Star gazing

I think that's a sensible decision, Martin. Having said that, don't jump too soon for that camera, as there are some things I would recommend that you get first to help you with the scope.

Firstly, the small Finder Scope that you see attached on top of the main scope is there to, hopefully, find the Star/Planet you want to look at...........and can be of no help as it's got a small field of vision only slight bigger than the scope and it's surprising how difficult it can be to target the Planet/Star that's right in front of you!!! The device that will solve the problem is this:


a Telrad, which goes on top of the scope, usually next to the Finder Scope. You can see the slanted screen on it and there is an LED that throws a Bulls Eye onto the screen


and you just simply move the scope until you get the Star/Planet in the center. If you are going to get a camera for it you will need an adapter, and what kind of camera are you thinking of?. You will need to do some research as astro imaging isn't straight forward......but that's another subject.

 

Thanks again A, it looks like Jessops have them so I will pop down and have a look at them tomorrow,

It looks straight forward setting it up to the pc/laptop I have my ham radio beam connected in a similar way, as for the camera I want a web cam, something like this,



My intension is to put the telescope in the summerhouse big window, connected to my laptop will be the telescope and a webcam,

I will then remotely control the telescope from my living room and view the image via the webcam .

 

Looking round ive found this made for the job but £100 might go the cheap way
http://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/celestron-neximage-solar-system-imager.html

 

Hi A, if I am reading things correct the mount on the above model is not as good as the first one I linked ?, after further reading the sky watcher 130p supatrak auto is ?, anyhow I spotted this on gumtree,

https://www.gumtree.com/p/other-sports-leisure/telescope-sky-watcher-130p-supatrak-auto/1175187790

So ive been and bought it £100 i tried to get it cheaper but no go, its in great condition with books and lenses .

 

Well, it depends on your enthusiasm, Martin. The one you were first looking at is a GOTO [hence the increased cost], against the other which has a motorised mount. But to use the GOTO you will need to align the scope, every time, accurately to the Polar Star which, in my case, I have never seen for various reasons.

The Supatrak mount doesn't look too bad. It's a motorised Altazimuth mount which basically will, to a degree, follow the line of the Stars as they move East to West...but it is not a GOTO. Here's what you would have to do to make it work.


SETTING UP THE AUTO TRACKING TELESCOPE

1. plug in the power cord

2. ( latitude scale at top of fork arm ) using the directional keys on the hand control, adjust the telescope tube until the latitude scale reads 0

3. point the telescope tube to the north using the directional keys on the hand control

( I find pointing it with the North star in the center of view and then setting the latitude scale to 0 works better )

4. after the above complited, the telescope is in the home position

5. turn off the power by unpluging it and turn it back on again

job done !

SETTING THE LOCAL LATITUDE FOR ACCURATE TRACKING

setting the local latitude is not required for the auto tracking telescope to track an astronomical object but it greatly enhances the tracking accuracy.

it reqiures that you know the latitude of your observing site.

to set the latitude for the northern hemisphere, use the directional buttons to adjust the telescope tube until the latitude scale reads 0.

turn off the power and back on again.

now use the hand control to move the telescope tube until the latitude scale reads your local site latitude.

press the "fast" and "slow" buttons simultaneously to store the local latitude into the system.

setting the local latitude only needs to be done once, the information will be stored in the hand control even when the power is turned off.

If you can't see the Polar Star when setting up then make sure that the Scope when set up is pointing South as is one of the legs, the other two will be facing North......use a compass to get North/South. If the scope hasn't got a bubble level mount on it then get a small one just to make sure the tripod is level.

All places are to a wise man
Ports and happy havens, so in
All gardens and in all gardeners
We find a home and brothers

 

Oh, Gawd, I'm going to be in danger of sounding consistently negative, Simon, but putting a window in front of your scope is not a good idea The glass in your window in not of optical quality and will distort light when trying to take images, that is the last thing you need. There is also a problem, that is recognised by Astronomers and that is thermal currents that you can't see but run out from your House, they will also add to the problem of distortion. The mirrors in the scope of good optical quality designed to control and direct light and you will be, in effect, degrading whatever images you're taking. A telescope has plenty of problems peering through our ever turbulent atmosphere and sticking it in front of a window, not matter how logical and comfortable that sounds, will not help it. There are some Star Gazers that have "warm" rooms where they can sit controlling the scope remotely/wireless but these are either in an Observatory or a House Room while the scope is in clear air. I think you need to do a bit of research and browse some Astronomy Forums to ensure that what I've said is true.
However, if still in your mind and heart you want to give it a try then do so and see if you're satisfied with the images.

 

Many thanks A, that sounds straight forward thank you i do have a magnetic digital inclinometer that I use for setting satellite dishes up I can use that,

Would a different remote make it a goto or would it be remote and mount/motor please?, I don't like the one I have, for some reason i have two identical lenses.

 

Unfortunately, each Hand control contains it's own software designed to talk/with it's own specific mount. Your mount/tripod will never be a GOTO as it's just designed for one basic function, that is to move East to West along the Azimuth. The GPS function just helps it decide, once it knows approximately at what latitude it is, to calculate the degree of the azimuth path. A GOTO mount has two axes right ascension and declination that it can follow in synchronisation whereas the arm of your scope mount is only designed to track in one direction. So if you want a GOTO that's more expense and you'd probably want/need a mount/tripod called a EQ3 or it's equivalent.


I have a GOTO NEQ6 Pro that is designed for taking large scopes like this 10 inch aperature Newtonian. Now the NEQ6 is installed in the Observatory

with the 12 inch aperture Meade SCT on it.


Do yourself a favour and learn how to use the scope that you've bought first and by doing that you'll understand why some things work and some things don't, why you can do some things with the scope and not other things [usually what you want] that you can't. That will, honestly, make things a lot easier later on because the experience will help you understand why, not just how, you're doing things. Understanding why on what seems to be a clear night the seeing is not very good and viewing or image taking is pretty poor is another essential to stop frustration.....it's all down to turbulence at difference heights that your eyes can't see but the telescope will pick up.
Astro imaging is not just a case of sticking a camera, of any sort, on a scope and just pointing and shooting despite all the advertising blurb you see and read!! You're more prone to give up on it all if you just follow instructions and thinking it'll work and give you Hubble quality pics. It's a great hobby, Martin, but there are problems. setbacks etc and I still get them now but I try to figure it out and fall back on the experience of other problems I've had.

 

Yes, it will help, but you should also be able to adjust it to the right angle if it's at an awkward point for your eye.

Hi trogre, your experiences are almost identical to mine when I first started astronomy after buying an old, but in good condition, C8N

Stripped it down, cleaned the mirrors and flocked the inside of the cylinder with a anti reflection material, put in a upgraded focuser and various other bits and pieces.....it was a good learning tool and I still have it.

Download the free software program "Stellarium", put in your GPS position and it will show you your night sky in any direction [North, South, East, West] and name the stars you can see.

You probably already know this, trogre, so forgive me for going through the basics. First when setting up, have one tripod leg facing SOUTH which means the other two are facing North with your scope pointing North and the right declination and right ascension either entered in the scope GOTO and/or the dial on your scope arm. I'm not quite sure of the Nextstar layout so that's the reason for the "and/or". Also, if you can make sure the scope tripod is reasonably level that does help. You might find it easier to use a compass to find North/South to align the tripod legs and scope. Also, if you're going to set up in the same place every time mark the position on the ground of the tripod legs so you can make it easier and quicker.

Well, for aligning your GOTO with a one, two or three star alignment Polaris is not a good star to for various reasons. But you can use the free program Stellarium to see what stars are where and that will help your Star alignment. You can also buy the Collins yearly Guide to the Night Sky [£5 and pennies] which will show you month by month your night skies for that year.

I had the street light problem, until I got the Observatory, and had to put up a light shield to block the light. A dew shield is a good idea. I use them on all my scopes and bought the Astrozap Heater/Shield for my 9.25 and the 12 inch scopes but made one out of sheet rubber for my Mak 180 as, as yet, they don't make that size.

True, but is your tripod set to your ideal height and use a seat to observe [get comfortable]? I use a Telrad on my 9.25 and 12 inch scopes and a RDF on the Mak 180 and I like both. I find it is easier and quicker to use the Telrad/RDF than using the Finder Scope as you see see more sky than the Finder.........and you only use them for seconds rather than minutes. Also, you will find a pair of binoculars can be useful.

Don't be in too much of a rush to get one A 2X barlow will turn your 13mm eyepiece into a 6.5mm and your 40mm into a 20mm. But, in my opinion, it's better to get one or two more different size good eyepieces first.

Agreed. Do a little research on the Astronomy Forums and there will be plenty of advice regarding eyepieces, but don't be in a rush. Plossi's are good eyepieces and your 13mm will giv 7mm eye relief, while the 40mm gives, I think, an eye relief of 31mm. They're reasonable quality too. You might want to replace the Star Diagonal, if it's the original, as the "kit" diagonals are not that good. Something like a Revelation 1.25/2" Diagonal is good. All in all, trogre, it sounds like you've got a good buy. Get the alignment basics right and persevere and it will come right. If you can don't use GOTO all the time, use the hand control to get you to a Star and then try to identify if and the Constellation it's in by using the Guide to the Night Sky and/or Stellarium.

 

Hi trogre, You'll find sitting down, [I use a cheap ironing chair [£20]


in which the height of the seat can be adjusted and the seat collapsed when finished. Get the tripod to a height where you can sit comfortably and use the eyepiece.........being distracted by discomfort for any reason stops you observing well and takes away the pleasure adding to the frustration. If you're sitting comfortably you think better and will stay observing longer.

I can see the temptation, trogre, to buy cheapish eyepieces but, to be honest, it is better to buy a mid range [Meade, Celestron, Baader, Astro Physics, Williams, etc] of second hand ep's one by one than a cheap set.
At the risk of teaching My Granny to suck eggs, you already know, being a photographer. that quality of optics is everything. Your Nextstar has fine optical mirrors that give fine sharp images ......why put on an ep that will not at least match it? So my advice would be to buy a good secondhand quality branded eyepiece from e-Bay and built your collection of good quality ep's over time rather than buying a set of cheap ep's that might not give you the sharp images you want.......after all that's what you want, the best images your scope and ep's that they will give. There's some good bargains out there for single branded quality ep's on e-bay, and I would take that route. Don't waste money on cheap stuff.

Nearly right!! But each ep's has it's own focal length eye relief, where your eye is at a comfortable distance from the ep to view], but using a Barlow doesn't change the ep original eye relief. So although it will give you the power to double the power of the ep's it won't give you and indication of the eye relief you might find on a 20mm or 6.5 ep.

I have in my collection of ep's

A Pentax 40XL 2" inch
Unbranded 28mm 2"
Meade 32mm [1.25"]
Meade 26mm
Meade 25mm
Meade 20mm x 2 [for Binoviewer use]
Meade 15mm
Nagler Type 6 13mm
Baader Hyperion 13mm
Orion Illuminated 12.5mm
Televue 11mm Plossi
Pentax XW 10.5mm
Nagler 9mm Type 6
Meade illuminated 9mm
Televue 8mm Plossi Type 1
Nagler 7mm Type 6
Baader Hyperion 5mm
Celestron X-Cel LX x2 Barlow

Some I bought and some came with the scopes I bought. But, I find that I use the 32mm for finding the target and then probably, in order, the 25mm, 20mm, 15mm, 13mm and then, if the seeing is good, then the 11mm, 10mm to push the magnifying power so see how far I can go. But, it all depends on what I'm trying to view for the night. Sometimes, although there's seemingly clear skies I find I can only use up to 15mm due to unseen turbulence in the atmosphere. But at least I've got confidence in the quality of the ep's to know that I'm seeing the best I can for that particular night
So the higher power ep's like the 9mm, 8mm, 7mm get much less use due to the rarity of clear, still skies...........and the 5mm only comes out on absolutely diamond clear nights. Why?, because the high magnification, [shorter focal length] of the ep the more you lose resolution.....despite the quality of the optics.

Yep, that sounds like a good combination. If you know, via Stellarium, what's out there, e.g. Constellations, Stars, Planets, and where they should roughly be, in front of you then it's a great help.

Oh, Yeah!!!........and you never stop learning as one thing leads you on to another. I'm still learning and always will be, but when you see jaw dropping sights like Saturn and it's rings, Jupiter with it's Moons, the Nebulas, etc.
I started serious photography many "Moons" ago, and have the Pentax K5 and some 22 lenses and am still taking images now. I find that photo knowledge is a real help understanding what's going on when using a scope

'Fraid so, you can have all the most expensive, high tech gear, big scope........and if it's cloudy you might as well have a toy scope.


Anyway, take your time, and most of all enjoy it all!!

.

 

Whoever said that was not an SCT owner, trogre, because they're wrong!!! There are different divisions in the scope owners because some people only think that the variety/make they have are the best optically etc and all others are inferior.
Believe me SCT's do make the best out of the top quality eyepieces, otherwise I wouldn't have the Televue Naglers and Pentax eyepieces in my working collection.
Some astronomers swear by Refractors and wouldn't use anything else, some swear by Newtonians and wouldn't use anything else, while others swear by SCT's and wouldn't use anything else. Me?, I started on Newtonians and like them, but there is no such thing as the perfect scope and while Newtonians give good images and because of the position of the focuser and eyepiece you really can end up with a bad back or crick in the neck I have a 8 inch, a 10 inch and a 12 inch Newtonian because in the early days I was chasing light gathering power and went up the levels.
However, because of the awkward positions a Newtonian will get the eyepiece in I bought the 9.25 SCT and found it to give great sharp bright images and making observing comfortable especially when seated. I then bought a heavily modded Mak180 from the Webmaster of Astroshed when he offered it at a bargain price and I think it's a great scope. The 9.25 would still be my main scope but for entering an auction on e-Bay, which I didn't think I would win, for the 12 inch Meade SCT.
To my surprise the bidding didn't get very high really and I won the auction which turned out to be a great buy as the scope was in mint condition, came with the Field Tripod, and the small case that included "goodies" worth more than I had paid for the scope. I sold the Field tripod as I didn't need it to another astronomer, sold the computerised fork that the scope was on and basically halved the price of what I had paid for the lot.
I did think of getting a Refractor but discounted it as they really only go to 4" - 6" aperture, can be quite a weight and length. Plus, you would need to spend more to get a apochromatic refractor rather than a achromatic refractor to be clear of any aberrations.
So I'll stick with the SCT's as they give great images, their optical mirrors are at the very least as good as Newtonians, are comfortable and easy to use, and don't need frequent collimating as Newtonians do.

We all suffer from that, trogre, believe me!!!

Well, it's a great Barlow, and you can get it cheaper than £70 as in a swift look on Amazon I found one at £68. I also have a Meade long 2X Barlow that came with the 12 inch SCT haven't had the chance to use it as yet.

You'll be amazed and gratified when you do get a seat and adjust the tripod to that sort of viewing............makes observing so much more pleasant and comfortable, while standing will, after a while, give you a strain or two. To be honest, the Observing chairs are over priced, and it seems to be the general opinion on the Astronomy Forums that so is other stuff. One of the things you will find in astronomy that a lot of gear is made by one manufacturer, [like Synta} who sells them on to companies who put their own badges on them. So you end up with nearly identical pieces of kit being sold at different prices, with the only real difference being the company badge on it!!

 

I've just bought another second eyepiece for my 12 inch aperture telescope. As in photography where there are certain brands of cameras and lenses that are regarded as the best and can be "Cult" pieces of kit there are also certain brands of Telescopes and eyepieces that are regarded as the best and almost mythical in reputation.
Well, this particular eyepiece, a Televue Nagler, Type 2, 20mm, is regarded as a very desirable piece of kit You very rarely see second hand Televue eyepieces on sale but this one was on e-Bay and the seller was in the USA. The bids for it were surprisingly low but then the description of it's condition and the pics of it weren't encouraging. But I love getting getting old stuff, refurbishing it and bringing it back to life, it's very satisfying and almost therapeutic Anyway, taking a gamble, and because it was a Cult eyepiece I made a bid for it and found out that I'd won it. So I paid my money and found out there was an extra cost due to anything from the USA bought on e-bay gets sent by the seller to a Parcel Group who parcels it up, deals with the Customs .........and charges you for it. There is also a import tax put on top!!!
Anyway, when the eye piece eventually arrived it looked as though it had had a long and hard used life. That is unusual as most astronomers who have top brand kit look after it, and this was layered in dirt on the body, the optics had a lot of water marks on them, and the body paint work was worn. Having said that this particular Type 2 Nagler was made in 1984, and was therefore no Spring Chicken, and they are really solidly built.
But I, on the first initial look, was a bit down hearted because it was probably the most worn eye piece I'd seen. But I can't criticise the seller as his description was fairly accurate and the pics were honest. So I got out the blowers, soft clothes and brushes, a fluid lens cleaner, a small sponge damp with washing up liquid and started cleaning the metal body. Just getting the muck off the outside made me feel better and then I started very gently on the glass optics and checked for any damage, scratches or marks.........and to my relief there were none. So despite the worn look of the Beast my gamble had paid off because the optics were as good as when the eye piece was made. Like all cats look grey in the dark, eye pieces look black in the dark so the cosmetic wearing of the body paint is irrelevant. So I've been lucky enough to find an eye piece that many astronomers would love to own even though it's big and heavy [2.5 lbs] and it's one that I will use as often as I can.



So it's big, old, worn, heavy, has had a hard usage and life but after a careful clean of of the metal body, an even more careful clean of the optics it's definitely been worth the gamble. So it now can nestle in one of my lens cases and when we get a clear night I'll enjoy using it!!