Astrophotography on a cheap?

Nikolai

Stubmled upon this device, table-top equatorial mount:
http://www.telescope.com/control/product/~category_id=mounts_and_tripods/~pcategory=accessories/~product_id=09055
Looks like if you add a drive (albeit which one?
this:
http://www.telescope.com/control/product/~category_id=drives_controllers/~product_id=07826;jsessionid=B102E7CD1B953E337ED8B1421B2D19BF.ivprod1
or this:
http://www.telescope.com/control/product/~category_id=drives_controllers/~product_id=07812;jsessionid=B102E7CD1B953E337ED8B1421B2D19BF.ivprod1
:scratch
)
you'll get a ~$100 inexpensive device that would allow you to enter the wonderful world of astrophotography on a cheap.
Any comments? :ear

Cuong

Looks like an affordable setup for astrophoto noob. Now we just have to find a dark spot away from the city/suburb to capture the stars. Is there anyone here who has real life experience with this setup and care to offer an opinion?

Cuong

Nikolai

Cuong wrote:

Looks like an affordable setup for astrophoto noob. Now we just have to find a dark spot away from the city/suburb to capture the stars.

Makes you want to go back to Navajo desert, no?

f-rider

Looks like a pretty good setup, for starting astrophotography. FWIW, my brother did some wonderful astro photos with a simple contraption called a "barn door" mount. There are lots of do it yourself plans for these on the web and they are really nothing more that some pieces of wood, a hinge, etc. Wide field photography can be very satisfying, especially if done in the summer, when you can see the Milky Way. Orion's Belt produces some fab shots too. Takes a lot of patience tho. What you save with a barn door mount, you loose in time and you are turning a screw type device to track the object you are capturing.

Cuong

Nikolai wrote:

Makes you want to go back to Navajo desert, no?

Yeah, that's a half-day driving for us from SoCal, but it's definitely worth it!

Cuong

Nikolai

Cuong wrote:

Yeah, that's a half-day driving for us from SoCal, but it's definitely worth it!

Cuong

Well, we can do Mojave or Mt.Pinos instead. Under two hours, maybe even less.
Device looks like a huge bang for the buck to me.

Nikolai

f-rider wrote:

Looks like a pretty good setup, for starting astrophotography. FWIW, my brother did some wonderful astro photos with a simple contraption called a "barn door" mount. There are lots of do it yourself plans for these on the web and they are really nothing more that some pieces of wood, a hinge, etc. Wide field photography can be very satisfying, especially if done in the summer, when you can see the Milky Way. Orion's Belt produces some fab shots too. Takes a lot of patience tho. What you save with a barn door mount, you loose in time and you are turning a screw type device to track the object you are capturing.

Thanks for sharing. And I totally agree with your last statement. IMHO $100 really is not a big price to pay for this (very few things in DSLR world cost that little )

Nikolai

Oh, what the hell, ordered...
It's only ~$150 complete with the EQ-1M motor, star map, shipping (it's oversized, hence $25 s/h) and tax (why aren't they on the East Coast :bash).
And I just happened to have the fund$ ready
The guy on the phone says it comes with instructions, so I hope even a total astron00b like me will be able to set it up

f-rider

Please keep us posted on the results with the new setup... I'll be very interested to read your review... and see the photos !!

Cuong

Nik, I like your pioneering spirit. I look forward to your review too.

Cuong

David_S85

f-rider wrote:

Please keep us posted on the results with the new setup... I'll be very interested to read your review... and see the photos !!

Yes.

So, Nik, how do these extremely inexpensive accessory devices automatically drive the motor towards stellar alignment? I always thought long-exposure astrophotography required manual driving or a 2nd CCD/cam focusing on a selected guide star.

Nikolai

David_S85 wrote:

Yes.

So, Nik, how do these extremely inexpensive accessory devices automatically drive the motor towards stellar alignment? I always thought long-exposure astrophotography required manual driving or a 2nd CCD/cam focusing on a selected guide star.

I believe that's the idea. The guy from Orion confirmed. And I agree - it's extremely inexpensive. So I'm hoping to get some M31 shots of my own soon :ivar
Having this guy and the camera plugged into relatively decent inverter (Vagabond-II from AlienBees/White Lighting/Paul Bluff) at some remote place with a clear sky and no light pollution (again, Mt. Pinos comes to mind) may get some nice results.
But of course I'll try the backyard version first

jogle

I'm really interested to hear how this works for you. With the summer and the new 5D coming I'd love to give one of these a go.

From the little reading I've done these types of mounts are good for wide field imaging, that is a large chunk of the sky at once, once you want to start shooting with anything longer then say a 50mm, you need to track more accurately with something more sophisticated.

Nikolai

jogle wrote:

I'm really interested to hear how this works for you. With the summer and the new 5D coming I'd love to give one of these a go.

From the little reading I've done these types of mounts are good for wide field imaging, that is a large chunk of the sky at once, once you want to start shooting with anything longer then say a 50mm, you need to track more accurately with something more sophisticated.

Well, me too, so I guess we'll see how it comes out!

kdog

Nikolai wrote:

Oh, what the hell, ordered...
It's only ~$150 complete with the EQ-1M motor, star map, shipping (it's oversized, hence $25 s/h) and tax (why aren't they on the East Coast :bash).
And I just happened to have the fund$ ready
The guy on the phone says it comes with instructions, so I hope even a total astron00b like me will be able to set it up

VERY interesting. Can't wait to see if this thing really works. :lurk

darkdragon

Nikolai wrote:

Oh, what the hell, ordered...
It's only ~$150 complete with the EQ-1M motor, star map, shipping (it's oversized, hence $25 s/h) and tax (why aren't they on the East Coast :bash).
And I just happened to have the fund$ ready
The guy on the phone says it comes with instructions, so I hope even a total astron00b like me will be able to set it up

like everyone else, i'm very interested in seeing the results. my husband is not going to be happy if i find another "strange" thing to do with my camera (everything costs money!)

Nikolai

Lisa, Joel,
got a confirmation that the stuff is shipped via Fedex. Considering they are in California, shouldn't be too long.

ian408

I think you will find this adequate for short exposures. For long, the accuracy will probably not be what you'd hoped for.

What tripod setup are you going to use with this?

Nikolai

ian408 wrote:

I think you will find this adequate for short exposures. For long, the accuracy will probably not be what you'd hoped for.

What tripod setup are you going to use with this?

Ian, I have honestly no idea. At this point maybe "as is", tabletop. I never worked with a device like that so I can't tell. All I know it should be better than nothing, and I am ok to risk $150 to try.

ian408

For $150, it's not bad and if it gets you in the ballpark, great! The alternative is Losmandy at a bit more money

Nikolai

ian408 wrote:

For $150, it's not bad and if it gets you in the ballpark, great! The alternative is Losmandy at a bit more money

Yeah, that was exactly what was keeping me away from astrophotography. I didn't see myself spending thousands for what can be 2-3 shots a year. If this one gets me close - great, otherwise oh well, not much damage.

jogle

I've had this thread bookmarked for a while after someone else posted it here last year. Some good tips on lenses and post processing.

http://www.naturescapes.net/102007/jh1007.htm

Nikolai

I also would like to link this one
http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=105608
which was the post that made me thinking in this direction

jdryan3

Nikolai wrote:

Makes you want to go back to Navajo desert, no?

Yes it does
But you still may want one of these
I'm sure the draw isn't much so you could use an extension cord to an inverter to your car, or even the portable power pack you use for your Alien Bees. THEN that 5 hour exposure should work.

Nikolai

jdryan3 wrote:

Yes it does
But you still may want one of these
I'm sure the draw isn't much so you could use an extension cord to an inverter to your car, or even the portable power pack you use for your Alien Bees. THEN that 5 hour exposure should work.

Oh, totally. It's in my shopping cart, waiting until B&H comes back from their seemingly endless holidays... I figured that Vagabond-II of mine should carry enough juice to feed both camera and mount.
EDIT: ordered :-) and with PPA/NAPP I get free shipping

ian408

OBTW Nik, Orion also carries power adapters and such. Have a look through their catalog when your stuff comes. Pretty straight forward stuff.

Nikolai

ian408 wrote:

OBTW Nik, Orion also carries power adapters and such. Have a look through their catalog when your stuff comes. Pretty straight forward stuff.

Thanks Ian!

Joves

Well I will give you a piece of advice. If you have a GPS unit use it to get your latitude on location. Get the tabel or whatever you are setting it on as level as possible. Set the axis of the mount as close as possible to the North Star or Polaris. The better you get these setting the longer you will be able to track. The only thing I didnt see in its specs is how much weight the mount will handle. Also you will want to disengage the drive to balance the whole thing on its axis. You just move the counter weight till it balances out fairly well.
So Cuong what part of the rez you from. I would all over there sometimes. I have pumped concrete in Chinle,Pinon, Kayenta, Tuba City and, a few other places. It is indeed nice and dark tere at night. Im hoping we get some good run off this year so I can get some pics of the GrandFalls near Leupp.

kdog

Nikolai wrote:

Well, we can do Mojave or Mt.Pinos instead. Under two hours, maybe even less.

Let me know and I may meet you out there, especially if you're talking Mojave!

Nikolai

Joves wrote:

Well I will give you a piece of advice. If you have a GPS unit use it to get your latitude on location. Get the tabel or whatever you are setting it on as level as possible. Set the axis of the mount as close as possible to the North Star or Polaris. The better you get these setting the longer you will be able to track. The only thing I didnt see in its specs is how much weight the mount will handle. Also you will want to disengage the drive to balance the whole thing on its axis. You just move the counter weight till it balances out fairly well.

Thank you, I will try to follow this!

Nikolai

kdog wrote:

Let me know and I may meet you out there, especially if you're talking Mojave!

will do!