The Camera Mount works! With Pics!

[Gutross]

as some of yall know, after failing to be able to gain focus with the modified webcam, I began looking around at Camera mounts to be able to take pictures with my point and shoot

seeing that all of the options were out of my budget i started rummaging through all the junk ive kept for years and came up with a camera mount that fastens onto the eyepiece so i could get steady shots

this is what i built! http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/246260-guessing-game/

Worked like a charm , i just now have to figure out how to adjust the settings on the camera to get the best image possible. looking on the viewscreen it looked kinda washed out of detail, but i was viewing with the 10mm and had the 15mm all prepped in the camera mount. that could have been the issue but attaching and detaching , then adjusting the camera took way too long, so it was just preassemled. 

though thinking about it now,my friends scope came with a 10mm widefield i could have used well i know for next time

here are the two best images i got last night, one of Jupiter and one of Saturn

[xtreemchaos]

great first shots mate,mount works good.thanks for sharing...charl...

[beamer3.6m]

Saturn is very good.

Over exposed on jupiter. Shorten the exposure time.

[Pete Presland]

Excellent nice start! agree with beamer on the Jupiter image its too bright you should be able to see some banding with the right settings.

[mwayne]

Congratulations! We must be like minded as I built and tested a somewhat similar rig to adapt a smartphone for eyepiece projection.

[Gutross]

I plan to test several features on my camera and take a picture of venus, saturn, and jupiter, with a variety of settings to figure out the best setting for each planet.  once we receive the rs-232 cables i will update the handheld to the most current, and i hope that will get rid of the alignment issues ive been having. then i will be able to control the telescope with stellarium and hopefully be able to see some fuzzies. i have been having some serious issues picking them out of the night sky with out the goto to put me in the aproximate area.

lucky for me the camera has a delay feature so the shake from me hitting the shutter buton does not mess it up!

[RT65CB-SWL]

Great start - practice makes perfect!

[PeterCPC]

You are on the AP slippery slope now! Well done.

Peter

[Gutross]

yes i am,. i looked up what an ok starter AP scope and Mount would cost.. everyone talks about the HEQ5 on here, but i cant find them on any US sites, 

but seeing what it would cost for something decent its going to be a couple years saving till i get an ap set up

[Juno6]

I got pics similar to your Saturn and Jupiter images by holding my digital camera to the eyepiece of the 114gt. Will try out a webcam with mine to try and get better plant images but if that doesn't work will have to upgrade the scope I reckon. Are you still getting problems with alignment? Same here although I don't think you will be able to upgrade the firmware in the handset.

[Gutross]

you wont be able to acheve prime focus with this scope, and Carte Du Ciel fixed the alignment issues

[Gutross]

I got pics similar to your Saturn and Jupiter images by holding my digital camera to the eyepiece of the 114gt. Will try out a webcam with mine to try and get better plant images but if that doesn't work will have to upgrade the scope I reckon. Are you still getting problems with alignment? Same here although I don't think you will be able to upgrade the firmware in the handset.

Carte Du Ciel and the ASCOM drivers allowed me to play with the settings to get the alignment spot on

[Juno6]

How did it allow you to play with new settings? My firmware version is 100.7 which cant be upgraded and has a bug in the 2 star align(the star alignment list only goes from a-f ).

To be honest its ******* me off not being able to align it but ive got some nice images of the moon and sunspots through it. I want some half decent images of Saturn and Jupiter with the cloud belts and detail on saturns rings as can sometimes been seen with this scope. Did you try using a barlow with your web cam? Might have to get a new scope then.

[Gutross]

How did it allow you to play with new settings? My firmware version is 100.7 which cant be upgraded and has a bug in the 2 star align(the star alignment list only goes from a-f ).

To be honest its ******* me off not being able to align it but ive got some nice images of the moon and sunspots through it. I want some half decent images of Saturn and Jupiter with the cloud belts and detail on saturns rings as can sometimes been seen with this scope. Did you try using a barlow with your web cam? Might have to get a new scope then.

to answaer about the barlow, yes i tried it but could not acheve an image,  now i could get an image during the day, but the draw tube was about 1mm out from the base of the focuser.   the focal point is too far down the  draw tube to acheve prime focus,  now i am thinking about desoldering the chip and sticking it further in with wire leads but i am unsure of this

for the rest of this reply i am working off my memory of what i went through to get it to align correctly.  it is a PITA to get it working right, but once you do the feeling of accomplishing what Celestron says is not possible with the 114GT is dawnright awesome!

first off, the scope will ahve to be controlled by a computer to "fix" the alignment issue

Download Carte Du Ciel and the ASCOM drivers for the Celestron scopes ( i know it says it does not work with the GT but it works with mine )

Align the scope with the 2 star alignment the best you can

connect the handheld to the computer with the RS-232 cable,  if you do not have a serial port on the computer you will need a serial-usb converter. personally iw ould only purchase it from  celestron so you know for a fact it will work

open up Carte Du Ciel with the ASCOM drivers installed

on the top right you will find the telescope settings, open this dialog box,  you will need to put in your location via GPS cords, select the correct com chanel, and the celestron compatable driver package.

on thenexstar handset youw ill need to press menu, scroll down to RS-232 and select enter. this prepares the handset for instructions from the computer

click connec on the telscope dialog in Carte du Ciel and the red square should turn green

now select somthing easy   say venus,

the scope will slew to where the program belives it to be. ( it most liekly will not be correct )

adjust the scope manually without leaving the RS-232 function to center venus in the EP

go back to the computer

near where the telescope settings button in there is a button that says Sync Scope.   click this,  it will ask you if Venus is centered,  select yes.  now do this for several more objects IE. very bright stars, moon, perhaps saturn or jupiter

once you go through this ( took me 30-40 minutes the first time, 15 the second time )

you should be able to have accurate slew.  one thing to note. when it slews to an object with the program it will apear as though it did not point correctly.  it will slew to the bottom left of all objects quickly then very slowly move up and right to the object.  if your patient just keep looking through and you will see the obkect slide into view.

i hope this helps

[Juno6]

Thanks for the detailed reply, I will have a go at that. I have the rs-232 cable. What firmware version do you have? Do you have the full list of stars to align to in 2 star align?

I did notice that people using a dslr with this scope could not get good results. Would not being able to achieve good focus without using a eyepiece also apply to the newer 114lcm or Skyhawk-1145P? Otherwise im thinking of getting a 102slt or a sky watcher 102 maksutov. Id like to get something smallish and light and still be able to take some pics of the planets.

Is it possible to use a web cam on an eyepiece?

[Juno6]

Just thought id add that ive seen a few pics of people using web cams with the 114lcm but if its the same design surely the 114gt is capable, I don't know.

[Gutross]

the primary  mirror may need to be moved up the tube, someone people have sugested using longer bolts to acheve it. with it being a spherical mirror it should not be too hard to do this as you dont have to worry too much about how "level" the mirror is, just need it to be centered in the tube.  i have yet to do this as the scope really isnt mine and i dont want to mess up a friends scope, though i will be talking about this with him tonight, i am sure he would love to give it a try.  because he wants to be able to see what im doing online when i play with the scope and webcam

[Juno6]

I wouldn't mess up your friends telescope

Have you tried using the web cam on the eyepiece?

[Gutross]

yes, and i have never been able to acheve focus on any heavenly body.  i can get focus during the day at targets closer than 8 miles

[Juno6]

I don't think 8 miles is going to cut it (maybe its the specific cam your using?)...nice image though.

Im sure they are cheap enough to replace an old 114gt if you can find one, that if your mate is willing to give it a go.

[Gutross]

I don't think 8 miles is going to cut it (maybe its the specific cam your using?)...nice image though.

Im sure they are cheap enough to replace an old 114gt if you can find one, that if your mate is willing to give it a go.

Just to let you know, I was able to acheve focus on the 114gt with a webcam, i had to moce the primary almost to the end of the bolts to do so, i dont ahve longer locking screws yet but it can be done, just ahve to be very careful!