Phone mount on BSTs (and general phone mounts)

[sorrimen]

Hi all

Pretty new to all this, very recently bought an 8” dob and have from two nights out got some not terrible first images of saturn and jupiter (amongst other things). These have come from just holding the phone up to the EP with videos and sometimes with 10 second exposures which is a real challenge. As a result, I’ve just bought a £15 or so phone adapter (Gosky from amazon). 

My eyepieces are all BST starguiders and I’m wondering given their wide and angled shape if anyone has had experience combining these with a phone mount. I’ve also noticed that you can remove the eyecup which would make it much easier, but I’m not sure if removing and replacing the eyecup overtime will cause it some damage? 

Finally just asking in general how people how found using phone adapters. In your experiences have they been much better than holding or is it just such a faff that it’s not worth it? 

Thanks in advance (and here are the pics because why not!)

[sorrimen]

Thought I’d add, I’m new to SGL so if this isn’t the appropriate forum/formatting etc. just let me know and I’ll get it fixed.

[MalcolmM]

Those are great pics and in my experience, phone adapters are a bit of a faff, take a bit of getting used to but will allow you to get even better pics!

Malcolm

[sorrimen]

1 hour ago, MalcolmM said:

Those are great pics and in my experience, phone adapters are a bit of a faff, take a bit of getting used to but will allow you to get even better pics!

Malcolm

Thanks! Suppose I'll just have to get used to it if I want the best quality pics. 

[Stu1smartcookie]

I don't like phone adapters but i do see their worth . The trouble i find is getting the right camera located over the EP ... with three or more cameras on smartphones these days i think its a frustrating experience using (cheap) adapters . But ,as Malcolm writes , you will get better photos once you have everything set up . 

[DaveL59]

Not had a chance to try it and I don't have those eyepieces, but I bought the Celestron NeXYZ phone holder which has reviewed well by others on here. I went that route since my Galaxy Note phone isn't small and I didn't feel any of the cheaper alternatives would manage well with this phone. The nice aspect is you can easily adjust the phone position so the right camera is aligned where it needs to be over the eyepiece, similar to the one used on their Starsense Explorer scopes. The large clamp for the eyepiece is adjustable also and seems to hold things quite securely.

Edited June 6, 2022 by DaveL59

[AstroNebulee]

Plus 1 for the celestron nexyz phone holder, a quality piece of kit, pricey but easier to use and can be accurate quicker when setting up on the eyepiece. 

[sorrimen]

Update: 

Phone mount has arrived and surpringsly clamps on just fine to the BST eyepieces, even with the eyecup on. Adjustment is a little tedious as it takes a while to unscrew, however I imagine this will be less of a problem from now on as they are set to the right position (might take a minute or two at most in the dark). Overall it feels a tiny bit flimsy and cheap, although it is mostly metal so this is more of a case of it being thin rather than material quality and to be honest with how well it stays in place I don't imagine this feeling reflects performance/longevity. 

Final note is that I have an iPhone 12, so there are 2 cameras. Just from previous experience these only switch between video and photo, and between normal and ultrawide lens. Just using either the photo or video mode doesn't cause any issues multiple camera-wise with the mount.

[Pixies]

The only phone holder that has worked for me is the Celestron NeXYZ, all others were a complete pain.

[PeterStudz]

Interesting. I found the Celestron NeXYZ to be a royal pain in the… over engineered and unnecessarily heavy but then I do have a small telescope. 

The one that worked for me was a no-name brand off eBay. I think I paid about £10 for it. I mainly use BST StarGuiders and do remove the eyecup. Been doing it for about 18 months and there’s no damage. In fact I often remove the eyecups anyway - I sometimes observe with glasses and find that in order to get my eye close in the eyecup just gets in the way.

The mount grips the eyepiece very well, it’s not going anywhere. Might be different with other eyepieces. And to make things easier, once I found the sweet spot, I stuck a screw in the mount (see picture). Now I only have to adjust the “Y” direction. No faffing about with “X” & “Z”. With this mount and BST StarGuiders I’ve never found it necessary to adjust in “Z”. It’s simple, light and with a little practice I can mount it in the dark. 

[PeterStudz]

Here are a few pictures with an iPhone 12. Orion Nebula and sunspots with a 4.5” reflector on a wobbling old EQ1 with cheap motor drive. 30 sec exposure single shot for Orion, single shot for the sunspots.

Jupiter and moon via an 8” Dob. Moon single shot, Jupiter a single frame from a video. The black dot is Ganymede. I don’t have a PC so no stacking for me. Any editing done on the phone. 

[sorrimen]

3 hours ago, PeterStudz said:

Interesting. I found the Celestron NeXYZ to be a royal pain in the… over engineered and unnecessarily heavy but then I do have a small telescope. 

The one that worked for me was a no-name brand off eBay. I think I paid about £10 for it. I mainly use BST StarGuiders and do remove the eyecup. Been doing it for about 18 months and there’s no damage. In fact I often remove the eyecups anyway - I sometimes observe with glasses and find that in order to get my eye close in the eyecup just gets in the way.

The mount grips the eyepiece very well, it’s not going anywhere. Might be different with other eyepieces. And to make things easier, once I found the sweet spot, I stuck a screw in the mount (see picture). Now I only have to adjust the “Y” direction. No faffing about with “X” & “Z”. With this mount and BST StarGuiders I’ve never found it necessary to adjust in “Z”. It’s simple, light and with a little practice I can mount it in the dark. 

Oh that’s great to know actually. Whilst it seems to work with the eyecup I imagine it’ll be a lot easier without. 

[sorrimen]

2 hours ago, PeterStudz said:

Here are a few pictures with an iPhone 12. Orion Nebula and sunspots with a 4.5” reflector on a wobbling old EQ1 with cheap motor drive. 30 sec exposure single shot for Orion, single shot for the sunspots.

Jupiter and moon via an 8” Dob. Moon single shot, Jupiter a single frame from a video. The black dot is Ganymede. I don’t have a PC so no stacking for me. Any editing done on the phone. 

Okay wow those are incredible. That jupiter one is what blows my mind seeing as it’s just a single frame. My stacked and processed pics aren’t even close to that 🤣 Can’t wait for it to get higher into the sky. 

Orion nebula looks amazing too. Might have to have a go at hand tracking, though I imagine 30 seconds will be very difficult.

[sorrimen]

Thought I’d add, Peter, what eyepiece were you using for that jupiter shot if you can remember? I’m very tempted to buy a 5mm BST but I’m not totally sure if I need it yet.

[PeterStudz]

1 hour ago, sorrimen said:

Thought I’d add, Peter, what eyepiece were you using for that jupiter shot if you can remember? I’m very tempted to buy a 5mm BST but I’m not totally sure if I need it yet.

I had to look back at my pictures & files and I was using a BST StarGuider 5mm. I also bumped up the video to 4K at 60 fps, zoomed at 1.7x. For some reason zooming in the video at between 1.7-1.8x makes an improvement. Not sure why as it doesn’t when I take single images.

On the 8” Dob I find the 5mm quite useful. Especially on the moon. Although for planets like Jupiter and Saturn seeing does need to be good. I had about 7-8 nights of trying when seeing was good and it only worked out well a couple of times. Not that I tried to do this every time. Often I just enjoyed the view. I also like looking a globulars and the ring nebula in the 5mm. Can also be handy at splitting some doubles, although I’m still learning about that. I think you’ll find it worth getting.

Out of interest. I only started taking smartphone snaps because my daughter wanted pictures. She likes it and it helps keep her interest up. I can remember when we first tried this on the Orion Nebula. Just hovering the phone over the eyepiece had her literally jumping up and down - you could see colours on the phone screen.

Although I’m more interested in just observing I have to admit it’s nice looking back at my “astronomy” folder and seeing all the pics that I’ve taken. It reminds me of the whole night itself, although I’ve had plenty of good nights without fiddling with smartphone images. 

And I always like seeing other peoples images, like yours, too. It all adds to the fun of what is a great hobby.

[sorrimen]

1 hour ago, PeterStudz said:

I had to look back at my pictures & files and I was using a BST StarGuider 5mm. I also bumped up the video to 4K at 60 fps, zoomed at 1.7x. For some reason zooming in the video at between 1.7-1.8x makes an improvement. Not sure why as it doesn’t when I take single images.

On the 8” Dob I find the 5mm quite useful. Especially on the moon. Although for planets like Jupiter and Saturn seeing does need to be good. I had about 7-8 nights of trying when seeing was good and it only worked out well a couple of times. Not that I tried to do this every time. Often I just enjoyed the view. I also like looking a globulars and the ring nebula in the 5mm. Can also be handy at splitting some doubles, although I’m still learning about that. I think you’ll find it worth getting.

Out of interest. I only started taking smartphone snaps because my daughter wanted pictures. She likes it and it helps keep her interest up. I can remember when we first tried this on the Orion Nebula. Just hovering the phone over the eyepiece had her literally jumping up and down - you could see colours on the phone screen.

Although I’m more interested in just observing I have to admit it’s nice looking back at my “astronomy” folder and seeing all the pics that I’ve taken. It reminds me of the whole night itself, although I’ve had plenty of good nights without fiddling with smartphone images. 

And I always like seeing other peoples images, like yours, too. It all adds to the fun of what is a great hobby.

Right, I suppose I'm spending that £30 then! Really appreciate you putting the time into checking back over your pictures. Yeah I accidentally stubbled onto a double the other night and it was something I didn't even realise existed. 

I'm certainly the same, but for whatever reason with anything I observe I end up taking a picture. Haven't had anyone out with me yet so I suppose it's just me wanting to share the awe with people. Thanks again!

[SzabiB]

Hi guys,

 

Total dummy here...

While I am waiting for my new SkyWatcher Classic 200 Dob, I still would like to play around with my super wobbly PowerShaaaaaker 114.

So I have BST eye pieces and the Celestron NeXYZ holder. Doesn't seem I can get it in the right position.... always something on the way and running out of adjustment (which you control the distance between the phone and eye piece). 

Can anyone post a picture about correct set up, if you are using the same gears.

 

Many thanks is advance 

[SzabiB]

On 07/06/2022 at 17:42, PeterStudz said:

These are some epic photos 👏

 

 

 

 

 

 

[sorrimen]

7 minutes ago, SzabiB said:

Hi guys,

 

Total dummy here...

While I am waiting for my new SkyWatcher Classic 200 Dob, I still would like to play around with my super wobbly PowerShaaaaaker 114.

So I have BST eye pieces and the Celestron NeXYZ holder. Doesn't seem I can get it in the right position.... always something on the way and running out of adjustment (which you control the distance between the phone and eye piece). 

Can anyone post a picture about correct set up, if you are using the same gears.

 

Many thanks is advance 

Not quite what you’re after, but have you tried taking off the rubber eye cups? It makes it a whole lot easier to centre etc. and you can the screw up and down the eyecup holder part to find the perfect distance without having to adjust it on your NexYZ. Worth a shot!

[SzabiB]

3 minutes ago, sorrimen said:

Not quite what you’re after, but have you tried taking off the rubber eye cups? It makes it a whole lot easier to centre etc. and you can the screw up and down the eyecup holder part to find the perfect distance without having to adjust it on your NexYZ. Worth a shot!

Awesome,  thank you.

I will give a try tomorrow morning (at the moment full on cloud cover in Inverness,  but every morning have a 20-30 minutes window to stare the moon).

Managed to take this without holder from hand 

[sorrimen]

1 hour ago, SzabiB said:

Awesome,  thank you.

I will give a try tomorrow morning (at the moment full on cloud cover in Inverness,  but every morning have a 20-30 minutes window to stare the moon).

Managed to take this without holder from hand 

Wow! That is one hell of an image. With 114mm aperture?!! Attaching the adapter and you’re onto some phenomenal shots. 

[Stu]

@sorrimen just to say I’ve moved this to the smartphone section where hopefully it will continue to get useful comments.

Nice images you are getting, and sure to improve as you get more experience with your current and new kit 👍👍

For what it’s worth, I still handhold the phone at the eyepiece for lunar and solar shots. That’s normally because I’m binoviewing and trying to mount a phone to a binoviewer just adds too much weight.

For longer exposures a mount is very useful and really helps. I have a number of different ones and they all have benefits and drawbacks. As I think Peter said, the very cheap ones can actually work very well and are lightweight.

I wrote some reviews of various models here, which may be useful.

http://www.waltonastrogroup.co.uk/equipment-reviews.html

[SzabiB]

19 hours ago, Stu said:

@sorrimen just to say I’ve moved this to the smartphone section where hopefully it will continue to get useful comments.

Nice images you are getting, and sure to improve as you get more experience with your current and new kit 👍👍

For what it’s worth, I still handhold the phone at the eyepiece for lunar and solar shots. That’s normally because I’m binoviewing and trying to mount a phone to a binoviewer just adds too much weight.

For longer exposures a mount is very useful and really helps. I have a number of different ones and they all have benefits and drawbacks. As I think Peter said, the very cheap ones can actually work very well and are lightweight.

I wrote some reviews of various models here, which may be useful.

http://www.waltonastrogroup.co.uk/equipment-reviews.html

Hey Stu, 

 

Thanks for the link. I will have a read through properly tonight. 
I just had a quick look so far, but yes, I can confirm what you were saying,  the NexYZ is pretty wobbly.

[wookie1965]

I use this and find its really good although I have had trouble taking astro pictures at night solar is fine. 

I take the end caps off to put this on.