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Old 06-06-2018, 02:22 PM
krappo (Bruno)
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Talking Hello Hello

Hello all,
Been wanting to do astrophotography for a while now and am pleased to find this very informative forum.
I am from Kingston Beach, Tasmania and have a lot of reading up to do.

Many Thanks : )
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Old 06-06-2018, 05:34 PM
brian nordstrom (As avatar)
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Hi ya Bruno and mate .

It would be good if you could give us a run down on what gear you have ,, or are thinking of getting ? , what are your interests , planets , nebular etc. etc. so that will give us all a direction to try and steer you so you miss those ' Potholes ' we have all hit over the years .

Brian.
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Old 07-06-2018, 08:53 AM
krappo (Bruno)
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Originally Posted by brian nordstrom View Post
Hi ya Bruno and mate .

It would be good if you could give us a run down on what gear you have ,, or are thinking of getting ? , what are your interests , planets , nebular etc. etc. so that will give us all a direction to try and steer you so you miss those ' Potholes ' we have all hit over the years .

Brian.
In the market for new gear, doing a lot of research and my budget points to something like...

Celestron cpc 1100 computerised cassegrain telescope.
And have a Nikon D750 but seriously going up to a D850.
My interests are complete Astrophotography

Many Thanks





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Old 07-06-2018, 09:03 AM
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multiweb (Marc)
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Originally Posted by krappo View Post
In the market for new gear, doing a lot of research and my budget points to something like...

Celestron cpc 1100 computerised cassegrain telescope.
And have a Nikon D750 but seriously going up to a D850.
My interests are complete Astrophotography

Many Thanks





That's a long focal length telescope and not a realistic entry point for astrophotography but right down the deep end. I'd start with a shorter FL scope with no collimation such as a small refractor and test the waters. Would also consider a cooled camera rather than a DSLR.
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Old 07-06-2018, 03:21 PM
krappo (Bruno)
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Originally Posted by multiweb View Post
That's a long focal length telescope and not a realistic entry point for astrophotography but right down the deep end. I'd start with a shorter FL scope with no collimation such as a small refractor and test the waters. Would also consider a cooled camera rather than a DSLR.
Wonderful, im still doing a lot of research and with all things i do i like to enter at the deepest level i can.
So with an initial budget of around $10k for telescope, camera and bits and pieces what would be recommended if i may.

Many Thanks in Advance
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Old 07-06-2018, 04:07 PM
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I love spending other peoples money so welcome from me Bruno.
I think I would go for a 100 mm espirt, a eq6 and a ZWO mono cooled camera with a seven position filter wheel...2 + 3 + 3 = 10☺
Getting the best from that selection will be demanding.
It will be interesting to see how folk would spend 10 k.
I would go for a large reflector if you want big appeture but long fl means you will miss a lot of neat objects I feel...and long fl means tracking needs to be perfect which usually means a very expensive mount...if you only want to do planets long fl is what you need but you get tired of planets real quick...
Alex
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Old 07-06-2018, 04:31 PM
krappo (Bruno)
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Originally Posted by xelasnave View Post
I love spending other peoples money so welcome from me Bruno.
I think I would go for a 100 mm espirt, a eq6 and a ZWO mono cooled camera with a seven position filter wheel...2 + 3 + 3 = 10☺
Getting the best from that selection will be demanding.
It will be interesting to see how folk would spend 10 k.
I would go for a large reflector if you want big appeture but long fl means you will miss a lot of neat objects I feel...and long fl means tracking needs to be perfect which usually means a very expensive mount...if you only want to do planets long fl is what you need but you get tired of planets real quick...
Alex
Many Thanks Alex for you input, will look into your suggestions.
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Old 07-06-2018, 06:26 PM
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Originally Posted by krappo View Post
Wonderful, im still doing a lot of research and with all things i do i like to enter at the deepest level i can.
So with an initial budget of around $10k for telescope, camera and bits and pieces what would be recommended if i may.

Many Thanks in Advance
Spend the bulk of your budget in a good mount. Use what's left for the scope, then the camera.
I'd spend around $2k max on a second hand 4" refractor (triplet) about the same on a cooled CCD (OSC or mono) and a good $5k minimum on a mount than can carry some serious load so you have room to grow.

Last edited by multiweb; 08-06-2018 at 06:40 AM.
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Old 07-06-2018, 09:45 PM
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Originally Posted by xelasnave View Post
I think I would go for a 100 mm espirt, a eq6 and a ZWO mono cooled camera with a seven position filter wheel...2 + 3 + 3 = 10☺
That's my kit exactly though I started with a DSLR before moving to the ASI1600MM with the filter. I can _strongly_ recommend the combination. The EQ6 leaves room to move up to something with a longer focal length later (like that nice carbon fibre RC8 or a Celestron EdgeHD).

Kevin
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Old 08-06-2018, 07:56 AM
krappo (Bruno)
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Talking

Many Thanks for all the input...

Thinking of going this way...

SkyWatcher Esprit 100 ED Super APO Triplet mounted on a AZ-EQ6and for now use my nikkon dslr and look at a cooled camera later on.
And what other bits and pieces would i need.

Thoughts
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Old 08-06-2018, 08:05 AM
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There is an EQ6 in the classified.
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Old 08-06-2018, 08:14 AM
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Just to mix it up a bit I'll throw in my $0.02

I started off by going the EQ6 + 100mm refractor route and while it was good I had a lot of things to learn. Polar alignment, software, balancing, having all the right bits and pieces, putting it all together, image calibration, processing (!!!), understanding the basics of autoguiding/tracking, exposure times and getting my head around how all these factors work together so that I could successfully troubleshoot any problems I came across (and I came across many) really burnt me out and I ended up selling all my gear after about 12 months.

Only recently have I started up again and this time I'm taking my time and starting wide. My suggestion is to get your DSLR and a few lenses, a sturdy tripod, and go for something like the Skywatcher Star Adventurer mount. From here, if you decide you're in it for the long run (goodbye $$$), you can upgrade by buying an autoguiding system (which will work on the SWSA) and invest in Pixinsight for processing (I cannot stress the importance of practicing processing enough). The next step would be to get an EQ6 (future proof) and a nice 80mm or 100mm triplet and start using your autoguider/DSLR with this system. Next you'd probably want to replace the DSLR with a mono camera. After this stage you'd know where you'd want to head next!

This would allow you to purchase things over time and practice the basic skills before you jump in the deep end. There's no rush to image the night sky, it's not going anywhere
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Old 08-06-2018, 12:16 PM
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I know you want to jump in the deep end but may I suggest just get a heq5 (it will always be useful even when you buy something else) and just do wide field using the camera and current lens.
As pointed out the stuff you need to learn is not insignificant.
And the stuff you can do with just the camera and whatever lens that came with it.
I have a nikon D5500 with a cheap 70 to 200 lens it was around $200 and it really surprises me.
Last night all I could get to work was my old canon (10 years old) and a 18 to 55 lens.
Only 30 second captures and only got aboit 40...they are being stacked as I type but hopefully I can post a result in the beginers section.
Because my new pole master did not work I simply placed the mount and lined up polar by eye..so not perfect I expect unless I really lucked out...focus was only thru the view finder so it will be interesting to see if I get a fair result...my point is that it was very satisfying ...old camera good but cheap mount...
And I did not mention I have a 80 mm espirt which blows me away...and they are only about 2k so for 3k plis a bit you really could be doing great stuff from wide wide fields to the occasional galaxy.
Have a look thru the beginers photos and note some of the gear...I also have an 8 inch f5..a little slower but for $500 and a coma corrector say $350 I wont be needing anything more...
Alex
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Old 08-06-2018, 12:36 PM
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Well just to give you something to drool over, with an EQ6 you could one day put something like this on it...

https://www.astromart.com/classified...rbolic-primary

Makes small APO refractors look pretty slow.
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Old 08-06-2018, 01:28 PM
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My image turned out rather well but my netgear web thingy has gone on the blink so I can not upload.
I will try connect the lappy via my phone.
Alex
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Old 08-06-2018, 02:42 PM
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I have overcome the difficulties to show you the image I spoke of above.
I used my phone to replace the netgear box.

My point is this is just a standard lens with a ten year old canon camera.
alex
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