iOptron Skyguider Pro/Redcat Imaging questions

[Simon Pepper]

Firstly I am new today, so please be kind 

I have decided to take up a new hobby and settled with astrophotography after seeing some amazing videos and images on YouTube. I hope I have chosen wisely with the equipment to start me off, so please be gentle in your responses. as I have already bought them. I opted for wide angle (as I heard that was more forgiving) and also wanted to keep it as lightweight and portable as possible as my back garden has a lot of obstructions.. I am aware that this is not going to be easy and there is a lot of commitment involved both with the cold nights, but also at the computer processing the images (darks, flats and bias). What I have bought so far.

• A sturdy tripod
• William Optics Redcat 51
• Ioptron sky guider pro with ipolar
• Canon 800d / T7i
• T48 copper adaptor

I have been scowering forums in order to answer a few questions and these are around tracking and guiding. Obviously the more exposures you obtain the better the final result. I often see images taken at say 66 x 2 minutes at a given ISO depending on the brightness of the object. what I am unsure of is will my sky guider be able to handle say these exposures or is this when guiding is required? I keep seeing that with a tracker thats well aligned people are saying they are getting 4/5 minute exposures with no star trails. Does this mean that they are only capturing one image at this length or after 4/5 minutes they close the shutter and can go again after a brief pause to let the sensor cool with the next exposure?

I am aware that the iptron has room for guidance, but at 5kg payload I need to be careful with weight. Also as I mentioned I want to keep the weight down for portability. Also I think baby steps are better for a complete novice like me.

Any help would be much appreciated. Clear skies! 

[rockinrome]

Hello there!

I would check out AstroBackyard's site (website and YouTube) - he has loads of info and specifically some on the scope and mount you mention.

https://astrobackyard.com/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCn3npsPixgoi_xLdCg9J-LQ

Clear skies, MJ

Edited April 30, 2020 by rockinrome
spelling

[ThomasF1234]

On 28/04/2020 at 20:51, Simon Pepper said:

Firstly I am new today, so please be kind 

I have decided to take up a new hobby and settled with astrophotography after seeing some amazing videos and images on YouTube. I hope I have chosen wisely with the equipment to start me off, so please be gentle in your responses. as I have already bought them. I opted for wide angle (as I heard that was more forgiving) and also wanted to keep it as lightweight and portable as possible as my back garden has a lot of obstructions.. I am aware that this is not going to be easy and there is a lot of commitment involved both with the cold nights, but also at the computer processing the images (darks, flats and bias). What I have bought so far.

• A sturdy tripod
• William Optics Redcat 51
• Ioptron sky guider pro with ipolar
• Canon 800d / T7i
• T48 copper adaptor

I have been scowering forums in order to answer a few questions and these are around tracking and guiding. Obviously the more exposures you obtain the better the final result. I often see images taken at say 66 x 2 minutes at a given ISO depending on the brightness of the object. what I am unsure of is will my sky guider be able to handle say these exposures or is this when guiding is required? I keep seeing that with a tracker thats well aligned people are saying they are getting 4/5 minute exposures with no star trails. Does this mean that they are only capturing one image at this length or after 4/5 minutes they close the shutter and can go again after a brief pause to let the sensor cool with the next exposure?

I am aware that the iptron has room for guidance, but at 5kg payload I need to be careful with weight. Also as I mentioned I want to keep the weight down for portability. Also I think baby steps are better for a complete novice like me.

Any help would be much appreciated. Clear skies! 

Hi like you I’ve just got the RedCat as being a beginner in this hobby but I think with a guide mount like yours you should be fine up to 2 minutes I think but it may be a good option to look at a guide mount with guide camera this one attached includes a camera and matches the RedCat very well and also it’s not to big for the RedCat. https://www.firstlightoptics.com/zwo-cameras/zwo-mini-finder-guider-asi120mm-bundle.html

Edited April 30, 2020 by ThomasF1234