Shaking off the cobwebs

[Quatermass]

Well its been a long time since I posted an image on Stargazers Lounge having sold all my gear 6 years ago and taken a break from it but having moved house to a nice dark sky area I simply could not resist getting back in to it all again. I got hold of a second hand Skywatcher 200p and EQ5 mount which was how I started out back in 2012 and then added to that a Skywatcher inhanced dual axis kit.

Next on my list was to upgrade my Canon 350d to a Canon 450d unmodded and then I just head to wait till a clear night gave me that chance to flex my imaging muscles again. Last night despite a bright moon I got a chance to image the wonderful Orion Nebula at last. 130 shots ISO800 30sec 30 darks flats and bias then stacked and processed. What a joy it is to be doing this again and now I have lovely dark skys to work with I cant wait to do more and get the full guided set up later on. Clear skies everyone QM

[Ouroboros]

Nice one! Enjoy rediscovering this hobby.  
The one thing that I think has changed over 6 years or so is that dedicated cooled astro cameras have become more available. I’m wondering why you didn’t make the direct leap into getting one of those. 

[pete_l]

36 minutes ago, Quatermass said:

now I have lovely dark skys to work with

Yes. A dark sky beats any telescope, camera, accessory or mount in terms of the "equipment" that makes the most difference to the enjoyment and reach of the hobby.

Welcome back!

[Quatermass]

1 hour ago, Ouroboros said:

Nice one! Enjoy rediscovering this hobby.  
The one thing that I think has changed over 6 years or so is that dedicated cooled astro cameras have become more available. I’m wondering why you didn’t make the direct leap into getting one of those. 

That is something I will consider later on down the line for sure the software used to control the mount has also changed alot since I was doing it and I hope to get set up for a more perminant solution. It was nice when I had my little observatory and freezing my buns off outside is not something I want to be doing again. Im hoping to get myself an Ha filter and do some work with that. Ive allways enjoyed using a DSLR despite the issues with noise.

[Ouroboros]

Yes, it's probably better to tackle bite-size aims rather than take on everything at once.  Anyway DSLRs still have a lot going for them. Easy to use. Reliable. Tough. Self powered. Relatively cheap. Large sensor size. Usable standalone or with a computer, and still give acceptable results compared with astro cameras. We also shouldn't forget that some people also use them as perfectly acceptable conventional cameras.  

[Quatermass]

Yep I like to use mine for other photography projects. Going on to a cooled ccd camera is certainly tempting but the thought of using a filter wheel and spending even more time gathering the data from different filters is something I would only consider if I had a proper observatory set up and the telescope on a pier mount. However I did try out a Ha filter many years ago and really was impressed with the results plus the bonus of being able to image when there is a full moon.