Show me your cheap images

[Robbo AR]

M42 taken with my modest set up on Saturday

[Oily]

All you have to do is take a look at QM's blog to show what can be done on a budget:

http://astrocasto.blogspot.co.uk/

[Oily]

And my effort from a modest setup,EQ5,AstroEQ,200 dob OTA and a Canon 350D

[MegaDonutz]

Nice images.... and makes me think I'm doing something wrong because I can't seem to get anything like that (Jupiter) with my DSLR and Skymax 127 Mak....  will a Barlow lens get me better magnification whilst retaining focus? At the moment anything higher than a 10 x eyepiece is on its limits and the bands on Jupiter are just visible !?

[ArmyAirForce]

Comet C/1995 O1 Hale-Bopp

35mm automatic film camera

[Robbo AR]

Nice images.... and makes me think I'm doing something wrong because I can't seem to get anything like that (Jupiter) with my DSLR and Skymax 127 Mak....  will a Barlow lens get me better magnification whilst retaining focus? At the moment anything higher than a 10 x eyepiece is on its limits and the bands on Jupiter are just visible !?

I'm new to astrophotography myself , but as I understand it you need to be using a webcam to image planets. DSLR's are used on DSO's and if you introduce a barlow into the equasion you are actually reducing the amount of light that the camera's sensor can 'see' increasing the length of time needed for an exposure

I'd get yourself a copy of Steve Richards 'Making every photon count' from FLO if I were you , loads of good advice in there that can end up saving you a fourtune in the long run.

[rodhull]

Lagoon Nebula through an ST80 on an EQ1 with v basic RA drive (£140) plus Canon 600D (£350). From middle of nowhere in Spain Summer 2013.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sdrandall/9825159663/

First attempt at Saturn through SkyWatcher 200p with modified £5 Xbox Live webcam.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sdrandall/8619643909/

Bit of a thread resurrection, but can I ask how you managed that first pic? I also have the ST80 on the tabletop EQ1 and the same clock drive (I presume the same one without the handset) and I can't get anything approaching that out of it. I've only really used it once and got so frustrated with it I've not touched it since - swinging the scope round fouls against the motor's box for one, and I simply couldn't get it to produce any kind of accurate tracking. Even roughly polar aligning it was very tricky indeed, so the tracking was pretty much pointless...

Is that a single shot? (Flickr's EXIF info would lead to believe it is so) - did you polar align? Also, any tips for mitigating the purple stars caused by the ST80? Any images (even short exposures that don't require tracking) I've taken with it look hideous quite frankly due to the CA! I get much better pictures using a DSLR alone, or attached to the 200P Dob and taking short-ish exposures...

[Crebles]

Hi rodhull, thanks for enquiring.

Helpful factors might have included:

1. It was taken from a dark village in Spain (ST80 travels nicely bubbled wrapped in hand luggage)

2. I used the long leg tripod version of EQ1 not the tabletop one.

3. I probably tweaked it a bit in Adobe Lightroom 4 (which i love).

4. A big dollop of Beginners Luck!

Didn't polar align particularly carefully, didn't combine any images - just the best single shot, tweaked in Lightroom.

[rodhull]

That's exactly why I got the ST80/portable EQ1 combo too. I knew it wouldn't produce stellar results (excuse the pun) but I've been frustrated with using it even for any kind of pictures (bar for white-light solar which it works well for). I'd be interested what kind of joy you had polar aligning (or if you bothered) for those ST80 shots, and any other tips for using that particular setup for holiday snaps...

[rodhull]

I see you edited your original response, thanks for the info. I might get the clock drive out and try again, there have been some lovely crisp nights recently and have had some great visual observing recently...dark, clear skies always help!

For polar aligning, did you simply use the ST80's RDF or through Liveview on the camera itself once all hooked up?

[jtlandreneau]

OneSky Newtonian on a CG-4 mount, Orion SSAG, and Canon T3i DSLR

Could probably get everything for under $1000, definitely under $1500