Introduction
This article/guide is a work in progress. I'll be adding to it as time goes along and I pick up more useful information..
I will try to detail, in various pages of this article, some of the issues that cropped up for me as a beginner, and some of the terminology that was somewhat confusing to me.
It will hopefully allow a centralized area that any other beginner can refer to to maybe get some guidance in manner that is somewhat easy to understand, as many of the terms and processes were (and still are) confusing to me as those that explain them tend to get into using terminology that a beginner is not necessarily familiar with.
My equipment started with an EQ35 Pro mount (William Optics Rebadged), a Zenithstar 103mm refractor, a NexStar 8se (and Celstron mount for it) and a Nikon D7200 DSLR using Backyard Nikon. I had very little luck with the DSLR and the telescope, and after putting the equipment aside for a few years due to that frustration, ended up jumping in with both feet, getting a Pro grade ASI cooled camera (mono) a filter wheel and eventually an automated rotator when I came back to it.
Many people have great luck with a mount and a simple DSLR and lens, but as I said, this is MY walk down the path. Some of the stuff I found that I would not repeat if I had it to do over again are detailed in this article. This article is NOT for those that are interested in pursuing this avenue... as I said, it's MY walk down the path using my equipment.
My equipment in use at time of this guide:
William Optics ZenithStar 103mm (with WO 0.8 flattener/reducer)
Pegasus Falcon rotator
ZWO ASI533MM Pro mono camera
ZWO 8 position filter wheel
ZWO filters for LRGB and Ha/SII/OIII
RPi 4 8GB running Stellarmate OS
I will try to detail, in various pages of this article, some of the issues that cropped up for me as a beginner, and some of the terminology that was somewhat confusing to me.
It will hopefully allow a centralized area that any other beginner can refer to to maybe get some guidance in manner that is somewhat easy to understand, as many of the terms and processes were (and still are) confusing to me as those that explain them tend to get into using terminology that a beginner is not necessarily familiar with.
My equipment started with an EQ35 Pro mount (William Optics Rebadged), a Zenithstar 103mm refractor, a NexStar 8se (and Celstron mount for it) and a Nikon D7200 DSLR using Backyard Nikon. I had very little luck with the DSLR and the telescope, and after putting the equipment aside for a few years due to that frustration, ended up jumping in with both feet, getting a Pro grade ASI cooled camera (mono) a filter wheel and eventually an automated rotator when I came back to it.
Many people have great luck with a mount and a simple DSLR and lens, but as I said, this is MY walk down the path. Some of the stuff I found that I would not repeat if I had it to do over again are detailed in this article. This article is NOT for those that are interested in pursuing this avenue... as I said, it's MY walk down the path using my equipment.
My equipment in use at time of this guide:
William Optics ZenithStar 103mm (with WO 0.8 flattener/reducer)
Pegasus Falcon rotator
ZWO ASI533MM Pro mono camera
ZWO 8 position filter wheel
ZWO filters for LRGB and Ha/SII/OIII
RPi 4 8GB running Stellarmate OS
- Next page: Equipment
