Advice on EQ mount

Do you actually mean to say the northern sky? I could understand the
difficulty of photographing objects directly overhead because the camera
will not allow the scope to pass through the fork, but I can't

Hi:

Things do get impossible as you get close to the pole with a fork if you can't
pass the tube rear through the forks. But...I'm not sure what's to image so far
north, anyway...

Peace,
Rod Mollise
Author of _Choosing and Using a Schmidt Cassegrain Telescope_
Like SCTs and MCTs?
Check-out sct-user, the mailing list for CAT fanciers!
Goto http://members.aol.com/RMOLLISE/index.html

I think the confusion is between an EQ fork and an AltAz fork. Newer models
are generally AltAz and would have trouble with the zenith, but EQ ones will
have a problem with the polar area of the sky.
Clear, Dark, Steady Skies!
(And considerate neighbors!!!)

If your serious about doing Astro-Photography your going to have to get a
really decent mount. About the minimum you can use and get decent results with
is going to be a the Losmandy G11 mount you don't need at as a goto. You'll
need a variety of mounting plates to mount the scope and a small refractor for
a guide scope. Then you'll need an Autoguider an older ST4 can be had for
around starting at about $500.00

The GM mounts are way too inadequate for and 80 inch focal length scope
and will give you nothing but anquish as you waste you time and nights trying
to get decent results. For an example of what one can do with a C8 go to this
link and note the mount. This scope is not overmounted either this is the kind
of thing it takes to get respectable results

http://astro.christone.net/


Clear Skies
Dwight L Bogan

(DBogan3220) wrote in
:

If your serious about doing Astro-Photography your going to have
to get a really decent mount. About the minimum you can use and
get decent results with is going to be a the Losmandy G11 mount

OK, well the G11 is wwaayy out of my price range. If that's what it
takes, then I'll probably just stick to visual astronomy and not try
to do any astrophotography.

This scope is not overmounted either this is the kind of thing it
takes to get respectable results

http://astro.christone.net/

That's quite a mount.

Thanks for your comments.

-Keith

By the time you get your GPDX fully outfitted for Astro-Photography
your going to have nearly the same amount of money invested as you would in the
Losmandy G11 sytem. The G11 is what 2k The GPDX is around $1220.00 with the
HAL 110 tripod. You need a dual axis hand control that is another 210 and two
motors one for the Dec and RA $110 each then you need a dovetail to mount your
rail or whatever you intend to use to mount the C8. That will be around $50.00
Last your gonna need some counterwieghts figure on another $100.00 or so
that puts in the ball park of $1800 and you still don't have the portable case
for the mount. That would be around $115 and your gonna need a cloth case for
the tripod another $50 to $100 depending on who you go with.

I would seriously consider a Losmandy G11, Start saving you money. mow
lawns wash cars whatever it takes. It is worth the investment and the Resale of
your G11 is in the neighborhood of 80% and if you keep it long enough and take
good care of it can fetch you more than you originally paid

Clear Skies
Dwight L Bogan

Keith Winter
wrote in 6:


This might be in a FAQ somewhere, but I haven't seen one, so I
thought I'd ask here. Maybe it's a stupid question or should be
intuitively obvious, but it won't be the first time I've asked
one of those. :-)

Thanks to everyone who responded to my questions. It is much
appreciated. I believe that for now I'll just stick with what I've
got and image what I can see. Now I just need to pick a web cam or
whatever.

-Keith

"Keith Winter" wrote in
message 6...

Thanks to everyone who responded to my questions. It is much
appreciated. I believe that for now I'll just stick with what I've
got and image what I can see. Now I just need to pick a web cam or
whatever.

Hi Keith,
I can definitely recommend starting with a ToUcam Pro and an Ultima 2x
barlow with your C8 (right?) to image Saturn and Jupiter. I think this is
about the best place to start since it will give you an idea of what's
involved in getting on target, staying on target, getting good focus, and
processing the images.

The ToUcam and a 1.25" adapter can be had for pretty cheap.

I also have an MX5-C, which is Starlight Xpress's low end "one-shot" color
camera. It is capable of long exposures, but is primarily recommended for
planet imaging. Some folks have had limited success (including me) at deep
sky with this camera. If you go for deep sky, I'd suggest skipping the MX5
and going up a notch, once you figure out about the ToUcam.

There's also the SAC cameras, which are web-cams with modifications that
allow longer exposures.

Anyway, good luck. Imaging can be fun and it can be exasperating. The only
way to know if its for you, is to give it a try.

-Stephen

I also have an MX5-C, which is Starlight Xpress's low end "one-shot" color
camera. It is capable of long exposures, but is primarily recommended for
planet imaging. Some folks have had limited success (including me) at deep
sky with this camera.

Interesting... What are the limitations with this camera that make Deep sky
imagaing difficult?

jon

"Jon Isaacs" wrote in message
...
I also have an MX5-C, which is Starlight Xpress's low end "one-shot"
color
camera. It is capable of long exposures, but is primarily recommended for
planet imaging. Some folks have had limited success (including me) at
deep
sky with this camera.

Interesting... What are the limitations with this camera that make Deep
sky
imagaing difficult?

jon

I owned one when they first came out in 1997. At that time,
there were two issues with the camera. One the chip was
about 1/2 as sensitive as the mono version. Sony later
upgraded the chip from an 'A' to a 'B' version with twice
the sensitivity for both the mono and color versions. I
upgraded my MX516 (the mono version I switched to
from the MX5C) from 'A' to 'B', and will vouch for the
sensitivity increase. If the camera has an 'A' chip, that could
be part of the problem.

The second issue relates to software. There were issues with
the early versions of software and color conversion. Worked
fine for planets, but not for deep sky. That also was fixed
several years ago. Newer versions of AstroArt should work
just fine with it. I know of a couple of owners of this camera
who have produced some fine deep sky images with the
MX5C, so I know it works fine.

Best answer for the original poster is to talk to John Cordiale
at AVA ( www.astrovid.com ) about what upgrades they
might need for the camera and software. While newer
cameras have greater sensitivity and resolution, the MX5C
should be capable of doing deep sky.

Thanks, Tom Davis

"Jon Isaacs" wrote in message
...
I also have an MX5-C, which is Starlight Xpress's low end "one-shot"
color
camera. It is capable of long exposures, but is primarily recommended for
planet imaging. Some folks have had limited success (including me) at
deep
sky with this camera.

Interesting... What are the limitations with this camera that make Deep
sky
imagaing difficult?

The user ;-).

I'm sure there are those who have more than limited success. The point I was
trying to make is that it was actually useful for deep sky, but better
results are possible for the extra cost of something like the MX7-C (so make
that jump right away if you can). I wouldn't be surprised to see the SAC
cameras do almost as well as the MX5-C on deep sky, for less money, provided
you can figure out a guiding system, hence a better place to try your hand
at deep sky on the cheap.

That was my logic anyway, which at this point in my week is hanging by a
thread....

-Stephen (back to work, I'm almost outta here) Paul