From Solar to Astro - I have made the jump !

[stevebb]

Taken a moment or two to gather my thoughts and let you know what the progress has been over this last week. Many thanks again for all your wishes, help and advice ....

Well, the dastardly deed has been done and I have now part exchanged my solar telescope (Coronado SM60T Double Stacked) for the astronomical type and actually ended up with 3 for the price of 1.

Skywatcher Equinox ED120 120mm refractor

Skywatcher Equinox ED80 80mm refractor

Skywatcher Traveller 80mm refractor

Together with the scopes I also received an NEQ6 Pro mount with GPS and good old fleabay provided a 12v 2amp mains power supply which arrived today. Also, Maplin currently have a super special offer on chargers and I got a 17amp/hour battery pack for under £40. I did ponder the leisure battery approach but this was a price I just could not ignore.

I fired her up the day prior to maximum lunar perigee last week, I have only had the one quick chance so far as work has been in the way. It was late afternoon and the moon was rising fast across a still blue sky so I quickly lugged this beasty of a tripod outside with what felt like a rapidly developing hernia, attached the ED120 scope, manually slewed over towards the moon not knowing my RA from my Dec axis and with a 26mm 2" eyepiece, I finally saw the light. So bright in fact I immediately realised I would definitely require a lunar filter for sustained viewing.

Even though it was still dusk, the moon was very bright indeed through the 120mm scope. The Crayford focusser was an absolute delight to use particularly the fine tune - I had never used one before. The detail on the crater rims was incredibly sharp, even my previous 10" reflector did not provide this level of clarity. For once, I do not have aperture envy - though I believe they say a good refractor is equal to 2x its given aperture compared to a reflector.

Without further ado, out came the DSLR. Connecting the Canon 5DMkII via an EOS adapter and T2 mount, I attached a 2" diameter nose (approx 4" in length). This was mounted direct to the scope (no diagonal) allowing for photos to be captured at Prime Focus.

The initial idea was to use the "live-view" function of the camera to aid in fine tuning. However, the moon was rising fast and now extremely bright indeed. I really had to up the shutter speed considerably on the live view to allow for fine tuning once digitally zoomed in. I was really pleased how easy the moon came to focus in camera using this direct coupling and think back to my old reflector scope (Meade DS10) which was virtually impossible to obtain focus without the requirement of physically removing and relocating the focussing assembly together with the eyepiece adapter moving it a further 2" down the tube.

A few shots later and I managed to establish the ideal settings. 1/1250th second at ISO200. The results were not too shabby for a first effort. I now need to purchase some adapter rings and attempt to attach them onto the supplied lenses for some eyepiece projection. If I manage to get this coupling right, the imaging should be stunning. If I don't, "Newton's Rings" will no doubt prevail

So, detached the camera and carefully removed the 4feet long ED120mm scope replacing it with the Equinox ED80 which seemed tiny in comparison. Again, the views were equally impressive from this scope. I had to reduce the shutter speed a little (down to 1/800th second) and captured some equally impressive photos.

Basically, from my predominantly photographic background I equate these two scopes to a camera lens. The ED80 a wide angle and the ED120 being the telephoto.

Looks like fun times ahead with a lot of steep learning curves. Perhaps the foremost important of all is learning how to Polar Align and I don't think this is about telling 4 white bears to stand up straight ? Though I might be wrong.

I also need to obtain both an M43 to T2 and also an M54 to T2 adapter. These adapters being required for the following 2" eyepieces which came with the package:-

2" SWA 26MM FOV 70

2" Baader Hyperion 3.5mm Modular

2" SmartAstronomy Superview 30mm Camera Project Lens

If anyone has any suggestions I would love to hear. Tried 3 astro shops so far and drawn a complete blank.

I am also toying with the idea of buying a Focal Reducer and a few filters. Even floated the idea of a camper van and a number of Kielder forest "holidays" with the missus but her reply was not repeatable on a public forum such as this

Included in the part exchange is a short tube 80mm refractor together with a QHY5 camera which I intend to use for autoguiding (another learning curve). A Thousand Oaks 120mm glass Solar Filter - I will not see the proms, flares, filaments etc like my previous scope but it will allow me to both see and image sunspots which was extremely difficult using a DSLR and my reason for parting with it. Albeit in White Light in this case but that will do thank you. Also included is an EQmod interface which will allow for wired remote operation. Talking of a remote, there is also a wireless PS2 controller complete with software for wireless operation of the mount ....... hmmm, now if I should purchase a WiFi compact flash card what are the chances of performing completely unattended imaging *sigh* another learning curve ahead. Finishing the package with a few focussing masks, books, destructions and a ton of software.

This is the first serious venture I have taken in astronomy and together with the astrophotography, it will be a completely new learning experience. If there is interest, I will detail the pitfall's encountered on my journey together with (hopefully) some success stories too. Any comments, suggestions or advice gratefully received.

Oh ... and the wonderful gentleman who received my solar scope in part/exchange emailed me to say the views through the double stacked SM60 completely blew him away easily surpassing his previous viewing experience using both the PST and a single stacked SM40 and was "over the moon" ..... pun intended

Thanks for reading, sorry I have gone on a bit - kind of passionate about what lies ahead - busy times for sure.

Best wishes,

Steve

ps if there is anyone around the Knaresborough/Harrogate area reading this and fancies a brew or several who can walk me through Polar Alignment at the mount itself I would be extremely grateful.

[Phil Hammond]

Hi Steve, I've just found this thread as I was searching for help trying to rig up my 5DmkII to a Skywatcher Evostar 102 refractor, so I'm hoping you might be able to help!

I bought the 2" adaptor and a Canon fit ring, but when I had these attached with the camera on live view I couldn't get the moon into focus.

Is there anything really obvious that I might be missing?

Thanks in advance!

Phil

[russ.will]

though I believe they say a good refractor is equal to 2x its given aperture compared to a reflector.

Interested in why you say that. I've been extremely surprised by the quality of views my WO ZS80 gives on clusters, even though it's beasted by my Explorer 200p on DSOs. It's lead me to wondering in a good sized (120mm+) APO might replace both, but I worry about the loss of aperture.

Russell

[jonathan]

I almost went for the SM60T (or similar) but instead opted for Lunt LS60 B1200 PT, which is giving me some very nice views of the sun indeed. I don't think that I would want to give up my night time astronomy though, there's so much to see and explore!

The NEQ6 is a very nice mount, but damned heavy. With great weight comes great stability...

You may like to consider a lighter mount for those times when getting the NEQ6 out is just too much of a chore, maybe EQ3-2 or CG-4. For visual use it's not necessary to polar align, all you need to do is point the mount (not the telescope) at Polaris (vaguely North), assuming you have already set your latitude (only need to do this once, it may already be correct).