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Old 28-06-2012, 07:06 PM
Peter Ward's Avatar
Peter Ward
Galaxy hitchhiking guide

Peter Ward is offline
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: The Shire
Posts: 8,090
I've been to 4 total solar's.

While I have hauled a good deal of gear on some, my most successful was Lybia using nothing more than DSLR, Baader film (for partial-phases) Manfrotto triopd and a William Optics 80mm refractor.

First you need to decide what you want to record.

Extended corona?
High-res inner corona?
Partial phases?

It will be hard to run multiple focal lengths...IMHO you'll be more like to bugger that up rather than do one FL very well. Longer focal lengths usually mean more gear....ie tracking head, counterweights, batteries, etc.

Same with filters.... partial phases in H-alpha might be nice, but again, it's hard to switch to un-filtered multi-second long exposures without losing focus, framing or both.

I'm still to decide what scope or lens to pack, but I am gravitating to my trusty Manfrotto tripod, 501 head, and Losmandy Starlapse as a core system.

If you are flying to Cairns most airlines charge excess baggage after 23kg
(read: about two G-11 counterweights)

Camera will be my Canon 5dMkIII for sure...pity they weren't available in 2006!

Lastly, set-up and test everything before you go....the moon won't wait
for you to sort out any last minute technical hitches
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