Skywatcher supatrak 127 and Canon 450D compatability

[blueranger]

Hi all,

I want to take astrophotography a bit further and was considering buying a Canon 450D as this seems a poplar camera with some of you and it can now be purchased for less than £400. Before I take the plunge I wanted to ask a few questions.

1) Is this camera compatible with my supatrak 127 and how much would it cost for adapters Etc.

2) would photo's of this quality be possible http://stargazerslounge.com/index.php/topic,33605.0.html (Hope you don't mind me using your picture as an example KK)

3) What are "Subs" (bit embarrassed to ask but it's a term I see used a lot :oops: )

Thanks in advance.

[jgs001]

The 450d is a great camera and works very well.

1) I'm not sure what's required for the Skymax fittings, but the adapters for my 450d came to about £30 for attaching it to my refractor.

2) On the supatrak you won't be able to take exposures of that length, as it tracks in AltAz. You'd be better looking at the images I've put up taken on a Celestron NexStar SLT mount, as the mounts appear to be very similar, in fact, here's the M31 I took after some processing advice and help. I can, when pointing at the right point of the sky get frames up to about 2 minutes, but I throw away 50% due to tracking errors in the mount motors. I'm not sure how much weight affects the tracking ability of the mount though, but I'm sure it must factor in somehow. My 80mm and the 450d combined weigh about 2Kg.

3) subs - Sub Frames. You take a load of seperate images (subs) and stack them using something like DSS to bring out the details.

HTH.

[blueranger]

Thanks John, those answers helped a lot. Great photo's as well

[jgs001]

Glad to help. Something to bear in mind, it never hurts to give it a try, the worst case is you won't manage what you thought you might. The best case exceeds your wildest ideas. I never thought I'd be able to get the bubble nebula with what I have and yet when it popped out of the stack I was gobsmacked, and that was using subs of under 1 minute. Thank you, glad you liked them.

[Psychobilly]

Hi John,

Its not only the weight but also the balance you want to look at especialy on the Alt side of things its often better to add more weight to the front of the OTA to counter-balance the weight of the Camera at the back.

Billy...

[jgs001]

Hmm. Thanks Billy. Just checked it, and it was pretty darn close, had to shift the scope forward by 1cm to properly balance with the 450d. I'd got it about right for a 5mm Hyperion in a barlow and diagonal, so I guess the moment arm from that must have been fairly close. Just means I'll have to think of some other way of securing the camera to prevent a fall, as the dovetail is now reversed to allow the fit.

Sorry blueranger, slight threadjack there.

[FLO]

Worth noting that Skywatcher don't use a standard SCT thread on the back of their Maksutov telescopes so if you wish to use accessories intended for an SCT thread you will need an adapter.

HTH

[Reggie]

Not sure if its entirely relevant (might help getting you in the right area for taking dso) there's a modder on the internet that made a small circuit and connected it up to his supatrak to allow goto control from a PC.

See here for details

Hope that helps.

[blueranger]

Thanks reggie,

I would love to make the scope GOTO but I don't think I would attempt that mod myself.

[blueranger]

Worth noting that Skywatcher don't use a standard SCT thread on the back of their Maksutov telescopes so if you wish to use accessories intended for an SCT thread you will need an adapter.

HTH

Thanks Steve,

Would you do ALL the adapters etc I need.

[Cloudwatcher]

A T-ring adapter (£11 from FLO) screws directly onto the diagonal holder of the 127 Mak and of course the 450D can then be connected for prime focus imaging............ Dead easy and can be used as a 1500 mm telephoto lens for ordinary photographs too. Here are some pics of my setup using this method. Cheers,CW

[FLO]

Would you do ALL the adapters etc I need.

Probably, though if you simply want to mount the camera then you need only a T Ring as shown in Cloudwatcher's excellent pix

You should be able to produce some fine images of the Lunar surface though the Supatrak mount isn't suited to long exposure imaging.

[blueranger]

Thanks for all the help guys,

Cloudwatcher have you got any pictures online of the results with the above set up?

[Cloudwatcher]

Afraid I don't have any recent images using the above camera and scope but here is an image of Saturn and moons taken in January '08 with the Mak 127 and Canon 350D, a similar combination of kit but on an EQ mount. The image is a combination of short exposers for the planet and longer ones for the moons which were then combined in Photoshop. If you stick to short exposures when using the Supatrak you should get some useful results with Mak/Canon setup. Click as usual.

Cheers.CW

[GS]

hello,

my first time here and I open with a dumb question... sorry....

<dumb question>

with the setup shown in Cloudwatcher's pics how do you focus?

Seems like the camera is in a fixed position when attached with the T ring....

I have a borg helical focusser... would that help?

</dumb question>

thanks,

GS

[GS]

oh dear....

that was indeed a dumb question....apologies...

it goes to show how long it has been since I've been out with the scope... I forgot about the big focus knob on the back of the OTA.

I received the EOS T Ring today and tried it out. I can confirm that it does indeed attach as per Cloudwatchers image - direct onto the diagonal holder...and yes... it does focus quite easily.... just turn the big knob on the back....!