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DPChallenge Forums >> Hardware and Software >> Astrophotography piggy backing advice for beginner
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 08/25/2006 12:42:59 AM · #1
Iâve been looking at some of the wonderful astrophotography done by DPChallenge members and that spurred me on to do a little reading on the subject. One thing that intrigued me is the technique of âpiggy backingâ. I donât have a telescope just a pair of binoculars. It strikes me that I donât necessarily need a telescope, just a mount for my camera.

I have in the past built a polar mount and control system for a 2.5 meter parabolic microwave dish used to track satellites. It seems to me that I could make a dedicated camera mount in a similar way. The hard part would be getting the initial polar alignment of the mount. I envisage that I may need some sort of spotting scope on the mount to assist with the alignment. Does this sound practical and what sort of spotting scope would be best? Aiming of the camera would at times have to be done by the numbers as I guess I would have very limited (dim) view through the viewfinder or spotting scope.

As I have no practical experience of astrophotography and all my ideas are just theory I was wondering what those that have done such things think of my ideas. Also what could I actually do with it!? What is possible with just standard, not crazy price, SLR lenses? As you may gather I am trying not to spend any money â ok, Iâll have to spend some but it would be an interesting challenge to see how little ;-)

Thanks, Mike

(I thought that I should add that I appreciate the engineering precision required. I know just how small an arc-second is!)

Message edited by author 2006-08-25 00:50:19.
 08/25/2006 12:49:20 AM · #2
Originally posted by zardoz:

I have in the past built a polar mount and control system for a 2.5 meter parabolic microwave dish used to track satellites.


Ham?
 08/25/2006 12:51:15 AM · #3
Originally posted by fotomann_forever:
Originally posted by zardoz:

I have in the past built a polar mount and control system for a 2.5 meter parabolic microwave dish used to track satellites.


Ham?


G0 VEL ... Ham
 08/25/2006 12:52:01 AM · #4
Are you a Ham to fotoman?
 08/25/2006 12:53:08 AM · #5
Cool, my license expired, but my ID is KF4EXB.
 08/25/2006 12:55:30 AM · #6
Nice to meet you KF4EXB. I havenât been active in a while either. I moved house and still havenât found time to get things set up.
 08/25/2006 01:08:39 AM · #7
Originally posted by zardoz:
Nice to meet you KF4EXB. I havenât been active in a while either. I moved house and still havenât found time to get things set up.


Maybe I'll catch ya in the ether one day then. More likely here on DPC though :-) I'll stop my QRM on your thread and let you get back to your question.

08/25/2006 01:09:23 AM · #8
did someone say ham? :P

-Dan
 08/25/2006 01:17:58 AM · #9
Originally posted by fotomann_forever:
Maybe I'll catch ya in the ether one day then. More likely here on DPC though :-) I'll stop my QRM on your thread and let you get back to your question.

No worries on the QRM, would be cool to catch you in the ether sometime EXB. KN for now.
 08/25/2006 01:19:46 AM · #10
Originally posted by I Enjoy Ham:
did someone say ham? :P

-Dan

Corned-beef I think.
Hi Mr I.E.Ham lol
 08/25/2006 01:33:13 AM · #11
KB2V VT checking in

Message edited by author 2006-08-25 01:33:23.
 08/25/2006 01:38:15 AM · #12
-

Message edited by author 2007-05-03 07:07:28.
 08/25/2006 02:59:18 AM · #13
Thanks SkyNevada, that link is just the sort of thing I had in mind. I canât believe how little it costs! I imagined it would need to be more substantial but maybe Iâm getting carried away.
 08/25/2006 03:01:01 AM · #14
KB2V VT from G0 VEL. Hello to you, seems the hams are about. K
 08/25/2006 03:55:47 AM · #15
Originally posted by SkyNevada:
Hi Mike,

Check this out - Orion's Min-EQ⢠Tabletop Equatorial Mount.

I've not used this particular mount before - I have the Orion AstroView Mount. Orion is a very trusted company. I've ordered countless items from them without any problems whatsoever. Hope that helps somewhat and good luck.


That is cheap.
Here in rip off Britain it`s £99 about $200
Min-EQ
 08/25/2006 04:19:14 AM · #16
Originally posted by marbo:
Originally posted by SkyNevada:
Hi Mike,

Check this out - Orion's Min-EQ⢠Tabletop Equatorial Mount.

I've not used this particular mount before - I have the Orion AstroView Mount. Orion is a very trusted company. I've ordered countless items from them without any problems whatsoever. Hope that helps somewhat and good luck.


That is cheap.
Here in rip off Britain it`s £99 about $200
Min-EQ

That figures, I keep looking at the price of gear in the US and thinking I could buy a ticket to go there and pick the stuff up and sill have more change than Iâd get from a UK store. Then all Iâd have to do is convince customs I took it with me. Of course with petrol at almost 5 quid ($10) a gallon Iâd probably spend any saving on the fuel getting to the airport. Rant⦠rantâ¦

Message edited by author 2006-08-25 04:20:23.
 08/25/2006 08:10:18 AM · #17
You should Google "barndoor mount". Lots of good ideas come up! Another alternative is to buy a (relatively) inexpensive equatorial telescope mount used (try astromart.com's classifieds) and mount the cam on that using a ballhead. That's what I do. I use an old EQ-5 mount that's worth about $300 USD.
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