Help with telescope

[Katash707]

Hi I own a 70/900 refractor and a 200p dob want to try astrophotograohy had a go with the refractor but come to the conclusion the f/ratio is to large so not sure which other scope to buy any help will be great could stretch to about £200 at a push not looking for amazing images to start with just ok ones thanks

[laudropb]

To do AP it is not so much the scope, but the mount which is the critical factor. I am afraid your budget would not cover a decent mount.

[Katash707]

I was told to get a decent image with my refractor of dso I would need at least a 30 min exposure and to go for a smaller f/ratio to reduce the the exposure time is this true I understand I will need a better mount but I have seen some images that are ok with eq1 mounts with tracking if balanced right and weighted at the bottom of the eyepiece tray to start with before splashing thousands on it

[MARS1960]

Got to concur with Laudropb, my second hand tripod/mount (CG-5 GT) cost the same as my new ED80 PRO and it does the job with scope extension tubes and DSLR attached.... just.

[kendg]

To do multiple 30 minute exposures you will need a good mount and good guiding system. 

The mount is the more important of the 2 of course and doesn't come cheap.

[happy-kat]

I suggest reading this link and reading in general a lot more before spending any money.

http://www.nightofmanywords.com/articles/kit-lens-astrophotography

Getting to grips with starting with imaging then look at where you might go next. If you already have a dslr and kit lens there is lots to try and techniques to learn.

This thread is from members without an equatorial mount.

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/228101-the-no-eq-dso-challenge/?fromsearch=1

You don't say what mount you have or what camera.

[Katash707]

Nappy Kat that's the kind of advice I'm looking for great thread it gets very discouraging for newbies cause of all the expense and I understand why people think not taking up astronomy or astrophotography has you need lots of money to do it thanks for the help got my hopes up again in getting some kind of image

[almcl]

If you are handy, you could have a go at making a 'barn door tracker'  (Google it or I'll post a link, if you can't find a suitable one). 

I made mine from bits and pieces that were lying around but even if you have to buy the hardware a tenner should cover it. Mount your DSLR on that and see what you can get.  Here's an image I took with a bridge camera mounted on mine.  With a DSLR and a a higher ISO (I was limited to ISO 200 and 30 secs of exposure) you will be able to do much better. 

[happy-kat]

Ditto above I also made a barn door tracker, currently mine is manual.

If you read around the site I gave the first link to there is also another good read written.

[Katash707]

That's a nice pic I would definitely be happy with that thanks for the help guys

[Katash707]

Practice makes perfect I guess was going to buy the skywatcher startraker 120 but think I will try to get some decent images with the dslr first thanks again

[happy-kat]

That won't help it is on wrong mount also it would be quite heavy and too much for your eq1.

[happy-kat]

My dslr and barn door I imaged comet Lovejoy.

[Katash707]

Going to save for better mount