Hi James and welcome,
Sorry that many, if not all of the reply posts may have put a dent in your enthusiam to get into astrophotography, but every one is quite correct. AP can be as simple (and inexpensive), or complex (and expensive) as you want to make it, BUT in the end decent equipment including a good mount/drive system is desirable. You're not going to get away with a good setup well under $1500-2000. If you try to do so, you need to understand that you're going to spend many frustrating hours in the dark perfecting your technique than you would with a better setup. In the end you'll regret skimping of equipment, let me guarentee you.
My blunt advice, if I were you?
1. Forget the AP bug, honestly, just drop it for now.
2. Get out to and meet up with an astronomy group in your area.
3. Either get yourself a decent pair of binooculars or....
4. save up a bit more $$ and buy a 6" or 8" Dobsonian from
Andrews (8" for $499) or
BinTel (8" for $549)
5. Enjoy and
learn the night sky visually. There is nothing better mate.