Really big lenses
- Thread starter garyi
- Start date
Sid and Coke
and so the rebuild continues..
For nothing ! you jammy sod 
michaelab
desafinado
A mate of mine has a similar telescope. His has the motorised mount and the 'computer' control thingy which:
a) keeps the telescope pointing at the object you want (the earths rotation quickly 'moves' objects out of the field of view otherwise).
b) once calibrated you can type in a destination (eg, "the moon", "alpha centauri" etc.) and it will whirr and chug until the scope is pointing at your chosen object.
Boys and their toys....
a) keeps the telescope pointing at the object you want (the earths rotation quickly 'moves' objects out of the field of view otherwise).
b) once calibrated you can type in a destination (eg, "the moon", "alpha centauri" etc.) and it will whirr and chug until the scope is pointing at your chosen object.
Boys and their toys....
Gary, I have a roughly similar scope.
You may already know this, but:
- the black thing on the top is a Telrad: a simple and useful device for finding objects in the night sky. It looks like the former owner rigged up a dew shield for it.
- I don't think the 2080 is computer controlled, however, it's definately motorized and will track objects across the sky. Assuming it's not computerized, it will be up to you to find the objects, however, using a skychart and the Telrad.
- You will likely want some nicer eyepieces for good viewing. A good place to find them used is www.astromart.com
- An excellent freeware download for finding stuff in your night sky is Cartes du Ciel:
http://www.stargazing.net/astropc/
You may already know this, but:
- the black thing on the top is a Telrad: a simple and useful device for finding objects in the night sky. It looks like the former owner rigged up a dew shield for it.
- I don't think the 2080 is computer controlled, however, it's definately motorized and will track objects across the sky. Assuming it's not computerized, it will be up to you to find the objects, however, using a skychart and the Telrad.
- You will likely want some nicer eyepieces for good viewing. A good place to find them used is www.astromart.com
- An excellent freeware download for finding stuff in your night sky is Cartes du Ciel:
http://www.stargazing.net/astropc/
garyi
leave blank
Thanks Eric.
I am going to be a bit basic to start. I will point it out the window and see what is in the sky. I would love to get pictures though.
I just need to establish what I need. I can get a t mount adaptor for the camera. and I found a device that fits to a Meade, but it doe snot mention specific models. Presumably I could find an eye piece which would allow the attachment of a camera?
Its a win win, if I don't like it I can sell it and keep the money!
I am going to be a bit basic to start. I will point it out the window and see what is in the sky. I would love to get pictures though.
I just need to establish what I need. I can get a t mount adaptor for the camera. and I found a device that fits to a Meade, but it doe snot mention specific models. Presumably I could find an eye piece which would allow the attachment of a camera?
Its a win win, if I don't like it I can sell it and keep the money!
Gary, basic astrophotography should be possible with this scope. You don't typically use an eyepiece with the camera: the scope itself is the camera's lens. I'm guessing that your scope is an F/10, although some Meade SCTs are 6.3.
The main challenges in astrophotography, at least for beginners, are:
- getting the object in the center of the image (difficult since you usually can't see it)
- getting the drives to track the object perfectly for the long exposures needed (here there's an inherent limit in the accuracy of the Meade's drives, but you'll still be able to do something).
- finding the right exposure settings. A good forum for astrophotography is: http://www.cloudynights.com/
Your near-term challenge will be getting this scope collomated, tracking properly, and then finding objects. Meade SCTs are pretty easy to collimate (precisely adjust the mirrors), but you'll need to do it to get good visual or photographic results. A quick google turned up this instruction page:
http://www.sctscopes.net/SCT_Tips/Maintenance/Collimation/collimation.html
The main challenges in astrophotography, at least for beginners, are:
- getting the object in the center of the image (difficult since you usually can't see it)
- getting the drives to track the object perfectly for the long exposures needed (here there's an inherent limit in the accuracy of the Meade's drives, but you'll still be able to do something).
- finding the right exposure settings. A good forum for astrophotography is: http://www.cloudynights.com/
Your near-term challenge will be getting this scope collomated, tracking properly, and then finding objects. Meade SCTs are pretty easy to collimate (precisely adjust the mirrors), but you'll need to do it to get good visual or photographic results. A quick google turned up this instruction page:
http://www.sctscopes.net/SCT_Tips/Maintenance/Collimation/collimation.html
michaelab
desafinado
The best "planetarium" software I've seen is Celestia. Pretty addictive even if you're not particularly into astronomy. What makes it unique AFAIK is that you can set the point of view anywhere so you can see what the sky would look like if you were on the moon for example. Runs on Windows, Linux or OS X.ErikL said:
So you'll be setting your browser and pvr for The Sky @ Night then?