Moon eclipse, remote timer and mirror lock-up

[bojan]

I wanted to take a series of images (10 minutes apart) of the next Moon eclipse, using intervalometer.. but unfortunately none of my 3 timers can be programmed to take bursts of 2 exposures (required to activate mirror lock-up), with delay of say 10 minutes between them. And MLU is a must...despite my EQ6 is very sturdy, and my Russian-built MTO is very heavy, images are blurred in vertical direction if mirror lock-up is not used.

Of course, I can program the timer to release shutter every 5 minutes, which will result in image taken every 10 minutes (first and every odd release will be "spend" to move the mirror up, the second (and every subsequent even release) will be used for taking image). I am guessing this modus operandi mat drain the battery before the eclipse is over....

The other solution is to modify one of the timers - I only need to add input connector (another 2.5mm stereo socket), so I can activate the sequence (2 exposures say couple of seconds apart) from another timer every 10 minutes.

This modification could be very useful for photometry of fast transients (exoplanets for example), when bursts of exposures could be stacked to increase SNR.

I will try to do the mod in the next couple of days.. will report how it went after eclipse.

[JA]

Originally Posted by bojan

I wanted to take a series of images (10 minutes apart) of the next Moon eclipse, using intervalometer.. but unfortunately none of my 3 timers can be programmed to take bursts of 2 exposures (required to activate mirror lock-up), with delay of say 10 minutes between them. And MLU is a must...despite my EQ6 is very sturdy, and my Russian-built MTO is very heavy, images are blurred in vertical direction if mirror lock-up is not used.

Of course, I can program the timer to release shutter every 5 minutes, which will result in image taken every 10 minutes (first and every odd release will be "spend" to move the mirror up, the second (and every subsequent even release) will be used for taking image). I am guessing this modus operandi mat drain the battery before the eclipse is over....

The other solution is to modify one of the timers - I only need to add input connector (another 2.5mm stereo socket), so I can activate the sequence (2 exposures say couple of seconds apart) from another timer every 10 minutes.

This modification could be very useful for photometry of fast transients (exoplanets for example), when bursts of exposures could be stacked to increase SNR.

I will try to do the mod in the next couple of days.. will report how it went after eclipse.

Hi Bojan,

Following on from your suggestion of using two timers.... I would say why not use 2 UNMODIFIED timers out-of-phase by 2 seconds (started 2 seconds apart) whose two 1/8 inch stereo male plug outputs to the camera are joined together via a 2 into 1 (Y connector /splitter/joiner) cable - i.e: Two female 1/8 inch stereo in line sockets in to One male 1/8 inch stereo plug (With this plug then to the camera.) That way no mods, just a joiner (Y) cable, 2 timers and a phase lag set by you.

Best
JA

[bojan]

Yep, that should do as well for Moon eclipse... and the method is suitable for folk who do not want to modify things. Since the timer programming must be the same, the change of sequence involves both timers.
However, timer modification allows for a bit more flexibility (number of bursts can be changed independently of number of shots in the burst), and since the amount of mod work is similar, I will still do the mod

PS:
There may be timing accuracy issue with two timer working in parallel for very long photo sessions (photometry over the whole night, exo-planets hunt). Unlikely, but this is not the issue with modified timer, activated by another one.

[jenchris (Jennifer)]

I'd investigate why your mount allows the camera to shudder so much

[bojan]

Originally Posted by jenchris

I'd investigate why your mount allows the camera to shudder so much

I did... and it just does... Not much, but enough to be noticeable when looking closely.
It was much worse on tripod.

[jenchris (Jennifer)]

That's really strange but as you say you checked it out - That's a bit of a bummer.
If you're doing planets try turning it 90 degrees

[bojan]

Yep...

The problem is sort of there only when very short exposure times are used (with full Moon for example).
If I expose longer than, say,1 sec or thereabouts, blurring is not detectable any more. With planets, no issue at all (imaging planets is done in movie mode anyway, so mirror kick is very short compared to the rest of the exposure).

[Wavytone]

If you had a body with a wifi interface there is this...

https://m.dpreview.com/news/64259392...r-any-scenario

[iborg (Philip)]

Hi Bojan

I don't know if it helps, but, I have just noticed that BYEOS has Virtual Mirror Lock setting.

It uses the live view mirror up function.


Advance Settings - Experimental Settings

Philip

[bojan]

Hi Philip,
Thank you - yes, this definitely helps because it it is exactly what's needed here .
It works on my 450D and 60D.

However, I still want to do mod on timer, to use it for photometry, when number of bursts of exposures (for stacking) is needed, to obtain the light curve with good SNR.

[iborg (Philip)]

Hi

Glad to know it helps. I will have to try it on my 1100D and 1200D.

Philip

[mswhin63 (Malcolm)]

I used APT, both I assume work well on this. Mine too. Have to be aware of power glow to keep the noise level down.