Jump to content

Banner.jpg.b89429c566825f6ab32bcafbada449c9.jpg

Greetings from wrexham

ste2010

By ste2010
in Welcome

Recommended Posts

ste2010

ste2010

Posted
Posted

Hi all, my name is Stephen and I live in wrexham in north wales, uk. I have been a member here for a while but I have never gotten around to posting anything yet, lots of useful reading though!

I bought a 70x900 skywatcher about a year or so ago and the second I got a view of Jupiter and 3 of its moons I was hooked! Since I have managed some ok views of Saturn from my back yard just outside of town, the light pollution isn't too bad around me.

After saving for a while I am finally in the position for some upgrades. Initially I was thinking of a skywatcher 200p on the eq5 probably from FLO.

As I have long been into photography I am now thinking that I wouldn't mind trying my hand at some astrophotography. I have seem some very impressive results using the 200p and eq5 but I'm contemplating saving for a little longer and start with a heq5 and maybe a 200pds rather than investing in some gear only to find myself wanting to upgrade soon after.

I hope to get to know more of you through these forums any any suggestions on gear would be much welcomed

Steve

Link to comment
Share on other sites
faulksy

faulksy

Posted
Posted

Hi all, my name is Stephen and I live in wrexham in north wales, uk. I have been a member here for a while but I have never gotten around to posting anything yet, lots of useful reading though!

I bought a 70x900 skywatcher about a year or so ago and the second I got a view of Jupiter and 3 of its moons I was hooked! Since I have managed some ok views of Saturn from my back yard just outside of town, the light pollution isn't too bad around me.

After saving for a while I am finally in the position for some upgrades. Initially I was thinking of a skywatcher 200p on the eq5 probably from FLO.

As I have long been into photography I am now thinking that I wouldn't mind trying my hand at some astrophotography. I have seem some very impressive results using the 200p and eq5 but I'm contemplating saving for a little longer and start with a heq5 and maybe a 200pds rather than investing in some gear only to find myself wanting to upgrade soon after.

I hope to get to know more of you through these forums any any suggestions on gear would be much welcomed

Steve

hi steve, im from wrexham as well, welcome to sgl

Link to comment
Share on other sites
m37

m37

Posted
Posted

Hi Steve. Season's greetings and welcome to the forum.

Choosing gear is great fun but the choice can be overwhelming at times, especially if you are considering astrophotography (AP).

I am a relative newcomer to AP but have been observing for a while. The first thing I would recommend is to get the book recommended to all prospective imagers who visit here. It's called making every photon count and is invaluable. It is available from FLO and is the best investment you will ever make. Once you have it you can read it through a couple of times and you will be better able to make a decision about what kinds of things you want to photograph which in turn will greatly narrow down your choice of scope and mount.

In a nutshell, your scope is an f12 scope which means it has the potential for higher magnification over smaller areas of sky and is ideal for planets, the moon and other smaller objects. If it is something like (I suspect) the Skywatcher Capricorn then you have a refractor. If like me you think you might exhaust imaging possibilities on the relative small number of planets we have at our disposal you might want to get a scope with a smaller f number (5 or less) which will not enlarge things as much but allows a wider view and is best suited to wide and medium sized targets such as larger nebulae, some clusters, and galaxies like Andromeda.

You are right to want to avoid upgrading twice and although every scope is a compromise of sorts the book I mentioned above will help you choose the best gear for your choice of targets and your budget. If you think you might just want to snap some things and observe then your choice will be very different from a dedicated astrophotography setup although they are both very rewarding.

A very popular imaging setup is the HEQ5 with a short but good quality semi-apochromatic doublet refractor like an Equinox 80 and a canon DSLR such as an EOS1000d. This basic setup will set you back approximately £1500 new but has great potential and can be added to later. The main things to remember are that aperture of telescope is less important if you want to go down the long exposure guided imaging route and things like weight, portability, quality of optics and software/hardware support are very important for more involved imaging.

Before you spend any more dosh on equipment though, pick up that book and go here to play with combinations of telescope and camera to get a feel for the effect f ratio has on the kind of things you can expect to image with your setup http://www.12dstring.me.uk/fov.htm

This is a great forum for advice and I can recommend FLO without reservation as Steve and the guys there provide the best customer service and support I think I've ever encountered. They are the forum sponsor but i have no vested interesdt in promoting them and you'll not get better service anywhere.

Good luck and hope to hear more from you soon

Christoph

Link to comment
Share on other sites
ste2010

ste2010

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Thanks for all the replies, it's good to see there are a few peeps here from wrexham and the surrounding area, thanks especially to m37 for that in depth reply.

Yes, I have a copy of making every photon count! A very good book, I have read through it once already and I think I'll give it another few goes to help stuff sink in.

I should have probably mentioned as well that yes my scope is a refractor and it's just on an eq1.

I already own a canon 350d which I believe is similar in spec to the 1000d and a newer 450d so I'm sort of ok for starting in that department. My current thinking is to go with the heq5 to begin with so that I have a half decent platform for both visual and AP as time and time again I read that the mount is a key piece in the AP world. I have a laptop as well and as I work with computers and photoshop for a living I'm reasonably proficient in those areas.

A quick one for the guys in the wrexham area, do you just view from your back gardens or do you travel somewhere for better views. Also do you know of any clubs or meet ups in the wrexham area. I would be willing to travel a certain distance.

Cheers

Link to comment
Share on other sites
inedible_hulk

inedible_hulk

Posted
Posted

Hi Steve,

Usually the back garden, but sometimes I'll take my bins up onto the Horseshoe Pass. I know another member in a thread I can't find suggested the Denbigh Moors. Both would good for skies west and south, but there's no escaping the glow from the north east :(

The nearest club I've come across is the Chester Astronomical Society (http://chesteras.blogspot.co.uk).

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 2 months later...
adavies8900

adavies8900

Posted
Posted

Thanks for all the replies, it's good to see there are a few peeps here from wrexham and the surrounding area, thanks especially to m37 for that in depth reply.

Yes, I have a copy of making every photon count! A very good book, I have read through it once already and I think I'll give it another few goes to help stuff sink in.

I should have probably mentioned as well that yes my scope is a refractor and it's just on an eq1.

I already own a canon 350d which I believe is similar in spec to the 1000d and a newer 450d so I'm sort of ok for starting in that department. My current thinking is to go with the heq5 to begin with so that I have a half decent platform for both visual and AP as time and time again I read that the mount is a key piece in the AP world. I have a laptop as well and as I work with computers and photoshop for a living I'm reasonably proficient in those areas.

A quick one for the guys in the wrexham area, do you just view from your back gardens or do you travel somewhere for better views. Also do you know of any clubs or meet ups in the wrexham area. I would be willing to travel a certain distance.

Cheers

Hey man im from Wrexham to, i would recommend taking a drive to the horse shoe pass. Went there last week and it was crystal clear. But just got the feeling back in my ...... but was worth it. But i mostly take my telescope to the back garden :) good luck and if you are in debenhams pop up to see me haha 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.