Where to go from here

[Shaun]

I am after some advice, a few years back i bought an 8" dob because of the location i lived in and enjoyed seeing all the planets and stars.

Because of eyesight problems visual astronomy is not really working out for me, my question is would i be better trying astrography i do enjoy technical stuff and the software side of things does interest me.

Do you think this is something i could do with limited sight?

As i am on a limited budget if i did go down the path of astrogrphy would i be netter to sell what i have to purchase equipment to start in this field or would i be better to upgrade my Dob on to a mount?

[Jen]

Do what ever you enjoy doing Shaun :thumbsup:
I did see a post in here somewhere that there was a guy into astronomy that is blind :eyepop: i really admire his way of thinking good on him ;) maybe he might send you in the right direction :)
I cant remember which thread it was on i will see if i can find it :)
cheers

[jjjnettie]

Shaun,
Have you concidered the Gstar Ex camera.
With it you can view in real time on your computer monitor.
The eye relief is tremendous!!
And of course you can image with it too.
Lot's of info on the camera here....
www.myastroshop.com.au

[Shaun]

I really like the camera idea, did try it with my webcam a while back but didn't really work.

I like the wireless one, if i got that and liked what it could do then i could get a new mount or even a second hand one to save a few dollars.

[jjjnettie]

I've been using my gstar with a little 80mm refractor and a small goto mount.
What I can see on the monitor with this combo is better than what I used to see through the eyepiece of my 10" dob.
Can't recommend it highly enough.

[Shaun]

Thanks for that, so maybe my best option is to sell the gear i have to fund a smaller scope with goto mount and the camera?

When i look at the current price for a Dob i might be able to get only $400 to $500?

Is there mounts that can be goto but with out the hand controler, could i use my laptop with say stellarium to control it?

[tonybarry]

Hello Shaun,
Yes Stellarium will control a Meade ETX / LX / clone mount, or a Celestron without hassle. I have used it with a Meade ETX80 and a Meade LX90 on a Macintosh successfully. It makes observing a whole new ball game - very good stuff. I am presently saving pennies for a Gstar-EX myself. After a good deal of research, the only camera better than the Gstar is the Mallincam Hyper Plus, and that is more than three times the price. For what I want, the Gstar cannot be beaten (at least not to my knowledge).
Regards,
Tony Barry

[Shaun]

I think i will get the camera first, then i can decide to upgrade or replace the stuff i have.

If i go the option of new mount the minumum would have to be a HEQ5, Andrews have a good deal on them at the moment, but if i change scopes one of those ED80 looks ok, do eq5 come in goto?

[bluescope]

You can get goto kits for EQ5 mounts but I think they are around $800 so if you could find a second hand HEQ5 you would be better to go that way mate.
Someone had a Meade LXD75 mount in Ice Trade ads for $700 if it's still available that would also be a good goto mount ... the #497 controller on them is excellent.

:thumbsup:

p.s. The other thing you will need if you are going to put your Dob on an equatorial mount is tube rings and a dovetail.

[Robert9]

Sorry to hijack the thread, but was interested to read that Stellarium can control a GOTO. I checked the Stellarium manual and apart from a few comments, there are no details. Can you give me any further info please.
Cheers,
Robert

PS The camera also seems interesting. Apart for MyAstroShop, no-one seems to have any knowlege of them. Does anyone have any specs. or knowledge of who makes them?
R.

[tonybarry]

Yes Robert, Stellarium can control a Goto scope. I have successfully used a Meade ETX and an LX90. There are numerous reports that the Celestron controller also works.

There is a web page here which details the setup:-
http://www.stellarium.org/wiki/index.php/Telescope_Control

and there is a sourceForge forum here:-
https://sourceforge.net/forum/forum.php?forum_id=278769

I have used Stellarium on a Macintosh (PPC and Intel) running OS X, and have used the telescope servers for Meade on a Dell PC running the ASCOM drivers, and on OS X running a telescope driver I wrote myself.

Although there are other planetarium programs out there, I think that Stellarium's astounding graphics and its price cannot be beaten.

If you have further needs, please PM me.

According to online reports, the Gstar-EX is a rebadged Mintron CCD camera with some alterations and improvements, though I cannot comment on the veracity of this statement. In my opinion, the GStar is probably the best value for money CCD camera I have seen under AUD2000. It does not come with a thermoelectric cooler, which keeps the price down (and the current consumption too).

The CCD chip is apparently a Sony EXView HAD ICX429ALL which is about 750 x 575 pixels. I say this as an approximate because the GStar is an analogue output camera and requires a separate digitiser for recording images. The digitiser will set its own frame size on the analog video stream; if you encode at 1080p (1900 x 1200) there will be substantial oversampling which won't add to your image quality but will bulk up the file size, and if you encode at VGA (640 x 480) you will not be getting all the information you could.

Regards,
Tony Barry

[jjjnettie]

Steve Massey from www.myastroshop.com.au is the only one who sells the Gstar Ex.
There is also a Gstar yahoo group that you can join and ask any questions and have them answered by some very experienced imagers.

[Shaun]

I plan on getting the camera as soon as i have the cash and will see how it works, if i am happy with what i can see then i will look at scopes and mounts.

At the moment my main problem is the seeing and if i can't enjoy that then no matter what scope/mount i get will never change that.

[marki]

G'day Shaun

A camera will certainly give you a lot better detail (and colour) then you will see by eye but taking pics of the night sky can be a tricky pursuit. See if you can find a second hand DSLR in the Sunday Times (lots in your price range). That way you will only need to get a T ring adaptor to suit and if it dosen't work out you can always use the camera for daytime photography.

Cheers Mark