New Used Setup

[Paul73]

Hi Folks

I have finally got my first imaging setup together! Those that know me will attest that “Paul is technically inept with the patience/attention span of a goldfish on speed”. It has taken me 4 months to pull it all together and it all seems to work (in daylight.....). So here we go:

SW ED72,

Canon 650, astro modded,

0x Altair Astro field flattener,

EQ5 With Motors

And finally, arriving yesterday, a solendid concoction of, home brew base and 80’s wooden tripod - thank you to Les (for the record, an absolute star).

Please feel free to suggest improvements/ point out mistakes. I’m fairly certain that I have the tripod the right way up, but can’t vouch for much more.....

Paul

 

[knobby]

Looks good, there's something classy about old wooden tripods 👍

Wishing you clear skies to try it soon.

[Stu]

I feel like I've slipped into a parallel universe for some reason Paul 🤣

Looks good! I'm quite au fait with EQ mounts myself these days but don't do anything other than smartphone imaging.

I assume the mount has a polar scope so you can wrestle with the beast that is polar alignment?

Have fun!

[Paul73]

Yes. Polar scope it buried in there. Obviously, I am still, and always will be ‘visual only’! If the processing proved too much, I can whip off the camara and pop in an eyepiece. 

Paul

[Paul73]

Oi’m A bit worried about this polar alignment beast???

I was lead to understand that I point it at Polaris, offset a bit and get cracking...... is this not the case??

Paul

[Stu]

3 minutes ago, Paul73 said:

Oi’m A bit worried about this polar alignment beast???

I was lead to understand that I point it at Polaris, offset a bit and get cracking...... is this not the case??

Paul

Well I'm sure a man of your calibre will take it in a few minutes. These imaging boys and girls seem to a significant portion of their lives doing it 🤣🤣.

I guess it depends what your ambitions are in terms of exposure length. If you are not guiding in any way then you will need your PA to be decently accurate. That said, it needs to be accurate even if you are guiding!!

Anyway, don't listen to me, I have no idea what I'm talking about!!

[Piero]

Didn't know you were into imaging.

The SW 72mm looks great. I like it's specs. Looking forward to reading more about how you find it.

Good luck with this project.

[Paul73]

6 hours ago, Piero said:

Didn't know you were into imaging.

I’m not, but I really like the idea of capturing some of what I see through the Dob.

Every now and then I tinker. Ie. Bought an old web cam, failed to get it working. Bought a nice shiny red ZWO to capture solar images, but no EQ Mount ...... so I thought that I would try with broadly the right kit. Possibly to prove once an for all that imaging isn’t for me. Or, just maybe, produce something worthwhile.

I am a long way out of my comfort zone!

Paul

[Stu]

Solar imaging could be quite a fun way to start with it. No need for particularly accurate PA and relatively quick results to boost moral 👍👍

[Paul73]

16 minutes ago, Stu said:

Solar imaging could be quite a fun way to start with it. No need for particularly accurate PA and relatively quick results to boost moral 👍👍

Solar has the added benefit of being able to see what you are doing! 😁😁