skywatcher 130 explorer eq2 stand

[jimmythemoonlight]

Hello I was just wondering what would be the best webcam to buy to start taking pictures of the planets and maybe some stars and galaxies if possible.Ive tried to take pictures before with my cannon camera but failed miserably and I have been told that the type of camera I had and also stand I used were not suitable. I am now in a position to try and buy a better and more suitable type of equipment and was wondering what that might be. My first attempt was taking pictures of the moon, I could see the moon clearly in my eyepiece via my t ring adapter but when I pressed the shutter to take several pictures not one turned out that's why hopefully I will get better results with my new set up. The telescope I use is a 130 skywatcher explorer a reflector the diameter of the primary mirror is 130mm the telescope focal length is 900mm ( f6.92 ) x2 Barlow lens 30% more light gathering than 114 mm hopefully I have a more than adequate telescope but if not can someone give me some advice on that as well. I'm very grateful for all your help I know I'm asking a awful lot but I'm sure you lovely people will see you way clear of helping this thicko out many thanks Jimmy .

[shirva]

Hi jimmy. If you can get a cheap Philips spc 900 or an spc880 flashed to a 900 they are a great camera. ..the microsoft 360 games console web cam is ok as well..you need to remove focus lens on from and trim it with a craft knife it takes the same screw in nose cone adapter as the spc880/900..black out led on the webcam and good to go..fit an i/r filter...sharpcap freeware software. ..what dslr were you using/fast shutter speed required on a bright moon...davy

[jimmythemoonlight]

Hi Davy thanks for all that info unfortunately the camera I was using wasn't a digital one just an ordinary camera but my brother who builds telescopes and is a dab hand at photography told me as much to set the camera up on a fast setting I think it was just I was a little nieve about the whole thing and didn't give it much of a chance then before I knew it I was told by the LAS to buy a webcam to attach to my tablet or laptop . I will give this a go to see if I can work things out once again thanks for the invaluable information. Jimmy

[northwalesparry]

Im just getting into this to there are many posts here on this topic but if u have a dslr you will need to use your skywatcher 1.25 barlow your scope came with this unscrews and then atatches to the t ring adaptor on your dslr.other wise you cant focus. Havent tried it myself yet but there are also you tube vids out there too

[chris285]

Interested to see how you get on as I have a 130M same as yours and an 1100D, I found when using the camera on a normal tripod that v short exposures of between 200-300th of a second when on a fullish moon were needed to avoid over exposure

Can anyone advise if its worth connecting a DSLR to this size OTA or not?