Best Mounts for Astrophotography
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 13 มิ.ย. 2024
- IMO Dave Woods from Dark Frame Optics knows more about commercial mounts for astrophotography than anyone else on the planet. In this video we ask him to tell us the best mounts for astrophotography. Thx Dave
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Damn he’s pumping out the uploads gotta love it keep going biscuit
I was about to say the same thing! Thx Sir Biscuit!
Dude! Your enthusiasm, creativity, knowledge, and quite some skill with video editing make your content absolutely delightful to watch. I just got an AstroMaster 130 as a gift and I'm super hyped to begin the adventure :)
Called David to talk about a Rail Kit for my NEQ6 and ended up chatting for about 45 minutes. Very nice chap and knows his stuff!!
Talks big, but can't run a business and has been horrible to actually purchase from.
Back in the early 80s on completion of my electrical engineering apprenticeship Highbury college Portsmouth, one of my lecturers was a guy called Robin Gorman he eventually became precedent of the local astronomy group running in Clanfield Hants , the nice thing was he also gave evening classes during the 80s at Highbury building instructing small groups to build simple Dobsonian telescopes, sadly Robin recently passed, but will remember him as a keen helpful person with a deep passion for Astronomy, when I watched this It reminded me of him and DFO at Clanfield Hants, also the home of Hampshire astronomical group. Being in semi retirement I've been keen to persue some imaging again, enjoying the hobby and learning more about new tech thats available ..Great video's Rorey..atb👍👍.
cheers bud and thx for watching
Love the production value of your channel. Very entertaining.
ANOTHER Astrobiscuit video!!!! Fantastic. Thankyou.
I'm just researching astrophotography as a potential hobby and actually, this is the most helpful video so far. Thanks guys....
Two video's in a week, this is one of the best weeks in my life. 😅👍
😅😅
Excellent videos that help to make the bewildering field of astrophotography more inviting to us beginners. Thank you Mr Biscuit. You should be on the telly mate!
I don't even have a telescope but am enjoying watching your video's, you seem really at ease in front of a camera, it's a pleasure to watch and you do deserve a slot on mainstream TV (Sky at Night maybe?).
Dave comes across like a proper nice geezer.
Niiiice!
Very little difference between a geezer and a tosser my friend
looks are deceptive. just paid a small fortune for stellar5 drive upgrade, cam back with grinding bearings and missing parts. mount has been reduced to an expensive paperwright! Never again!!
Thank you! Been waiting for this one.
I am so grateful for UK lockdowns. Each time during lockdown we get a new astrobiscuit videos😄
🤣
I am watching your videos multiple times because I love your content and Rick's music.
I just want to say I'm new to this whole astrophotography thing.you are my absolute favorite on youtube to watch I can only imagine hanging out with a dude like it you seem really fun!!
this is like a TV show :D i cant stop watching ,u are very good at doing all of this man , hope u get your own tv show one day :D u are born for this
Great video ! Makes me happy that I own AZ-EQ6 and previously HEQ5 for 5 years.
I have spoken to Dave I live in Philadelphia these guys were a lifesaver my EQ 35 skywatcher from First Light Optics in the UK would not honor or repair what was clearly a bad motor within its warranty. I sent my f'upped mount to Dark Frame optics for repair. It was unbelievably easy Fedex picked it up Fedex returned it And It was less than 500 bucks no wonder I got my doctorate in the UK. We are talking about repairs to a motor and a 15 lb package. Nothing more satisfying than good customer service! I highly recommend them!
ive got the eq5 tracks perfectly for a beginner without any upgrades im happy with it and great to see another video from you i do like them keep posting more
cool. and thx bud
This video contains the single most important information so far in my entire two year AP career.
I watched this video when it first came out… I enjoyed it and thought I had really learned something. Fast forward to yesterday and while watching again I was amazed at how much more I got out of it.
Hands down on the my best mount learning moments. I will be ordering my Skywatcher Heq5 now!
Thank you for everything and power to the biscuit!
It's 400EUR more expensive than eqm35 though - what do you get in return?
Because of this video I sent my mount to Darkframe optics! I am looking forward to getting it back soon!!!
Did you ever get it back? My experience with Darkframe has been awful, late delivery, poor assembly, missing parts (that I am still waiting for 6 months later)
Fun and very informative video, thanks! :D
Oh yes! -> Finally a new Video!
Just got back from dropping off my mount with David (we're not worthy............we're not worthy) the OBI KENOBE ACE JEDI of astronomy mounts his force is STRONG! Had a lovely chat with loads of tips to get me set up in a dark place......ooo er missus....watch my dark place.....Many thanks to him for sorting my loose bits...😀
Perfect timing thank you
Ioptron mounts are wonderful and having an eight line display when your out travelling is fantastic
Extremely enjoyable as per usual 🙌
Perfect timing as I am talking myself in to buying an HEQ5.
Also, I wasn't aware of Dark Frame optics, so thanks for helping me spend yet more money 😂😂
Did you buy one? I have the same dilemma now😁.
@@evildiesel1709 I didn't in the end. I've decided to keep my kit portable enough to hike with and am shifting more to landscape astrophotography 🙂
I'm probably heading that way myself. Had myself convinced I needed a HEQ5
New merch for Christmas. 🤶🎅🎄 Proper TH-camr now mate 👍👍
I bet Rory is preparing for the Saturn and Jupiter day! Hope the weather clears in Britain! We’ve had few amazing nights here around S. France. Man...a week without a video and is like i miss something😜
Keep up the videos man, I love the diversity and the schmorgusborge of content.
Two videos in a week love it
Im about to get my first GO-TO mount tomorrow, a EQ5 Pro. pleased to see it mentioned on here and for some notes I can get get it better! Thanks so much for this video. I have been enjoying all your videos, I wish there is more! This mount im getting is basically going to replace my EQ2 mount which the RA gear stripped :(
Hello how much did it cost and was it good
This was actually a rather good video. Bravo!
This video is fantastic. And very helpful. And effing hilarious.
Back in action 🙌🤘
THANK YOU for a proper rundown of all the important points. You lined out in 8 minutes what I've been trying to grapple with for months.
Question though: Trying to decide on what level I want to come in at, the Sky Watchers I'm seeing here in the states are the EQM-35 for $725 and the HEQ5 for $1,150, that's quite a gap in price from the EQ3 and EQ5 mentioned here. Is there a significant difference?
I'm in the states and First Light Optics is where I was able to source the rowan belt mod for my Orion Sirius(HEQ-5) mount. No issues at all and have ordered several products from them since. They are outside of the US, but don't seem to have a problem shipping to us over here.
Its a magical modification, BTW. Everyone who has an heq5 needs to do it immediately. It's the best $100 you'll ever spend for your rig.
Never really been a geek/nerd but thanks to your videos I'm fast becoming one so thank you 😂 always had a fascination with the sky and I've always wanted a telescope but it's always looked a bit complicated and expensive but you make it look so easy and fun so thank you again for the inspiration... I will definitely be sky watching with a telescope and camera soon
Just start out with an 8 or 10 inch dobsonian. Leave some of your powder dry for quality eyepieces. You don't want t learn to drive in a hot rod.
@@SmeeUncleJoe learning to drive in a hot rod good way of putting it and i suppose thats the thing nowadays people want it right here right now instead of learning the basics, thanks for the reply and tips 👍
I had heq5 tuned up by DarkFrame. Gone for StellarDrive 5.
The difference before and after was massive. Simply we talking about two completely different pieces of kit. Currently I have eq6 r pro and idea of having it tuned up is very tempting.
it would be quite something.... you'd need a really lon fl scope to test it
Best Astro channel on TH-cam
I love the music in your videos. It's cool to see the man behind the madness. The music is perfect because it captures the unhinged astro obsessed personally that I think you try to portray in your videos. I feel like I'm in the head of a mad genius as I watch and listen.
Thanks - much appreciated!
Beethoven was pretty much a mad genius, yep.
Awesome another video!
Just in time for my college final project :) thank you
Nice vid thank you sooo much
Awesome, I never knew this information, ok now is next.
Nice video astrobiscuit :) you have inspire me into astronomy
Quick question, have you ever tried looking for meteorites?
Dave Hypertuned my brand new HEQ5 Pro mount as it was terrible out of the box. When I got it back I couldn't believe what he'd achieved with it.
Now it tracks all night at between point 2 to point 6 of one arc second. He is a genius.
that is better than mine🤣
@@Astrobiscuit Yours is older, and may need a service... 😉
Dave fixed up an old eq6 (black version, remember them?!) and its running 0.6/0.8 arc seconds still after about 3 years. He’s a great guy. He also put the rail kit on which is definitely the most affordable of the ways to solve the horrendous altitude bolt issues on the mount. Would highly recommend. Also, his shed really is awesome :)
he's rebuilt the exterior of his shed. I expect he was a bit gutted I filmed the old one. 🤣thx
@@Astrobiscuit I'm glad I'm not the only one who couldn't find his house though, that first bit made me laugh!
Dave "Two sheds" Woods. I love that he compared Ioptrons "with the upper echelon". I was beginning to think this was a Skywatchers are good when they are fixed video. Had one, hated it. Have an Ioptron, love it. Cool video, watching from the states.
I like the "Orange" Pink Bunny better !!! Good episode amigo... Salute !!!
The return of the king
I’m in the states and recently got a cem70. Now I love it. Tracks beautifully. But out of curiosity, what would that cost to have tuned up? It’s very new, so I couldn’t find anything on their site
you need to check out some of the comments on SGL about his customer service.
Between looking at comments at SGL and hearing "observatory" and "CGX" mentioned in the same conversation is all I had to read/hear to form an opinion.
I Finally Decided To Go With The Eqm35Pro For My 6se,and The Evoguide 50ed,So I Can Use It for Stand Alone Wide Field Imagining🙏🏻❤️🇺🇸🔭🌏...Be Safe,God Bless,and Clear Skies
After watching this video I have purchased an Eq6-R Pro. I was going to originally buy a Celestron CGX Mount but it will be out of stock for quite some time. I will be pairing the Eq6-R Pro with an Orion Astrograph 10. I hope this mount will be able to handle the large scope without problems.
I got to know about Dave's company through this video and have just ordered a "Stellardrive 5 ULTRA" from him which is a brand new, reworked HEQ5 with all his tuning and a Rowan Belt Mod included as standard. Can't wait to start playing with it!! I did mention this channel so there might be some commission coming your way!!
EDIT - I finally got my mount from Dave - it has been an absolutely horrible and frustrating experience with late delivery, faulty assembly, horrible, horrible customer service where he completely refuses to answer.
Best advice is walk the other way, do NOT do business with this guy - he talks big but does not deliver on his promises.
I really like the bunny rig sweatshirt!
Great info 👌
This man deserves way more subs
Astrobiscuit better have clean skies over London!!! 😎😎👍🏻
Brilliant Rory.
Young man you tickle me. Will watch them all, like little movies. Happy Thanksgiving
Brilliant!
Love your honest and enthusiastic channel. Does this guy sell tune up kits/guides for people in the US who aren’t going to be shipping mounts overseas???
Seriously the best vid on mounts as it removes all the BS. Great incentive to tune my EQ5 rather than buy a new one.
I'm glad, people like Dave Woods are out there. I had thoughts about mounts, if they're serviced and looked after right, they will last forever. But Dave takes it further, with better bearings, lubrications and belt upgrades for finer and smoother tuned tracking.
Dave Woods is not a good person to deal with. Hell take your money then make a million excuses why your parts are delayed. Avoid doing any business with him.
@@poruatokin I'm in the same boat. I ordered an HEQ5 Rail system that never got shipped. Have you had any luck getting your money back, chargeback?
@@marbasfpv4639 No, he is a charlatan who talks a lot and never delivers.
I managed to fix his shoddy workmanship on the mount I bought and have moved on.
I just made sure other people got to know about him by posting my experience on Cloudy Nights (member name archiebald in the mounts section) plus on Google Reviews.
Another member on CN waited 14 months and had to finally pay a lawyer before he could get his $6,000 mount returned.
Thanks for this video. I contacted Dave overnight and am shipping my CGEM II from Dubai to him. We have high nighttime temps and high humidity so best to get him setting it up for extremes.
It’s barely capable of tracking for 30s guided as it is and the RA axis is sticky with an 8”HD on top.
Did you ever get it back?
Fantastic video idea. Nice surprise to log in and see your post. I want the shirt. Clear skies.
hey man, 😊hope your good
So wonderful to meet a genuine EXPERT in his chosen field! ❤️
I have great respect for anyone that can FOCUS on just one bit of "kit" or piece of Technology, and become THE EXPERT on it!
Thank You for introducing us to this very interesting person !!!
A genuine "Treat"!
And I'm no geek! But just a sort of "Teckie" when it come to all sorts of "Science and Technology"!
(Please! I spent a lifetime selling all sorts of products directly to "Consumers"! And "we" Professionals NEVER use the work "Cheaper"!!!
Train yourself to say; "Less EXSPENSIVE !"
Or "It cost a bit LESS ". )
Yes Dave 👍💯
An eternal topic for astrophotography)) I live in Odessa from Ukraine, so I apologize for my English. I am your subscriber and you have a very cool channel. I also have my own channel and I am also passionate about astrophotography. This summer I finished modifying my astro tracker SW Adventurer, I managed to do a belt drive on my tracker. Now the periodic error at a load of 3.8 kg ( Canon 550D cooling DIY, ZM-6A 500 mm guiding Datyson T7M & 135 mm) is about 0.78 - 0.92" So the tracker has potential under the condition of the application of the hands and head.
Very interesting @Astrobiscuit ... been tempted myself. Dave is a top bloke, he helped me by email on my old AVX (at no cost !) My only worry is the courier company both ways :-(
Love your content. Have a random comment to keep the algorithm interested.
NEW VIDEEOOOO. im getting the eq6r pro (:
I image with a eq3 pro mount and so far I'm satisfied!
You need to do a follow up, so we can see what is done in the process of tuning a mount, be interesting to see / hear what the secret is :)
Dang, I wish we had a guy like David in the States
I just got my first ever mount an Eqm 35 pro and i see it is on your website list! Well pleased haha. Plus, if i get Dave to have a fiddle could be even better! 👍👍
yes it would. he says there is not much fiddling to do with this mount from home. the grease should already be ok
@@Astrobiscuit Excellent! i will get in contact. Big fan of yours keep up the good work! two videos so quickly is a treat. All the best! :)
Woooooooooo, 2 vids in 1 week
I was like hell yea more astro biscuit this week!!! Great info I would love to send it out to him but he needs to expand so we wont have to wait a year to get it back. I'm still waiting to get my telescope mount
I got the perfect scope with no mount for it. Just a star tracker for my camera
And Orion is back so I'm going to get some data here soon.
Yeah New Upload!!!!!
Just spent an hour on the phone with David - really grateful for all his help and just a genuinely good chat about all things astro. Thanks David 😊
He's great at talking, not so great at actually delivering.
Hi there biscuit, really interesting video. Also do you know if you can get a belt mod for the eqm35pro ?. 👍
I'm going broke just watching this, but so happy to be doing so!
I had a AZ-EQ6 Pro tuned by Dark Frame. (Stellar drive) It did take a while to come back and unfortunately it sounded like a bag of spanner’s was in the mount whilst slewing. Sent it back to Dark Frame and another 2 months later it came back fixed. Overall the mount got tuned to what was offered, but took a total of 5 months to get it sorted, of which I was without any mount for 99% of that time. That shouldn’t put people off, the suspicion from Dave was that the courier dropped it the first time. I’ll never know. Dave certainly knows his stuff
hey fella thx for that. It must have been most frustrating.
Hi. First of all great videos. I've seen almost all of them in under a week. Keep up the great work.
Quick question though. I own a Canon6D II and a Canon T5i. Also I have a Canon 70-200 lens and a 2x converter.
On the 6d that means 400mm focal length. On the T5i that means 640mm.
However, I get stuck with f.8 on the 6D and f.13 on the t5i (crop factor).
Now, the 6D II can handle high ISOs. On the T5i anything above ISO 800 becomes unusable (and 800 is already a strech).
I figure that if my milky way shots with the 6D II and a 20mm f1.8 are taken without a star tracker with a 20s exposure, that means:
Canon 6D II 400mm f.8 3200ISO: 60seconds exposure time.
Canon t5i 640mm f.13 800ISO: 130seconds.
My question is:
Are those entry level star trackers (like the move shot move or the sky watcher SAM mini) good enough to support a canon 6dii or a t5i with a 70-200mm L lens and a ball head and a 2x teleconverter for 60 or 130s?
Or which budget trackers should I aim for?
BTW: the purpose here is to try and shoot DSOs and not the milky way 😁
Thanks a lot and again... great work man.
Mug and tunes ordered... Mr Rik is a lovely chap
thx sir much appreciated
@@Astrobiscuit And if you need some IT equipment I work here and I got our marketing team to do this for me : O ) www.broadbandbuyer.com/features/4018-get-your-astral-fix-with-a-wifi-telescope-camera-and-ubiquiti/
Yay a new video
I'll say - Sky-Watcher EQ6R-Pro, EQM 35 Pro and Orion Atlas II, Orion Sirius Pro for best price and reliability.
Good to know, I started out with a Star Adventurer but can quickly see I need more stability so looking at the EQM-35. I think even if I go larger I'll want the portable rig for wide field DSLR shots. I was a little bummed though that these bigger ones still depend on the flimsy little illuminator. Seems like they could just build a dimmable red led into the mount. Oh well, still researching.
Got my mount with Dave at the moment :D
Did you ever get it back?
Such a great channel, coming from an amateur, clear skies .
The eq6-r pro really works very well out of box. Even as a beginner I was able to get 10 min subs without any problems, even tho I totally forgot to balance dec :D. Fixed it by now, but it's a really good mount
Hi, bud. New to your channel, ans new to astronomy. Great work. Anyway, is it possible to get a mount for a Dobsonian Apatura AD12? I would like to get something that would allow live tracking for it. The EQ8 Pro seems plausible. Maybe a video on how to achieve this?
Hello biscuit eaters :-) I would like to send greetings from Munich / Germany. I know some politicians could try to set a wedge between the UK and Germany, but when it comes to such a beautiful hobby, all people, no matter where they come from or what they look like, should stick together. Great video, go ahead - three thumbs up!
here here steffen, thx for watching😁👍
Damn I was looking at booking a tune last night. He’s gonna busy after this
I need an advice about mounts: I have an offer of cg5 with synscan and a bit newer eq5 with on step. Both are used, cg5 might seen some good skyes out of town. Prices are for $530 for eq5 and $620 for cg5. I have 5" refractor and 6" newton. What mount should I choose?
I have a HEQ5 Pro with the Rowan Belt mod that I've just bought second hand, and the mount seems a bit 'sticky' when rotating it to try and find accurate balance. Would getting some decent grease on it help with that? How hard is it to do? I'd really like the EQ6R Pro in the future. Looks like a fantastic mount!
Definitely help…it’s easy
Hi from México, I like so much your channel!!
I don't remember if Dave comment some of little more voltage fot the mount. 1 or 2 more volts? Thank You!!
I would say, the best budget mount for beginners is the Az-gti. very mobile and cheap. mine can handle a TS72ED with a guidingscope easily with the right counterweight.
I am using it with a raspberry pi (Astroberry installed). it just needs a smartphone to control it.