First Photos with 80ed

Wailin · 22-02-2016 11:47PM

Better off to buy a second hand 450D and modify it yourself. I picked one up for €200 on adverts and followed this excellent guide here:

http://dslrmodifications.com/rebelmod450d1.html

Few hairy moments and is a bit tricky but the results are worth it compared to standard dslr.

This is only 36min of data with modified 450D

Great Nebula in Orion by Tony, on Flickr

There are a number of places that sell modified DSLRs such as this one in the UK http://www.dslrastromod.co.uk/products.html, but much more expensive.

Iancar29 · 23-02-2016 11:39AM

Wailin wrote: »

Better off to buy a second hand 450D and modify it yourself. I picked one up for €200 on adverts and followed this excellent guide here:

http://dslrmodifications.com/rebelmod450d1.html

Few hairy moments and is a bit tricky but the results are worth it compared to standard dslr.

This is only 36min of data with modified 450D
Great Nebula in Orion by Tony, on Flickr

There are a number of places that sell modified DSLRs such as this one in the UK http://www.dslrastromod.co.uk/products.html, but much more expensive.

Don't suppose you know any other uk people that have nikon conversions?
Wouldn't mind picking up a cheap body myself that i can use my own nikon batteries and lenses on.

Wailin · 24-02-2016 12:07AM

Iancar29 wrote: »

Don't suppose you know any other uk people that have nikon conversions?
Wouldn't mind picking up a cheap body myself that i can use my own nikon batteries and lenses on.

Not too familiar on Nikon astro mods, definitely not as common as Canon but they can be modified of course. Don't know any sites unfortunately.

21-04-2016 02:37PM

M51

Not a great photo but who cares, it's two galaxies colliding.

uck51js9zml2yt · 24-04-2016 08:32PM

allinthehead wrote: »

Anyone know where/if i can get a dslr astro modified in Ireland?

There's a guy in the UK does them. Cant think of his name but if you check stargazers lounge you should find details.

17-05-2016 09:59PM

New pier in the making

12-06-2016 11:38AM

Needed more space to work around the pier so added some more stone. Fitted a single socket to power the mount, and a usb and data point in the other ip rated box.

All tested and working well. Just need to get the neq6 mount from ktec, and figure out a way to fix it to the pier.

29-07-2016 07:50AM

I've been busy trying to get everything together. New mount arrived while i was on holidays. Couldn't get anyone to make up platform for the mount to attach to the pier, so i got a set of skoda fabia brake discs, and got an engineering company to drill them for me. My plans changed re plugging the mount directly into the socket. Instead i have a 41ah battery on a float charge supplying the plexo box fitted with cigarette lighter, usb ports and voltmeter. Invested in a telegizmo cover for the mount which should give me much quicker set up times. I should only have to polar align once or twice a year. Pretty chuffed with how it's turning out.

http://i804.photobucket.com/albums/yy330/setch3/Mobile%20Uploads/IMAG0673.jpg

Iancar29 · 04-08-2016 07:04PM

allinthehead wrote: »

I've been busy trying to get everything together. New mount arrived while i was on holidays. Couldn't get anyone to make up platform for the mount to attach to the pier, so i got a set of skoda fabia brake discs, and got an engineering company to drill them for me. My plans changed re plugging the mount directly into the socket. Instead i have a 41ah battery on a float charge supplying the plexo box fitted with cigarette lighter, usb ports and voltmeter. Invested in a telegizmo cover for the mount which should give me much quicker set up times. I should only have to polar align once or twice a year. Pretty chuffed with how it's turning out.

Fair play! Jealous of the fact that you should only need to polar align once or twice a year! You must have some reasonably dark skies where you are to have a permanent setup like that?

05-08-2016 05:12PM

Iancar29 wrote: »

Fair play! Jealous of the fact that you should only need to polar align once or twice a year! You must have some reasonably dark skies where you are to have a permanent setup like that?

Sky's ok here, as long as neighbours turn lights off. Should save time on setup, meaning more time for imaging/observing. I had the telescope setup in the kitchen and would just carry it out but herself soon got sick of the sight of it. My back will thank me for it too.

cowboyBuilder · 12-08-2016 12:50PM

Wow !!!

amazing stuff ... and these photos taken just by stacking long exposure images taken with a drive mount attached to cam+telescope?

edit - OK now I see the rest of the thread with the pics of the gear ..

cowboyBuilder · 12-08-2016 02:48PM

@allinthehead this is your scope ?

http://www.telescope.com/Telescopes/Refractor-Telescopes/Refractor-Telescopes-with-GoTo-Mounts/Orion-Sirius-ED80-EQ-G-Computerized-GoTo-Refractor-Telescope/pc/1/c/10/sc/336/p/24281.uts

Wailin · 12-08-2016 04:25PM

cowboyBuilder wrote: »

@allinthehead this is your scope ?

http://www.telescope.com/Telescopes/Refractor-Telescopes/Refractor-Telescopes-with-GoTo-Mounts/Orion-Sirius-ED80-EQ-G-Computerized-GoTo-Refractor-Telescope/pc/1/c/10/sc/336/p/24281.uts

It's this one http://www.ktectelescopes.ie/Telescopes/Skywatcher-PRO-Series/Skywatcher-PRO-Series-Evostar-ED-Apochromatic-Refractors/Skywatcher-Evostar-80ED-DS-PRO.html. I have the same myself and they are a very decent scope for astro.

cowboyBuilder · 12-08-2016 10:28PM

Wailin wrote: »

It's this one http://www.ktectelescopes.ie/Telescopes/Skywatcher-PRO-Series/Skywatcher-PRO-Series-Evostar-ED-Apochromatic-Refractors/Skywatcher-Evostar-80ED-DS-PRO.html. I have the same myself and they are a very decent scope for astro.

Thanks !

That's a good price actually ...

13-08-2016 02:43PM

First test image of new setup. Iris Nebula

30 * 180 seconds at iso 1200

Kersh · 13-08-2016 08:23PM

Great to see how much progress you have made on it

The AZEQ6 looks great sitting on that pier.

The first photo looks incredibly promising, Im still using my ED80 too, great scope.

cowboyBuilder · 14-08-2016 11:34AM

It really is stunning stuff, Im tempted to get one myself ... but I live in Barcelona

:(:(:(

14-08-2016 11:40AM

Thanks. Having it on the pier makes all the difference. I knew a few nights ago that the clouds were forecast to clear for a couple of hours. Normally i wouldn't have bothered setting up, but because now it takes about 10 minutes to start imaging i can take advantage of any clearing.

I know i said i would never go down the ccd route, but i'm considering the atik 460ex. Would this be a good choice with my scope? Would it be worth just buying the camera, shooting mono for a while, and saving for the auto filter wheel and filters. I like the idea of being able to image while the moon is out too.

You're right the az looks the part on the pier. Really is a good mount. I did a drift align and managed a 360 second unguided exposure with good results.
This is 360 seconds unprocessed

Wailin · 14-08-2016 12:47PM

Had the 460ex myself but used it once then sold it on due to lack of use really. Never got into the colour blending but used the H-Alpha filter from a very light polluted backyard in dublin.

Cone nebula - NGC 2264 by Wailin, on Flickr

Horsehead nebula in H-alpha by Wailin, on Fli

These images were taken with a full moon as well. Had issues with the filter wheel leaking light somewhere too, obvious in the horsehead pic with the light gradient at bottom.

Should probably have gave more of a chance and effort in fairness. FOV will be very restricted with the small sensor on the camera though.

Use this excellent site to see what your fov will be with any set up http://www.12dstring.me.uk/fov.htm

14-08-2016 07:28PM

Nice photos Wailin.

Added another 20*180 second exposures to iris.

jArgHA · 09-09-2016 02:52PM

Cracking thread and images allinthehead. I was into AP many years ago (using film on SLR) until I parked the hobby for over 10 years, but I am thinking of getting back into it now (I just recently hauled my Celestar 8 SCT to Cork city).

With all of the DSLR images you have posted in this thread, are you using a guide scope and auto-guider setup at all, or are you minimising the need for this by keeping light frame exposure times low enough that any drive error shouldn't have a chance to make an impact?

I always thought that an auto-guider setup was almost mandatory now for deep sky stuff, but maybe I'm wrong...

09-09-2016 04:53PM

Hi jArgHA, none of the images are auto guided. I use a goto mount. I have two, the eq3 pro i'm using as a mobile setup and with a rough polar alignment i can get 60 second frames without star trailing. With the az eq6 i can get 360 second frames, but this is on a permanent pier and with precise polar alignment.

I'm trying to keep the complexity to a minimum as the clear nights are rare and i don't want to spend them trying to get my gear to behave, so i ordered a zwo asi 1600mm cooled, which will hopefully arrive soon. This new cmos cooled camera shouldn't need any longer than 60-120 second subs as it's unbelievably sensitive. Auto guiding not needed with this setup.

Should you get back into the hobby you wont know yourself using a dslr. Can't begin to imagine how difficult this hobby would be using film.

09-09-2016 05:00PM

This is a re process of old data. Noisy but it's only 60 by 60 second subs.

This is 10 by 180 seconds on M31. Framed badly, noisy, core blown out, but i was just testing the new permanent setup. Not bad for 30 minutes.

24-09-2016 07:57AM

First effort with new zwo asi1600mm.

76 30 second exposures. I had problems with the cooling and getting all the software and hardware to behave but overall it's a decent result for such short exposures. Stars are overexposed i think.

25-09-2016 06:11PM

60 * 60 seconds at gain 380, offset 50. Sky quality was poor

17-11-2016 05:32PM

horsey by Richard Sweeney, on Flickr

pinwheel by Richard Sweeney, on Flickr

pacman by Richard Sweeney, on Flickr

balrog by Richard Sweeney, on Flickr

2016-10-22_09-24-55 by Richard Sweeney, on Flickr

17-11-2016 06:09PM

Opportunities for imaging have been seriously limited by the cloudy weather and that pesky super moon. These images are basically test images getting to know what settings and times to use for different objects. I've also just bought an astrodon 5 nm ha filter to image when the moon is ruining rgb.

The horsehead is 6 minutes combined.
Pacman is 2 hrs luminance but i used too low a gain setting
Pinwheel is 2 hrs luminance
Ngc1333 is a work in progress so far i've managed 4 hrs luminance 180 second subs. I plan to add another 4 hrs luminance and 6 hrs rgb
Dumbbell is 3 hrs rgb ruined by moonlight.

27-11-2016 08:56PM

jellyfishcalib5hrcrop by Richard Sweeney, on Flickr

This is supernova remnant IC1443 or the Jellyfish Nebula. 5000 light years from earth.
5hr exposure in 157*120 second subs. Darks 70, flats 70, bias 70.

I had to crop it as there's a big blob of a star that i need to sort out.

30-11-2016 11:27PM

Uncropped Version

jellystar by Richard Sweeney, on Flickr

01-12-2016 04:22PM

soul by Richard Sweeney, on Flickr

IC 1848 or the Soul Nebula is located in the Perseus arm of our Galaxy at a distance of 6500 ly. This large star forming nebula spans about 100 light years.

7hrs 50mins with 5nm Hydrogen alpha filter

First Photos with 80ed

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