Introduction

[Darwins_monkey (Brad)]

Hi all,

Another amateur from Melbourne here.

I bought myself a Skywatcher 130P Heritage last weekend and finally got look through it last night. It was well worth the wait! The moon just looked so incredibly amazing and clear.

I also bought a barlow lens and a t-ring so I can hook up my DSLR (which I am also an amateur user). I got a scare last night when I tried to hook it up and the camera kept telling me "no lens attached". I thought I'd missed a step or needed some other bit of equipment, but thankfully after a quick Google search today, it turns out I just need to learn to use the damn thing

Anyway, this is just a rambling post to say "Hi, I'm here!" and I look forward to learning from you guys and sharing my results.

Cheers

[ZeroID (Brent)]

Hi Brad & .
Beware the slippery slope of astrophotography, it will empty your credit card before you know it. . I should know !!

You'll get single frame pix of the moon quite easily, it is quite bright so lowish ISO and a high shutter speed. If your camera can also do video then you can also do movies and stack the frames to get better resolution once you figure out the software.
Ask plenty of questions, everyone on here is happy to help and are veritable fonts of information and there are some real experts hiding around the place.
Start learning the sky and using visual to see what else is around. Install Stellarium ( or similar) on your PC to learn names and explore when the clouds get in your way. It's free and gives a good representation of what you would see plus a lot of good information.

Have fun

Cheers
Brent

[MattT]

Hi Brad,
Sadly.... Melbourne has to be the worst place for Astronomy in Australia...but when it's good it's good.
Happily.... I know nothing about cameras let alone attaching one to a telescope.
Enjoy the double Whammy
Matt

[OzStarGazer]

I also have the SW Heritage 130p and the first time I attached my DSLR I got the same message (and I got a scare too)... You have to use it in Manual mode if you want it to work.
Welcome!

[Darwins_monkey (Brad)]

Hi all,

Thanks for the welcome.

Brent: Thankfully, the casino paid for my initial set up (had a big win at a mate's birthday there last month. Very happy.) I've currently been devouring all the posts and articles here and elsewhere on the topic to get an idea on what to do. Very interesting.

Matt: I intend to do most of my astonomising (new word?) out in the country, but if I can get a few snippets of the moon between trips, I'll be happy.

OzStarGazer: Yeah, it sounded obvious once I'd read it!

Cheers,
Brad