Total newby needing advice at basic level,

[Mackem]

I'm a complete novice in astronomy. 

So feel free to treat me like a child, my knowledge in the area is zero..

I'm looking for an astronomy camera in the £500 range preferably lower

I want to be able to track and view from the comfort of my dining room. 

I saw FLO is the lounges sponsor and noticed this on their site.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/zwo-accessories/zwo-asiair-pro-wireless-astrophotography-controller.html

I do like the look of their ZWO line of cameras too .

So many options and so little knowledge on my part.

My new purchase at the moment is....

Celestron starsense autoalign. (Attached but not plugged in as yet. )

Celestron Nexstar Evolution 925 computerised goto mount with wifi. 

I have a good desktop PC and a Tab S4

Both at this moment erected in my sitting room to make sure of no obvious problems I have controlled the scope no problem with my Tab S4.

I went with the Evolution as it seemed to have most of what I required built in.

So please help , what should I be looking for? 

I want a Jack of all trades Solar Lunar Planets deep space etc.

I know I'm going to need filters for solar pictures so advice there too.

What extra equipment do I need as I would prefer to view on a screen and also in comfort indoors?

Any and all advice gratefully recieved .

I know I'm asking a lot but I'm starting with a knowledge base of zero.

Yes I have done a lot of reading, but I have ended up with a migraine more times than I can count. 

None of it has managed to sink in or I have then read something that contradicts what I just read. 

Your help knowledge and experience is appreciated. 

Barry 

[Mackem]

By the way what  about Fastar?

I know celestron stopped making a Fastar add on but still made some of their scopes compatible. 

The reading I've done seems to think that it's much better for  imaging .

Like I said I'm hoping to do all my imaging on a screen,  preferably remotely and don't want to be standing over an eyepiece. 

But once again if I'm wrong please feel free to set me straight.

Maybe that would influence my choice of camera now if I went Fastar in the future. 

Barry 

[Skinnypuppy71]

Hi Mackem and welcome to sgl.....I'm still waiting on a few bits n bobs to start my endeavour into astrophotography...much like yourself although I have been a amateur photographer for 9 years and know my way around a dslr /mirrorless camera and I've shot a few night sky and star trail images....

If your starting from absolutely scratch...I think baby steps is the best advice I can give to you..it seems you want to run a marathon before you've learned to crawl...if you've already done some reading then surely you'd know this.....definitely no such thing as a Jack of all trades telescope....your going to need a different type for different types of astro work...that is can tell you for sure....I'm starting out with a small refractor,(field flattener), eq mount (skywatcher eqm-35),and a full frame mirrorless camera (Sony a7). not the best camera for the job I might add..but it's what I've got atm...probably the first thing I will change.

I plan on guiding and using a astro camera...but as I said baby steps...I need to learn the equipment for the basics first as you also will have to do....I'm sure other more knowledgeable people will be along with more detailed advice.

Edited June 20, 2020 by Skinnypuppy71

[Mr niall]

Are you talking about EEVA (electronically enhanced visual astronomy) - you may want to move your post over to that forum if so.

Celestron 925 is a really good choice for this sort of thing as it is definitely a jack of all trades scope for EEVA work.

[Mackem]

Thanks for the response SP and Mr n, I was just thinking I would be best off getting the camera best suited for the job, at a reasonable price, straight away. 

I gave the DSLR to the grandkids as it was so unused .

As for running marathons I couldn't run one when young never mind now.😂

I do get what you're saying.  But this well worn back needs its comfort these days and to my mind sitting in my dining room beats being outside. 

EEVA ?

Ok brand new one to me😂

I of course will move to that forum, I just assumed my query would have been to do with getting started with  imaging. 

Thanks again for the replies.

Barry 

 

[alacant]

38 minutes ago, Mackem said:

getting started with  imaging

Hi

If that's what you want to do, then perhaps keep it here?

To begin, maybe pick one of your...

13 hours ago, Mackem said:

Solar Lunar Planets deep space

... Items and get that going? 

That way we can prioritize and help get you started along the right lines.

Meanwhile, if you can get acquainted with a local astro club, that's by far the quickest way to make a start.

Cheers

[ollypenrice]

There are different imaging boards on SGL. Why not take a look at what people are actually using for the different kinds of astrophotography? Manufacturers are dead keen to persuade you that they have the perfect solution (like the Fastar or the Starizona Hyperstar) with numbers which prove the absolute superiority of their marvels. But do the people doing the imaging use them? A few do. A lot don't. I don't.

Olly

[Mackem]

24 minutes ago, ollypenrice said:

There are different imaging boards on SGL. Why not take a look at what people are actually using for the different kinds of astrophotography? Manufacturers are dead keen to persuade you that they have the perfect solution (like the Fastar or the Starizona Hyperstar) with numbers which prove the absolute superiority of their marvels. But do the people doing the imaging use them? A few do. A lot don't. I don't.

Olly

Thanks Olly I have browsed some videos and comments about Hyperstar and have to say been impressed with speed and quality of the produced images from exposures in seconds rather than lots of minutes.  Even single exposures. 

But like you say I am going to need persuading to splash a grand after my original outlay.

Barry 

[Mackem]

1 hour ago, alacant said:

Hi

If that's what you want to do, then perhaps keep it here?

To begin, maybe pick one of your...

... Items and get that going? 

That way we can prioritize and help get you started along the right lines.

Meanwhile, if you can get acquainted with a local astro club, that's by far the quickest way to make a start.

Cheers

Alacant I was  thinking along the lines of as much info as I could supply, so you helpful folk would be able to point me in the direction of a camera that would suit most if not all my needs. 

The money looks like it's going to fly from my pocket, before I get where I want to be.😂

Barry 

[Tenor Viol]

I think spending some time browsing the various threads on here would be good as suggested above. As I mentioned on your other post, find out if there's a club or society near to you (have a look at he list on the FAS web site: http://fedastro.org.uk/fas/members/members-location-by-county/ ) speaking to others and finding out what works for them is a good starting point and helps avoid costly mistakes. 

[rickwayne]

This is very common advice, but here goes: While you can pick up individual bits of information from videos or forum threads, IMO the very best way to start is with a good general-purpose book like The Deep-Sky Imaging Primer or Making Every Photon Count. That will give you a solid grounding in the whys and wherefores, the problems that the particular techniques or bits of equipment are intended to solve. TDSIP is how I got my start, and I still refer to it fairly often.

You don't have to be a physicist or engineer to understand this stuff well enough to do great images, but basic knowledge really, really helps. For example, planetary imagers often shoot video and use software that assembles the best bits out of hundreds or thousands of frames, while deep-sky guys and gals do multiple long exposures and use all of every frame. These books will explain why.

[Skinnypuppy71]

My father's day gifts from my kids  for tomorrow....Making every photon count and turn left at Orion..well there not really kids...but you know what I mean.

[Mackem]

Thanks for the tip. 

[ollypenrice]

18 hours ago, Mackem said:

Thanks Olly I have browsed some videos and comments about Hyperstar and have to say been impressed with speed and quality of the produced images from exposures in seconds rather than lots of minutes.  Even single exposures. 

But like you say I am going to need persuading to splash a grand after my original outlay.

Barry 

'Seconds into minutes' might be very misleading. In their advertizing, Starizona talk as if you are taking the same picture with and without the lens but, of course, you are not. Just as the F ratio goes from 10 to 2, so the focal length is divided by five. This means that a galaxy which fills the frame at F10 is reduced to a tiny feature in the middle of the chip at F2. These two pictures cannot be meaningfully compared. A more useful comparison would be between two instruments of the same focal length, one of them a Hyperstar. So an 8 inch Hyperstar has a focal length of 400mm. That's comparable with, say, an Esprit 80 with a 400mm FL as well. The Hyperstar remains much faster. Exactly how much faster will depend on the size of the central obstruction but it might be five or six times faster in theory. However, the complications introduced by the Hyperstar include the difficulty of eliminating tilt, finding and retaining focus at F2's shallow depth of field, finding filters which work at F2, collimation without an eyepiece, routing the cables to avoid diffraction artifacts and so on. These may eat into you clear sky time.

When looking at Hyperstar images be sure to note the difference between narrowband and broadband results. Narrowband filters hold stars down to tiny points. Broadband filters don't - and Hyperstar stars in broadband are not always of the best. Sometimes they're good (eg Greg Parker's) but often they're not.

Olly

[Mackem]

Thanks Olly 

I have reread your post 3 times to try to force the information in.

This is nothing to do with the way you have written it, all down to the way my brain works.

As soon as numbers become involved my brain shrivels up and hides in a corner. 

I've had this problem all my life not exactly number blindness but if it  isn't obvious my brain does a runner. 

Yet I can replay Jim Montgomerys save in the 1973 FA cup final in my head as if it had just happened. 

As it is I think you're correct and maybe I should leave the Hyperstar till later. 

But still leaves me with looking for a decent camera that would still be good for use  with Fastar in the future. 

Thanks for your time. 

Barry