Hey, just curious as Im getting into the astrophotography side not only because I've moved to a new house in the middle of no where (lucky I know) and just finishing an astrophysics module at uni but I've been out for a couple of weekends and got some pretty decent images;
IMGL1749.jpg by
ChristianJ-R
and
IMG_0223.jpg by
ChristianJ-R
This was with a 24-85 2.8 (Tamron) lens, but I also have a 200mm f4 lens and as you can see in the second image you can sorta see the orion cluster which with my 200mm I could resolve better but.... obviously at 200mm I understand I'd have to use a pretty slow shutter speed at 200mm and I've been looking at getting a tracking tripod head, now I haven't been able to find a decent tutorial on how tracking heads work so I'd like to ask for any advice or point me in the direction of some instructions maybe?
I've found a decently priced tracker:
http://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/skywatcher-star-adventurer-astro-imaging-mount-photo-bundle.html
Not sure if this is appropriate? Does it do the right type of tracking? I have a decent tripod, a redsnapper which I would highly reccoment btw but I reckon should be stable enough?
Also would this make a significant difference too my wide star shots? I assume that using a tracker means the foreground would be blurry vs getting star trails without a tracker?
Thanks for any help
Christian
Gaz,
No boredom here. That's why we share these details. Your M42 Orion Nebula is really good, as are the other images on your Flickr page.
Any details you want to share will be gratefully read and studied.
Mj
I don't mind sharing info but as you can see writing about the tracker takes a lot longer than actually doing it.
I've written this for the Sky watcher Star Adventurer tracking equatorial mount and is based on my experience with it and my suggestions for making the use of it easier.
I've done a bit of Astro photography but never took it seriously but decided this year I was going to make an effort to do more and take better quality images. I decided to buy this mount as it seemed to get decent reviews and wasn't going to break the bank.
I bought the astro version of the star adventurer which comes with additional equipment including an equatorial wedge to mount the tracker on as well as other pieces to allow various options in set up and also the use of more than one camera/ scope at the same time.
The first step is to mount the equatorial wedge to your tripod.
To get the best out of the tracker you will need a stable tripod and only extend it to the minimum height required. I have a small stool that I sit on to polar align the tracker initially and only extend the tripod enough to be able to see through the polar scope on the tracker.
Then you mount the tracker to the equatorial wedge making sure that you have the retaining pin on the dovetail on the top of the mount so that if the retaining screw becomes slack the tracker doesn't slide out onto the ground.
The equatorial wedge isn't strictly necessary as you can mount the tracker to a pan and tilt head or a ball head but the equatorial wedge has two functions that, whilst not impossible to do with a pan and tilt or ball head, make it a lot easier to polar align the tracker. The first is that you can set the elevation or latitude in degrees of the tracker by means of an adjuster on the equatorial wedge. The second is that the left/right movement of the tracker is controlled by two adjusters on the wedge that allow very fine control to get Polaris in the right position in the polar scope when polar aligning.
The tracker has a polar scope built into it which allows you to look through the body of the tracker along its rotational axis to correctly align Polaris. At the eye piece end of the polar scope are a couple of calibrated dials which we will come to later. On the side of the tracker you will see a couple of buttons with arrows on them, a slider switch, a socket labelled 'snap', a 5v DC socket and a 'auto guider port'. On the other side of the body you will see a rotary switch with 7 different functions which are used dependent on what role you are utilising the tracker for as it can be used as a time lapse head as well. For the purposes of basic Astro photography you only need to ensure that the slider switch is set to 'N' and on the rotary dial you will be using the setting marked by a 'star' on the dial.
Polar aligning the tracker.
First of all download an app to your phone or tablet called PS Align.
You have to polar align every time you use the tracker so it's worth practising at home until you're confident that (a) You can find Polaris in the sky and (b) you can find it in the finder scope and be sure that it is Polaris that you're using for the set up. To find Polaris you need to set the latitude of the tracker to the same as Polaris in the night sky. This is when you need the PS Align app. Make sure that 'location' or GPS is enabled on your phone or tablet so that the app can find your location. Open the app and you will see that it is giving you the time, date and also your latitude and longitude. This obviously varies depending on where you live.
You need to take the latitude setting, which for me is around 57 degrees, and using the scale on the front of the equatorial wedge rotate the adjuster knob until the arrow points to the right latitude.
You now need to take the polar illuminator, which comes with the kit, and mount it in the hole at the opposite end from the eyepiece on the polar scope and switch it on. This illuminates the polar scope tube so that you can see the set up reticule when you look through the the eye piece of the polar scope.
You now need to go into the settings of the PS Align app and choose the reticule display called 'Orion/Skywatcher 2012-2032'. Then click 'done'. When the home screen returns you will see that the display now matches the view that you can see in the polar scope of the tracker. Also on the screen you will see the position of Polaris marked by a small yellow cross somewhere on the display depending on the time of day. You now need to set the '0' on the reticule scale you can see in the polar scope to the 12 o'clock position. You do his by loosening the large black clutch release ring on the front of the tracker and rotating the dovetail section where you mount the camera. You can do this by eye or you can use the dials on the tracker. I usually do it by eye but if you want to do it using the dials then proceed as follows.
There are two dials on the tracker. One marked 0 to 23 which is the time circle and is fixed. The other is marked 1 to 12 which is the date circle which moves. This is marked in months of 30 days to each month. On the side of the date circle is the time meridian indicator marked from E-20-10-0-10-20-W. Set the 0 on the time meridian indicator against the white scribed line on the eyepiece. Then slacken the clutch release ring on the front and rotate the assembly until OCTOBER 31 on the date circle is aligned with the 0 on the time circle. Bear in mind that the months are are made up of 30 days each on the date circle so you will effectively set it on NOVEMBER 1. The 0 on the polar scope will now be at the 12 o'clock position.
Once you have the '0' at the 12 o'clock position lock the clutch release ring again.
Now you need to find Polaris in the sky. There is plenty of information on how to do this online but I always use the Plough Constellation to find it. Once you have found it then move your tripod and tracker until you have it pointing roughly in the right direction. You can use a compass on the tracker to be more accurate but I generally do it by eye. Now level the tripod using the level built into the wedge base. Now look through the polar scope eyepiece. You should see Polaris in the scope. Now it is simply a case of adjusting the left/right rotation and the latitude of the wedge until Polaris is in the exact position that you see on the screen of PS Align. When you have Polaris aligned to your satisfaction then turn the rotary dial on the tracker to the 'star' position which will start the tracker running.
You are now in a position to mount your camera.
I will post the next piece later as this is the most typing I've done since I filled out my CV
