Advise please

[Elp]

C6 comes with the default Celestron alt az goto so not really suited for deep sky long exposure.

My C6 is what I consider an all rounder, but that is because I've bought all the other things to make it so so I can image wide and fast, reasonably long and long (for planetary) ie an extra 1500-2000k on top of the used OTA cost. Think of focal length as zoom, the higher it is the more magnified you are and the narrower field of view you'll have. The lower it is the less magnified you are and the wider the field of view. The more focal length you have the better your mount and tracking (you really need autoguiding at this point) need to be. The default mounts more scopes come with are inadequate for deep sky imaging, only the custom made packages from astro retailers are worth pondering over.

Edited August 16, 2023 by Elp

[Elp]

I really would not recommend long focal length if you're just starting out without any prior experience doing it well, especially when imaging.

If you're doing visual in relatively dark skies, no issue though if you don't have a goto mount, finding targets simply and easily will present an issue.

Edited August 16, 2023 by Elp

[squipper]

I  Understand  that bit. But  i still have "L" plates and stabilisers on  in this situation

Edited August 24, 2023 by squipper

[happy-kat]

You can use a red dot finder in the flash hot shoe with an adapter which helps pointing the camera to where you want

You might find this a read with your 7d and planets 

https://www.astropix.com/html/equipment/canon_one_to_one_pixel_resolution.html

Have fun using and learning

[squipper]

The scope comes on a celestron  advanced gt mount with a payload of 30 pounds and the scope is 8pounds in weight 

[Cosmic Geoff]

1 hour ago, squipper said:

The scope comes on a celestron  advanced gt mount with a payload of 30 pounds and the scope is 8pounds in weight 

 

12 hours ago, squipper said:

Understand that   i still have "L" plates and stabilisers on  in this situation 

Rather than rushing to buy anything you should take a step back and do two things: 

1) Buy the books "Making Every Photon Count" by Steve Richards (a book on deep-sky imaging available from FLO) and "Guide to High Resolution Lunar & Planet Imaging" by Dave Eagle FRAS (see his website www.star-gazing.co.uk for distribution.)  Depending on how much you understand of the contents, certain conclusions can be drawn...  The investment of £20 +£10 here might save you much more money further down the line.

2) I understand that you already have a camera, and a small telescope.  As others have suggested, put the camera on some sort of mount and try imaging the night sky with it.  Then attach the camera to the telescope and try imaging something with the combination.  Download some free software with which to process the results.  After this experience you should have a better idea of what practical astrophotography is like. You will then have a much better idea what to buy in order to progress with the hobby than if you buy expensive kit blindly.

The Advanced GT isn't a bad mount. It's obsolete, but similar to the current model AVX.  "Scope" I assume refers to the C6, which is a handy scope to have but not a first choice if you want to image anything.  The focal length is much too long for widefield and it's on the small side for planetary imaging.

Note that you can generally download the user manual for any mount or mount/telescope retail bundle from the Internet.  If you are not familiar with GoTo mounts, it would not hurt to download a manual and read it.   The instruction manual for my EQ-5 Synscan mount runs to about 50 pages.

[AstroMuni]

18 hours ago, squipper said:

SWMBO  said i am too old for this malarkey  (I am 72 )  and  say i can go up to £1,800 full stop,  only new or used for all the gear make up your mind or the bank vault will be shut  ( being on a limited income )

Perfect match to my suggestion then. There is a HEQ5 pro + belt mod on sale for £750 in this forum, and one for £500 on https://www.astrobuysell.com/uk/propview.php?view=203343.

So you will have some funds left from the £1800 🙂

[Cornelius Varley]

15 minutes ago, AstroMuni said:

Perfect match to my suggestion then. There is a HEQ5 pro + belt mod on sale for £750 in this forum, and one for £500 on https://www.astrobuysell.com/uk/propview.php?view=203343.

So you will have some funds left from the £1800 🙂

The OP doesn't have the requirements (30 days membership + more than 25 relevant posts)  to access the buy/sell section.

[AstroMuni]

1 hour ago, Cornelius Varley said:

The OP doesn't have the requirements (30 days membership + more than 25 relevant posts)  to access the buy/sell section.

Good spot Peter.

[squipper]

reading all of everybody's good  comment 's would this scope satisfy  my needs Skywatcher Equinox 120 mm pro flourite ED apo refractor

Edited August 20, 2023 by squipper

[M40]

Now thats a nice telescope. Keep youe eye on the weight though as a quick google tells me it's 6.5kgs plus another 1-2 for bits and bobs and you need a good mount for it. If your budget goes for that and an heq5 then I don't think you will be disappointed 👌

[squipper]

some one is selling one   complete with HEQ5 Pro Synscan mount and extras Williams Dielectric diagonal, illuminated Finderscope, Maplin Regulated power supply, TMB SW 6mm eyepiece, Meade eyepieces - 25, 20, 17, 12, 6 mm, Williams 20 mm 66 degree Binoviewer, ED 25mm, 3.8mm and 30 mm fully coated eyepieces, 2 inch filter set (7), 1.25 inch filter set (12 filters), 2 x ED Barlow lens, 3x TeleVue Barlow lens, AE Collimator, Neutral density filter, light pollution and nebula filters, USB to Serial adaptor, LED night vision items, instruction manuals for synscan and mount, lockable aluminium telescope case for £1000 but he as someone viewing this evening   but the person does not want it i have the   a chance to buy it

[Cosmic Geoff]

A 120mm APO and a HEQ5 + accessories would be a good setup. Assuming that this is the kind of scope you actually want. What are you going to do with it?

Another thing to consider - keep a cool head and add up the new retail prices of all these items - it does not have to be exact.  Another Sky watcher ED 120mm comes in at about £1400, and the HEQ5 is about £1000.  If you think this offer is a bit too good to be true, don't part with any money till you have checked this out from all angles, and if possible gone to see the items yourself. 

As a guide, astro kit on good clean & working condition typically sells used for about 66% of the new price.

[squipper]

Just a quick note to let you know that  i have just been notified  that all the scope and gear has been sold  will keep on loooking

[Elp]

You could consider one of Altair Astros combo deals, I'd prefer to source individually, and you've got more milage in the used market.

[squipper]

Thank you very kindly for that comment, I will keep looking for used items seem to get more for your money

Edited August 20, 2023 by squipper

[squipper]

Hi  I have just  tonight had a go at sky imaging with my sigma 18-35mm lens  settings were iso 100/ s/s 15"/  3.2 apt bortle 7 sky .used a eos 2000D  of the wifes . the last one neighbour's night light came on 

[Elp]

Seems okay. You should be able to image up to iso 1600, if you point it in the direction of the milky way arms and take a few hundred images and stack them you might reveal the milky way. Reference Stellarium to find out which way to point the camera at the sky.

[squipper]

 i took it up to 1600 and it came out like 

snowed out 

 

Edited August 31, 2023 by squipper

[Elp]

Maybe your light pollution is too bad so dial it back to ISO 800 or less. It's also likely you have to post process your file to edit the histogram levels, your midpoint will have to be increased (so histogram peak moves to the left/shadows or dark tones) to lower the overall brightness of the image. You normally do this after stacking all your frames into one image file.

[squipper]

Just had a board meeting with the SWMBO management and  the terms are now  get a  telescope for planets and  get the se50 when it becomes  easier to buy    due to she wants the garden and kitchen  re vamping . so  what's the type of scope for planets  a  dob or newt or a frak  .

[M40]

2 hours ago, squipper said:

Just had a board meeting with the SWMBO management and  the terms are now  get a  telescope for planets and  get the se50 when it becomes  easier to buy    due to she wants the garden and kitchen  re vamping . so  what's the type of scope for planets  a  dob or newt or a frak  .

You missed maksutov (i.e. skywatcher skymax) off your list. Easier to carry than a dob or newt and great for solar system stuff, gets my vote. Whichever you go for, ensure the mount can cope with the weight. I would also recommend a goto mount as that sounds like a fair exchange with sorting the kitchen and garden 😉

[Elp]

Maksutov or SCT. Most images I've seen of planetary are via SCT. Note the larger it is, the better the mount needs to be as they become heavy fast, but most can be supplied with their alt az mounts. You don't need an EQ mount for planetary visual or imaging, but would be a good investment if you decided to go deep sky later on. Do however temper your expectations, my C6 is 1500mm focal length, planets are still small visually unless you use a Barlow and a high power eyepiece, you then have to contend with seeing issues as its effect is more magnified.

Take a look at my reports to give you some idea:

 

 

Edited September 5, 2023 by Elp

[squipper]

just come in after trying  to image saturn  no luck saw  it through the vf and live view took  15"  image iso 100 and  a black photo. is that a 127 mak  have seen them complete with a mount 

 

[squipper]

just checked  i was on f18  no wonder it was a black photo will try again tomorrow too hot and tired to go back out