Bushnell Reflector Scope and Nikon D5000

Pixbarmy

Pixbarmy

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I have recently bought an old school Bushnell Voyager reflector scope (900mm focal length) and would like to try using my D5000 Nikon with it. I've never done any astro stuff, so any advice appreciated (apart from throw it away and get proper stuff - I've already had that! :) )
 
First off do you want to do prime focus or eyepiece projection? The former is for deep sky objects (ie relatively large) where you're using the scope as a lens. It's easier than the latter which is for planets etc where you use the camera lens to image what's in the eyepiece. Planetary photography is very hit and miss for lots of reasons and really needs video. If you just want the Moon use a long lens.
I'll stick to prime focus as it's what I know about. You need an adaptor for your Nikon to take a nosepiece that then slips into the eyepiece tube instead of the eyepiece. The easiest way to focus is on a bright star using a bahtinov mask. But........ you need long exposures (30 - 50 sec as a bare minimum) and without a driven mount everything will trail. You will also need to take multiple subs, integrate and process them.
 
Jannyfox said:
First off do you want to do prime focus or eyepiece projection? The former is for deep sky objects (ie relatively large) where you're using the scope as a lens. It's easier than the latter which is for planets etc where you use the camera lens to image what's in the eyepiece. Planetary photography is very hit and miss for lots of reasons and really needs video. If you just want the Moon use a long lens.
I'll stick to prime focus as it's what I know about. You need an adaptor for your Nikon to take a nosepiece that then slips into the eyepiece tube instead of the eyepiece. The easiest way to focus is on a bright star using a bahtinov mask. But........ you need long exposures (30 - 50 sec as a bare minimum) and without a driven mount everything will trail. You will also need to take multiple subs, integrate and process them.
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Whoah! I can see that I need to learn a lot more than I already know and that those folks who said throw it away and get something modern, may be correct! I'll keep it as simple as I can to start with. Thank you for your input, much appreciated.
 
GreenNinja67 said:
T2 adaptor for your camera is a start.

That's all I've used on my Dobsonian Skywatcher 200P
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I'll start by shopping for a T2 then and work my way up slowly. No doubt, very slowly! This old dog needs to learn some new tricks! :)
 
I've been looking, on Amazon, for T2 adaptors and some folks say (in the reviews) that they can't get to focus with A T adaptor and the reflector type scope??? Any suggestions?
 
Your scope particularly or any reflector?

I have a 6" reflector and have no issues focussing.

Might your telescope need an extra adaptor?
 
Pixbarmy said:
I have recently bought an old school Bushnell Voyager reflector scope (900mm focal length) and would like to try using my D5000 Nikon with it. I've never done any astro stuff, so any advice appreciated (apart from throw it away and get proper stuff - I've already had that! :) )
Click to expand...
There has been no mention of the dreaded word collimation. I don't know if you have tried your telescope for any observing of stars etc. If all your stars are sharp in perfect focus then both your mirrors are perfectly aligned already but you will still need to learn about collimation for the future. It would be very frustrating to get all your equipment functioning together but fail to get focus when you try to image.
https://www.opticalvision.co.uk/documents/203.pdf
As an elderly novice to astronomy I found collimation very difficult to put into practice and I rely on a laser collimator for my 2 reflectors. The laser may actually need collimating itself!

Good luck with your new setup and I hope to see some images in the future.
 
So far, I have only tried the moon and Jupiter, which both came into focus using the scope but haven't tried a camera yet as I need to get a T piece.
 
I've ordered one to try from the dreaded bay, so we will see what happens when I try it out. My camera is shown on the "included" list (D5000). Thanks for the advice thus far.
 
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