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Hello from sunny Spain.

Astropedro

By Astropedro
in Welcome

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Astropedro

Astropedro

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Hi people.

My name is Pete and as you have probably gathered, I live in Spain.  Originally from Cheshire, Ive been living in Spain on and off for 17 years with a good few years inbetween in the UK.

     My wife and I have always been big sci-fi fans and astronomy was always something that we would eventually get into especially as we have slightly better conditions here in Spain than our UK colleagues!

     We began with modest equipment such as a Celestron First Scope (115mm aperture if memory serves) with a single axis drive motor for tracking.  We also purchased a Canon 300d in the hope that we could get some images of DSO's.  Knowing that we had very basic equipent, we didnt expect too much and sure enough, we couldnt manage much past 10 to 15 second exposures.  We had a go at stacking these using the usual free software and tweaking in Photoshop.  We got some satisfactory images of the moon, Jupiter and some of the brighter Messiers.

     It was with this cheap and cheerfull kit that we got hooked on observing and imaging.  We wanted more so we splashed out on a new Nexstar 5se.  The goto on this fella was awesome and although we were never really successful using the wedge it tracked reasonably well for up to half a minute or so.  We again got some reasonable results imaging the brighter messiers and some good lunar shots.  We did, unfortunately, feel that we werent getting the images we expected to achieve with this kit and were thinking of selling the Nexstar and purchasing something bigger.  It was at this time that the nexstar motors began making a weird noise and the slew speed became erratic.  We contacted Amazon and they allowed us to return it with a full refund.  This all happenned arround 2 years ago.

     We then went a few months being telescopeless!  Is that a word?  Due to work comittments we didnt have much spare time so we purchased a little SW 90mm Mak on a goto mount.  It was a great grab and go scope but was lacking in the imaging department.  It simply couldnt handle the weight of a DSLR but it kept us interested until we finally purchased a SW200P on an EQ5 with the Dual Axis kit.  WOW!  The sheer size of the beast was amazing when it arrived in boxes big enough to park your car in!  What we have seen and imaged since then has really got us hooked for life.  Which brings us to where we are now.

     A few months ago we moved to a large house that boasts a solarium on the top floor.  It has 2 small terraces and a medium sized one adjacent to 3 sides of it and is perfect for setting up the scope.  The solarium itself is going to have some comfy seating, a 28inch LCD and a PC for guiding and proccessing images etc.  I have an AstroEQ on order from Tom Carpenter and a Canon 1000D off Ebay to replace the 300d which doesnt have liveview and hence is a tad difficult to achieve good focus with.  I also purchased a Vesta Pro webcam off Ebay which I intend to use as a guider with the SW 9x50 Finder.  I assume it will double up nicely as a planetary cam.

     So we are basically looking forward to some guided imaging once the new camera, the AstroEQ and all the cables arrive sometime late this week or next week.  Forgot to mention that we have a digital shutter release on order so we can programme it to take multiple long exposures of varied lengths.  The Nexstar mount was capable of this and its something we miss.  Cant wait for it to all arrive!

     Well, thats enough about us and our kit.  We look forward to sharing our results, heartaches, successes and failures with you all and please feel free to advise us if any of you are using simillar kit out there.

Clear Skies.

Pete

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swag72

swag72

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Welcome to SGL Pete - Sunny Spain it most certainly isn't at the moment!! Not for me anyway, I've found it rather cold and windy of late. Sounds like you have really been bitten by the bug. You will certainly get a few more nights under your belt in a year than the poor guys and gals in the UK.

Shame you're so far away, but if you are ever up this way, near Valencia, drop me a line.

Look forward to seeing you around :smiley:

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Astropedro

Astropedro

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Thanks for the warm welcome guys.Although the weather has been a bit UnSpain like recently it is nice again now on The Costa Del Sol.  My 2 passions in life are golf and astronomy and good weather is a must for both!

Hello to you guys in Alicante and valencia!  I will indeed drop you a line if I get up that way.  Likewise if you venture out down here.

Pete

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