On the EAA learning curve

[Surreydocker]

 

3 months ago, I didn't own a telescope so I'm absolutely delighted with the results I got last night. On the first night with the camera (Monday), I couldn't get Sharpcap to recognise any stars so it wouldn't stack. Last night I tweaked a few settings and it all started working. I spent quite a bit of time experimenting with different settings on the camera and histogram and eventually got something I liked. At this stage, I'm not concerned with getting perfect quality so much as being able to view things that I can't otherwise see in my Bortle 9 skies (and horrendous street and amenity lighting). I am using an Altair Ascent 102 ED f7, Altair 294C Pro, Altair Tri band filter and SW AZ Gti. It's all mounted on a homemade bracket that clamps to my balcony handrail. I am really impressed with the AZ Gti, it finds and tracks really well for visual and EAA. If your scope weighs 5kg or less, it's well worth considering.

Ian

[Mike JW]

Seeing where you are observing from - I am impressed by your determination. I would not even bother. I moan if I can only see down to mag 5 stars!

Don't worry about quality of the results, EEVA is about 'seeing' objects and finding out about them.

Enjoy the journey.

Mike

[RobertI]

Well done, really promoising results, you've got lots of interesting objects to discover with that setup. I also did EAA from a very light polluted site, and although my skies were probably darker, it's amazing  what could be achieved against all the odds. 

[Bill S]

An impressive demonstration of what determination, skill and EEVA can achieve.

Thank you for sharing, Ian.

Bill

 

[JeremyS]

These results look really good Ian. Well done for getting it all up and running so quickly 

[Gmx76]

Love the setup and great images!

[Keltoi]

awesome results and much better than my attempts from my bortle 5 skys lol.   am also using an Alt- AZ GTI but with 130ps and 183c.   but being having problems just  getting any sort of stars in focus. 

So last night resorted to the lil Skywatcher st80  and Gpcam224 which worked a lil better  but this was best i could get of the 7 sisters,  so as you can see you are doing Fantastic.   Great Job keep at it. 

 

 

Edited September 9, 2020 by Keltoi

[Surreydocker]

Thanks for your kind comments. I'm sure others here, more experienced than me, can give better advice but I use a Bahtinov mask to focus. If you don't have one handy, I have also found that you can aim at a bright star and set the camera exposure time to a short interval (1 - 2 secs) and then tweak the focus and watch the results on screen.  It's then trial and error to get the best focus.

[Bill S]

Yes, focus using a nice bright star. A Bahtinov mask can help but again, use a bright star. Or use the Moon or Mars if visible.

Cheers