal length is very forgiving of tracking errors and the results can be amazing. You will end up with more than one scope eventually! 

No hesitation recommending the mount though.

Just beaten to it

[nathanj89]

If your only starting out in AP I wouldnt recommend the Mak-Newt, dont get me wrong, ive heard great reports on it but its a heavy beast & unless u have an obs its alot to lug about with the NEQ6 aswell, I'd go for something nice & light such as the Skywatcher ED80 (much less strain on the mount than the 190) then you'll have extra £££ left over for the guide cam & Guide scope + a focal reducer otherwise your budget will be pushing the £2500 mark.

Steve

Cheers Steve and Martin...I will have a read up on the Skywatcher ED80 you recommended. I wont be getting all this stuff till December time anyway but i want to have done my research. 

Where would i read up online on what a guide cam/focal reducer is and do?    I've ordered Make Every Photon Count. 

[nephilim]

Cheers Steve and Martin...I will have a read up on the Skywatcher ED80 you recommended. I wont be getting all this stuff till December time anyway but i want to have done my research. 

Where would i read up online on what a guide cam/focal reducer is and do?    I've ordered Make Every Photon Count. 

Hi Nathan,

Steve's book covers all of this.Me explaining what a guide camera does will probably confuse you more than help you but i'll try, A giude camera (the QHY5 is popular) is attached to a guide scope (many use the Skywatcher st80) and this sits on top of the main imaging scope to which ur DSLR or CCD cam is attached, when u image an object you choose a bright 'guide' star near the object your imaging & lock the guide camera onto this star & your imaging scope onto the object your imaging, the guide cam is usually used with a piece of software such as this  http://www.stark-labs.com/phdguiding.html   This setup basically keeps the object your imaging in the cameras sights which enables you to take long exposure shots, the more acurate the guiding setup the longer the subs etc. Very badly explained but I dont like to leave one answer & not be able to follow it up (however confusing it may sound ) as for the focal reducer read this http://www.stark-labs.com/phdguiding.html  hope this helps.

Steve

[nephilim]

I've just seen this thread http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/188777-phd-guiding-basic-use-and-troubleshooting/   this is a much better explaination than my ramblings.

[Naemeth]

Cheers Steve and Martin...I will have a read up on the Skywatcher ED80 you recommended. I wont be getting all this stuff till December time anyway but i want to have done my research. 

Where would i read up online on what a guide cam/focal reducer is and do?    I've ordered Make Every Photon Count. 

NEQ-6 and ED80 would be a good start, this thread may help a little:

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/195123-before-i-go-any-further/

[nathanj89]

NEQ-6 and ED80 would be a good start, this thread may help a little:

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/195123-before-i-go-any-further/

Cheers, I'm waiting for the "Make every photon count" to arrive now so i can get a good ground work on what is required. Been looking and there so many scopes that make me go ooooo or ahhhhhh. :-) patience. 

[nathanj89]

I just did a price up of some gear. I know im going to have to wait till I read every photon counts but what do people think of this set-up so far... my budget was £2k I went £60 over. If I wanted to go under I could just change out the scope without the kit. 

Skywatcher Evostar 80ED DS-PRO Outfit - Includes 2"/50.8mm Di-Electric Star Diagonal, 2" 28mm LES eyepiece, 9x50 finderscope and Aluminium case - £459

Skywatcher NEQ6 PRO Synscan - £959

Skywatcher Startravel 80 OTA - £97

Starlight Xpress Lodestar - £385

Skywatcher Focal Reducers - For 80ED - £16

Total £2,060.00

What do people think?? 

[nephilim]

Hi Nathan,

Steve's book covers all of this.Me explaining what a guide camera does will probably confuse you more than help you but i'll try, A giude camera (the QHY5 is popular) is attached to a guide scope (many use the Skywatcher st80) and this sits on top of the main imaging scope to which ur DSLR or CCD cam is attached, when u image an object you choose a bright 'guide' star near the object your imaging & lock the guide camera onto this star & your imaging scope onto the object your imaging, the guide cam is usually used with a piece of software such as this  http://www.stark-labs.com/phdguiding.html   This setup basically keeps the object your imaging in the cameras sights which enables you to take long exposure shots, the more acurate the guiding setup the longer the subs etc. Very badly explained but I dont like to leave one answer & not be able to follow it up (however confusing it may sound ) as for the focal reducer read this http://www.stark-labs.com/phdguiding.html  hope this helps.

Steve

Just realised I gave u 2 links that were the same  Read this link for the explanation on using a focal reducer http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/25227-barlow-and-focal-reducer-primer-very-simplified/   Apologies for complicating something that is complicated enough

Steve

[nephilim]

As for your list, thats a good set up BUT if it were me I'd go for the EQ6 Syntrek & save myself £120, if your going to be using a guide camera with guiding software then you can also plug in the mount & use it with http://eq-mod.sourceforge.net/  which is a free piece of software that does the same as a goto handset (and more). Also I'd be buying the QHY5 camera as a guide cam as it also doubles as a damn fine planetary cam in its own right.

These are just what I'd get if I was in your position & i'm not saying your list is a bad choice but with all things astro its good to have as much info as possible otherwise you can (I HAVE) end up spending a shed load & further down the line think 'I really wish i'd gone for ........... instead'.

Steve

[nathanj89]

cheers steve

All the help is appreciated dont worry. I am not planning on buying till december hence why i am planning 3 months before. 

Slightly off topic and I'm not sure if i need to ask this in another thread but is it possible to mount a Skywatcher Skyliner 200P on a NEQ6?? rather than use the dobsonian mount??

[nephilim]

cheers steve

All the help is appreciated dont worry. I am not planning on buying till december hence why i am planning 3 months before. 

Slightly off topic and I'm not sure if i need to ask this in another thread but is it possible to mount a Skywatcher Skyliner 200P on a NEQ6?? rather than use the dobsonian mount??

Although it is, the Skyliner is a longer scope at 1200mm as opposed to the 200p newt which is 1000mm meaning when looking at the zenith (depending on how tall u are) you'll be on tiptoes, i'm 5'9 & i'm strectching with my 200p when its pointed straight up, also that extra 200mm does make a difference when it comes to 'wind wobble' through the EP. If an 8" scope is what your after i would go for the newt as it much better suited to the EQ mount..................Others may disagree.

Good luck & keep asking questions, you can never ask enough IMO.

[nephilim]

Although it is, the Skyliner is a longer scope at 1200mm as opposed to the 200p newt which is 1000mm meaning when looking at the zenith (depending on how tall u are) you'll be on tiptoes, i'm 5'9 & i'm strectching with my 200p when its pointed straight up, also that extra 200mm does make a difference when it comes to 'wind wobble' through the EP. If an 8" scope is what your after i would go for the newt as it much better suited to the EQ mount..................Others may disagree.

Good luck & keep asking questions, you can never ask enough IMO.

Just to add, I have the EQ5, the NEQ6 is bigger still

[nathanj89]

Although it is, the Skyliner is a longer scope at 1200mm as opposed to the 200p newt which is 1000mm meaning when looking at the zenith (depending on how tall u are) you'll be on tiptoes, i'm 5'9 & i'm strectching with my 200p when its pointed straight up, also that extra 200mm does make a difference when it comes to 'wind wobble' through the EP. If an 8" scope is what your after i would go for the newt as it much better suited to the EQ mount..................Others may disagree.

Good luck & keep asking questions, you can never ask enough IMO.

I'm only after a scope for astrophotography I was just wondering if the my dobsonian could share the mount I love my dob I just wished it had a goto feature :-)  . But good point about the zenith!. 

[Zuben Elgenubi]

Yes you can mount your 200P on a NEQ6, you will need tube rings and a dovetail bar. I've used my Skyliner OTA on a HEQ5 - works fine for visual. As nephilim says though, looking comfortably through the eyepiece when pointed near the zenith is an issue - at 6'1" I need something to stand on.

I would imagine that on the NEQ6 it should be pretty stable even with a little bit of wind, certainly enough for visual use. 

[nephilim]

I'm only after a scope for astrophotography I was just wondering if the my dobsonian could share the mount I love my dob I just wished it had a goto feature :-)  . But good point about the zenith!. 

In that case I really would go for a small frac, a big scope like the Skyliner will only make an extremely difficult hobby much much harder, trust me, I tried to do it my way & didnt listen to advice & I've had to give up on AP due to lack of funds which could have been put towards the right kit rather than what I thought would work, dont want to sound harsh mate but I've been there  Go for the frac & leave the dob for visual. 

[Zuben Elgenubi]

Apologies, I hadn't realised you were thinking of imaging with the Skyliner.

AP is tricky enough without complicating matters by using a scope with a long focal length. Stick with the 80ED.

The 200P on the EQ mount is great though when you fancy the ease of using GOTO to find your targets.

[nathanj89]

In that case I really would go for a small frac, a big scope like the Skyliner will only make an extremely difficult hobby much much harder, trust me, I tried to do it my way & didnt listen to advice & I've had to give up on AP due to lack of funds which could have been put towards the right kit rather than what I thought would work, dont want to sound harsh mate but I've been there  Go for the frac & leave the dob for visual. 

Bad Times!! HAHA dont worry I know Im not to use the Dob for astro photography i was just curious to see if it could be fitted on the mount. 

On and upwards with more research!! Will keep you informed guys!! exciting times :-) 

[Sp@ce_d]

Not sure if anyone mentioned using the finder as a guide scope ? Used mine more than the ST80... Saves money & weight.

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[nephilim]

Good thinking Sp@ce-d, have a look at this its written by one of our Mods (Quatermass-Top bloke) http://astrocasto.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/how-to-set-up-guiding-system-for-your.html  It tells u all u need to know about setting up a cheap AP rig including how to turn a 9x50 finder into a guide scope, its a good read & Marks images are testimony to how it can be done on the cheap (Very well) Its not an easy way to do AP but he shows it can be done.

Steve 

[nathanj89]

Apologies, I hadn't realised you were thinking of imaging with the Skyliner.

AP is tricky enough without complicating matters by using a scope with a long focal length. Stick with the 80ED.

The 200P on the EQ mount is great though when you fancy the ease of using GOTO to find your targets.

I wasnt thinking of doing imaging with the Skyliner lol I was only asking if the mount NEQ6 would be able to carry it. For those times i did want to do visual. 

Not sure if anyone mentioned using the finder as a guide scope ? Used mine more than the ST80... Saves money & weight.

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Cheers will keep this in mind.