A Thanks to Andrews Comms

[DRCORTEX (Lance)]

Hi People,

Just thought I would give a thankyou to Andrews for the assistance they gave me with my beatup old 10" GSO.

I lugged it into Andrews after giving it a "lobotomy" ( cut off 80mm to get focus for my new Canon EOS 500D ), then found I couldn't collimate it.

They ended up spending an hour or so working on it, fitting extenders, and recollimating. Now thats what I call good service.

Now at least I can focus for visual fun.

Meanwhile, I use my Canon for widefield starshots, tried my first last night at Barrington Tops - dismal.

It's gonna be one hell of a learning curve, but at least, when I have finally saved all my pennies, for a good astrophotography setup, I may have some idea of what the hell I am doing

Is it possible to capture bright DSO's ( Orion , Tuc, etc ), without guideing ?

What exposure, bulb settings, ISO, etc ?

Bought myself a remote shutter release cable today - hopefully that will help. Nothing like trying to keep your finger steady with the camera on a tripod, while holding the shutter button open - - I did manage some startrails - very blurry ones

Cheers

DOC

[DavidU (Dave)]

Excellent.

[erick (Eric)]

You cut the bottom off, not the top?

Interested in knowing why the collimation problem? Sounds like an extension tube was used in the focusser to collimate? I have an 8" imaging GSO reflector - I know because I need to add extension tubes to bring it to visual focus. But I have been collimating, without a problem, directly in the focusser - no extension tubes?

Err, you'll capture them, but you probably want a resolved image rather than a blur? Are you on a driven EQ mount?

Suggest you search out other's images of Orion and 47 Tuc and check what settings they are using.

[toryglen-boy (Duncan)]

Its always good to get excellent service, that will take me back to a seller time and time again, even if their price isnt the best

I find the Astronoimcal society in general is great at helping each other out, i have very helpful forum member, helping me get imaging and its jsut a testment to people who share the same passion

now, if only this overcast heatwave would go ...

Originally Posted by DRCORTEX

Hi People,

Just thought I would give a thankyou to Andrews for the assistance they gave me with my beatup old 10" GSO.

I lugged it into Andrews after giving it a "lobotomy" ( cut off 80mm to get focus for my new Canon EOS 500D ), then found I couldn't collimate it.

They ended up spending an hour or so working on it, fitting extenders, and recollimating. Now thats what I call good service.

Now at least I can focus for visual fun.

Meanwhile, I use my Canon for widefield starshots, tried my first last night at Barrington Tops - dismal.

It's gonna be one hell of a learning curve, but at least, when I have finally saved all my pennies, for a good astrophotography setup, I may have some idea of what the hell I am doing

Is it possible to capture bright DSO's ( Orion , Tuc, etc ), without guideing ?

What exposure, bulb settings, ISO, etc ?

Bought myself a remote shutter release cable today - hopefully that will help. Nothing like trying to keep your finger steady with the camera on a tripod, while holding the shutter button open - - I did manage some startrails - very blurry ones

Cheers

DOC

[DRCORTEX (Lance)]

Originally Posted by erick

You cut the bottom off, not the top?

Interested in knowing why the collimation problem? Sounds like an extension tube was used in the focusser to collimate? I have an 8" imaging GSO reflector - I know because I need to add extension tubes to bring it to visual focus. But I have been collimating, without a problem, directly in the focusser - no extension tubes?

.

Hi Eric,

They used a laser ( mine was stuffed ), and a 50mm extension. Havn't tried to focus on infinity yet, works well against trees a few clicks away. Like you, waiting for this heatwave to clear. Jeez, I hope I can focus, and if I can get a few 30 second or so exposures - fantastic!

Cheers

DOC