advise needed

[TJD]

advise needed i have got a 12'' sw collapsible dob and was wondering if i could add a trcking thing to it like the new auto tracking one it would make life easier for astrophotography any coments advise anything would be apretiated:help:

[mswhin63]

I got some advise that there is a mod for the SW 12" so it can go on a EQ6. EQ6 could be to only one to handle the weight. I would give this a miss due to the weight.

I believe from the same source that the tracking used for the 12" available in the near future could be adapted for current 12". Will have to wait to see on this. Has anyone tried to adapt the 8 or 10" currently available?

Argo Navis could be used http://www.wildcard-innovations.com.au/.

I am considering simple tracking ALT/AZ motors to auto guide. I have access to loads of electronics so easy to make.
I kinda like the idea that lo tech as possible for a beginner like me is a good education.
Buy all the high tech stuff for me now and miss the learning curve.

[Alchemy]

not quite sure about what you mean by auto tracking, if its on an equatorial mount it will track or if you use one of the equatorial platforms you can track for astrophotography.

i use a 12 inch with a solid tube for astrophotography, its a difficult task. personally i wouldnt even try long exposure imaging with the collapsible version i would expect too much flexure. long exposure being several minutes... whats great for visual does not necesarily translate to imaging. mind you, moon etc shoot as many pics as you like.

[montewilson]

Unless you change to an equatorial mount forget it. An Alt/Az mount will not work for pictures of more than a few seconds even with tracking as you will have field rotation. Enjoy the scope as it is, get tracking if you want but only to keep the object in the eyepiece.

The others are right too, your tube would not be up to the rigors of astroimaging and you would spend precious observing time fighting with your equipment.

[rmcpb]

For shorter exposure photography you could make/buy an equatorial platform. It is great for lunar/planetary shots and I would guess for some brighter DSOs. Its also worth an extra 2" aperture for visual as you can set it and observe the object for as long as you want (so long as its less than 90min).

Do you gather I love my platform :)

[TJD]

its not for astrophotography aparently i heard so what about when people look through the eyepeice because when you have 8-16 people trying to look at the same object and you have to move the scope all ther time it getts realy anoying i guesws i could hire my friend to just constantly look through the finder scope whill the people look through the main one:P

[acropolite]

Trevor, do a search for Servo Cat and Argonavis, these are what you would need to achieve the desired result, although it would probably be cheaper to sell your existing dob and buy one of the new tracking models.

[bobson]

In that case all you need is a EQ platform as Rob said.

read this:

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/63-435-0-0-1-0.html

here you can read basics about it with good pictures to understand how it works:

http://www.geocities.com/reaganjj/

http://www.budgetastronomer.ca/index.php?page=eq-platform

And then you can find a lot about EQ platforms on the net, even buy ready ones if you don't want to make your own.


cheers

bob