ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY - TIPS Last updated: 28 March 2004

This page documents astrophotography comments, tips, and photos. Contributions welcome. Be certain to see the other articles on the main Astrophotography page.

Subject: Astrophotography?
Date: 3/27/04, 19:37
From: rick (wilders@charter.net)
I got an etx 90 for Christmas and then I got the eyepiece special. I
love the telescope. I'm trying to figure out what the best way to take
pictures is. I've got a 35mm Canon (Rebel 2000) and a digital Canon
(A80). I took a digital picture of Jupiter the other day, but it was, of
course, blurry since I was holding the camera. What kind of adapter do I
need to hook them up? Which camera is better for Astrophotography? I was
also looking into that LPI Imager. Is that as good as it looks? I don't
have the autostar controller. Do I need that for the LPI. One last
thing, I promise. After I get everything I need, how do I take pictures
of galaxies and stuff like that? I know it has something to do with
exposure times. Do I need to get something else for the camera to do all
that? 

Any answers would be much appreciated.    
        Thanks.
            ~Amanda

Subject: Visited SRB in Luton, UK, spring last year
Date: 3/22/04, 11:31
From: Stein Onshus (sonshus@online.no)
and bought one of their adaptors to fit my etx90 and Canon Ixus
3,2mpixel together with a few rings directly to the eyepiece. Most
successful technically. If you look into the website there should be any
possibility, and they tailor to most needs I  think.

It seems you are most for astro, but I have included a bird as an
example using an 11 mm eyepiece, + 2 times optical on the camera. Gets
pretty difficult to focus even when I use capture from my laptop,
though.





Please visit their web for details http://www.srbfilm.co.uk/

Stein Onshus

Norway.

Subject: Etx 125 and digital camera
Date: 3/21/04, 06:23
From: GHENDRI@aol.com
I have an ETX 125 and have just purchased a Scopetronix Maxview 40
adapter for a Nikon Coolpix 8700. The camera and adapter weighs just a
tad over two pounds. I have not turned on the scope and tried it yet
being afraid I may strip a gear. Do you think my set up warrants a
counterweight?

Geoff Hendrickson

Subject: stars
Date: 3/17/04, 10:58
From: Bearclanof4@aol.com
How would I be able to take the pictures I have seen on your website?
Keep in mind I am very new to the whole web cam thing, I don't even have
one yet, but do I have to hook it up to a telescope? Please could you
give a beginner some words of wisdom and help me?
Sincerly,
    Holley Morton
    Hornbrook, California

Subject: really nice pictures...
Date: 3/15/04, 14:14
From: al hakimov (alhakimov@yahoo.com)
I was looking through your gallery shots and can't stop envying how did
you guys manage to take such a great photos, I have etx-125, i have
2xblarlow and 9mm eye-piece, am I missing something, and when i try to
look it really difficult to see saturn or jupiter, i am not even
bothering with taking such pictures with my digital camera, do you need
on top of it good optical digital camera, because according to this
shots pictures seem as if they were taken from some 25-50" huge
telescopes, also is there anyway you guys make some special custom ring
for digital camera to fit etx-125? Your advise is really appreciated on
this matter. Superb gallery!

cheers,
Al

Subject: Meade ETX 125, Canon EOS 10D
Date: 3/7/04, 13:08
From: JSM De Waal (johann.dewaal@wanadoo.nl)
Your site and various references to your work I found in a number of
place son the web are truly impressive.

May I please ask for some help?

I am an experienced (if not particularly talented) digital photography
enthusiast. I now use a Canon EOS 10D and am absolutely delighted with
the result and use of this device. I use it for family / hobby purposes
and would like to start a new hobby of astronomy / astro- photography.

My current idea is to obtain a Meade ETX 125 AT. It looks like a good
starter scope and also relatively portable. I am very familiar with GPS
technology and own both a Garmin GPS III plus and a Streetpilot so I
think I will have a good start with the location bits.

I live in Holland where it is almost always cold outside. So I would
like to be in a position where I can relay an image to my indoor PC by
cable or wireless, drive the scope from the PC (the house has a wireless
network and I have several PCs and a Notebook) and take pictures on the
Canon EOS 10D.

I will be traveling to the US next week so I was wondering what I should
put on my shopping list.

I realise you must get many requests like this but I really will
appreciate some pointers.

JDW

And:

Many tks for the prompt reply (!).

Will keep this in mind and if anything noteworthy come of this, will let
you know.

I have a lot to learn.

JDW 

Subject: Meade ETX 60 - which adapter?
Date: 3/5/04, 20:18
From: chopsey (parkhillgang@adelphia.net)
I have a Meade ETX 60 - and am getting as much mileage and enjoyment as
i can with it. - I also have a  digital camera (Cannon powershot A70)  -
I would like to connect one to the other in order to take digital
pictures of the moon and its craters. - What do you suggest is the best
(adapter?) to purchase. - I don't expect to fetch high quality pictures
like the pros get. - i just want something fun (and decent)  to
experiment with..  - Is this at all possible with what i have?

A pleasure to see your site still going strong - i have peen popping in
and out over the last year and a 1/2 or so, and still get plenty of
solid info from here  - Thank you!!
 
Best regards,
Chopsey
Simi Valley,Ca

And:

Thanks, I`ll check it out.

Chopsey. 

Subject: Re: Piggyback ETX70AT
Date: 3/4/04, 19:56
From: tkorzeniowski@megapathdsl.net
I appreciate the response, Mike.

Question is, how does one disassemble the OTA to the bare minimum to be
able to mount the tube, without permanently disabling the ETX? Any tips?
I asked the folks at Shutan in Chicagoland, but their response was that
it couldn't be done. I'll check-out the Losmandy mount.

Thanks,

Tom

Subject: Piggyback ETX70AT
Date: 3/4/04, 10:55
From: tkorzeniowski@megapathdsl.net
Thanks for a very informative web site. I have a question that I hope
you can answer: I'm acquiring a Meade LX90 and have thought of mounting
my ETX70AT in a piggyback configuration for DS film photography. In your
estimation, is this feasible?

I'd appreciate any advice and/or recommendations.

Thank you.

Tom

Subject: Astrophotography - Polar Alignment with counter weights
Date: 3/1/04, 07:49
From: John Zylka (jzylka@worldnet.att.net)
Thank you for the great site.  It has been my major source for
information.

In attempting polar alignment, I would appreciate some expertise on how
to train and align my ETX-125 with a camera and counter-weights.  During
my first attempt, my Nikon 90 S camera seemed too heavy for the scopes
clutch and motor mechanism.  So I purchased a counter-weight set which
seems to balance the scope fine.

What is the correct method for attaching a camera and counter-weights to
train and perform polar alignment?  In polar home position, there is no
space to mount a camera.  With counter-weights added to the scope and
without a camera, my RA clutch slips.  I feel very apprehensive to
adjust the clutch any tighter.  Can the scope be trained without the
weights and camera, and then after alignment should the camera and
weights be added?  If this be the case, will this confuse the training?

John Zylka

Subject: Use of ETX 105 for Transit of Venus?
Date: 2/22/04, 22:04
From: Ruben Ruiz (ruruiz@lycos.com)
I am planning to travel to Europe to see the Transit of Venus next June
8th. I own an ETX-105EC and I would like some advise.

1- How would you recommend to take the ETX-105 in the Airplane to
Europe?

2- I would like to take a movie of the transit. Would you recommend a
webcam, such as Philips ToUcam?

3- What about the size of the sun? I still do not have the sun filter,
therefore I have no idea how large the sun looks in my scope. Would I
need a Field Doubler for wider filed imaging?

4- Finally, Would it be better to use a Nikon N65 (35mm SLR) with a
28-200 lens and a 2X teleconverter, instead of the scope? My guess is
that the sun will look too small.

Any other ideas for the transit?

Many thanks. From Mexico City,
Ruben.

Subject: Photography with a 70AT
Date: 2/22/04, 10:43
From: Gary Crossley (gcrossley@paonline.com)
I recently bought an ETX 70AT for travel. This year I would like to take
it to the Virgin Islands at 18 degrees north and try star field
photography using a lightweight Nikon Coolpix 5400 camera.  I purchased
a piggyback camera mount and guide eyepiece and now need to work on
setting up the scope up for equatorial operation. The 882 tripod is a
bit light, but would like to use it if possible.  I've looked at the
postings on your site but couldn't find any ideas.  I looked at
digitalastronomy.com's 70AT accessory page but their tripod / wedge
combination reads "note: the ETX60&70AT does not function in polar
mode".  Is there a way I can do guided, piggyback photography using the
70AT and 882 tripod?
 
Thanks,
 
Gary
Mechanicsburg, PA

Subject: ETX 105 and LX 90 For Deep Sky Photography - Advice Please
Date: 2/21/04, 11:44
From: Becky (rebecca.cover@ntlworld.com)
I wonder if it would be possible for you to help me out I own the ETX
105 and LX90, both have the hand controllers, shorty Barlow x 2, Meade
Super Plossl 26mm EP and Meade WA 18mm EP, I am still awaiting the
Anniversary Pieces.  I would like to get into Deep sky photography but I
am getting a bit confused as to what extra equipment I require to be
able to do this and get decent photographs. I have the following
equipment Pentax SLR Manual Camera with 50mm lens, 28 mm lens, 80-200mm
zoom lens and 70-300mm zoom lens, and cable release, I also have the 64T
Adaptor and T Mount ring to attach to the scope.  I understand I think
that I need a wedge, but is this for both the scopes or just the LX90, I
have seen mentioned Off axis guiders but again is this only for the
LX90.  Sorry to be a pain, as I know that you are very busy, but could
you advise me what you think is best, i.e. what other equipment I
require.

I would like also to thank you for bringing such a wonderful site, and
also for your quick replies as I have emailed you a couple of times.
 
Becky (Gosport, UK)

Subject: Re: Image Centering
Date: 2/17/04, 02:28
From: Luc Janssens (LRA.Janssens@skynet.be)
Thanks Mike for the prompt reaction. To answer  your questions. Yes, I
can reduce vignetting to an acceptable level but as you can see in the
example attached (the daylight picture) there is a tremendous amount of
shadow near the bottom of the image. And the picture of the sun
illustrates the same situation although it is not so pronounced since
the background is black.

I never had problems looking through the eyepiece and as long I took
pictures holding the camera to the eyepiece with my hands I could
compensate for the excentricity. I'll check to see if I can adjust the
digi-T ring to obtain better centering.

You have put me on the right way I think.
Kind regards,
Luc

Mike here: Looking at the land shot, it appears that the FOV is not circular; something is cutting it off. Check the alignment of the Digi-T. Also, can you move the eyepiece a lot sideways?

And:

I think the attached picture of the tree will clarify what happens.
Changing the centering of the eyepiece with respect to the camera did
not solve the problem. I had a quick look at the assembly that keeps the
mirror in position. Indeed nothing is foreseen to adjust the mirror. I'm
thinking about making a spring (or rubber band) type positioner with an
adjustable stop for the right angle vision. The flipped away position is
less critical I think. Another solution would be to move the cutout over
the circular section by removing some of the plastic at one side and
adding a piece (about 1mm I guess) on the other side, but that solution
does not allow for some adjustment afterwards. I attach another picture
of the mirror assembly for illustration. The picture at the bottom shows
that the digikit is reasonable well centered to the camera. This picture
is taken with the digi-t and the eyepiece attached to the camera, no OTA
mounted.

Mike here: It does appear that some adjustment is needed. Use caution!

And:

Thanks Mike. I'll inform you when I have made some progress.
Kind regards,
Luc

As promessed I let you know that I could improve the image centering in
the Digi-T system.

Hope the picture says everything.





I'm just left with a left-right off center situation but that is due to
play of the eyepiece in the eyepiece holder and should not be to
difficult to adjust. Maybe some other people can take advantage of my
experience..

Thank you  for your advise and thanks too to all the contributors of
your helpfull website.
Luc

Subject: Image Centering
Date: 2/16/04, 06:27
From: Luc Janssens (LRA.Janssens@skynet.be)
Thanks to your site I start feeling better with my ETX105. I found a lot
of very usefull info about these scopes and thereby I was able to solve
a few problems. Today I installed a digi T system #60 from Scopetronics
to make afocal photography. In the attached picture one can see that the
image that the scope sends to the eyepiece is not well centered.
Touching the flip mirror I can correct for the up down position but the
mirror returns to the equilibrium position as soon as I leave it alone.





My question: can I adjust the position of the mirror so that the
centering will be stable. I' am not affraid to disassemble the scope if
I have a chance to adjust that mirror. As I allready said: I learned a
lot from your migthy ETX -site.
 
Thanks for advise,
 
Luc J.  

Subject: ETX-70 astrophotography
Date: 2/11/04, 08:02
From: Lee Johnson (lee10@fsmail.net)
Sorry to disturb you once again but firstly I would like to thank you
for your last reply it was very helpful and I did find and take a brief
picture of Jupiter and as well as some impressive pictures of the Moon.

I have question this time about photography with the ETX-70, I have a
Digi Pro Digital Cemera and try to take a photograph through a 9mm
eyepiece of Jupiter, but when I took a photograph of Jupiter, I came up
with this strange photogaph (see attachment) and I'm not sure if it was
or not Jupiter, if it was 'blurred' or a reflection off my camera. Any
thoughts or suggestions you have would be greatly appreciated and
welcome. I was pointing toward Jupiter at this time the photo was taken





Kind regards,

Lee

Subject: Eyepiece Projection Photography and focus
Date: 2/10/04, 02:39
From: "Davies, Paul G (GE Consumer Finance)" (Paul.G.Davies@ge.com)
I was trying out my new eyepiece projection adapter the other night, and
had big problems focussing the camera. The issue was that I could get
the centre of the image in focus, but moving further out towards the
edges of the frame got progressively out of focus. This was using the
Meade SP 25mm eyepiece that came with the 'scope. In fact the effect was
pronounced enough to give the image a weird 3D effect while slewing the
image back and forward in the view finder!! I tried again with the 9mm
eyepiece (from my ETX-60), and the effect was greatly reduced. I suspect
I know the reason for this. The eyepiece forms an image at a fixed
radius from centre of the last element in the lens. The further you get
from the centre line of the optical path, the further from the film
plane the actual image focus gets. So I guess my question is this: Is
this an effect of eyepieces in general, or should I look for a
particular type or design of eyepiece that is particularly suited to
eyepiece projection photography? (or should I just keep to prime focus
or CCD photography, with a much smaller image scale?)

again, Many thanks for your insight.

cheers

Paul Davies

And:

Sorry for the confusion!!! I meant to say SP 26mm. I'm using the MA 9mm
until me 'Meade Offer' eyepiece set turns up (probably sometime in May).

Do you know of a field flattener for use in conjunction with an eyepiece
projection setup? All the ones I've seen advertised are designed to
screw onto the camera port of an SCT.

Subject: Focus Pentax P30
Date: 2/8/04, 07:34
From: Diane Rainey (gostate1@earthlink.net)
I just got my ETX 70.  Very new to all of this.  I have read your
material and you have a great site.  I would like to start with taking a
few shots of the moon.  I have a Pentax P30 mounted with the T Ring. 
After that I am lost.  I can see exactly what I want...here goes the
dumb question.  How do you get it in focus looking through the camera. 
I have used the short and long barlow on the T Ring.  I was wondering if
you could just give me some step by step instruciton.
Thanks,
Diane R

Subject: ETX need counterweights for camera?
Date: 1/30/04, 10:20
From: Robert Cantor (rcantor@worldnet.att.net)
I see all these photos on your great site of cameras attached to ETX's
without counterweights.  I want to get an ETX for photography but with
an lx-200 the camera weight drags the rear down.  How is it possible
that the etx can get away without counterweights?  or do you eliminate
them from photos for clarity?  If needed, where can you get them?  I
will be doing "afocal" photography with a digital camera attached to an
eyepiece, like the digi-T system.  Or I hope I will be.  Later I may try
other things.  Thanks for your advice and your time providing this site!


Bob C.
rcantor@att.net

Subject: Starting digital astrophotography
Date: 1/18/04, 16:40
From: Andrew McKelvy (dudewithabigstick@hotmail.com)
I've decided to try my luck with astrophotography but the equipment for
digital (ccd) is hard to find for my ETX-90EC. I have a Canon Powershot
A70 digital camera but I don't know how useful that would be for me
since I'm not even sure it can do long exposures. What I have really
been looking for is an electronic eyepiece that I can insert into my
telescope and use my computer with it. All of my ccd searches on various
websites have led me to either professional equipment sites with
thousand-dollar boxes or digital camera suppliers. I don't know where to
start looking or even what to buy for ccd astrphotography. I'll most
likely be trying to get color pictures of (fairly) prominent deep sky
objects such as the Orion Nebula or the Andromeda Galaxy. Any advice you
could give would be greatly appreciated.

One eyepiece I did manage to find goes with the first picture on this
website... what would you say about that? 

http://www.islandeyepiece.com/Eyepieces/Electronic%20Eyepieces.htm

And:

The AutoStar Suite looks very interesting to me, but is it for use with
all computerized astro-scopes? I read this on the Meade website
"Designed to be the ultimate platform for remote digital astronomy with
your Meade LX200GPS" As I said before, I have an ETX-90EC, would it
work? I mean would the LPI fit in my scope and take decent images (I saw
some from the 125, very nice.) Also, I couldn't seem to locate a price
for the Autostar Suite, do you know about how much it would cost? Thanks
for the help.

Subject: ETX Astrophotography
Date: 1/16/04, 17:43
From: astrojohn03 (jmhurst@eastleake.net)
I am taking my ETX90 to South Africa in Feb and am wondering what I
might be able to do with it photo wise. I have a Nikon F80 plus lenses
inc a 70-300 ED. I wonder if the ETX can track accurately enough to
record some of the brighter deep sky objects ie LMC, 47 Tucanae, w
centauri etc, either EPP,Prime Focus or Piggy back. What are the max
times The ETX could track in AltAz or Polar?

I am also considering going digital in the future, and am tempted to
bring this forward if I can sus out the right camera. The Canon 10D
looks very interesting and I read a lot of good remarks about its very
low noise ( using the camera for both normal and astro seems a good idea
instead of buying a cooled CCD as well).Trouble is I have some good
Nikon lenses and the Nikon 100D and Fuji S2Pro have a lot going for them
as well. Have you any ideas on how these cameras compare, especially on
noise and astro suitability?

Would greatly appreciate your help,
                               thanks again,
                                              John.

Subject: Acuter Digital Imager
Date: 1/14/04, 06:20
From: Jim.Beston@questintl.com
I purchased an Acuter Digital Imager for use with my ETX 105 recently .
I'm not sure this was a good purchase because when I point it at the
moon it just goes blank (I guess it gets "saturated" with light.) When I
try to use it to image Saturn I just get a bright oval blob. I don't
know whether or not it is faulty or if I am using it wrongly. There
doesn't seem to be any way I can lessen the sensitivity of the thing.
Yet trying to "capture" stars yields nothing. I can't find a web site
for the manufacturers to seek advice. Have you any experience of using
these?

Thanks for any help
Jim

P.S. Got my eyepiece offer from Meade yesterday and was up to the small
hours playing with them. These 'scopes are really superb!

And:

I have got some software. It is just one disk (looks a though it is a
home-made copy on a CD-R yet I bought it from a reputable Camera Shop).

The software allows me to change the contrast and brightness,edit the
image and has a check-box for low light levels but I haven't had much
luck with any permutation. The help files are useless!

Maybe I should have paid more money and got something better (this
imager was 90GBP). I'm a bit concerned at the lack of a web-site for the
manufacturer and hence zero support.

Jim

Subject: Eyepiece projection
Date: 1/13/04, 00:37
From: KlaraColli@aol.com
I have the Meade #64 T-Adaptor to couple my 35 mm camera to my EXT-125. 
I have be told that an option is to place an eyepiece into the adapter
to do eyepiece projection photos.  My Meade Super Plossls fit into the
adapter but there does not appear anyway to attach them or even a stop
to push them against.  Since the T-Adaptor came with no instructions, I
am at a loss.  Is there a correct way of installing an eye piece into
the adapter to do eye piece projection?

Subject: A (counter) weighty question
Date: 1/8/04, 14:34
From: "Craig M. Bobchin" (ETX_Astro_Boy@sbcglobal.net)
I've been doing some thinking about counterweights for our lovely blue
tubes and came up with a question I could find no answer for. Hopefully
you have one, or can find it out.

How do we figure how much weight to add to the tube? Do we try and
balance the scope? Because the ETX is front heavy to begin with, adding
extra weight in the form of a camera may cause the scope to balance
(depending on the camera of course).  Do we then add weight to bring the
front down?

Just thought I'd see if you had any thoughts on the matter.

Craig

And:

Ahh; but what about the plain scope unadorned? Shouldn't we balance
that? Maybe that is where some of Meade's problems lie since the scope
is front heavy. <SIGH> the balance between engineering and cost
effective products.... :-)

Subject: ETX Hartman Mask question
Date: 1/8/04, 14:12
From: "Justin J. Jerzak" (jjerzak@terrasite.com)
I have a question for you regarding Hartman Masks.  Do you know if there
are specific guidelines for the placement and size, and even number of
holes to use?  I have seen 3 hole versions as well as the much more
common 2 hole versions.  Also, what variations in those rules would need
to be applied if the mask was designed to fit over a dew shield?

I have read that the size may need to vary depending on whether you are
focusing for CCD or visual use.  Any information you can provide me will
be very much appreciated.  I have searched your site, and only found
info on your LXD55 version.

Best regards,

Justin Jerzak

Subject: ETX-70AT Camera Magnification/Power
Date: 1/5/04, 17:40
From: bobbert_atkinson@hotmail.com
Let me begin by saying "You have a wonderful website".  Your website
topics gave me ideas for constructing a rock solid tripod, I no longer
use the standard field tripod (Which I consider to be a $10.00 value
including the carrying case).

I have had my ETX-70AT for about 3 months, everything works perfect.  I
had a cheap $100.00 digital camera and actually acquired some reasonable
images of the moon holding the camera to the eyepiece and snapping. 
(actually 3 reasonable images in about 75 photographs, but I was pleased).

Last week I purchased a Fuji S5000 with a 10X optical zoom.  I purchased
a ScopeTronix Digi-T System #33 which will delivered late this week.  I
am expecting much better with this new camera and the ScopeTronix Digi-T
system.

Questions:

1)  ETX-70AT with a 25mm eyepiece will generate 14X.  Will the 10X
optical zoom generate 140X (multiplication 14 times 10) or 24X (addition
14 plus 10)?
2)  Is 140X a realistic magnification with the ETX-70AT, 25mm eyepiece
and a 10X optical zoom?
3)  Will this type of magnification generate reasonable images of Saturn
(provided I can operate the camera)?
 
Again....... You have a wonderful site, Thanks
 
Robert
Suburbs of Houston, Texas

Subject: Looking for eyepice recommendatiom.
Date: 1/2/04, 14:08
From: Mel Richman (melrichman@hotmail.com)
I just obtained a digital camera and an afocal camera mount for my
ETX-125.  The mount instructions recommend an eyepiece with at least 20
degrees of eye relief. My Meade catalog does not specify eye relief for
their eyepieces.  Which eyepiece would you recommend for
astrophotography ?
Thanks,
Mel R

And:

Oops, you are correct Mike.  It does say "with a long (around 20mm) eye
relief".

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