Finding a record in these conditions

[Perene]

Guys,

I was wondering if you could tell me where I can find a video recorded using either the ASI120 or QHY5L-II from the Moon (specially the Moon) and planets using at least a telescope with an 8 or 10" aperture. I was searching for the dobsonian, but it can be any other, provided one condition is fullfilled:

- It can't be a recording where the object is being tracked.

I wasn't able to do the polar alignment when tried (right now I don't have a telescope, my old equipment was sold), but even if I could in future attempts I would like to avoid this task since I was planning to record things daily. Perhaps I couldn't even do it due to other conditions from my location so I need to be prepared for using the telescope to record manually. I don't want (and I can't right now) to use an equatorial mount. And I don't wish to do DSOs, so let's forget them in this thread.

I have found many videos recorded on the internet but I have yet to find one recording with no tracking and using these cameras.

I know all about tracking, mount, how the whole thing works, that's not the point.

The point is I needed to record videos from either planets or the Moon (DSOs would require other gear) and not use them to convert the whole thing into pictures. I know this is the end result, but I was hoping to see a recording like this:

The guy used a manual dobsonian, but the canon power shot sx230 hs. I need to know how much time the Moon and planets can stay in my field of view and how the recording looks like.

How the recording looks like is what I was trying to find out since I could not find the moon (as you know it's not visible for the whole month in each location) while testing with a maksutov 90 and the asi120mc.

It's amazing, but even tutorials explaining how to capture anything (I saw one mentioning Jupiter) with a manual dobsonian don't talk about either camera. As far as I know wouldn't using an asi or qhy zoom the details from the surface of the moon more than the YouTube video I posted above with the canon?

How can I invest in this area ever again if I can't see a single video that tells me how one can be better than each other? I know these cameras are very good but can't someone just point them to a target manually and record using sharp cap to show what the end result looks like?

I did this sort of the thing with an Earth object, but that was all I could capture at the time. Seeing was probably very bad, the settings were I am sure wrong, focus or the finder scope were wrong, you name it... Or maybe even the telescope was not suited for faint objects such as Saturn for being a 90mm facing things like clouds and light pollution.

[Perene]

"How one can be better than another", sorry for the typo. I meant we need to see with our own eyes how a recording made with an asi or qhy looks like and decide if we want one of them or another type of camera. I may even purchase both, but more information is definitely needed.

Indeed these cameras are hardly mentioned as they should in most contexts.

[wuthton]

Telescopes of the same aperture do not have the same field of view.

Meade lx200 8" has a focal length of 2000mm,f-ratio f10.The field of view with a QHY5 will only be a small part of the moon and consequently the image will appear to move quickly.

A skyliner 200 8" has a focal length of 1200mm,f5.91. A larger field of view, the moon will appear to move slower.

So you'd better specifying your f-ratio as the field of view will be similar regardless of whether the aperture is 4 or 14". A video of the moon with a QHY5 will look very similar from any aperture of telescope.

I have a QHY5-II mono, as the moon is currently rising I'll happily point to take a quick video at f5.

Imaging planets, AltAz mount, prime focus without tracking would be an exercise in frustration.

You've said you don't want to but it would be much, much, much easier with a polar aligned equatorial mount. Ignore those on here banging the HEQ5 drum, you can get some very pleasing results with quite modest equipment.

[Perene]

Telescopes of the same aperture do not have the same field of view.

Meade lx200 8" has a focal length of 2000mm,f-ratio f10.The field of view with a QHY5 will only be a small part of the moon and consequently the image will appear to move quickly.

A skyliner 200 8" has a focal length of 1200mm,f5.91. A larger field of view, the moon will appear to move slower.

So you'd better specifying your f-ratio as the field of view will be similar regardless of whether the aperture is 4 or 14". A video of the moon with a QHY5 will look very similar from any aperture of telescope.

I have a QHY5-II mono, as the moon is currently rising I'll happily point to take a quick video at f5.

Imaging planets, AltAz mount, prime focus without tracking would be an exercise in frustration.

You've said you don't want to but it would be much, much, much easier with a polar aligned equatorial mount. Ignore those on here banging the HEQ5 drum, you can get some very pleasing results with quite modest equipment.

Do you use a dobsonian with GO-TO/tracking? If so, how easy can you point to a target and show any image in Sharpcap's preview in order to start recording?

I'll be honest with you, what put me off this hobby (I sold everything, the camera and telescope...) was the fact Sharpcap could not show any image right away when I pointed the telescope to the night sky. Even a window (from a building), which didn't need any tracking, required some time before it could show anything and the camera looked like it was having a hard time showing anything, even though the telescope was clearly seeing the target. I don't particularly know how cameras work when you try to take a picture in the night. But knowing that a camera can't show anything in the preview in real-time as opposed to what happens during the day it was a major deception.

It was because I had to figure out which settings are good for each target, something you don't need during the day and there's enough light for the preview display results with any setting.

I need to know, even if you are using a GO-TO dobsonian and tracking the Moon/planets/btightest stars/stuff in the sky, that any image will be formed within a minute or even less and from then you will be able to record a video with more than 1, 2 minutes. When the image is steady you may begin recording, the question is, will it be steady?

My issue is not with any kind of telescope. If my only use of a telescope was to observe things right now I would have another one.

It's with the device used to record things from the sky.

The fact that no one cares about showing how your camera or the ASI120 are working while using Sharpcap/Firecapture and recording videos (not the final product which are the images) has also contributed for me to not develop any interest in investing in any of this again.

I mean, it would be a bad decision to waste any money in something you don't really know it is going to work, right?

I can say the same about the equatorial mount. Now I have been alerted this might not work properly right from the start in my location (see the latitude comments):

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/217562-schmidt-cassegrain-ap-latitude-collimation/#entry2336338

[wuthton]

Perene,

If you are wanting to do photography a dobsonian mount is not suitable, dobsonians are great for visual use but no good for photography. 

With an alt-az mount such as dobsonian and fork mounts your photographs will have an effect called "Field Rotation".

Imagine it's gone dark and you look at an object above Polaris (the Pole Star). 12 hours later due to the Earth's rotation the object is now below polaris. But the problem for photography is the object is now upside down.

So with a dobsonian if you took a astrophoto of an object once an hour for 12 hours you would have a series of pictures where that object will appear to turn 180 degrees. Exposures of a few minutes will show field rotation, the stars will appear misshapen. This is why an equatorial mount is essential.

I'd agree with what was said in your other thread, a minimum setup for astrophotography is an EQ5 Pro goto mount with an 80mm refractor such as the Skywatcher Equinox 80.

Just about any 80mm refractor with an f-ratio of F:5 to F:7 would be suitable. Try to buy second hand to save a lot of money, ask on here before making any purchase as there is always someone willing to help.

I'm afraid I have no experience with sharpcap or firecapture. As to setting up mounts in other latitudes, I'd be surprised if you had a problem with an Eq5 but hopefully someone with some more experience will be able to help.

[Perene]

Wait, how come you don't know Sharpcap or Firecapture and have a planetary cam? Have you never used it to record anything before?

I saw what can be achieved using a manual dobsonian, and even that sounds pretty good. 

I have no intention of doing anything with Deep Space Objects, so I guess you can leave an equatorial mount out of this. 

Or perhaps if I plan to stay capturing for long, even with tracking from a dobsonian, the mount won't do me any good if I point to an easy target like the MOON? 

Is that what you are saying?

My location is not good for watching DSOs due to light pollution. I could settle for the Moon/planets/Earth objects and perhaps one or two captures with very short exposure (?) from the brightest stars.

However I am not interested in purchasing a DSLR camera, instead I wanted something more simple like the QHY.

Or a camera that is good and don't have a sensor that gets dirty very easy, this happened with the ASI120MC right from the start, I had to clean and it didn't work 100%, had to use a specific tissue and isopropyl alcohol multiple times (imagine how mad one must be to think it could damage a expensive equipment just because it can't even stay cleaned and give a sharp image). The funny thing is that I never opened the camera, so it's unknown how the image looked like this in the first test:

http://i.imgur.com/6t5OC2q.jpg (two black dots are visible)

I trust your assessment that an equatorial mount is essential, and I have seen many sources saying a dobsonian mount is not ideal for AP. 

We have not seen many trials using both the QHY and ASI, plus Sharpcap and non-equatorial mounts, and VIDEOS (not just an image created from that video). The few I was able to find are using expensive telescope models or equatorial mounts. Some are not even telling you what equipment besides the camera was used.

And when they have the telescope we are thinking of buying, it's always using a different camera.

[wuthton]

Perene,

I use my QHY5-II as a guide camera for my main camera. I'm afraid I haven't imaged a planet in about 10 years, I no longer own a telescope that is suitable.

Most beginners start by imaging planets but generally quickly move on to wider field imaging of galaxies and nebulae. With a dobsonian you will not have this option.

Bottom line is: Yes you can use a dob and a qhy5-ii colour to get some good planetary images.

Is the mount ideal? No.

Make sure you check here before buying, some models will be more suitable than others.

[Perene]

Just take a look at this:

That's it! Exactly what I was looking for all this time. 

The author says its using a 10" dobsonian (assuming it's the GO-TO model), Firecapture and the ASI120MC. This is what I've been looking for ages.

A telescope using the altazimuth mount recording something with a planetary camera. But I want to see the video and know which settings were used in the software and once the target is in the center of the telescope if the preview shows any image right away (even if it's a bright star). 

Did the author used anything he forgot to mention in the telescope besides the camera? Was the eyepiece removed when that recording was made?

I was only able to find videos from DSLR cameras. Or created with the help of an EQ mount.

Actually I am more interested in finding a recording from a GO-TO dobsonian and the ASI or QHY5L-II.

This is the only one that I could find. But that is not enough, where is the Moon and other planets? Why nobody tried with Earth objects in daytime? Even when I had the ASI I did this recording.

Photos are not what I have in mind. I need to see a video. And I need to know for how long, even with tracking, you can record each target.

You see, we need to know all those things PRIOR to buying them. It doesn't make any sense to buy a telescope, camera, etc. and only after that you verify if you are going to accomplish your goal and if it's going to work.

The internet, and I am sure all of you reading this thread will agree, lacks such demonstrations of how all these products truly work. Unfortunately most people only buy telescopes to observe and don't care much about capturing images.