A Simple Setup

[PeterStudz]

This is our setup as it stands but it’s very much a work in progress. We’ve only had a small telescope - a Sky-Watcher 1145p with EQ1 for a few months. Many of the ideas I got via old threads on this forum. 

Really wanted to avoid a GEM mount but I’m now getting to quite like it. Mind, it’s not so great for my daughter as I have to set everything up first, find a target (sometimes with a bit of help form her) and at that point we can both take in the view through the eyepiece. And being in Southampton, Bortle 8, doesn’t make it any easier. Although tinkering (I do enjoy tinkering) and tightening things up on the EQ1 has improved it significantly. 

Taking pictures with a smartphone, my daughters suggestion, kind of evolved from simply pointing the phone down the eyepiece. We’ve also got the economy drive which I’ve modified. I’ve added a larger knob, replaced the little 9v battery with a 12v rechargeable lead acid, knocked down to 9v, and added a mini volt meter across the motor terminals. The idea being that I can now dial-in a voltage - the same volts should drive things at near enough the same speed. This has significantly improved the way it works and taken away much frustration. Of course not intended or just used for astrophotography, although we can now get some vital extra seconds when taking pictures, it really helps keeping the target in view while fiddling with eyepieces and phone mounts. And most of these bits I had sitting doing nothing down my shed.

I also beefed up the little focuser. There was far too much play in the draw tube and hanging a phone off the top would pull on the assembly creating distortions every time a picture was taken. I added Teflon tape to the draw tube and added an extra thumb screw that holds the eyepiece. In fact these thumb screws are just threaded into plastic and we’d already striped one, so metal thread inserts were also added. 

I did splash out on a NexYZ phone mount and although the idea is great we’ve had a few issues with it. The main one is that it’s so heavy. Using this plus an iPhone 12 adds almost half a kilo, throwing everything way off balance and pulling on the draw tube. So at the moment I’ve settled on a cheap mount off eBay. It actually fits our StarGuider eyepieces really securely once the rubber eye-cups are removed (see pics). And it’s very light. The only faff is positioning the phone lens so it points exactly down the hole. This has to be repeated every time it’s used. Since the same phone is being used this should ideally be a once only operation. So, once the sweet spot has been found I intend to clamp it down with a screw, and make a ply extension plate to hold the bottom of the phone. That way you just pop the phone in and tighten it down without having to fiddle around. And we should be able to do this in the dark too.

A few tips/things I’ve discovered:

Practice setting everything up in daylight. And practice some more.

Make sure your phone camera lens is clean and clear of dew. I spent a whole night trying to find out why my pictures were fuzzy. I’d carefully kept my eyepieces clean. Eventually discovering that my camera lens was covered in dew.

Do a very basic star test on screen with the phone mounted to your telescope. That way you can get a good idea if everything is true.

Take loads of shots. You can always delete and then keep the best.

[Tan Zhi Qi]

Great write up! You have a lovely, simple set up! Really hope to get my telescope soon! 

[Stu1smartcookie]

You can have an expensive , expansive set up , and the biggest scope money can buy  in this hobby, the stars will still be just points of light . I like reading reports like yours . Nice one

 

Edited March 29, 2021 by Stu1smartcookie

[Kimboman]

Hi great article  half the fun I find is making things work out better nice touch with the screw to set the phone holder.

I found that my binocular clamp worked loose and stated to spin so I drilled and tapped it the the mount plateYou have a good set up enjoy your hobby