Star Adventurer Equipment Question

[AstroHunter]

Hi all

Long time reader, first time poster here. I've had a Star Adventurer since June and have been enjoying getting to grips with it. I've taken some successful 30 exposures of the Pinwheel Galaxy with tracking on (not the best due to exposure time but good to know I did everything right). So I feel like I'm ready to brace the cold nights and start photographing more. 

My question is, with Christmas coming up, I am wanting to expand my armoury a bit. What equipment would you buy next if you were in my position? I have an unmodded DSLR with a couple of lenses up to 300mm. Would a small refractor be the next best step? Budget is around £250. I should add that while I'm totally new to AP, I have had a telescope for a couple of years so I'm not completely new to the hobby. 

Interested to know your thoughts.

Thanks

Nick

[knobby]

Interesting question with many possible answers, you could look at a budget guiding option to allow longer exposure or maybe a modded DSLR to capture Ha faster (red stuff)

Can you go longer than 30 seconds ? Are you using a programmable shutter release ?

[DonLumioni74]

I've got SA and had been thinking about adding a small refractor to the kit, but the consensus (from posts on these forum's) are that the equipment I've got is good enough for SA and the next jump is a big one, a Refractor (or other scope) on a HEQ5/6. 

So I'll second the guiding for longer exposure times - that's the route I went - still getting to grips with it.........

Out of interest what F ratio are your lenses? I've a 150-500mm with a F/5.6-6.3 so just as good small refractor for F ratio and Focal length.

[AstroHunter]

I don't have a remote shutter release at the moment, that's already on the list ? I would like to do longer exposures and these seem relatively cheap to pick up online. 

My lenses are F4-5.6. I think at 300mm that will be good enough to get me going along with longer exposure times. 

I will look into what guiding options are within budget. I think once I'm able to get longer exposure then a modded DSLR would be the next step to improve image quality.

Thanks both.

[DonLumioni74]

Those remote shutters are really good value for money, I'm sure I only paid £20-£30 for mine and your Lens is more than good enough to shoot what you're after.

I went for this https://www.harrisontelescopes.co.uk/acatalog/altair-60mm-guide-scope-gpcam2-package.html  bit over budget - a 50mm scope would be more than sufficient, think the cheapest package I found was about £285 ish.

 

I'm thinking my next upgrade will be a decent mono cam and filters.

[Davey-T]

I have a WOZ61 on mine but the FOV isn't a lot different to a 300mm lens.

Dave

[SteveNickolls]

Thanks Nick for your post.

I've had my Star Adventurer (SA) since April last year and can confirm it is a very good little mount used within its design envelope. Your question really depends on a number of factors, such as your current imaging interests, what equipment you already own and want to maximise the use of and the level of light pollution where you image.

A few suggestions-

Do you find polar aligning easy using the SA mount? If not you might want to consider building or getting something like this-https://www.darkframeoptics.com/product/polarite-right-angled-polarscope Used with an illuminator you can get an enlarged view of the polar reticule to get more accurate polar alignments. If you judge completing polar alignment (using the SkyWatcher SAM app) when the position of Polaris is on a major division (0, 10, 20 minutes etc) or at the 5, 10, 15 etc minutes you can get better accuracy.

If you have bad light pollution you will always be troubled by unwanted light limiting your exposure times. Depending on your level of light pollution a LPF, UHC filter or a 12nm Ha filter will allow longer exposures. To get the benefit of the Ha filter getting your camera modified is well worth it. You will be limited by the Bayer matrix but still get better images of nebulae.

How do you control your exposures? A simple intervalometer will help automate the process so you don't have to stand outside all of the session. If you have a Canon or Nikon DSLR and a laptop consider BYEOS/BYN software to control image from the warmth of indoors.

If your imaging location is say in the garden a decent USB cable (Lindy) can be recommended. 

You could purchase a dew heater system to prevent dewing on cold nights. An alternative would be a hand or foot warmer pack held in place on the lens by an elastic band.

A great lens like the Samyang 135mm f/2 is out of your present budget but can be used to take amazing 6 x 10 degree shots. Perhaps worth saving up for?

I hope this gives you some options for consideration.

Do enjoy coming to a decision over what you eventually go for.

 

Best Regards,
Steve

[Randalloverby]

I had mine for little over a year now and have very much enjoyed it. Guiding and a modded camera seems to be the way to go. Has anyone here been using the programmable features with the firmware upgrade ?

[toxic]

what dslr do you have -if it is an canon eos then you dont need a remote release if you have a smart phone or a tablet you can use the canon remote capture app (free) via USB or eos utility from a laptop to control the camera also you can experiment with the lenses you have at different F stops to find the best for your lens .

the best things i have got to go with my SA is a mobile power bank usb1 - 5v 1amp - usb2 - 2.1amp and a power adapter for the camera (eos 200d) with this the power bank will power the mount (via usb1) and the camera (via usb2) so no batterie change over during shooting 

this is the adapter for the eos 200d https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0749LXCBD/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

and this is the power bank https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Powerful-SilverCrest-power-bank-10-000-mAh-lithium-battery-LED-display-/152951893498

hope this helps 

ps; if you dont use the usb 1 to power the mount you can use that port to power the tablet all night and the camera as well.