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What can the Skywatcher Evostar ED80 do for me?


MattJenko

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some very nice looking photos people.

with regards to the mount is the heq5 more then acceptable for this scope or would it be it be better to go for the neq6 instead ? 

I'm very new to all this so I'm unsure on which route to go i was thinking either heq5 and the ed 80 or neq6 and a 130pds as they both seem very good stater scopes any recommendation would be excellent.

thanks darren.

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some very nice looking photos people.

with regards to the mount is the heq5 more then acceptable for this scope or would it be it be better to go for the neq6 instead ? 

I'm very new to all this so I'm unsure on which route to go i was thinking either heq5 and the ed 80 or neq6 and a 130pds as they both seem very good stater scopes any recommendation would be excellent.

thanks darren.

An HEQ5 will easily handle this scope and a guide scope. For bigger scopes like a 200pds some would probably recommend the NEQ6. 

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I use PixInsight, so the steps are :

Calibrate all the subs, register and then stack them. This gives the raw RGB frames. I then use DynamicCrop of get rid of edge artifacts and use the same crop on each frame. Then they all get their own dose of DBE to remove any gradients. Linear Fit is used to match the backgrounds and then I combine the channels. Colour calibration is next followed by a SCNR green removal, and then I usually stretch at this point. Once stretched, noise reduction, and then it is a case of Curves and Histogram to get the colours and background right. There is rarely anything else to do.

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I'm very new to AP with only a couple of "succuessful" shots under my belt, but enjoying it all immensely,

Here's one of M45 taken with my new Evostar 80ED. 58x40sec at ISO800. No fieldflattener, but tried lens correction in Lightroom.

Critique is very welcome!

post-46901-0-08810300-1448537664_thumb.j

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  • 3 weeks later...

Wonderfull photos and thread!

I have the great 80 ED on the solid HEQ5.

I am trying out some astrophotography with minimal success due to bad polar alignment. I am not facing north and so polaris is not visible. 

Can I mange by using Alignmaster to replace the polar alignment? Drift alignment sounds too diffecult for a guy wiht my skills. 

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Drift alignment is the way forward for you I reckon, and I also think you do yourself a disservice. Once you have done it a few times, it will become pretty well rehearsed. Have a read of this method and see if you reckon you can do it from your location:

http://www.cloudynights.com/page/articles/cat/articles/darv-drift-alignment-by-robert-vice-r2760

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Hi I must admit these pictures are really great but I can't afford an 80ed how does an 80st compare to the ed in respect to photos my budget is not able to stretch that far as I have to prioritse and need to upgrade my mount to an Heq5 as a minimum first or if I can stretch it to either an azeq5 or eq6 but swmbo might havevother designs on my plans.

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Hi I must admit these pictures are really great but I can't afford an 80ed how does an 80st compare to the ed in respect to photos my budget is not able to stretch that far as I have to prioritse and need to upgrade my mount to an Heq5 as a minimum first or if I can stretch it to either an azeq5 or eq6 but swmbo might havevother designs on my plans.

The ST-80 is more suited as a grab-n-go visual scope or as a guide scope. If your budget can't stretch to an 80ED then perhaps look at the 130-PDS. Pair it with your HEQ5 and you'll be all set to go. 

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Thanks a second but more portable pds would be nice I think I need to sweet talk SWMBO a bit more as she already thinks I spend too much on my Astro Kit Lol if only she really knew how much I have spent she would have kittens.

Geoff

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  • 2 weeks later...

I am amazed! I have all the gear (and no idea!) as some would say, the SW set up just the same, and am desperate to get some good shots, your work has given me renewed hope and enthusiasm! (Although the sky is not helping, over 3 weeks without a chance of a shoot)

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But (and a big one) - how do I make sure of good focus with my DSLR? I have a modified EOS 1000, with Liveview, and can't seem to get a good 'spot-on' focus

Help and advice will be much appreciated

(I've also tried with a very short Apogee refractor, and there doesn't seem enough travel to focus?)

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But (and a big one) - how do I make sure of good focus with my DSLR? I have a modified EOS 1000, with Liveview, and can't seem to get a good 'spot-on' focus

Help and advice will be much appreciated

(I've also tried with a very short Apogee refractor, and there doesn't seem enough travel to focus?)

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/bahtinov-focus-masks/starsharp-bahtinov-focus-masks.html

One of these will make focusing easy peasy.  :smiley:

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timtomxf: As Phil-lost mentioned, a bahtinov mask is a great help for achieving focus. I made one myself out of the back of a thin black plastic folder. It took while to cut it all out and you have to be really careful, but it works great. They don't cost a lot though, so you can also buy a more solid one.

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As mentioned, using a Bahtinov mask on a bright star is a great way. Also, tools like APT have a FocusAid, which is an overlay which you drag over a star in LiveView and when you zoom in as far as you can go, it will display a number which is the star size basically, and you can adjust focus until this value is as small as you can get it. This works without having to move the scope to a bright star (most of the time).

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  • 3 weeks later...

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