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First Light - First pic

bangkokbrian47

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bangkokbrian47

bangkokbrian47

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Well, after having to wait over 1 month before I got a break in the clouds, I eagerly dragged my brand new Bresser AR-152L and EXOS2 mount out onto the lawn and pointed it skywards (no time for any sort of polar alignment, just manual tracking of the DEC and RA axis).

It wasn't yet dark, but the moon was shining down from a fairly large gap in the clouds, so in went the stock 26mm Bresser super plossl, lined up the moon in the finder, put my eye to the eyepiece, focussed, and WOW. My first ever glimpse of any heavenly body through a telescope and it looked surreal. Even the wife unglued her iPad from her hand to have a look and was amazed (she even asked if I could see Aldrin's footprints - her little joke).

Whilst I got the scope for primarily, visual observing, I had purchased a 2" T ring and adaptor for my Nikon D3100, you know, just in case... Well the temptation was too great and whilst I struggled, on my knees, to get the moon in focus through live view (no swivel screen on the D3100 and no 2" diagonal either) I managed to get this (2nd shot out of 18). To say I was gobsmacked is an understatement! I was really pleased at my very first astro image. I think though that this could be a disaster - I think I might have caught the bug. :eek:

Unfortunately, clouds rolled in again, the rain started and my euphoria was temporarily dampened.

What I do know though is that I'm really hooked on this hobby and I am looking forward to the dry season here in Thailand when we can sometimes go for 3-4 months with little or no rain and cloudless skies (hopefully).

It's all your fault that I'm emptying my wallet like there's no tomorrow, but I'd still like to say thanks to everyone on SGL for all the help and advice I've gleaned from reading hundreds of topics on this fabulous forum.

Single frame shot at 400 ISO and 1/500 sec. Nikon D3100.

Cheers,

Brian

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bangkokbrian47

bangkokbrian47

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Thanks to everyone for their kind and encouraging comments. I was really pleased with the results as it was taken with my basic standard setup and little forward planning. I don't yet have any means of tracking other than using the manual controllers and no filters etc..

The scope is a big beasty at a 1200mm focal length plus large dew shield so when looking towards the zenith the camera viewfinder/screen is pretty low down but the view was well worth the inconvenience. I have a 1.25" Nikon adapter on order which will allow me to mount the camera on the diagonal which will make life a bit easier.

My major problem is that I can't see Polaris from my garden due to a small "forest" (I'm at latitude 17 degrees N approx), so I will have to use some other method of polar alignment before I can track successfully. I hope to have a couple of drive motors very soon and am keen on purchasing Tom Carpenter's AstroEQ box to give me both accurate tracking and a GOTO ability. Do you think this is a good route to take?

My initial intention was just to view visually and not bother with imaging as the D3100 is not the best DSLR regarding software. But the results I had last night have blown those initial intentions out of the water so it looks like I'm on the slippery slope to financial ruin. But I'll do it gradually, I hope!! So more moon and planetary imaging to keep me going.

Again, thanks for your encouraging comments.

Brian

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RichM63

RichM63

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Hey Brian, I use Tom's AstroEQ and a home brewed belt drive setup and I think that it is great.

Significantly less expensive than a full OEM GOTO setup but obviously slightly more complicated to use.

In that you will require, laptop, power, cables, EQMOD and CdC, or Stellarium Scope, or HNSky.

As long as you know and understand the limitations of your rig then IMHO it is a great way to get into and learn how to go about things without spending too much.

In your case I'm guessing that you are near the weight limits for your mount when adding a DSLR, then throw in a guide scope, webcam?

I found that using 15kg counter weights on the EQ5 rather than just 5kg allows me to get easier balance and also adds to overall stability.

Head over to the DIY section and read through the AstroEQ thread for more info'.

Cheers,

Rich

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bangkokbrian47

bangkokbrian47

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Hi Rich,

Thanks for your comments.

Yeah, your right about nearing the weight limit for my mount, though, according to other members of the forum, the EXOS-2 is a better build quality than the EQ5 that it's based on. The EXOS-2 mount actually comes with 2 x 5kg counter weights so I have no problem balancing the scope in either axis.

I've already got my RA & DEC motors, they're Bresser ones that appear to be clones of the Vixen MT-1WT motors (except for the fancy gear cover) and are very smooth, virtually silent and very accurate (within +/- 0.005% of sidereal rate). I got them with the Bresser Duo Motor Controller (no GOTO) which can slew them at up to 32x sidereal and I can't even hear them.

The problem I will have when I get Tom's AstroEQ is how to connect them to the AstroEQ box in that they use an 8 pin DIN socket (it looks like only 4 wires are used though) in the motor and not the RJ11 connectors that Tom uses. I've asked on the forum if anybody has used the AstroEQ with these motors but had no reply so far. I'm hoping that Tom will be able to help me on that one or supply configured cables that will work.

As far as the other points that you make, I've already downloaded EQMOD, the ASCOM drivers, Stellarium and Stellarium Scope onto my laptop and got everything setup and working using the EQMOD simulator, so I can  select and GOTO in Stellarium and see the simulated scope go off to, and lock on the target.

I've also waded through the 40 odd pages of the AstroEQ topic and gleaned lots of knowledge from it.

Tom has stated that he will have more units available in Mid September and that he can ship out to Thailand no problem. So it's just a case of being patient, not my strong point!!.

Cheers,

Brian

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