Complete noob to telescopes.

[Jaaps (Japie)]

Hi all,

Apologies in advance if there is a post previously on this subject.

I am completely new to telescopes, however I am trying to start a new hobby around astrophotography, as I always had a keen interest in space related things. The extent of my astrophotography is grabbing my DSLR, putting it on a tripod and taking some long exposures of the MilkyWay and moon.

So I think I'm getting ready to take it to the next level but am finding my lack of telescope knowledge very confronting, especially when I start looking at the costs (don't really want to spend $500+ just in case I find its not for me).

Is there anywhere in Melbourne, where I can have a chat with someone in person to get some advice rather than relying on my own judgement online.

Thanks in advance,

Jakob

[Atmos (Colin)]

Welcome to the forums Japie, you've picked the best way to start, using a DSLR and tripod.

With a $500 budget I would personally suggest spending that on getting a mount for your DSLR and using whatever lens you have. Being on a tripod you are limited in exposure time, with an equatorial mount you can have a LOT of fun imaging the sky with longer frames.

Although I have never personally used one, I have heard a lot of good things about this product.
https://binocularandtelescope.com.au...er-bundle-red/

It is a very portable EQ mount designed around DSLR astrophotography. All you need for it is a stable tripod and you're ready to go!

[Rod]

Hi Jakob

I would recommend you join an astronomy club. The ASV is the most obvious given where you live:

http://asv.org.au

They have an astrophotography section you can join and get answers to your questions. You will then have access to the dark sky site at Heathcote where you can see the equipment members use.

Hope that helps.

Rod

[sil (Steve)]

Jakob,
$500 won't go far to start in astrophotography, it may not even get you a tripod, let alone a telescope. Besides you already have a telescope, what do you think a camera lens is anyway? I think you need to look at what astrophotography involves. I work exclusively with dslr and no telescope these days for various reasons. For me taking a photo in the camera is NOT astrophotography, taking hundreds of photos, registering and integrating them to a single 64bit/pixel image to start processing to a final photo is what "dslr astrophotography" means to me.
There are many ways to take astrophotos but they all depend on starting with the "foundation" of your setup which in your case is the tripod/mount.
A solid tripod is essential and typically at the "cheap" end of the market a tripod includes the mount. Camera tripods are not usually up to the task of a telescope tripod.

On top of the tripod is the mount, the bit that you attach a telescope to and itself firmly attaches to the tripod. The mount gives you movement controls (manual or electrical) to point the scope/camera at different parts of the sky. Mounts typically come in two options: ALT/AZ and EQ. ALT/AZ gives you controls to move up/down and left/right. This is best for visual astronomy (ie just looking through an eyepiece) and is inuitive to navigate the sky with. EQ mounts are for astrophotography, cheap manual EQ mounts tend to be too unstable to be practical. EQ mounts need to be aligned every time you drag them outside to either the north or south celestial poles (depending which hemisphere you use them in). As the earth rotates the stars appear to move in an arc across the sky, the aligned EQ mount lets you point a scope/camera in relation to this movement. An electrical EQ mount can "track" the star movement by moving at the same rate in the opposite direction, the practical upshot being you can take a long exposure photo and the stars stay as points and don't streak.
Mounts use dovetail joints to attach a telescope to them and you can buy suitable dovetail plates to attach to a camera.

GOTO mounts are computerised with their own handset controls (they don't need a seperate computer to use). They still need to be polar aligned and also star aligned, then you can call up a target on the handset and it will slew (move) to that target. You can star align with your camera on the mount instead of a telescope, makes no difference.

A good starting point for you might be an EQ5 Goto tripod/mount (around $1,200) which would be solid for astrophotography with your current gear right now. You can save for a telescope later to put on the mount if you want. You'll also need a suitably sized dovetail plate for the mount that can attach to your camera and a rechargable power pack for the mount.

If you go for anything less you will likely find it is useless for you even an EQ5 you may feel the need to upgrade from later on but it will serve well for years. Check the For Sale area on the forum, EQ5 and EQ6 mounts come up often enough and this is gear people look after so there's little risk buying second hand.

The Star Adventurer that Colin linked to above is also a good way into astrophotography if you know you dont want an Optical Tube Assembly (OTA, telescope). The Vixen Polarie is another similar product and there are others. The are basically a compact motorised mount you attach to a regular camera tripod and attach a camera to them. They rotate with the stars and let you take long exposures without streaking stars. They still need to be polar aligned and they just rotate, they dont point in different directions, you usually attach a ball head to them and attach the camera to the ball head to let you point to whatever part of the sky you want. I use a Vixen Polarie and it works great but not with my DSLR as its too heavy (its under the weight rating of the Polarie) so I use it with a compact camera.

Be aware there is no perfect solution and many ways to proceed. Plus you still need to learn about image registration/integration and processing. You will find weight a common spec on gear and you should avoid exceeding 50% of the weight capacity of a tripod/mount as they can be less dependable under stress. Astrophotography really depends on precision and not relying on photoshop to fix it later because you got the wrong gear now.

[AEAJR (Ed)]

Welcome to Ice in Space.

I am not into AP so any suggestions I provide should take that into consideration. Also note that I am in the USA so I don't know the Australian suppliers.


Something that might be of interest would be the Orion Starblast tracking system.
http://www.telescope.com/Telescopes/...6/p/102792.uts

Here it is matched with an 80 mm short tube refractor.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_z_q-ylqBs
Here with a 4.5" reflector
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTvVbcUV5mc

This can also mount your camera and it will track the sky. Small, simple, highly portable and will likely handle your camera. I don't have one of these but it looked like something that might interest you.

I don't know if it meets the rigor of a $1000 tracking AP mount but it might be a low cost entry into astronomy, especially if you live in a fairly dark area.


It could also serve as a platform for electronically assisted Astronomy. I recently ventured into this area with the Revolution Imager R2 kit, RI2.
www.revolutionimager.com

With the RI2 you are using a video camera as an eyepiece to project the view onto a monitor. That is how I use it. If you want to do imaging/picture development you us an adapter to capture that to a computer as digital frames that you later stack for an effect similar to log exposure photography.

This is also done with webcams for planetary imaging.

Just something to think about. Imaging the sky can go beyond traditional cameras and traditional astrophotography and at much lower cost.

[pfitzgerald (Paul)]

Hi Jakob - welcome to IIS!

All of the above advice is sound - especially wrt joining the ASV.

Additionally you may want to consider attending an Astro Camp or Star Party. ASV run them reasonably regularly and there is also the Snake Valley Astro Camps (which I can personally recommend). Attending one or more of these will provide you with the opportunity to see first hand what others do and the opportunity to to talk with them at length about their journey in astronomy and AP, and what you are hoping to achieve.

Personally I wouldn't buy any additional gear until you've done some more research and/or attend an astro camp or two. In the meantime keep saving!

Phil Hart is with the ASV and also runs workshops and weekends away - all based on exactly what you're doing - AP with a DSLR. You can find his website and contact details here:

http://philhart.com/

The next Snake Valley Astro Camp, weather permitting, is Melbourne Cup weekend. See: http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...d.php?t=145840

I have learnt heaps from the guys at SVAC over the past two years from the camps I've attended.

All the best with your AP adventures.

Paul

[Jaaps (Japie)]

Hi All,

Thanks for the great advice, it gives me a lot to think about as I clearly had the impression that I could start cheap...ish. Well I have, but looking closer at some of my photos they do have the makings of star trails, with things not quite in focus. Reading through all the replies it definitely gives me something to think about,

Rod - Thanks I think the ASV is definitely something I will join once one of my major projects at work has come to an end in December.

Paul - Thanks, that is definitely what I was after before investing too heavily. I think I will get in touch with Phil Hart and see if I can organise a class with him.

Sil - Thanks for the thorough info. I prefer to stay clear from the GoTo models, as I like the idea and sense of achievement, of dialling in on an object (with I'm sure plenty of colourful language) rather than the 'set-and-forget' method.

I think for the time being I'll take on everyone's advice, do a bit more research and get in touch with people who know a lot more before investing. After googling the 'Star Adventurer' linked, and reading a few reviews it looks like a good solid first purchase when I get to that nerves to put down some money.

Thanks again.
Jakob

[pfitzgerald (Paul)]

Cheers Jakob - good luck & enjoy!

Paul