Entry Gear to Start Imaging

[Keshdogga (Casey)]

Hey grady I've been looking at a setup very similar to what you described which i suppose is very comforting =]

Is this the Orion autoguider package you were talking about?

http://www.telescope.com/control/tel...escope-package

It's not from Bintel but it costs $399. Ahh just found the Bintel version

http://www.bintel.com.au/OrionAutoguider.html

It appears to be the exact same product except $200 cheaper =D

Thanks for the help guys!
And thanks Max for that advice on camera's. I'm definately going Canon =]

Originally Posted by stanlite

here is what i did for a basic setup all brand new.

HEQ5PRO SynScan "Go-To" equatorial mount and tripod $1099 from Andrews
Orion Awesome Autoguider Package $599 from bintel ... this will give you a auto guide ccd which will be great in the long run ... also this scope is a great guide scope ... however probably not the greatest thin for long term astrophotography.

CANON EOS 1000D Digital SLR Twin Lens Kit $743 this gives you a good DSLR that you can also use outside of astro if you find you should not enjoy it (hey it happens) from dick smiths

Orion Deluxe Off-Axis Guider $169 bintel so you can guide for really long astro shots.

Total price - $2610

[stanlite (Grady)]

yeah casey i think you will find that that price is in US dollars so you will need to add shipping and exchange rate into the 399 given the weight of the scope and size might not be cheap. plus warrenty would be based in the US not Australia ... just something to think about

[tlgerdes (Trevor)]

Originally Posted by NorthernLight

Don´t get too fussed about the H-alpha wavelenghts. Only reflection nebulae emit light in this wavelenght and most of their light can be captured without modding. It adds more detail, sure, but you still get the picture. Clusters, Planets and Galaxies shine pretty much only in DSLR- recordable- wavelenghts.

Actually Max, it is the other way around emission nebula emit large amounts of HA. Some of it can be seen (10-20%) by un-modded DSLRs but most of it is hidden.

[NorthernLight (Max)]

you´re right Trevor it is the other way around for nebulae.

[Hagar (Doug)]

Hi and welcome Casey. Lots of things need to be taken into account to get you imaging successfully.

First and most important is the mount which carries and controls almost all of your imaging quality. The mount should be the very best you can afford. A HEQ5Pro will do the job but for an extra small amount you can get an EQ6Pro which is more sturdy, has a greater carrying capacity (allows for future upgrades of telescope, camera and general hardware)and larger operating gears which makes guiding smoother. The mount must also have an ST4 guide port in it's control system.

Next is the guiding. This doesn't need to be anything flash as long as it is fitted to whatever imaging scope you choose very rigidly. A basic guide camera with ST4 Guide output or a shoestring astronomy GPUSB adapter to interface with the guide port.

Next is your imaging scope. This is a personal choice item. An ED80 will give you lovely wide field images encompassing almost all of the major nebulas in our sky. If you want to image small galaxies the ed80 is probably a little short on focal length. The unfortunate thing is that there is no one scope fits all in imaging.

You will of course need a camera. This is again a personal choice item. You can look at the likes of a DSI, DSLR, One shot colour CCD or a mono CCD and colour filters. All of these vary quite a lot in cost and learning curve. My recommendation would be a DSLR, unmodified. This gives you an imaging camera which can be used for happy snaps as well as the astro work.

Whichever way you go you will need some method of attaching the camera to the telescope. This is relatively simple a T adapter is the usual method and quite inexpensive.

You will also need either a field flattener or comma corrector, depending on your choice of telescope. This can be expensive but some less expensive products are available which work quite well.

The one thing I will say is be prepared to spend at least twice what you expect at the moment. There is always something better coming on the market which helps or improves the end result. The biggest expense is going to be your mount and my advice is to buy the best you can afford with the best carrying capacity you can afford and don't load it to heavily. If you stick with a target loading of no more than 2/3 of the rated capacity you will find your guiding is better and your overall images will be better.


Good luck with this very costly, bottomless expence hobbie.

[mswhin63 (Malcolm)]

Hi Casey,

When I first started Astro stuff I didn't know what I really wanted. I had a limited budget and made a lot of mistakes. Although these mistake gave me a fast learning curve to optics I think I would have done things a little differently.

I have just recently taken my first EQ shot with my DOB and I can say this without reservation your mount is the most important.
I also found that a guide scope would have been a good idea as my first image of M42 and 43 I took 65 images and was only able to use 17 in the final image. - http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/a...se.php?a=85329

I manually guided my scope so for me it was a good view of the old way of imaging, again I now have that experience and quite happy to experience a bit more manual guiding before spending more money on more complex aligning methods.

Camera, DSLR is a good starter and I use mine for happy snaps as well as AP and it is unmodded. I also use a webcam for planetary.

You have one advatange over me as you have decided what you want to specifically do, so you initially budget can be tide to AP while mine was initially all over the place. I do not regret my path as it gave me an enormous amount of XP and understanding of the hardware.

Good luck with deciding.

[RobF (Rob)]

I probably should have posted the link to this Craig Stark presentation in here rather than the beginner's astrophotography thread. Some good issues for beginner and intermediate imagers to consider covered nicely.

http://www.aicccd.com/archive/aic200...ronomy_AIC.pdf

[Keshdogga (Casey)]

Hey Guys

Thanks for all the great advice you've given me =D Thanks to everyone, I'm on my way to owning all this precious gear haha. I've just paid Rob (En1gma) for his awesome HEQ5pro mount which I'm now enthusiastically waiting for and have lined up the remaining equipment which I intend to purchase in the very near future. Doug I can see why you told me the expect to pay double what I expected. 2 months ago I thought I could get a decent imaging setup for under $1000 but am now spending roughly $3500 haha. I don't have a huge budget so I can't afford to go to that EQ6 level just yet. Maybe sometime in the future but unfortunately, I can't afford it now. Besides, Rob has his mount going for a great price and I'm glad I found it haha. I can't say anything for sure yet as I haven't begun imaging yet but from what I've seen I know it's what I want to do.

So far this is what I've been looking at
Mount - HEQ5pro (bought)
Imaging Scope - Skywatcher ED80 https://www.bintelshop.com.au/Product.aspx?ID=8117
Imaging Camera - Modded Canon 400D (buying tomorrow)
Guide Scope/Guide Camera - Orion Awesome Autoguider Package https://www.bintelshop.com.au/welcome.htm
Field Flattener - http://www.myastroshop.com.au/produc...sp?id=MAS-016B I don't know alot about field flatteners but I shall do some more research =]

Malcolm that is a fantastic picture I can't wait to start getting images that look even remotely like that. It's my first and foremost goal to get a kick ass picture of The Great Nebula In Orion haha. It's great to be reassured that even if I don't make the right choice in whichever equipment it may be it'll always be a learning curve.

Again, thanks to everyone for thier advice I do read every post at least twice =P

Cheers,
Casey

[mswhin63 (Malcolm)]

Thanks casey, Orion is a very good beginner object, With your ED80 you will need to take longer exposures than me mine where only 10 seconds at ISO 1600 but with you cool mount you should easily snap that in. You will also be able to work with lower ISO too.

One other thing something I learn't while imaging this is that I have 1500mm FL while yours is 600mm and will easily get this in but will look small in the final image. I know that I want to get a lower FL in the future for wider field. Again with your mount you can add to a take away in the future what ever you want, great choice.

Enjoy enjoy and remember it is highly addictive. We have about a week of bad weather coming and I am already getting DT's

[OzRob (Rob)]

Originally Posted by Keshdogga

Hey Guys
Imaging Scope - Skywatcher ED80 https://www.bintelshop.com.au/Product.aspx?ID=8117

You might like to consider the William Optics Megrez 72 that is in the for sale section for $500 LINK

There is a recent thread about this scope here.

[Keshdogga (Casey)]

Hey Rob

Thanks to you and Paul (1ponders) I'm now getting the WO 72 and the ED80 and using one as a guidescope =]

Thanks a heap

[that_guy (Tony)]

YAY!!! WHOO!! youll be pumpin images in no time

[Keshdogga (Casey)]

I hope so Tony =] Can't wait!