Thoughts and opinions please

[PJR]

Hi Guys

This is my first post as a newbie to astronomy so I trust you will understand my situation...

A few years back, my family wanted to have a look at the night sky.  Being short of cash (like most others), I decided to have a look at eBay and found an 8" Newtonian (new) 1000mm for less than £300.  It came with 20, 12.5 and 8mm eyepieces plus a few other things.

Yes, it was a Seben, but I reckoned that being a simple design it would either work or not and there was very little to go wrong.  In any event, £300 was not a huge amount of money to lose if it were to prove unusable.

Well, it seemed to work OK, and I bought 3 more EPs, a 30, 10 and 4mm (all Plossl) plus 2x and 3x Barlows - all cheapies and unbranded.  They are better quality than those supplied, but not brilliant.

The main problem with this setup was vibration, especially when focussing.

Anyway, the scope was used infrequently but recently, the kids asked me if they could have a look at Saturn, so out came the scope, only to find that the RA had ceased up and the gears were chewed.

So after looking around (mainly on this site), I ordered a new SW EQ5 GoTo mount and tripod plus 7Ah battery pack (the best I could afford!), which arrived yesterday.  What a difference that has made.  Vibration is now so small even when using the (original) R&P focus.

I set up the mount the best I could (can't see Polaris from the south side of the house), didn't bother with alignment stars as it was still quite early in the evening, but the SynScan took me to Saturn - without any adjustments!

OK, I still need to sort out cone alignment, but everything else seems pretty much OK.

I have ordered a laser collimator to adjust the primary mirror as that is slightly out of alignment.  I have adjusted the secondary mirror already.

Now, I would like to do some photography and I have a GXCAM-9 (9.1MP CMOS), but that has a couple of issues - max exposure time is about .5 second and it will only work with the supplied capture software and not with decent software like SharpCap.  I also have a Sigma SD10 (with T2-mount), but that requires a barlow in order to focus and does not have live view - focussing is difficult through the viewfinder.

Unfortunately, the laptop I am using only has 1 free USB port (will have to buy a hub), but I did get scope control via Stellarium and (separately) stills from the GXCam.

Focusing is a problem and I think I might want to invest in a USB control (or at least some form of motor).

So, where to go from here?  I just want general astronomy, both viewing and imaging, and I need to keep the kids interested.

If you have anything to say (good or bad) I would welcome your input.

Many thanks in advance

Peter

[Ant]

Hi and welcome to SGL.

You won't go far wrong with SW stuff, your mount is an equatorial and is driven and has GOTO - so these are all pluses when it comes to imaging.

What do you want to take pictures of?

I would suggest that you camera that you have would be absolutely fine for Lunar imaging - at least to start with. Attach the Sigma SD10 to the scope (remove the EP), you can then use some sort of remote control or delay timer for taking the pictures (focusing is usually a trial and error thing and can change slightly night on night), I usually measure that the focus point and use that as a starting point for subsequent nights. Take multiple shots and then stack and process on the laptop.

This is going to be the simplest way as you don't need to have the laptop outside with you.

For Imaging I would suggest purchasing a Webcam. I've seen great results with the XBOX webcam, but there are other philips (SPC900) that are also very good. That is the route most people take for planets (and of course close up lunar shots as well).

DSO imaging is going to be very tricky with 0.5s maximum exposures.

Ant

[PJR]

Hi Ant

Thanks for your comments.

What would I like to take pictures of?  Well a bit of everythis, I guess.  Unfortunately, the SD10 is a tad quirky.  I have ordered a cable release, but the problem is the mirror up method - not sure how that will work with the cable release.

Shutter has to be released (half press) first to get the mirror up and then again (half press) to take the photo.  The mirror then cannot be held up for the next photo.  This means having to half-press the shutter release twice each time which is not something the cable release can do (full press only).

Half-pressing the shutter each time does mean vibrations and possible movenment.

Photographing the moon would be OK, but to get a focus I have to have at least the 2x barlow in place which is really too high magnification for the moon, so I thought the SD10 would be better for DSO.  It will do a 15 second exposure with mirror up first and it does have a bulb option.  I will see what happens with the cable release when it arrives.

The GXCam is OK for the moon, but again only about two-thirds of the moon in the frame.  Good thing is the image size, bad thing is the poor focus, hence my thoughts about motorised focussing.  But with this camera, I could not use software for focussing as it will only work with the supplied software.

What program would you suggest for stacking?  I have already downloaded "Deep Sky Stacker", but for some reason, I am struggling with that - results are not as I would expect.

I also have a 1.3MP DCT130 which will work with most capture software, but unfortunately it's not very good as it has too many dead pixels (plus a bit of fluff on the sensor).

Personally, I do like higher resolution images - I like A3+ printed results (probably due to my poor eyesight!), and that's what puts me off web-cams.

Thanks again

Peter

[OscarTheGrouch]

For stacking, I've been using RegiStack.  I've only just started out and it was the easiest program I found to set up and go.

[PJR]

Hi Oscar

Thanks.  That's one program I have tried, but without much luck.  For some reason, it does't like my AVI files, and then after I transcode them, it generates various "Access Violation" and "Out of Memory" errors.

It's obviously something I am doing wrong. but I can't figure out what.

Peter

[oldpink]

try running your AVI's through PIPP first
I find this sorts out any issues with the raw AVI's direct from the camera

[cotterless45]

Just had third time out with the pd colour cam. Very easy to use, could be the future ,http://www.astrophoto.co.uk/index.htm#about

Nick.

[PJR]

Hi OldPink

Just D/L'd PIPP.  Unfortunately, that also has problems with my AVI files (XVID).  I currently use TMPGEnc - have used that for a while transcoding regular videos.  That has no problems reading and playing the original, but the outputs are either low resolution or Registax has issues with the Codecs.

Cotterless - thanks for the info.  Will have a look at that camera in more detail, although having received a remote for my Sigma DSLR today, I will have a play with that first.

I really am thinking about getting a flip mirror and USB focuser to make life easier.

Thanks again both.

Peter

[Blazar]

Might be a good idea to get hold of a copy of 'making every photon count'...by Steve Richards (you can obtain it from the sponsor of this site).  it has helped me along the way of not spending in the wrong directions. I still also mess around with Afocal photos (also known as Eyepiece projection). so any point and shoot camera in a bracket against the EP....got some nice shots of jupiter with it, as well as the moon.

Defo get the book before spending any more though would be the best advice I can offer. good luck!