Imaging with a Star Adventurer

[happy-kat]

How heavy is that 500mm scope?

 

[Icesheet]

It's around 2.5kg with the finder scope and rings attached. Removing them would take it to around 2kg I guess.

[Thalestris24]

29 minutes ago, Icesheet said:

It's around 2.5kg with the finder scope and rings attached. Removing them would take it to around 2kg I guess.

I think you might have to counterbalance that and the max total payload is 5kg, I believe. It doesn't exactly have a heavy duty RA motor. Still, nothing ventured...

Louise

[Bobby1970]

At the weekend i stuck my Altair Lightwave 72ED-R on my SA just to see what i could do. I think its 400mm ish focal length.

 

This was 60x60sec after using the polar alignment tool in sharp cap with the scope and altair gp cam first. It is also cropped a little too.

[Bobby1970]

18 hours ago, serbiadarksky said:

I put blood and time in thoose images

This 7 images represent more than 150-160 hours of imaging,sitting in -10°C to check all the photons on the images, stacking them, editing,but firstly-no GoTo system so the hardest part is to find the target (okay maybe not for orion or Rho)but Spaghetti and Ghost nebula 

What do you do in terms of polar alignment? I assume you don't just use the built in polar scope? 

[serbiadarksky]

2 minutes ago, Bobby1970 said:

At the weekend i stuck my Altair Lightwave 72ED-R on my SA just to see what i could do. I think its 400mm ish focal length.

 

This was 60x60sec after using the polar alignment tool in sharp cap with the scope and altair gp cam first. It is also cropped a little too.

Its not a bad image

Maybe the focus is out a bit, and try to edit it to pull off the sand and dust betwen the stars

[serbiadarksky]

Just now, Bobby1970 said:

What do you do in terms of polar alignment? I assume you don't just use the built in polar scope? 

I use the built in polar scope, thats all

[Bobby1970]

Just now, serbiadarksky said:

I use the built in polar scope, thats all

That makes your images even more impressive in my mind. Or is it a case of the guiding correcting for any inaccuracies with polar alignment????? Don't fully understand how it all works TBH lol

 

[Bobby1970]

3 minutes ago, serbiadarksky said:

Its not a bad image

Maybe the focus is out a bit, and try to edit it to pull off the sand and dust betwen the stars

Re the focus, i tend to just use the "focus peaking" feature on my DLSR on the live view screen. Perhaps the focus has shifted a little as i locked the focuser. I think i need to start doing some flats as well, and probably buy some decent processing software such as star tools maybe. 

[serbiadarksky]

1 minute ago, Bobby1970 said:

That makes your images even more impressive in my mind. Or is it a case of the guiding correcting for any inaccuracies with polar alignment????? Don't fully understand how it all works TBH lol

 

I use the phone app for the star adventurer mini, its work perfect

Yes, guiding can correct a BIT but you need good polar alignmet becouse its guide only in RA axis, so if I missdone the alignment even wirh guiding I still get trails sometime

Polar alignment is the key for me, I find it very easy to do but some imagers think about hell when you mentione the PA foe them

[Bobby1970]

2 minutes ago, serbiadarksky said:

I use the phone app for the star adventurer mini, its work perfect

Yes, guiding can correct a BIT but you need good polar alignmet becouse its guide only in RA axis, so if I missdone the alignment even wirh guiding I still get trails sometime

Polar alignment is the key for me, I find it very easy to do but some imagers think about hell when you mentione the PA foe them

I have used the polar align feature in sharp cap a few times, it seems pretty good, the thing is, i wonder about knocking the PA out just by loosening and retightening the RA clutch to be honest. Once i get the alignment in sharp cap so it is reading just in arc seconds i call it a day and go with that. Not done any guiding yet, but it is coming soon. How much do you need to reduce ISO levels by so that you don't end up with a totally washed out image after say 5-10 mins ????

This thread is great by the way, keep the contributions coming guys and girls :-)

 

[serbiadarksky]

2 minutes ago, Bobby1970 said:

I have used the polar align feature in sharp cap a few times, it seems pretty good, the thing is, i wonder about knocking the PA out just by loosening and retightening the RA clutch to be honest. Once i get the alignment in sharp cap so it is reading just in arc seconds i call it a day and go with that. Not done any guiding yet, but it is coming soon. How much do you need to reduce ISO levels by so that you don't end up with a totally washed out image after say 5-10 mins ????

This thread is great by the way, keep the contributions coming guys and girls :-)

 

Believe me, I knocked that thing out of pa hundred times........so boring

Than I fixed my tripod to the ground (woth bricks lol) and very gently moving the clutches

It depends, am I picking the nebulosity stars etc or the dust and sand lanes?

I usually use iso 200 for target and iso 800 for sand and 8min exppsures for target, 10min exppsures for dust 

I will keep answering, I enjoy it

[gtis]

2 hours ago, Bobby1970 said:

At the weekend i stuck my Altair Lightwave 72ED-R on my SA just to see what i could do. I think its 400mm ish focal length.

 

This was 60x60sec after using the polar alignment tool in sharp cap with the scope and altair gp cam first. It is also cropped a little too.

Nice image thinking about getting that scope myself have you ever put a dslr on the scope

[Bobby1970]

Just now, gtis said:

Nice image thinking about getting that scope myself have you ever put a dslr on the scope

This image was taken with my DSLR. Only used the gp cam for polar alignment. :-)

[gtis]

1 minute ago, Bobby1970 said:

This image was taken with my DSLR. Only used the gp cam for polar alignment. :-)

Thanks should have seen that when you say 60x60 secs 

[tooth_dr]

4 hours ago, serbiadarksky said:

Believe me, I knocked that thing out of pa hundred times........so boring

Than I fixed my tripod to the ground (woth bricks lol) and very gently moving the clutches

It depends, am I picking the nebulosity stars etc or the dust and sand lanes?

I usually use iso 200 for target and iso 800 for sand and 8min exppsures for target, 10min exppsures for dust 

I will keep answering, I enjoy it

I’m trting to work out what you mean by sand? Obviously a language thing but I can’t work it out!

[Icesheet]

5 hours ago, happy-kat said:

How heavy is that 500mm scope?

 

Ok, I've weighed everything. 

Scope- 2.3kg (2kg without rings)

Camera Body- 0.5kg

Orion Mini guider with GPCAM2- 0.75kg max

So total equipment weight would be 3.5kg max. 

Does the counterweight count towards the payload? If so ~4.5kg. 

Waiting on some parts so I'll see how I get. From reading it seems the focal length coupled with tracking error may be the limiting factor. 

 

5 hours ago, Thalestris24 said:

I think you might have to Still, nothing ventured...

Louise

Still, as you say Louise...

[Thalestris24]

Hi

Yeah I think the counterweight and mounting bar counts towards the payload as they're 'add-ons'. You might need more than 1 weight to balance.

Louise

[serbiadarksky]

15 hours ago, tooth_dr said:

I’m trting to work out what you mean by sand? Obviously a language thing but I can’t work it out!

Not sand, only dust sorry

[Andywilliams]

On ‎27‎/‎11‎/‎2017 at 04:51, serbiadarksky said:

I get good results too with the Star Advenutrer and a 600D

Always I keep the exposure for all objects 8-10 min each sub

wow ! wow! wow!......this certainly gives me a standard to aim for !! outstanding images!......what programs are you using for stacking and processing?

cheers,

Andy

[serbiadarksky]

1 hour ago, Andywilliams said:

wow ! wow! wow!......this certainly gives me a standard to aim for !! outstanding images!......what programs are you using for stacking and processing?

cheers,

Andy

DSS and Photoshop 6 and camera raw

 

[Andywilliams]

17 hours ago, serbiadarksky said:

DSS and Photoshop 6 and camera raw

 

they are great captures...I didn't even realise that we could capture images so beautifully with this gear .....I have a lot of work to do !!

[serbiadarksky]

On 29.11.2017. at 23:00, Andywilliams said:

they are great captures...I didn't even realise that we could capture images so beautifully with this gear .....I have a lot of work to do !!

I guide it, thats the key

[wsg]

Hello all!  Great site.  I never post and may never again, bit i just wanted to chime in.  Current gear -Star adventurer; Canon 7D; William Optic Z61. decent at Photoshop, no clue at astrophotography!

ISO 800; 60 -50 second exposures, no flats etc.  2nd ever image try, 2nd ever use of starry night stacker.  First time with the Z61 ( my 100-400 was a bit too heavy it seemed but it could be my lack of experience!)

Star adventurer is a very capable unit and I'm looking forward to getting better polar alignment and longer exposures.  It is great fun and great challenge.  Thanks to this site for all the wonderful advise!

[SteveNickolls]

7 hours ago, wsg said:

I never post and may never again

Lovely image and please do post again :-) In sharing everybody triumphs.

Cheers,
Steve