DSLR and Telescope mounting Help!

[rpnphotography]

Hi All, 

I bought a telescope from a user on here over a year ago now and I'm ashamed to say, its been out a handful of times so far! But I'm hoping to change all that this year. I'm an aspiring Landscape photographer and I'm also in love with Astro/Starscape photography. To give you an idea of what Ive done so far Ive attached a low res image of one of my shots down at a famous landmark on the Dorset close not far from me. (Find me on facebook - RPNPhotographyDorset .Once the summer months roll in I'll make it my mission to capture the Milky way galaxy in all its glory, but for now, I'd like to venture into some astrophotography combining my telescope with my DSLR as this seemed the next logical progression given all the gear I have!

I currently have:

Nikon D7100 with all sorts of goodies (Interested to see how this cam will perform for astrophotography given it has no anti-alias filter)

Skywatcher 150p

EQ3-Deluxe with dual axis motors (modded with port but I don't have cable or a guide cam yet) The legs of the mount are filled with Kiln dried sand making it exceptionally sturdy!

Basic eyepieces plus 2x barlow and the camera mount adapter

homemade bahtinov mask

I've played around with polar alignment, tracking etc with some success, I bought a Nikon t-ring adapter and I've managed to get some wonderfully clear shots of the moon with the setup, but where my understanding seems to totally fall down, is connecting the DSLR to the telescope in such a way that it wont bring the telescope plunging downwards due to the misaligned weight gain from having the camera attached to the shaft? What do I do? I would like to try using the motors to track whilst photographing but I'm worried the motors will be under too much stress? I've googled and googled but I cant ever seem to find the exact answer to my question so figured its time to ask the experts directly! :-)

This next one is a really basic question and I feel silly for asking but if you don't ask, you never learn anything! Are you supposed to lock off the gears when using the motors to track or will that cause the motors to be locked too and simply burn them out?

If anyone has experience of adding the webcam to use as a guidecam and hooking the dual axis motors up a laptop for auto tracking I'd love to hear / see pictures of it especially if you had a DSLR connected too (if thats all possible on an EQ-3?)

Well, that's probably enough to start with, look forward to reading the responses as it'll give me a kick up the bum to get out and play with the scope more if I can get some of the questions answered that are holding me back!

Thanks in advance and I look forward to sharing the results with you all and learning a lot more!

Rob 

[Charic]

rpnphotography............Hi, Its been suggested before to attach one of those magnetic knife holders that chefs have in  their kitchens. You then add  weights of some description to counter balance the DSLR  Ive got the D5000 and that looks like its going to rip the focuser out, but Its as stable as can be.  other users will advise on the locks. There is also a good book that many people reference  for anyone wanting to photograph anything deep space. look here http://www.firstlightoptics.com/books/making-every-photon-count-steve-richards.html

[brantuk]

If you balance the scope with the camera already attached (and any other accessories) you'll find it won't take a dive when you unlock the clutches.

[rpnphotography]

Hi Brant,

So for that would you simply move the counter weights further down the rod and move the telescope up or down the fixings and rotate as needed? Or should I buy more counterweights?

Thanks for your help so far!

[Alien 13]

Hi Brant,

So for that would you simply move the counter weights further down the rod and move the telescope up or down the fixings and rotate as needed? Or should I buy more counterweights?

Thanks for your help so far!

Hi Rob,try and balance the scope with the supplied counterweights and moving the scope and camera within the tube rings to achieve balance in the other axis (a tiny bit of imbalance does sometimes help with tracking by removing play in the gears.

When you use the motors you should lock off both clutches to prevent any sag this does not strain the motor in any way.

Another useful tip is to make sure your camera is attached by a lanyard or strap to the top of the mount so that it wont fall and hit the ground if something comes loose (changing temp etc).

Alan

[brantuk]

Yup - what I do is balance the RA axis first by sliding the weights up/down the weights bar. Once the scope and weights sit level without moving I then lock the axis off in a horizontal position.

Then I balance the OTA on the Dec axis by either siding it up/down the tube rings - or sliding the dovetail either way along the saddle. Just depends where the weight is and how much room is available each way.

If you do this with all the accessories attached then the scope should just glide to any position you want to move it to, and just sit still, even with both clutches unlocked.

I found I only had to use extra weights when I attached a second scope which was quite heavy. But once everything is balanced nicely and can be moved in every direction without taking a dive, the motors won't struggle at all. 

[rpnphotography]

A couple of amazing answers there! Thank you so much! I will play around with it, perhaps even tonight considering I'm told there's a chance we may see the aurora in the uk tonight! :-) thanks guys!