The start of the Journey

[Marky1973]

Well, I haven't got anything "useable" from my Barn Door Tracker yet, just playing around at the moment, trying to work out what settings are best. Have taken some 60 second exposures at ISO800 and stacked 8 out of 10 with 10 Darks/Bias frames and have shown that the information is there - many more stars than could be seen with the naked eye - so I am on the right track.

However, there did seem to be some light pollution picked up on some of the images which spoilt some of the frames. I was shooting over a street lamp, so suspect that might be a problem, so will try something higher up next, and maybe drop the exposure length a little? Do people find that, for widefield, star/constellation shots, lots of shorter exposures are better than fewer longer exposures? Might try some 30 second shots which may also reduce tracking errors from the BDT - and I am still only "roughly" polar aligning, so know there is work to be done there.

In the meantime, the Moon is a pretty easy target, so took this one on Tuesday night, ISO100 1/450 exposure - a little bit of post-processing and I quite like it. Hopefully the first of many!

[Astrosurf]

That's a lovely shot. Looks like your focusing was spot-on. I have reall trouble with that!

As for the exposure length, it depends of the subject. For stars I would say shorter as they're bright, but if you want to get nebulae as well, then the exposures would have to be longer. Or do both so the stars aren't overblown and combine them! I'm never too sure myself so I hope I haven't given you duff gen. Someone else will be along in a mo.

Alxxx

[Marky1973]

Thanks Alex. Think the focus might have been slightly out as I wasn't using LiveView on the laptop, but nothing that a bit of sharpening couldn't deal with!

I'm concentrating on stars at the moment as I am very much a beginner, and only have a stock 1100D with the 18-55mm lens. Once I am comfortable with the Barn Door I will invest in a 55-250 or 75-300mm lens and try looking further - the tracker may need an upgrade to counter the weight though!

But part of the fun is just trying stuff out - its the beauty of digital - and seeing what happens. I just chose the wrong time of year to start as it gets dark way past my bedtime!

[Astrosurf]

The lens is certainly very important. A very good one can give amazing results compared to a poor-quality stock one. Good luck! Let us know how you get on.

[LukeSkywatcher]

Nice image. Its not easy getting the focus spot on when imaging a full moon. You must have focused using the southern limb?. I like the colour,very natural,just as it appears to the naked eye.

[Marky1973]

Thanks Paul - I'm a bit thick, but I presume you mean the southern end where the depth of craters could still be perceived? I used live view on the DSLR to get it as close as I could - even the moon moves pretty quickly at that magnification which did make it fun!

[Pete Presland]

looks pretty good to me!

[ollypenrice]

Thanks Alex. Think the focus might have been slightly out as I wasn't using LiveView on the laptop, but nothing that a bit of sharpening couldn't deal with!

I'm concentrating on stars at the moment as I am very much a beginner, and only have a stock 1100D with the 18-55mm lens. Once I am comfortable with the Barn Door I will invest in a 55-250 or 75-300mm lens and try looking further - the tracker may need an upgrade to counter the weight though!

But part of the fun is just trying stuff out - its the beauty of digital - and seeing what happens. I just chose the wrong time of year to start as it gets dark way past my bedtime!

Ooooh, no!!! Focus has to be nailed. Yours looks pretty good to me but it is the thing to get right on the telescope. There's no hiding place. Take as long as it takes and recheck it regularly as cooldown affects it.

Olly

http://ollypenrice.smugmug.com/Other/Best-of-Les-Granges/22435624_WLMPTM#!i=2266922474&k=Sc3kgzc

[Marky1973]

Ha ha! Sorry, didn't mean to be flippant! :-) I did spend some time on the focus, but reckon I could get better focus using the laptop as well....if that will work when there is no lens attached!

Weather is looking good for tonight, so might have another go!