Imaging with a Star Adventurer

[Ken Mitchell]

Image from October.

Iris Nebula and Ghost Nebula somewhere in Cepheus.

Nikon d610
432mm /f6/ iso1600
Total 3hrs 33min 212frames 
Stacked in DSS and processed in Photoshop 

 

[Davey-T]

Excellent image Ken, how dark are your skies ?

Dave

[Guest]

On 16/11/2018 at 14:07, ruskclark said:

Andromeda was my first 'proper' image taken with the Star Adventurer once I'd got up to speed with it all. 200mm F3.5 58x2min subs, 16 darks, flats and bias. Taken with a Canon 450Da and CLS filter from Bortle 6 skies back in late September.

I'm now incredibly addicted to this astrophotography game. Ha ha.

 

There goes the bank balance

[Ken Mitchell]

5 hours ago, Davey-T said:

Excellent image Ken, how dark are your skies ?

Dave

Thanks Dave!

Bortle 4, close to bortle 3. 

Ken

[Snooze]

On 26/11/2018 at 17:39, Thalestris24 said:

In that case FLO should update their page! If focal length is not @Snooze's issue then it must be something else. I've no personal experience with the mini but I had terrible problems with my SA and had to dis-assemble it and adjust the motor and worm gears and it still doesn't give as good tracking and images as some peoples' seem to do.

Louise

I don't think the issue is focal length because the periodic error(if it really is PE) would still be the same. Plus there are a few people managing long focal lengths quite well with the Mini version. I will have to run more tests.

Edited November 28, 2018 by Snooze

[SAW]

What lenses are people using with a 600D or any crop sensor camera ?

[geordie85]

4 minutes ago, SAW said:

What lenses are people using with a 600D or any crop sensor camera ?

I use a Samyang 135mm. Used to use it on my 600d, now I use it on my 6d

[Snooze]

Orion @135mm.

Only 10 x 1min subs under light light polluted skies.  There was also a very thin layer of clouds. Will try to add more data next weekend if the sky is clear.

Star adventurer mini + modded 1200D + Hoya uv/ir cut filter + sigma 70-300

[geordie85]

2 hours ago, Snooze said:

Orion @135mm.

Only 10 x 1min subs under light light polluted skies.  There was also a very thin layer of clouds. Will try to add more data next weekend if the sky is clear.

Star adventurer mini + modded 1200D + Hoya uv/ir cut filter + sigma 70-300

I'm out doing the same at a dark site at the moment, just slightly different. 

Orion at 50mm with my 600d and taurus at 135mm with my 6d

[8472]

No APOD (only 30 minutes total integration time), but a curtailed first light with my 1000mm MTO gave me a nice first peek of NGC891.

[Snooze]

Little session from last Friday. My first real image of this target

15 x 1min subs ISO800 @300mm f5.6

Canon 1200D modded + Sigma 70-300mm + Star adventurer mini mount

 

Found out my lens has quite a bit of coma at 300mm f5.6

[ruskclark]

Took a trip to some darker skies last weekend and the below is the result. 58x3min subs of the lower half of Orion. Taken with Canon 450Da and Canon EF L 70-200mm F2.8 Lens at 70mm and F4 

My best image by a country mile and was a real challenge to process in PixInsight as I'm still in the trial period getting used to things. Happy with the end result even though it took me a week to get it.

[8472]

On 17/12/2018 at 09:12, ruskclark said:

Took a trip to some darker skies last weekend and the below is the result. 58x3min subs of the lower half of Orion. Taken with Canon 450Da and Canon EF L 70-200mm F2.8 Lens at 70mm and F4 

My best image by a country mile and was a real challenge to process in PixInsight as I'm still in the trial period getting used to things. Happy with the end result even though it took me a week to get it.

You've got a bit of just about everything in that frame.

Well done!

[ruskclark]

1 hour ago, 8472 said:

You've got a bit of just about everything in that frame.

Well done!

Thank you very much, really proved to myself what dark skies are worth in terms of image output.

[Snooze]

Had a nice opportunity to image Comet 46P on Sunday when the clouds decided to clear off just before midnight on Sunday

13 x 45s subs at 70mm f/5

Canon 1200D + Sigma 70-300 + Star adventurer mini

[Maxrayne]

Technical Card:
---------------------

Capture Date: 16/12/2018
Sky Quality: 5
Target: M101 Pinwheel Galaxy
Location: Ursa Major
Right Ascension: 14h 03m 12.6s
Declination: +54° 20′ 57″
Apparent Magnitude: 7.86
Estimated Age: N/K
Estimated Distance: 21 million light years
Mount: SW SA
Tracked/Guided: Tracked
Guidecam: N/A
Guidescope: N/A
Imaging Device: SW ST102T
Capture Device: Nikon D5300 (unmodded)
Focal Length: 500mm
Aperture: f / 9.5
ISO: 1600
Sub Length: 45 seconds
No of exposures: 56
Darks: 5
Flats: Nil
Bias: Nil
Total Integration Time: 2520 seconds
Capture Software: N/A
Stacking Software: Sequator
Editing Software: LightRoom
Playlist: Sleeping With Sarah Brightman via Spotify

[knobby]

Quick smash and grab between the clouds , just bought a beautiful ZS66 semi app petzval from @assouptro very quick PA, balances nicely with Nikon D5600, managed 10 X 30 second subs ISO 800- no lights / darks stacked best 6 in DSS and curves etc in PS6.

It really is a lovely looking scope but doesn't like bright stars or edges of feild ?.

None of which is Bryan's fault ! Blame William Optics for that.

Approx 2/3 crop to hide the edges .

 

[assouptro]

Nice! 

I never got round to attaching a camera to the scope when I had it!

I occasionally used it for visual when my other rig was busy taking photos. 

Glad to see you managed to get it working with the star adventurer mini !

cheers 

Bryan 

 

[knobby]

Cheers Bryan, I was quite impressed with 30 seconds @ 400 mm with just a really quick polar align, trouble is now I've seen the SAM working with this scope I'm already planning a way of funding a ZS61 or similar ?

[assouptro]

7 hours ago, knobby said:

Cheers Bryan, I was quite impressed with 30 seconds @ 400 mm with just a really quick polar align, trouble is now I've seen the SAM working with this scope I'm already planning a way of funding a ZS61 or similar ?

I bought the wo with the intention of doing some widefield astrophotography but never quite worked out the camera connection with the threaded sct style rear end of the scope, so I just ended up using it on a photography tripod with a revelation Astro diagonal to look at the heavens, then it got mothballed. 

I ended up buying a ts65quad last year for widefield to use on my Astrotrack. It was my first time buying a new scope, and although I had to save up, it was worth it. 

They have mixed reviews but I think it’s a cracking little scope.

I saw one on ukabs recently. 

There is always another scope wanted or needed!! 

[knobby]

On 10/01/2019 at 22:23, assouptro said:

I bought the wo with the intention of doing some widefield astrophotography but never quite worked out the camera connection with the threaded sct style rear end of the scope, so I just ended up using it on a photography tripod with a revelation Astro diagonal to look at the heavens, then it got mothballed. 

I ended up buying a ts65quad last year for widefield to use on my Astrotrack. It was my first time buying a new scope, and although I had to save up, it was worth it. 

They have mixed reviews but I think it’s a cracking little scope.

I saw one on ukabs recently. 

There is always another scope wanted or needed!! 

Let me know when you sell the TS quad ?

[kerrylewis]

I’ve bought a secondhand Star Adventurer and been trying to set it up but the clutch knob is completely stuck. Found a YouTube item suggesting how to unlock but still stuck.

Any suggestions? 

[Davey-T]

4 minutes ago, kerrylewis said:

I’ve bought a secondhand Star Adventurer and been trying to set it up but the clutch knob is completely stuck. Found a YouTube item suggesting how to unlock but still stuck.

Any suggestions? 

There's nothing mechanical to stop it turning so only stiction, mine got a bit stuck after I didn't use it for a while, it took two of us and a rubber strap wrench to free it.

It's recommended if storing it for any length of time to leave the clutch loose.

Good luck

Dave

[kerrylewis]

Thanks Dave. I’ll give it another go but I was applying so much force (well as much as all codger like me can!) that I was afraid of breaking something 

[Davey-T]

1 minute ago, kerrylewis said:

Thanks Dave. I’ll give it another go but I was applying so much force (well as much as all codger like me can!) that I was afraid of breaking something 

I couldn't shift it on my own, took two hands to hang on to it, found it easier to do while attached to the tripod.

Dave

Demo, I think I got the strap wrench in Tool Station.