Guys - I know the picture isn't anything special, but it represents a small triumph over adversity. Please follow my journey with this beast over the next few months!
Great video and good start with the SCT Trevor. Don't be afraid to lower those exposure times and increase the gain. You can then stack the "lucky frames" as there are many unlucky ones at 2000mm.
I've taken the plunge! Bought a new Celestron Advanced VX mount and found a used but in very good condition William Optics GT102. That is if it ever gets here. The USPS is really having a hard time. My GT102 will be a week late tomorrow. I'm going to get the Canon EOS Ra as well but I don't want it shipped. I found one but it's a 50 mile drive. But if it's still available on Friday, I'm going to pick it up. Then I got a ZWO 120MM Mini to go with a WO 50MM Uniguide scope. Last I want to get an ASIair Pro so I can do it all wireless. I can't wait to get it all together as I have some nice dark sky locations. I remember walking out of the tent around 2AM up in the Colorado Mountains close to the Wyoming border. I swear I thought I was on another planet. I don't think I've seen the Milky Way since I was 6 and I'm 67 now. So I want to go up there for a week and go crazy. Fly long range FPV during the morning. Nap in the afternoon and up all night. Yahoo.. ;o)
Trevor, I can't begin to tell you how much I enjoy the channel, not only do you share your talents and expertise but you also let us know you are "human" in the AP world by showing us your struggles. You have reignited my love for astronomy and even motivated me to get back out with my little 90mm mak. Thank you and keep the videos coming!
My wife and kids got me a 10" dob and a Sky Guider Pro for my ancient Nikon D90 DSLR to get started in both hobbies. I haven't had a telescope since my childhood days with a cheapo refractor. We took the dob out to the back yard last week during a rare clear night in May in NW Ohio, and got to see M13, it blew us away, even with the poor seeing conditions. I found your channel when I was researching for cameras and lenses for future purchases, and I'm so glad I did. While you gloss over some of the harder parts of the hobby in a lot of your videos, you have so much encouragement and enthusiasm. Keep on keepin' on, and I'll keep watching!
Wonderful episode. My 30 year old daughter and I have been observing together using a 8”SCT. We’re just beginning to think about taking astro pictures. Your channel and website are an inspiration. Thank you for all your hard work and patient explanations. Best wishes from 50 degrees 30’, 000 degrees 41’.
Trevor - I've been watching and enjoying your channel for several months now, but just found this video this morning. Thank you for your comments about the challenges of new equipment! My husband "upgraded" my AP setup for Christmas - moving me from a DSLR on a Skywatcher star adventurer, that I had mastered over the last ~year for Milky Way shots to a telescope, equatorial mount, guidescope, etc. I feel like I'm standing across the street staring up at a cliff of a learning curve! So, really appreciated hearing that I'm not the only one!
I have a Celestron 8” Edge HD. Didn’t realise the star sense needed updating, no wonder it likes to look at its own feet. Thanks for on going encouragement for us newbies, some of us do listen.
You always remember me of the times I started. It was hard. It was frustrating. But it was worth every second I dedicated to this hobby... Thank you Trevor! :)
As always sir, thank you for sharing the challenges. You and Dylan have been my rocks as I learn this hobby. Never have I been challenged more or more rewarded.
Chin up Trevor! Adapting to new equipment is a challenge for all of us. Recently roswell astronomy has been dealing with issues that come with the big huge scope has been using so you're not alone. For me, just last week I had the inside of my field flattener fog up, first time ever and I couldn't figure out what was wrong until I realised in the morning. Lost many hours because of it. 2000mm is serious focal length and demands perfection, I don't think anyone coud get that beast working properly out of the gate. Who cares what the resulting image looks like, as long as you're happy with it!
As always, Trevor, thanks for your honesty! We all know the feeling of whole nights wasted struggling with new gear or some silly tech issue. But absolutely the elation of the good nights and a job well done with a finished image, keeps us coming back. Love your work, keep it up!
I feel your pain. You do make it look easy. Have several scopes I put on my CEM60 for different purposes and it really is like starting from scratch to get back focus find all the quirks of the new system. Going from my RASA 8" to my W/O FLT132 is challenging. I had to come up with a wiring scheme that works for those plus my old dr-forked Meade 10" LX200 OTA. Anyway, kudos for all you do for us out here. You are an inspiration, along with Dillan and Chuck and Stace... Keep it up!
I have been having trouble getting my mount ready for auto guiding but this video has reminded me to push on and keep trying because once you get it to work, the results feel so much better... You have helped me advance a lot in this hobby and I just want to say, Thank You so much Trevor for what you're doing.
Inspired by your videos, I bought my first telescope/DSLR/accessories for imaging two weeks ago and M13 was my first target. Despite slight star trails and astigmatism (didn’t adjust the field flattener correctly!) I was still so amazed at what I saw. Every clear night since that first night I’ve been adjusting to fix these issues and it is so rewarding. Thanks for opening me and countless others up to an amazing hobby - hopefully one day in the (distant) future my image of M13 looks as good as yours!
For starters, I still enjoy watching your videos. With that being said, I feel like you have gotten away from your roots. I understand that everyone grows with whatever hobby they do, but your channel started out showing the average backyard amateur astronomer what is within their grasps. Your videos now are mainly showing equipment, and gear that will never be obtainable by many that are not only starting out, but have been in it for a while. Congrats on the new Canon Ra, but also remember that many of us don't even have $2.5K in our whole imaging rig. All I'm saying is, continue making good videos, but also don't forget your roots that got you to where you are today, and that is inspiring new amateur AP people what is possible, and not just showing off $8K rigs that many of us will never obtain. Thanks for what you do, and continue the awesome work.
@@myfishingadventures1509 i have to do wide angle stuff because the one usable telescope with less color fringing is a 99 dollar reflector with no way to mount it to a good mount.
Loved the video. Appreciate the agony and frustration of increased focal length. Then you release yourself from the guidescope and go OAG. Then the agony logarithmically expands. Keep up the great work. I always think of all the other fellow backyarders are out there cussing with their rigs at the exact same moment in time and that always helps.
The single best purchase I've made other than the telescope (Celestron 9.25 SCT) and CGEM mount, is StarSense. I was becoming so frustrated with alignment due to all the light pollution in LA. But, StarSense to the rescue. So good.
I've got the C14 EdgeHD with the 0.7x FR. The FR doesn't increase the focal length, it increases the field of view which is the opposite of increasing the focal length. And I gave up my StarSense when I realized that I could do a three star alignment manually much faster.
Trevor, I tried the Starsense two times on my Rasa 11. Finally gave up and through it back into my junk closet. Think I will try it once more "your way" with an upgrade. Thanks again for all you do. Steve Perry
So glad you finally got the CGXL sorted! And you are so very right! We do tend to remember the long nights chasing problems rather than the ‘point and shoot’ nights where everything just works.
You opened the (good) book (I have it) and it said "buy the Ra", on the next page it said "your future proofed" and at the end of the chapter "what to buy next". One of your best educational videos - really looking forward to the next 1100 one... StarSense Firmware - not uncommon for the firmware to be very out of date (made in a batch ages ago).
The sound of her voice when she said "yeah..yeah" about the new camera is a classic (and questionable) Wife response. Been there done that, good luck. ;)
I hear ya on the difficulties of new equipment. Literally not one piece of my system worked when I it all together and tried to use it. Its been three months of trouble shooting, replacing equipment, loading firmware updates, replacing cables, and trying different software until I pulled iut whats left of ny hair. Tonight I'm going to give it a try and hopefully that last tunbler will drop into place and everything will work. Fingers crossed!
Omer Ahmed In an equal relationship there are shared and own expenses. I think this the latter, but nevertheless people are usually interested in what their partners are up to.
Always wanted a Celestron auto align, then I started plate solving. Pretty much the free version of that. I know you've talked about it before but it's so easy to use and so much more accurate you really just have to try it sometime, I think APT has something built in but NINA is very user friendly and quick to setup.
Agreed, starsense is just great for visual observing. Place your sct anywhere on an alt/az mount, let starsense do its thing and watch. No laptop nothing. But for AP it is kind of useless. Btw. No chance of getting decent guiding with that tiny guidescope on a 11" sct, oag or a really big guidescope is a must with these monsters.
This is amazing. Welcome to the SCT world Trevor :) As a beginner to the AP, thanks to you, Dylan, Chuck and Tim, just convinced that I shouldn’t have started with a long focal length (have an f/10, working on f/6.3 with a reducer).. but as you said, craving the challenge, what a weird hobby we have chosen! Top quality video just like as always!
Just trying to learn here something. At 10:50 the Hercules Cluster looks out of focus. Now, I am just a beginner in astronomy and astro-photography, so please forgive me if I say something stupid here. What may be the cause of the distortion in the depiction of the single stars in the picture? I know (or at least used to know) about optical physics (diffraction limitation, Airy disk, I even applied Zernike polynomials a long time ago during my first job at a research facility), so, what is causing these aberrations here? I am not trying to be "smart" here, I just try to understand what I am seeing and what is affecting pictures like these.
Hello Trevor: Do you have any video using the Starizona Hyperstar with that SC OTA? According to Starizona, the f ratio can be reduce to f/2.0 or 1.8. Please leg me know.
OMG, the orange hand controller holder, mounted on the tripod leg, that you see briefly at 1:33, what is that and where is it possible to buy one? I NEED that in my life!! Thank you and thanks for making great videos!
Great to hear you are getting the EOS Ra. I got mine for Christmas. I have the 60Da also. The Ra has great low noise. I am so excited to use it this spring and summer after they open the parks in Washington state.
Hi Trevor, I have the Celestron C8 XLT, ASI294MC Pro and use at f/10 (2032mm Fl) despite a pixel scale of just 0.47. How do you manage to guide accurately on such a small guide scope for a 10 min exp. Yours looks like a 50mm f3.8 say a focal length of 190mm. Currently I am using a Celestron OAG with asi290mm mini but struggling to find guide stars of sufficient magnitude to track on a lot of targets like the IC424 & horsehead and getting many failed lights. I'm thinking of getting a SVBONY 60mm f4 guide scope (240mm Focal length)...your thoughts.
Nice work. I am a beginner and in addition to learning to use the scope and learning to use the camera and learning to use the processing software, I have had to learn a bit of engineering since things break, fall part go out of alignment and I often forget to remove the dust cap when I have finished taking darks. Fun, just the same.
Sometimes, like with this vid, I wish I could leave double thumbs-up! Even though I'm way behind you Trevor, you give me lots of encouragement to hang in there, and as always, lots of great tips. Thanks!!
Hi I'm wondering what software packages/ programs are you using with this configuration? I just purchased a cgem 2 mount, edge hd 925, 0.7 reducer, star sense auto align and plan on using modified canon 60 and am so lost.
Thanks so much for the encouragement as I'm looking into astrophotography for the first time with my original LX90-8INCH scope. Yep the one when they first came out. I love your channel and found you by watching Dylan . Thanks for your honesty as well. Keep up the great videos and happy star hunting 🌙📷🌠⭐
Hi Trevor, Enjoy your video's. Is that guide scope mounted where the finder scope use to be? Which guide scope and camera is that? I have a SCT 8 with AVX mount so I have to be concerned about adding too much weight. That guide scope doesn't look as big. Thanks.
Cannon Ra for astro photography. I see that it is designed for that but I have seen info about sensors getting hot on other cameras and many asto camers have fans for that. I can't see that the Ra has a fan. Does this matter much? You have my interest in the Redcat 51. What would you recommend for a camera to go with it. Portability and simplicity is more important to me than heavy, large and/or complicated at this point in my life! I am a Cannon user (70D and 80D) However, Decisions decisions! :-). Thanks
Getting a huge scope with a long focal length to track well isn’t trivial. I have been working up from my C8 to my C11 with auto guiding. I have the C8 working more than half the time. We will see how well things go with my C11 tomorrow night. I am looking forward to seeing what Trevor can get with his C11. M13 looks fine, by the way!
I use the 0.7 focal reducer on my c14 at 2737mm and it is difficult to find small objects and get good long exposure photography. Once in a while when everything is clicking it does a good job.
Hi Trevor, nice video as usual - difficult to tell from video but the camera appears to be too far from reducer ? want's to be around 146 mm from reducer lens.
Maybe I missed it, but does this mount perform the polar alignment electronically? I have terribly unsteady hands so doing polar alignment by hand on my ioptron skyguider is such a frustrating experience for me, and I'd very much like to get a mount that could do this electronically.
Love, love, love this channel! My very first tracking/go to mount arrived today (Orion Sirius EQ-G) and ive been practicing with just a canon rebel on a tripod for the past 3 weeks. I cant wait for my first clear night with the new mount! Thanks for getting me into a new hobby! Clear skies!
I had my first night with the 9.25” with single fork mount. Using the star sense almost made me want to pack everything up and just enjoy your videos & photos. Seeing this I’m going to give it another shot with firmware updates - thanks for doing these videos!!!🙏🙏🙏
QUICK QUESTION: Trevor, with the 0.7mm reducer, you made a statement in the video something to the effect of "...who needs more than 2000mm...". So, I am in the process of selecting the size of Edge HD for an astro rig, and am REALLY thinking of going with either the 8" (2032mm focal length, f/10 focal ratio) or the 9.25" (2350mm focal length, f/10 focal ratio) for this very reason. I really would like to have f/7 to shoot DSO's, so I would probably go ahead with a 0.7mm focal reducer anyway. That would put me at 1400mm focal length on the 8" or 1645mm focal length on the 8". Do you think it would be worth the extra $'s to go with the 9.25" in order to gain 245mm of focal length or would the 8" provide the same high-level results? I will be using a CGEM II mount FWIW. Thank you very much for your videos! I believe that you are helping the AP community more than you might realize.
Very nice photo... Im waiting for my Celestron 9.25 Edge and can't wait to feel the frustration...lol... thank-you for all the work you do. Makes learning easier.
Great video Trevor. I have the Celestron 14” Edge HD. I still do a three star alignment using the stock 50mm guide scope. I’m a planetary imager but want to try some DSOs. I need to start auto guiding. I saw that you plugged your guide scope directly into the auto guide port. Do you need software to control the guiding?
Nice video. I'm probably being a bit thick here but I genuinely would like to know, why spend that much on the Ra instead of buying a cooled dedicated astronomy camera? Is it because the DSLRs are more versatile and easier to get going with (no need for laptop etc.) and also that they can be used with Camera lenses more easily?
Hey Trevor! Just checking in to say hi! Yes beginning astrophotography was a sh*t show lol but those little victories really got me on my feet! I messaged you last year telling you how you inspired me to buy my first legitimate telescope. It was the 8" orion skyview pro reflector. Which now I also understand why you push beginners to refractors haha. But after about a year of star hopping and pushing the scope around, I finally pulled the trigger in February and got everything I needed to start imaging. Since then I have about 18 different objects imaged! Ty for the continued help and cheers to your continued success!
I'm starting astrophotography with just a DSLR and a zoom lens I use for wildlife. And a skywatcher GTI mount. With a unmodified DSLR globular clusters are approximately the only things I can shoot. Not really impressive targets but still fascinating and rewarding for me!
Hey Trevor, I'm curious why you don't use Celestron CPWI? It works great for setup with the StarSense plus you don't even have to bother plugging in the handcontroller.
I don't know about Trevor. For me, I am having CPWI driver crashes and disconnects with my AVX mount. It is so bad that it happens about every few minutes, can't use it for photography. I don't have any issues with the hand controller.
@@callsignjdam2525 Sorry to hear about that Callsign. Have you updated the firmware on the mount and made sure you are trying the most up to date version of CPWI? I have the CGX, I know Trevor has the CGX-L, and can tell you that CPWI is rock solid on my rig. I've even went out a few times and left the hand controller at home, that's how stable it is for me.
@@callsignjdam2525 It is a known problem. Two years since it's release and we are still waiting for usable version. The good news is the latest Betas are stable but with a few UI quirks. I think a full release would have dropped by now except for the virus thing.
Highly recommend an autofocuser for this size setup. The inline Moonlite CHL works great with my C925 Edge. The Celestron knob-turning focuser is not nearly as smooth. You will see focus drift hour to hour with the temperature changes. Good luck!
I’m expecting a full spectrum modified Panasonic G7 tomorrow. This will be my first full spectrum camera, and it has a built-in intervalometer where my current Sony NEX does not.
I have been really enjoying the presentation of your knowledge in astrophotography. Thanks for taking the time to share you knowledge in an easy to follow format.
do you think that building a folded focal length 70mm scope worth the effort, reason I ask is I bought a achromat set thats a 74mm x 3000mm. what do you think I could see with that long of a focal length?
Thanks for advice on updating. I will give that a try. If I use the star sense and put on the camera, is that all I need for > 3 second exposures or is there some kind of feedback loop with tour laptop to avoid star trails?
What kind of saddle bracket are you using for your guidescope? I have a vixen dovetail guidescope I want to mount to my Celestron Edge HD 9.25, but I can't find anything on the Celestron site for doing that.
I did M13 the last night though patches of clouds. I had a bright smile on my face as you told about the things that can go wrong in astrophotography. It reminded me on a bunch of nights, I spent 1-2 hours in the middle of the night to get the sequence running again and had to get up the next morning to go to work. As you said, what a whired hobby did we choos?!😄 CS Christian
Thank you my friend for making my motivation go through the roof. I genuinely enjoy your videos. I love the skies but don't know much about photography. I saw you challenge message at the end. Challenge excepted.
Whadoya' know, I'm out shooting M13 last night and then wake up this morning and find this! Then again, I guess with this full supermoon there aren't many other options.
Wife's "Yeah, yeah" is so typical of my wife's comments about my hobbies and purchases (even with trade-ins) -- great buys and justifications. She also laments, "Boys and toys..." from somewhere Canada to Somewhere Arkansas -- must be female DNA.
No matter what my husband is excited about and passionate about so am I so if he wants to buy something I tell him go for it babe !!!! All wives and husbands needs to be more supportive of each other’s passions. it hurts my heart to see people just give up things they’re so passionate about bc of their partner not being understanding but when it’s something they want they expect to be understood
My wife says the same - she says if I'm going to spend lots of time with new gear, it had better be really nice! She always says get the best. She helped me get a C14EdgeHD some years ago - now I do trade some clear nights for date night, fair's fair :-).
Guys - I know the picture isn't anything special, but it represents a small triumph over adversity. Please follow my journey with this beast over the next few months!
Will a 120mm refractor be good for astrophotography
Definitely! Awesome that you were able to get the rough target!
Great video and good start with the SCT Trevor. Don't be afraid to lower those exposure times and increase the gain. You can then stack the "lucky frames" as there are many unlucky ones at 2000mm.
I've taken the plunge! Bought a new Celestron Advanced VX mount and found a used but in very good condition William Optics GT102. That is if it ever gets here. The USPS is really having a hard time. My GT102 will be a week late tomorrow. I'm going to get the Canon EOS Ra as well but I don't want it shipped. I found one but it's a 50 mile drive. But if it's still available on Friday, I'm going to pick it up. Then I got a ZWO 120MM Mini to go with a WO 50MM Uniguide scope. Last I want to get an ASIair Pro so I can do it all wireless. I can't wait to get it all together as I have some nice dark sky locations. I remember walking out of the tent around 2AM up in the Colorado Mountains close to the Wyoming border.
I swear I thought I was on another planet. I don't think I've seen the Milky Way since I was 6 and I'm 67 now. So I want to go up there for a week and go crazy. Fly long range FPV during the morning. Nap in the afternoon and up all night. Yahoo.. ;o)
Importantly is having fun and joy! cheer !
Trevor, I can't begin to tell you how much I enjoy the channel, not only do you share your talents and expertise but you also let us know you are "human" in the AP world by showing us your struggles. You have reignited my love for astronomy and even motivated me to get back out with my little 90mm mak. Thank you and keep the videos coming!
My wife and kids got me a 10" dob and a Sky Guider Pro for my ancient Nikon D90 DSLR to get started in both hobbies. I haven't had a telescope since my childhood days with a cheapo refractor. We took the dob out to the back yard last week during a rare clear night in May in NW Ohio, and got to see M13, it blew us away, even with the poor seeing conditions. I found your channel when I was researching for cameras and lenses for future purchases, and I'm so glad I did. While you gloss over some of the harder parts of the hobby in a lot of your videos, you have so much encouragement and enthusiasm. Keep on keepin' on, and I'll keep watching!
Why did he sound like every man justifying an expensive purchase.
“We’ll get so much use out of it”
'Cause that's men do when they feel guilty!
He's married :)
@@Mike-1000 to another photographer
His wife sounds like mine. Supportive but only because she has too.
At least he didn't use the old "look at the present I got for you, Ashley" 😉
Ahhh yes the old “convince my wife how much value this piece of kit will bring us” routine. Been there many many times my brother
Wonderful episode. My 30 year old daughter and I have been observing together using a 8”SCT. We’re just beginning to think about taking astro pictures. Your channel and website are an inspiration. Thank you for all your hard work and patient explanations. Best wishes from 50 degrees 30’, 000 degrees 41’.
Trevor - I've been watching and enjoying your channel for several months now, but just found this video this morning. Thank you for your comments about the challenges of new equipment! My husband "upgraded" my AP setup for Christmas - moving me from a DSLR on a Skywatcher star adventurer, that I had mastered over the last ~year for Milky Way shots to a telescope, equatorial mount, guidescope, etc. I feel like I'm standing across the street staring up at a cliff of a learning curve! So, really appreciated hearing that I'm not the only one!
I have a Celestron 8” Edge HD. Didn’t realise the star sense needed updating, no wonder it likes to look at its own feet. Thanks for on going encouragement for us newbies, some of us do listen.
You always remember me of the times I started. It was hard. It was frustrating. But it was worth every second I dedicated to this hobby...
Thank you Trevor! :)
I was able to see it through the Mount Wilson 60 inch telescope.
People throw the word epic around these days, but that must truly have been!!
@@AstroBackyard It 24,000mm focal length and it is big enough to see the color in hundreds of stars.
It’s still open?
I was lucky to see it through 2 meter Zeiss-2000 telescope at focal length of 27,500mm
Love that place.
As always sir, thank you for sharing the challenges. You and Dylan have been my rocks as I learn this hobby. Never have I been challenged more or more rewarded.
Chin up Trevor! Adapting to new equipment is a challenge for all of us. Recently roswell astronomy has been dealing with issues that come with the big huge scope has been using so you're not alone. For me, just last week I had the inside of my field flattener fog up, first time ever and I couldn't figure out what was wrong until I realised in the morning. Lost many hours because of it.
2000mm is serious focal length and demands perfection, I don't think anyone coud get that beast working properly out of the gate. Who cares what the resulting image looks like, as long as you're happy with it!
This guy really knows what he’s talking about. His videos are so great. Thank you.
As always, Trevor, thanks for your honesty! We all know the feeling of whole nights wasted struggling with new gear or some silly tech issue. But absolutely the elation of the good nights and a job well done with a finished image, keeps us coming back. Love your work, keep it up!
Beautiful video 💖💖💖 thank you for sharing 🙏❤️ clear skies 🎁🎁🎁💞😘
I feel your pain. You do make it look easy. Have several scopes I put on my CEM60 for different purposes and it really is like starting from scratch to get back focus find all the quirks of the new system. Going from my RASA 8" to my W/O FLT132 is challenging. I had to come up with a wiring scheme that works for those plus my old dr-forked Meade 10" LX200 OTA. Anyway, kudos for all you do for us out here. You are an inspiration, along with Dillan and Chuck and Stace... Keep it up!
"because it has the RA". love it!
I'm glad for you. Enjoy your channel. I'm getting back into it after getting frustrated and stopping for a couple years. Staying with it this time!
I have been having trouble getting my mount ready for auto guiding but this video has reminded me to push on and keep trying because once you get it to work, the results feel so much better... You have helped me advance a lot in this hobby and I just want to say, Thank You so much Trevor for what you're doing.
This is world class cinematography and it makes watching your bad nights such a pleasure. This is the difference! Well done.
I’ve absolutely had that conversation with the Mrs.
Keep her, she’s a good egg!
Inspired by your videos, I bought my first telescope/DSLR/accessories for imaging two weeks ago and M13 was my first target. Despite slight star trails and astigmatism (didn’t adjust the field flattener correctly!) I was still so amazed at what I saw. Every clear night since that first night I’ve been adjusting to fix these issues and it is so rewarding. Thanks for opening me and countless others up to an amazing hobby - hopefully one day in the (distant) future my image of M13 looks as good as yours!
For starters, I still enjoy watching your videos. With that being said, I feel like you have gotten away from your roots. I understand that everyone grows with whatever hobby they do, but your channel started out showing the average backyard amateur astronomer what is within their grasps. Your videos now are mainly showing equipment, and gear that will never be obtainable by many that are not only starting out, but have been in it for a while. Congrats on the new Canon Ra, but also remember that many of us don't even have $2.5K in our whole imaging rig. All I'm saying is, continue making good videos, but also don't forget your roots that got you to where you are today, and that is inspiring new amateur AP people what is possible, and not just showing off $8K rigs that many of us will never obtain. Thanks for what you do, and continue the awesome work.
Just found your channel, and I'm digging it. Gonna capture some stars this summer!
Best of luck to you I do not think my tiny Power seeker 127eq is gonna see anything
@@myfishingadventures1509 i have to do wide angle stuff because the one usable telescope with less color fringing is a 99 dollar reflector with no way to mount it to a good mount.
Wide angle star trail and milky way stuff is real pretty though. But it does suck not having good quality big zooms.
Loved the video. Appreciate the agony and frustration of increased focal length. Then you release yourself from the guidescope and go OAG. Then the agony logarithmically expands. Keep up the great work. I always think of all the other fellow backyarders are out there cussing with their rigs at the exact same moment in time and that always helps.
The single best purchase I've made other than the telescope (Celestron 9.25 SCT) and CGEM mount, is StarSense. I was becoming so frustrated with alignment due to all the light pollution in LA. But, StarSense to the rescue. So good.
I've got the C14 EdgeHD with the 0.7x FR. The FR doesn't increase the focal length, it increases the field of view which is the opposite of increasing the focal length. And I gave up my StarSense when I realized that I could do a three star alignment manually much faster.
You should give Ashley a chance to quiz you about something on camera.
The name Astrobackyard nowadays becoming like a brand for astrophotography.
Love from India!
Thanks Trevor. Great vid as usual. I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one in North America that hasn't mowed my lawn.
Love to see someone being this passionate about something. Love to see it.
Best for you man.
Love from Amsterdam
Trevor, I tried the Starsense two times on my Rasa 11. Finally gave up and through it back into my junk closet. Think I will try it once more "your way" with an upgrade. Thanks again for all you do. Steve Perry
So glad you finally got the CGXL sorted!
And you are so very right! We do tend to remember the long nights chasing problems rather than the ‘point and shoot’ nights where everything just works.
This video made my night.
You opened the (good) book (I have it) and it said "buy the Ra", on the next page it said "your future proofed" and at the end of the chapter "what to buy next". One of your best educational videos - really looking forward to the next 1100 one... StarSense Firmware - not uncommon for the firmware to be very out of date (made in a batch ages ago).
The sound of her voice when she said "yeah..yeah" about the new camera is a classic (and questionable) Wife response. Been there done that, good luck. ;)
I hear ya on the difficulties of new equipment. Literally not one piece of my system worked when I it all together and tried to use it. Its been three months of trouble shooting, replacing equipment, loading firmware updates, replacing cables, and trying different software until I pulled iut whats left of ny hair. Tonight I'm going to give it a try and hopefully that last tunbler will drop into place and everything will work. Fingers crossed!
Wives and funding agencies are never all that interested in hardware buys.
Omer Ahmed In an equal relationship there are shared and own expenses. I think this the latter, but nevertheless people are usually interested in what their partners are up to.
That look when you try to justify a purchase of new astronomy camera 😄
"I'll use it for the next 10 years" 😄
@@AstroBackyard "That's what you said about the one you bought two months ago"
@@robsbackyardastrophotograp8885 lmao
Always wanted a Celestron auto align, then I started plate solving. Pretty much the free version of that. I know you've talked about it before but it's so easy to use and so much more accurate you really just have to try it sometime, I think APT has something built in but NINA is very user friendly and quick to setup.
I use APT's platesolving on the regular for my imaging. Works fantastic
Agreed, starsense is just great for visual observing. Place your sct anywhere on an alt/az mount, let starsense do its thing and watch. No laptop nothing. But for AP it is kind of useless.
Btw. No chance of getting decent guiding with that tiny guidescope on a 11" sct, oag or a really big guidescope is a must with these monsters.
This is amazing. Welcome to the SCT world Trevor :) As a beginner to the AP, thanks to you, Dylan, Chuck and Tim, just convinced that I shouldn’t have started with a long focal length (have an f/10, working on f/6.3 with a reducer).. but as you said, craving the challenge, what a weird hobby we have chosen!
Top quality video just like as always!
Just trying to learn here something.
At 10:50 the Hercules Cluster looks out of focus. Now, I am just a beginner in astronomy and astro-photography, so please forgive me if I say something stupid here. What may be the cause of the distortion in the depiction of the single stars in the picture? I know (or at least used to know) about optical physics (diffraction limitation, Airy disk, I even applied Zernike polynomials a long time ago during my first job at a research facility), so, what is causing these aberrations here?
I am not trying to be "smart" here, I just try to understand what I am seeing and what is affecting pictures like these.
That is crazy up close and personal pic...wow.. how amazing
Just a great video. So much love for you, Trevor. I know that look of frustration, and as you said, it’s worth it!
Glad to hear you’re learning and remembering your difficult nights, Trevorino! Hopefully, you’ll be an Edge HD11 master by Cherry Springs 2021!
Thank you Sir! Ahh yes thats the ultimate test of how comfortable you are with your gear. If its "star party ready"
Hello Trevor: Do you have any video using the Starizona Hyperstar with that SC OTA? According to Starizona, the f ratio can be reduce to f/2.0 or 1.8. Please leg me know.
OMG, the orange hand controller holder, mounted on the tripod leg, that you see briefly at 1:33, what is that and where is it possible to buy one? I NEED that in my life!! Thank you and thanks for making great videos!
Oh man, this is amazing too 👏🏻 Trevor! I liked very very very 🔥
Great to hear you are getting the EOS Ra. I got mine for Christmas. I have the 60Da also. The Ra has great low noise. I am so excited to use it this spring and summer after they open the parks in Washington state.
Hi Trevor, I have the Celestron C8 XLT, ASI294MC Pro and use at f/10 (2032mm Fl) despite a pixel scale of just 0.47. How do you manage to guide accurately on such a small guide scope for a 10 min exp. Yours looks like a 50mm f3.8 say a focal length of 190mm. Currently I am using a Celestron OAG with asi290mm mini but struggling to find guide stars of sufficient magnitude to track on a lot of targets like the IC424 & horsehead and getting many failed lights. I'm thinking of getting a SVBONY 60mm f4 guide scope (240mm Focal length)...your thoughts.
Nice work. I am a beginner and in addition to learning to use the scope and learning to use the camera and learning to use the processing software, I have had to learn a bit of engineering since things break, fall part go out of alignment and I often forget to remove the dust cap when I have finished taking darks. Fun, just the same.
Sometimes, like with this vid, I wish I could leave double thumbs-up! Even though I'm way behind you Trevor, you give me lots of encouragement to hang in there, and as always, lots of great tips. Thanks!!
Looking to purchase a Explore Scientific Essential ED80 or Celestron 8” VX. Looking to shoot DSO, would you recommend the refractor or the Celestron?
Hi I'm wondering what software packages/ programs are you using with this configuration? I just purchased a cgem 2 mount, edge hd 925, 0.7 reducer, star sense auto align and plan on using modified canon 60 and am so lost.
Thanks so much for the encouragement as I'm looking into astrophotography for the first time with my original LX90-8INCH scope. Yep the one when they first came out. I love your channel and found you by watching Dylan . Thanks for your honesty as well. Keep up the great videos and happy star hunting 🌙📷🌠⭐
"When was the last time you updated the firmware?" Everybody already knows that the answer is "Never ago."
Hi Trevor, Enjoy your video's. Is that guide scope mounted where the finder scope use to be? Which guide scope and camera is that? I have a SCT 8 with AVX mount so I have to be concerned about adding too much weight. That guide scope doesn't look as big. Thanks.
Cannon Ra for astro photography. I see that it is designed for that but I have seen info about sensors getting hot on other cameras and many asto camers have fans for that. I can't see that the Ra has a fan. Does this matter much? You have my interest in the Redcat 51. What would you recommend for a camera to go with it. Portability and simplicity is more important to me than heavy, large and/or complicated at this point in my life! I am a Cannon user (70D and 80D) However, Decisions decisions! :-). Thanks
3:46 & 5:07 why do I love hearing Trevor going on mini-rants
Getting a huge scope with a long focal length to track well isn’t trivial. I have been working up from my C8 to my C11 with auto guiding. I have the C8 working more than half the time. We will see how well things go with my C11 tomorrow night. I am looking forward to seeing what Trevor can get with his C11. M13 looks fine, by the way!
I use the 0.7 focal reducer on my c14 at 2737mm and it is difficult to find small objects and get good long exposure photography. Once in a while when everything is clicking it does a good job.
Hi Trevor, nice video as usual - difficult to tell from video but the camera appears to be too far from reducer ? want's to be around 146 mm from reducer lens.
Maybe I missed it, but does this mount perform the polar alignment electronically? I have terribly unsteady hands so doing polar alignment by hand on my ioptron skyguider is such a frustrating experience for me, and I'd very much like to get a mount that could do this electronically.
Awesome! I always used to feel that I was alone in this hobby. Keep going with this channel. Regards from Europe!
Any issues with the Ra? I heard about some red color fringing...
How would the Starsense work with an observatory dome? Will it allow enough time on platesolve targets to slew the dome to the correct slit position?
What are you using as a mobile power source. My kids keep running between the car and power cord. My patience are running thin
Hi Trevor, aren't to small the pixel size of ZWO294 for 2000mm FL?
Love, love, love this channel! My very first tracking/go to mount arrived today (Orion Sirius EQ-G) and ive been practicing with just a canon rebel on a tripod for the past 3 weeks. I cant wait for my first clear night with the new mount! Thanks for getting me into a new hobby! Clear skies!
Curious if you have an ZWO ASI294MC Pro why would you need a mirrorless camera for astrophotography?
I had my first night with the 9.25” with single fork mount. Using the star sense almost made me want to pack everything up and just enjoy your videos & photos. Seeing this I’m going to give it another shot with firmware updates - thanks for doing these videos!!!🙏🙏🙏
Hey, that Celestron star sense auto align camera, does that mean you don't have to polar align if you are using that??
QUICK QUESTION: Trevor, with the 0.7mm reducer, you made a statement in the video something to the effect of "...who needs more than 2000mm...". So, I am in the process of selecting the size of Edge HD for an astro rig, and am REALLY thinking of going with either the 8" (2032mm focal length, f/10 focal ratio) or the 9.25" (2350mm focal length, f/10 focal ratio) for this very reason. I really would like to have f/7 to shoot DSO's, so I would probably go ahead with a 0.7mm focal reducer anyway. That would put me at 1400mm focal length on the 8" or 1645mm focal length on the 8". Do you think it would be worth the extra $'s to go with the 9.25" in order to gain 245mm of focal length or would the 8" provide the same high-level results? I will be using a CGEM II mount FWIW. Thank you very much for your videos! I believe that you are helping the AP community more than you might realize.
i just love your work and your explanation. So brief!!!
Very nice photo... Im waiting for my Celestron 9.25 Edge and can't wait to feel the frustration...lol... thank-you for all the work you do. Makes learning easier.
Whatever I can do to help! 😄
What kind of viewing/guide scope and camera do you have?
Great video Trevor. I have the Celestron 14” Edge HD. I still do a three star alignment using the stock 50mm guide scope. I’m a planetary imager but want to try some DSOs. I need to start auto guiding. I saw that you plugged your guide scope directly into the auto guide port. Do you need software to control the guiding?
Which accessories did you use to attach the camera?
Wow. The pics were absolutely AMAZING. Wow.
Nice video. I'm probably being a bit thick here but I genuinely would like to know, why spend that much on the Ra instead of buying a cooled dedicated astronomy camera? Is it because the DSLRs are more versatile and easier to get going with (no need for laptop etc.) and also that they can be used with Camera lenses more easily?
Trevor, looks great! You did well ! We could all feel your emotions inside of this video! Can You list your equipment please, thanks!
Hey Trevor! Just checking in to say hi! Yes beginning astrophotography was a sh*t show lol but those little victories really got me on my feet! I messaged you last year telling you how you inspired me to buy my first legitimate telescope. It was the 8" orion skyview pro reflector. Which now I also understand why you push beginners to refractors haha. But after about a year of star hopping and pushing the scope around, I finally pulled the trigger in February and got everything I needed to start imaging. Since then I have about 18 different objects imaged! Ty for the continued help and cheers to your continued success!
I'm starting astrophotography with just a DSLR and a zoom lens I use for wildlife. And a skywatcher GTI mount. With a unmodified DSLR globular clusters are approximately the only things I can shoot. Not really impressive targets but still fascinating and rewarding for me!
Hey Trevor, I'm curious why you don't use Celestron CPWI?
It works great for setup with the StarSense plus you don't even have to bother plugging in the handcontroller.
I don't know about Trevor. For me, I am having CPWI driver crashes and disconnects with my AVX mount. It is so bad that it happens about every few minutes, can't use it for photography. I don't have any issues with the hand controller.
@@callsignjdam2525 Sorry to hear about that Callsign. Have you updated the firmware on the mount and made sure you are trying the most up to date version of CPWI? I have the CGX, I know Trevor has the CGX-L, and can tell you that CPWI is rock solid on my rig. I've even went out a few times and left the hand controller at home, that's how stable it is for me.
@@callsignjdam2525 It is a known problem. Two years since it's release and we are still waiting for usable version. The good news is the latest Betas are stable but with a few UI quirks. I think a full release would have dropped by now except for the virus thing.
Hoping to photograph this tonight. Well see what I can do with 450mm and no star tracker.
Highly recommend an autofocuser for this size setup. The inline Moonlite CHL works great with my C925 Edge. The Celestron knob-turning focuser is not nearly as smooth. You will see focus drift hour to hour with the temperature changes. Good luck!
I’m expecting a full spectrum modified Panasonic G7 tomorrow. This will be my first full spectrum camera, and it has a built-in intervalometer where my current Sony NEX does not.
I have been really enjoying the presentation of your knowledge in astrophotography. Thanks for taking the time to share you knowledge in an easy to follow format.
Awesome Results With your Scope. M13 Looks Awesome at 2000 Focal Length 👍👍
do you think that building a folded focal length 70mm scope worth the effort, reason I ask is I bought a achromat set thats a 74mm x 3000mm. what do you think I could see with that long of a focal length?
Thanks for advice on updating. I will give that a try. If I use the star sense and put on the camera, is that all I need for > 3 second exposures or is there some kind of feedback loop with tour laptop to avoid star trails?
Your videos are always top quality, Trevor! The music that you use always fits the mood aswel
Please explain why you think the EOS Ra is a good deal
Nikon also has dedicated camera maybe you should review that
What kind of saddle bracket are you using for your guidescope? I have a vixen dovetail guidescope I want to mount to my Celestron Edge HD 9.25, but I can't find anything on the Celestron site for doing that.
I did M13 the last night though patches of clouds. I had a bright smile on my face as you told about the things that can go wrong in astrophotography. It reminded me on a bunch of nights, I spent 1-2 hours in the middle of the night to get the sequence running again and had to get up the next morning to go to work. As you said, what a whired hobby did we choos?!😄
CS Christian
question, is it possible to use this telescope without a camnera?
Thank you my friend for making my motivation go through the roof. I genuinely enjoy your videos. I love the skies but don't know much about photography. I saw you challenge message at the end. Challenge excepted.
Whadoya' know, I'm out shooting M13 last night and then wake up this morning and find this! Then again, I guess with this full supermoon there aren't many other options.
Wife's "Yeah, yeah" is so typical of my wife's comments about my hobbies and purchases (even with trade-ins) -- great buys and justifications. She also laments, "Boys and toys..." from somewhere Canada to Somewhere Arkansas -- must be female DNA.
No matter what my husband is excited about and passionate about so am I so if he wants to buy something I tell him go for it babe !!!! All wives and husbands needs to be more supportive of each other’s passions. it hurts my heart to see people just give up things they’re so passionate about bc of their partner not being understanding but when it’s something they want they expect to be understood
My wife says the same - she says if I'm going to spend lots of time with new gear, it had better be really nice! She always says get the best. She helped me get a C14EdgeHD some years ago - now I do trade some clear nights for date night, fair's fair :-).
Much better investment than clothes and jewelry IMO.
Congrats on getting this rig up and running. Looking forward to more images with it.