Nothing in camera...

[Maxrayne]

Clearly I'm doing something very basic wrong here. Setup last night to do some imaging thru the ST80 on NGC7000. Set my focus via the eyepiece and focus extender, polar aligned, took the 25mm eyepiece out that I'd used to focus with, put the DSLR in with appropriate T-ring. Fired a couple off, checked what I had...which was basically nothing. Tried at various ISO's etc. Still nothing. Cycled the focuser all the forward and back, still nothing...Nikon D5300. Any ideas at all? The DSLR btw works okay as I took some afterwards without the ST80, which also works okay on its own. It's just when I marry them up...I know it's going to be something I kick myself over, but...?

[Atreta]

It's probably a focusing issue, try pointing it to a distant object and focus on it and see if you can get a sharp image. Sometimes is hard to find the right point at night, the moon is a good object to check it. 

[geordie85]

The focus point for an eyepiece and camera sensor are different.

You'll need to refocus after attaching your DSLR. 

[Owmuchonomy]

Polar align before you set up for imaging.  Get Deneb in the centre of view then mount your camera. Use live view and a high iso to get Deneb in camera view and use a 5x or 10x option on the live view. Then you can focus using the image In live view. Then slew to your target without changing your focus settings.

[Maxrayne]

Thanks guys. Going to give it a go first during daylight and see what happens. Then I'll try it at night. Didn't realise that the focus points for the eyepiece and DSLR would be different, although it makes sense now I think about it. Not going to get anything next few nights looking at the forecast, but I'll give it a go soon as. Thanks again ??

[mikeyj1]

I also have a D5300 and a ST80, focus is along way out for the camera sensor ..  try it out before it gets dark  

[wimvb]

If you buy an ST80 with guidecam, you also get a long extension tube/adapter, to reach focus:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/guide-scopes/guide-scope-bundle-suitable-for-side-by-side-bars-or-guidescope-mounts.html

The extension is about 80 - 100 mm, and you still need to move the focuser abt 30 mm out. The guide camera's sensor is 17 mm from the front. For a dslr this is about 45 mm. That should give you an indication as to focal point for a camera.

[Maxrayne]

2 hours ago, wimvb said:

If you buy an ST80 with guidecam, you also get a long extension tube/adapter, to reach focus:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/guide-scopes/guide-scope-bundle-suitable-for-side-by-side-bars-or-guidescope-mounts.html

The extension is about 80 - 100 mm, and you still need to move the focuser abt 30 mm out. The guide camera's sensor is 17 mm from the front. For a dslr this is about 45 mm. That should give you an indication as to focal point for a camera.

That's the exact setup I have. I'll give it a go in a bit ?

Thanks again guys ?