First night imaging list

[SAW]

Hi,

Waiting for a decent clear night to get my first proper imaging session, I've had a few trial runs getting use to setting up adjusting things etc. I will be using BYEOS and a pole master and I'm not guiding yet. Here is my list, have I missed anything out ? I've been reading 'Making Every Photon Count'

This is just a basic, get me going imaging session.

Level Tripod.

Add head but do not fully tighten.

Polar align then fully tighten head.

Mount scope/weights, add weight(s) first then scope.

Balance dec first then RA axis.

Do star alignment, 1 for imaging or preferably 3 for viewing (Get star in centre of camera/laptop/eyepiece then align viewfinder.

Adjust focus getting FWHM as low as possible.

 

GoTo object your viewing.

Centre object in camera/laptop.

Frame object turning camera if needed.

Set DSLR to RAW, use BULB mode and set ISO 800 and exposure to 60-120s.

Take 10-20 light frames.

Take about half the amount of dark frames as light using the same settings.

[red dwalf]

sounds ok but you can save yourself some time by aligning the finder scope in the day time by slewing the scope to a distant object, i.e. telegraph pole or something similar, then centring the finder on the same object.

also i`d take at least 15 darks at the same settings, these will last for a good few months if you use the same settings on another object so no need to take them again, also try to take them at the same temperature as the lights.  

[ronin]

Sounds reasonable, cannot think of anything to add, thought I had one but then realised it was irrelevant.

There is however one thing that you must do afterwards: Show us the results immaterial of a good, bad or indifferent result.

One thing is take binoculars, it gets boring waiting to collect the images and you may as well have a look around. Don't forget a Wait time between exposures, you cannot start the next one until the present one is completed and RAW files take a time to write to the memory card. Found my DSLR will simply lock up if it is told to start the next exposure before the present one is totally complete. So I just make the Wait time something like half or the same as the exposure time. The Wait between exposures is as much for safety as a bit of cooling.