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my my first time

Jonesee

By Jonesee
in Getting Started With Imaging

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Langy

Langy

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I'm sure there must be a place for parts, the MD itself is cheap at £33 which is what I paid for mine, when you get going you will benefit from using it.

Some nice first pics, I guess by looking at them they are AFocal, camera up to the EP.

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Jonesee

Jonesee

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I'm sure there must be a place for parts, the MD itself is cheap at £33 which is what I paid for mine, when you get going you will benefit from using it.

Some nice first pics, I guess by looking at them they are AFocal, camera up to the EP.

yes my Samsung s3 to the ep

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Langy

Langy

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yes my Samsung s3 to the ep

For the mobile you have got a good exposure and nearly there with the focus. I couldn't manage to get anything near that with either of the 3 mobiles I have here. For my AF images I had to use a compact digital which has all the manual controls, but as you probably found lining up to the EP is not an easy thing.

If you are keen to keep doing the AF with your mobile have a search for a mobile holder, there is a good example in the forums somewhere on a home made one for some ideas. That would make your life a lot easier.

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Jonesee

Jonesee

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For the mobile you have got a good exposure and nearly there with the focus. I couldn't manage to get anything near that with either of the 3 mobiles I have here. For my AF images I had to use a compact digital which has all the manual controls, but as you probably found lining up to the EP is not an easy thing.

If you are keen to keep doing the AF with your mobile have a search for a mobile holder, there is a good example in the forums somewhere on a home made one for some ideas. That would make your life a lot easier.

with only picking up the scope yesterday I was just eager to get spotting and just put my phone upto the ep and yes I did struggle and took lots of pics but ended up with around 20 acceptable pics but I would like to know what other things I could use on this scopeas I have never owned or used a telescope before

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Langy

Langy

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If you look through some of the posts I've created you will see several queries and things I've done. I've only had my scope about a month now.

Firstly I couldn't get on with the RDF, just couldn't use it to point at the right object in the sky. So I've bought the Telrad finder scope think it was about £34 delivered. There's a post on that with a final image of it being mounted and the RDF removed (just two screws) the result is that I can use that and point to anything and always the have the object in the EP. Probably the best change I've done on the scope.

The second thing I bought the MD. If you are roughly polar aligned (spent about 10 minutes to set it properly the other night as we had clear skies) and the tracking worked a treat, just having to alter the speed of the drive and not bother to keep adjusting the Dec slow motion.

As to imaging I've tried three different methods. First on the first day like you tried to do some AFocal with the mobile (failed) so I did the same thing with a digital compact, reasonable results but not very good. I also bought a 2xBarlow and an adapter for my DSLR (old Canon EOS 300D) that works well for lunar shots. Thirdly I bought a new xBox webcam from eBay for under £5 delivered and modded it just a 10 minute job. Bought an adapter for £15 as I couldn't find anything the right size to mount on it to fit in the EP. Still struggling a bit with the webcam to get the settings right but people use webcams for lunar and planetary images as you can record a video and stack them in Registax to get good images.

If you have a camera, especially a DSLR tripod mounting and lots of short exposure images (about a second for 300mm lens) then stack in Deep Space Stacker software (free again). I think out of all the imaging options this has been the most enjoyable, so not even through the scope. My last attempt I mounted the DSLR on the top of the scope and using the tracking motor managed to take a lot of 5 second images.

Take a look at my gallery you will see different albums for each type of imaging I have done.

Today I ordered a new EP. The 20mm EP with the scope is nice even for a budget, but I don't like the 10mm. The opening is very narrow and as I wear glasses not so easy to use.

If you have any question don't hesitate to ask, I'm still new and have a lot to learn but have already made some big steps in my eyes.

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Langy

Langy

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Yes you remove the EP and place the webcam in the EP holder. To mod the webcam just search for it I found a very easy fully imaged list on how to do it. Basically remove the lens, take out the filter and destroy 4 LEDs.

This is how I first used to connect the cam to the scope, It works but a lot of messing about.

post-34707-0-89624300-1392246895_thumb.j

This is now with the adapter which just fits straight in the EP.

post-34707-0-12868600-1392246905_thumb.j

The image that hits the webcam will be a lot bigger than you see through the 20mm EP, close to the 10mm as the chip on the webcam is so small. For something so cheap at least if you mess it up or it doesn't work out (before you buy the adapter) you don't stand to lose too much money.

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Langy

Langy

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You basically use it instead of the EP, that is why you have to remove the lens.

Here is the link to mod it, as I said I couldn't find any tube to fit in the EP holder, so I ended up buying the adapter.

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/131246-xbox-livecam-mod-cliff/

Also since that second picture I cut back the front opening on the front cover so I can have the cover on with the adapter fitted to make it tidier and at least the PCB is all hidden.

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Jonesee

Jonesee

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Quite good images for a mobile. The next step of attaching a webcam or DSLR will give you much more detail, but these aren't bad for your first attempt.

thanks alot I do not have a DSLR and cannot really afford one yet so will probably look to the webcam option but need to know how to use it in conjunction with the scope

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Langy

Langy

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Once you have it setup as above you use for windows a free software called Sharp Cap to change all the settings on the webcam and record.

As you have not got tracking on you may then need to use software called PIPP to center all the images and finally Registax to stack the video into a final image.

It all takes some practice which I am far from real good results, but search for above and see what you can find out, there are some videos on YouTube to help.

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