I've captured a Planet after 2yrs. of trying

[stepping beyond]

I'm Stepping beyond and for about 2 yrs. l finally had my dream come true after so many failed attempts. I first was using a Z10 dobsonian {fail} , then a lil eq80 refractor on a eq1 mount {fail} and once I got my Black Widow 8 in. astrograph on my used lxd55 mount "SUCCESS WOOHOO" ! 2yrs. of using my 1 good hand and failure after failure, I got Jupiter on my laptop screen. My disabilities hold me back from doing a lot but, I can show my grandson what grandpa sees with his scope and teach him about astronomy .

[Freddie]

Yes you have, good job. There is also some of the banding visible as well. Is this a single shot? I'm not familiar with the cams you have. If you can take a short AVI and stack, more detail would come through. Nice job though.

[si@nite]

Well done indeed on capturing your first Jupiter image, like Freddie says there is some banding showing through!

[stepping beyond]

Thanks yall , this is just a snap shot of many shots that I'll attempt to stack in ccdStacks. We didn't have my balance worked out , it would tend to drift after a little while . This was the second night after receiving the Black Widow 8/ Widow Maker 80mm riding on top. It's a chore to get it balanced but, thankfully my CNA helps to set up everything and enjoys watching me smile  , she doesn't see that very often . Only at night when I get something in the ep or on my laptop, does my expression of excitement  show. Living my life through the eyepiece. I've just begun to image Planets and it took almost 2 yrs. to get real good at imaging  the moon.

[Aussie Dave]

Conrat's Stepping Beyond, much better than my first attempt of Jupiter which was just a bright, eliptical, smudgy dot. Keep at it!

[stepping beyond]

AD, my 1st was a tiny small disc in a 2 min. video, I the tried a 2x barlow and the Starshoot ll and got this. I talked to John at TeleVue Visionary and was instructed to get a 5x powermate and t ring for my T510NG and I would even be able to capture the whole Andromeda galaxy. It's on my wishlist , I'm working at imaging with handicaps and being a disabled amateur astronomer isn't going to hold me back. Thanks guys I try really hard

[Aussie Dave]

AD, my 1st was a tiny small disc in a 2 min. video, I the tried a 2x barlow and the Starshoot ll and got this. I talked to John at TeleVue Visionary and was instructed to get a 5x powermate and t ring for my T510NG and I would even be able to capture the whole Andromeda galaxy. It's on my wishlist , I'm working at imaging with handicaps and being a disabled amateur astronomer isn't going to hold me back. Thanks guys I try really hard

Don't forget your credit card, this is only the start apparently lol. I've yet to see the Andromeda galaxy, still working on my setup here and always getting side-tracked by looking at other online scope listings.

[stepping beyond]

AD, don't use cc for my astro addiction if my family up north doesn't get it I do without until I have enough saved. I just sold my 80mm refractor and that has added to the kitty, a 5x is in the future for sure. From what I understand from talking to them directly and vendors the powermates are above and beyond a barlow.

[Pete Presland]

Congratulations on your 1st capture, well done to you!

[Aussie Dave]

AD, don't use cc for my astro addiction if my family up north doesn't get it I do without until I have enough saved. I just sold my 80mm refractor and that has added to the kitty, a 5x is in the future for sure. From what I understand from talking to them directly and vendors the powermates are above and beyond a barlow.

That's exactly how I purchase as well SB. My problem has been buying accessories that I don't need only because they've come up locally reasonably cheap. My recent thinking now is, less is best and quality rather than quantity. I had 6 scopes at one stage plus spare parts. I'm seriously considering selling my last 2 scopes and upgrade yet again to 1 complete, better package more suitable for AP. I keep looking at scopes well out of my price range though. I don't think I'll ever be satisfied with what I have.

I've seen the 5x coming up more on the Bay but not sure if I want (need) one. I've never really got into the Barlows, I rarely use mine. I prefer to read up on customer/member reviews on products and what gear they use with them, and the quality etc. From vendors and resellers, specs are more important to me than the sales pitch. I haven't looked into them tbh but they have caught my eye and often wondered how good they are.

[stepping beyond]

 AD, my thoughts are the 5x powermate would only be used for pulling finer detail from an object but, not for capturing the Raw image . I've read that between 2000 - 2400 mm fl is ideal for imaging on UHH  photography" I think" so a 3x barlow would work just fine. I got to keep trying with my 2" ed barlow to see how it'll do, It's just too cold for the next couple days to try anything.

[Aussie Dave]

If the 5x Powermate can out perform my Barlows with my higher mag EP's (which wouldn't be difficult) then I may consider buying one for viewing but I really can't see any use for them. I'd rather just have 3 high quality EP's and be done with it. Imaging with barlows is another story altogether. I still haven't opened that book yet

[stepping beyond]

I would be all in on ep projection but, I've tried and am unable to do that type of imaging. My disability and shakiness keeps me from touching the scope while imaging or viewing. I've got Gemini scope software that allows me to control the mount and teamviewer 10 to control my laptop/mount from my" CAVE " in the  basement on my desktop. It would be cool to have an autofocuser.

[stepping beyond]

I got totally lost with trying to reply to your previous post AD, for visual indeed set fl eps are the way to go , though my 3-6mm Nagler is the best thing since rolled oats and sliced bread for me . Fov is narrowed but, aren't they all at  really high mag. anyway, I do have a 9mm Z100 series that's pretty nice but, it's no TeleVue can't afford $659 for a single Ethos w/ 100 degree so I settled and I'm not sulking it does a good job.

[Aussie Dave]

haha, don't mind me SB. I often drift off in to my own little world with my ramblings. Don't worry, you didn't miss anything

Can you connect an electronic shutter release cable to your imaging gear or set it to take delayed exposures? that would be the way to go and of course an adapter or clamp to fix the camera to the end of the EP. I actually like doing eyepiece projection but I have yet to find a suitable camera to do that.

I bought a t-ring and adapter for my DSLR for Xmas but have found out soon after that my el cheapo second hand DSLR has exposure problems which I still haven't worked out. Hey! At least your imaging I'm back to square one again *sigh*

[stepping beyond]

AD, it's been a while . the Oppressive heat and humidity along with draught conditions has me only going out at late night adventures. I've got 3 Planets in videos and the processing is a headache. I run them thru over and over again and today I made some progress pulling a lot detail out of Saturn's rings. At least I'm starting to make improvement in the right direction. As for Jupiter, Woohoo ! I'm improving by leaps and bounds. Since the Planets are out of my fov , I 'll be jumping into DSO imaging with my old CCD DSI.