New Telescope owner, a few questions

[M4T VW]

Hello all, i hope you are having a good christmas

I recieved a Sky-Watcher Star Discovery 150P for christmas this year and i'm looking forward to using it. I never thought about getting a telescope before so very green to the subject but i have been playing with it yesterday and today and reading lots so i'm starting to understand how it all works. (The telescope, not the solar system!)

Sadly the last two nights have been cloudy so cannot see much really. I did get a brief couple of stars to look at today but when i had my 10mm optic and x2 barlow on it still appeared as a small star so i guess it was quite far away!

I'm yet to properly set up the scope using the Synscan V4 as i have not found a star to identify by name yet so waiting for a clear night to be able to do that unless someone can tell me a way to do it in the daylight?

I would like to take pictures with the scope using my Nikon D3200 DSLR camera. From what i have read i require a T-Ring but some say also a T-Adapter. Is this the same thing? My scope uses a 1.25" optic so i'm not quite sure what i need. I see jessops offer a T-Ring and Barlow kit, are both parts required?

I have just downloaded SkySafari Pro on my iPhone so hope that will help me identify the object that i'm looking at. I hope this will help with the setup of the scope also.

Can you suggest anything else i will need that will help me along the way? I looked at a video review of the scope and they suggested the 10mm optic should be upgraded. Do they mean in quality or it's optic size?

Thanks in advance!

Mat

[nightfisher]

dont be in a rush to hook up a camera, you will have a bit of a learning curve ahead, wait for a good clear night in meantime down load the free programmer Stellarium to help learn some of the brighter stars for alignment 

[iapa]

"Making Every Photon Count" by 'some guy' is a must. Currently in 3rd ed.

Before you spend a single penny, get this and read it. Its the beginner's bible.

it will help to explain equipment and techniques for astrophotography.

You need to read that before buying anything else.

Then you can ask questions of people who read/post on these forums.

You should read that book before buying anything else and making a mistake - there are very few of us have not bought the wrong thing at one time or another.

There's 'some guy' called Steve Richards,  as Zaphod Beeblebrox's shrink  said 'he's just a guy" Did I mention that he wrote a book? and that your need to read it?

And welcome to the hobby.

Oh, and while I remember - get a copy of "Making every photon count"; worth ever penny you wont waste by reading it.

A copy of something like 'Stellarium' or 'Cartes de Ciel' (both free) will help you find your way around the sky when you cent get out.

[laudropb]

Hello and a warm welcome to the SGL.

You first have to learn how to use your new scope and get the best out of it. Astrophotography can be a very expensive business, but with your scope you should be able to take short exposures of some of the bright objects in the night sky.

[iapa]

30 minutes ago, M4T VW said:

 

Sadly the last two nights have been cloudy so cannot see much really. I did get a brief couple of stars to look at today but when i had my 10mm optic and x2 barlow on it still appeared as a small star so i guess it was quite far away!

 

Stars will just be small, they are only point sources.

The interesting but is when you resolve what you thought was a single start and it turns out that there are actually 2.

A naked eye example is 80Ma (80 Ursa Major/Zeta Ursae Majoris)  second form the end of the 'handle' of the 'great bear', on a good night you can see it is a double (Mizar and Alcor) . With your 'scope is is noticeably so and the two stars are easily available (Mizar is actually a quadruple, and Alcor a binary).

Ariberio is a great doublet catch with the two main starts being noticeably different colours.

[mikeDnight]

Hi Matt,

Don't be in too much of a hurry to 'upgrade' anything yet. It's best to get a feel for the kit you've got before you decide what to do about improving it. You can end up with an empty bank account pretty rapidly if you're not careful! 

It's already been suggested you do some reading and that's wise advice. It's also been mentioned that stars always look like points of light, which on the face of it sounds pretty disappointing. However there are some amazingly colourful stars, many of which are double or triple etc. The Orion nebula will amaze you as will your first view of Jupiter and its moon's, and Saturn with its surreal ring system. And the Moon will stun you with its spectacular alien landscape. You'll see all this without spending any more money. Just enjoy the ride! 

Mike

[BXRO]

Hi Matt welcome to the lounge. I wouldn't spend any money just yet, experiment with what you have got and learn to use it. If you want to pick  some knowledge I would suggest the Open University's FutureLearn site they are running a 4 week course starting 09/01/2017 on the Orion constellation which is free

 

[BritAngler]

Hello Matt and welcome to SGL

I pretty much agree with the others, don't start spending money just yet until you know exactly what you want and why. Exceptions to that  are:-

Buy the books "Turn Left at Orion" and "Norton's Star Atlas", both required reading in my opinion.

Replace the 10mm eyepiece that you got with your 'scope. The 25mm is fine, but the 10mm is not so good.

[mak90fan]

I think my advice will be that of great patience, not only with the lessons to be learnt practicality wise but those regarding nature. I took my scope out in Derby last night & it clouded over as I set my dslr up. It then cleared, then clouded, then cleared...every moment your using or pottering about with your set up, is experience gained ?

[kiltyman]

14 hours ago, M4T VW said:

Hello all, i hope you are having a good christmas

I recieved a Sky-Watcher Star Discovery 150P for christmas this year and i'm looking forward to using it. I never thought about getting a telescope before so very green to the subject but i have been playing with it yesterday and today and reading lots so i'm starting to understand how it all works. (The telescope, not the solar system!)

Sadly the last two nights have been cloudy so cannot see much really. I did get a brief couple of stars to look at today but when i had my 10mm optic and x2 barlow on it still appeared as a small star so i guess it was quite far away!

I'm yet to properly set up the scope using the Synscan V4 as i have not found a star to identify by name yet so waiting for a clear night to be able to do that unless someone can tell me a way to do it in the daylight?

I would like to take pictures with the scope using my Nikon D3200 DSLR camera. From what i have read i require a T-Ring but some say also a T-Adapter. Is this the same thing? My scope uses a 1.25" optic so i'm not quite sure what i need. I see jessops offer a T-Ring and Barlow kit, are both parts required?

I have just downloaded SkySafari Pro on my iPhone so hope that will help me identify the object that i'm looking at. I hope this will help with the setup of the scope also.

Can you suggest anything else i will need that will help me along the way? I looked at a video review of the scope and they suggested the 10mm optic should be upgraded. Do they mean in quality or it's optic size?

Thanks in advance!

Mat

did you get an answer on how to connect camera as I have travelscope 70 and wish to connect my Nikon dslr 3100 but not sure what I need also

[cjdawson]

Hi, welcome to SGL.

Before I dive in with the long answer, I'll echo what a lot of others have said.  Slow down, don't try to hook up the camera before you are comfortable using the scope visually.  It is extremely important that you get used to using the scope before taking on the challange of Astrophotography.

 

Making every photon count I think would be a good book to read before you go diving into the world of Astrophotography.   It will explain everything that you need to get started, and maybe steer you clear of one of two pitfalls - which are expensive in this obsession/hobby.

 

As for how to hook up a DSLR to a 150p.  Whilst I don't have that scope, I do have knowledge gained from others posting.

T-ring.

A t-ring, is a metal ring that attaches to your camera just like a lens, however it does not have a lens of it's own, it has a thing called the t-thread.   This allows you to then connect the T-ring on to other T-thread equipment.

 

T-Adapter

There are lots of these, from the sounds of it, you will most likely be needing a T-thread to 1.25" adapter.   What this device does is screw into the T-ring, It then has a 1.25" piece of tube, just like you have on the bottom of an eyepiece.  This will then slip into your telescopes focusser just like an eyepiece.

 

With Both of those devices, you will be able to plug your camera into your telescope.

 

So, the bigger question?  Why is it done like that and not another way?

The reason is that there are many different makes of camera, Canon, Nikon, Sony, Pentax to name a few.  Each brand of camera has a different way of attaching a lens to the camera body - the bayonet fitting.  You cannot plug a Nikon lens into a Canon camera, and vice versa.  So, the T-Ring was invented.  It plugs into the camera's bayonet fitting, and provides a standard thread that can be used for other things.

 

The T-Thread is used throughout photography for connecting devices together.  Although, I only know of it from the astronomy point of view.

You can get lots of devices with T-Threads.

The 1.25" adapter mentioned above.

A 2" adapter, similar idea, but gives a 2" barrel instead of 1.25"

Flip Mirror devices - lets you use an eyepiece like normal to line up the camera, then flip the mirror so that the light goes to the camera instead.

Eyepiece projection adapters.  Similar to the 1.25" barrel adapter, but it's a lot longer and you can place and eyepiece in the light path to get a very high magnification image.  (Not normally needed or recommended)

Some telescopes, for example the SkyWatcher ST-80 has a T-thread built right onto the focuser, so you can attach a camera without the need for a 1.25" adapter.

These are just a few examples of things that you can get. I have a few of these that I've collected over the years.   However most simply sit in a box unused.  The T-ring, allows me to connect these happily to me telescope.  If I was to make the choice of changing camera brand, I would only need to spend the money to get a new T-Ring to allow stuff to work.  Rather than having to buy a complete new set of stuff to attach to the telescope.

[M4T VW]

Thank you everyone for your reply, I didn't expect so many!

I'm not normally a book reader but "Making Every Photon Count" does look like it will help so i will pick up a copy of that soon. To be honest i cannot dedicate a lot of time to this hobby as I'm too busy doing other projects during the year. Running my own business and building race cars in my spare time is enough to soak up the 365 days! I see this as a "spare hour" hobby so learning will be very slow. I hope to get to the position of just being able to look at a few objects in the sky now and again which would be my goal.

The photography part of it can come later but i don't think the adapters i need are that expensive? I can fully understand that you probably have seen people on here who buy a telescope that's OTT for a novice and then go and spend a stupid amount of money on bits they don't need. I won't be doing that!

cjdawson, thank you for the explanation of the hardware. I think that's why jessops sell the t-ring and 1.25" barlow as a kit. You can unscrew the barlow and attach the t-ring to it directly. I can't see a problem with this.

Last night was not clear enough to spot anything sadly but there was a heavy frost so it must have been very late before it was clear. Lets see what tonight is like, even if i just get the scope aligned!

Thanks everyone

Mat

[iapa]

The learning curve is well worth every second of the hair pulling and frustration..... you can take that from all of us.

You can get an idea of what will be within the field of view by going to 

http://astronomy.tools, or http://www.12dstring.me.uk/fovcalc.php as examples.

You select your gear and it shows an idea of what maybe visible. I just took a quick look and M51 (a connect double spiral galaxy) fits in quite nicely with the 10mm lens and your Barlow.

A T-adapter for most amor DSLR manufacturers can be got for under a tenner on an auction site, a 1.25" nose piece , about the same. Quality may vary - one non-branded low profile T2-EOS adapter from the auction site had threads cut not quire true so the nose piece only went in about a turn and a half = wasted money.

When hanging a £900 camera from that, you want good build quality. So, I've spent the extra and purchased from FLO, around £35 for both parts, but they fit perfectly.

You pays your money ........  

[noah4x4]

A fantastic book is "Turn left at Orion". This shows you what you might actually expect to see rather than the Hubble images printed in magazines that unjustly raise a newcomers aspirations.  However, I have found a website resource where many of its fantastic illustrations can be viewed for FREE. Highly recommended.....

http://www.cambridge.org/features/turnleft/