SW 200P and imaging the Moon

[thunor]

Hi,

I am going to try imaging the moon, up to now I've really only viewed but thought I'd give the dark art a try!

I bought myself a usb EQDIR and installed EQMOD, going to get myself a SPC900 then I'll be all set I think?

My polar alignment as always been very rough but for imaging I understand this needs to be spot on.

So questions... If my polar alignment is out and I use a guide cam with PHD can I still image ? do I still need to have a spot on PA and do all the drift alignment setup?

Lastly, do I need to use PHD when imaging the moon???

Thank you

[Cornelius Varley]

For lunar imaging you don't need to autoguide.

Peter

[TheThing]

I have just started using a SW 200 for imaging and am more than happy with the results so far.

For the moon, you just need a rough polar align and away you go. I've been using Sharpcap for driving a webcam (some issues with it and a SPC900 at the mo, but being fixed I understand) or Craterlet. I've found best results are to take single images thru the webcam using either of these programs and then merge the results in Microsoft I.C.E. to make a mosaic.

[TopHouse]

What you can do, to get as close an align as possible with sharpcap, is if you download the latest version, it has a rotatable/movable reticule, if you look up drift aligning with a reticule it's actually not THAT hard. Well, if you've never done it, it's hard to get your head round, but once it 'snaps in' it's easy.

http://www.andysshotglass.com/DriftAlignment.html

[thunor]

Thanks guys, massive help as always.

[beamish]

Make sure to turn on the Luna tracking in eqmod tho

[jgs001]

For lunar, you can polar align, with only a rough compass alignment. This is how I did my mosaic whilst the sky was too bright to actually see Polaris with a low moon over the summer.

It's deep sky where you need a good polar alignment.