Beautiful images, really well done. I have the Skywatcher Skymax 102. I'm planning to buy the 127 too. The 102 is great because it's super portable. It also produces really good images. The 127 is still portable enough. Its larger aperture makes a huge difference to the resolution of objects. This is what I'm looking for. You just can't beat Maks for Lunar and planetary work. I love my Mak.
Great job!! I have my 2i Pro now, just using my DSLR and lenses, but I was leaning toward a refractor telescope, though I am now strongly considering a MAK. I would love to see nebula and galaxy imaging with a MAK.
Nice video, thx. Adding contrast always affects colours (try it on a landscape) and often produces odd colours. If you use photoshop, change the bending mode to “luminosity” (instead or normal) to stop a contrast layer altering colours too...
I like the idea of having a "Computerized" scope. Since I now live in a city of about 70,000 souls, light pollution is a marked problem! I've seen advertisements for a "Dark Sky" sight in New Mexico. They advertise them as "so dark and clear, you can see the stars as dim as Magnetude 7"!!! My city sky is about Magnetude 3 ! As a boy, living on a very Rural Farm 🚜 far from even the nearest Village, which was barely a "wide spot in the road!!" I could sometimes see to nearly Mag 6. But never quite there. You could dark adapt your eyes 👀 and roam the sky. Those Mag 6 stars would occasionally "flicker into view", but then were gone again. Anyway, that's how I learned my way around the night sky. In clear Rural air, far, far from the City. Back then, the 1960's, there were scopes with "Clock Drive", but only the really lazy Astronomer was buying that! Computers 🖥 did yet exist for the home. We had a selection of Star Atlases and the Planasphere! And of course, YOUR OWN BRAIN ! Setting Circles could help. IF they were accurate. And IF you knew how to use them properly. And IF you had taken the time to accurately align your equatorial mount! They worked in a permanently installed location such as a genuine Professional Observatory. Thanks for sharing your experience with the 127. I started out with a three inch, f/12 refractor. And that was at age 14 in the 1960's.
Wow, great photos there! I consider buying a 127' as my first telescope... How good do you think it performs for "digiscoping" purpose, like zooming in on far away mountains?
Thank you, I did try it on the Orion Nebula a while back but didn’t guide, and even 15 sec exposures where too much, I would like to try and guide with it some time, but I think it might be too much focal length, thanks again and clear skies!
Hi! Thank you for sharing this. May I kindly ask you what should I choose as my first telescope. The Skymax 102MC AZ Pronto or the Explorer 130/650 on EQ2? Which one would offer better image quality, ease of use and, of course, that Wow moment when viewing the Moon and the planets? The Explorer looks also quite big and not so good for traveling. But I would like to buy the one with the best performances. Thank you!
I’m also just starting out and have gone with a wide sky z61 and a deep sky,sky watcher 90x1200 with the same tracker. I have a canon Rebel DSLR and of course, just waiting for some clear sky’s, lol. Good luck.
I notice you are using a vixen clamp for attachment rather than directly with the 1/4” bolt. Is this for accurate balancing, os something else? Thanks.
@@AstroPilotchannel I saw a few images from other videos of yours they look nice. A planetary video capture with sharpcap would be useful. I wanted to ask you how good it tracks the planets, how long (an approximated time) the star adventurer keep the planets in center of the fov, or close to center without needing to adjust the position of the mount
@Galaxy Art Media thanks!, it does really well, the tricky part is finding the object, but it does track well, every once in awhile it will start too stray out of center but it’s very controllable, when at the FL the slightest touch shakes the view A LOT!
@@AstroPilotchannel But you can use the wifi adapter to control with wifi without touching i think that is very useful for the planets. you have the wifi version?
Hi, Great video, ive just decided to sell up all my big astro set up and going to solely concentrate on luna and planetary imaging, how do you find the SW mount with the 127, does it take the payload well?
Thanks, it does take it well, you just need to get it balanced perfectly, the only issue is it can be quite shaky when trying to find thing at that much focal length. Thanks and clear skies!
Great picture im after the 127 what camera piece and lenses are you using and what will i need to get set up to capture images like this please can you give a quick list of eyepieces and camera make done a lot of research and these seem best bang for buck thankyou would like refractor but not in my budget for a esprit ed80
Thanks, it’s a great scope for lunar and planetary, the best combo so far that I like, is a 2x Barlow for imaging with the ASi 120. For visual I like a nice 18mm eyepiece with and without a Barlow.
It’s the Skywatcher 3/8ths thread stainless steel tripod, I got mine from (first light optics) it’s like an heq5 tripod but without the metal bib so it fits anything with a 3/8ths thread
Great job!! Have you yet tried tracking/photo of DSO with the SkyMax127 + SA + guiding system? I' m soooooo curious to know if it work....if the guiding could be made precise, and also know if the Mak127+cam+guiding scope-cam are, together, too heavy for the SA.
Thanks!, I did try it once before on deep sky on the trifid nebula, the down side is the slow f13 F ratio so it takes very long exposures, it’s about the max the SA can handle, but can be done
Hi - excellent video! I plan to do something similar, and wanted to ask about the red wedge rail that you are using to mount your telescope in - do you have a link to that so I can purchase something like this? Thanks in advance.
Hi and thanks. That is the William optics dovetail saddle, just google it but you can find ones that are the same for much cheaper. I believe I got the William optics saddle for about 50$, thanks and clear skies.
Yes indeed, i modified the ball-head adapter where I can attach anything with a 3/8ths thread to it. I use a ball-head for my deep sky scope, and the photo head you see here for the 127. I can make a video about if you would like
@@AstroPilotchannel I own the star adventurer and planning to buy the mak127. I don't know if it will balance with the 1 counterweight. I think it won't.
@@umangjeet if you talking about the counterweight mod, yes that’s a great idea! I’ve got a new vid coming out tomorrow using the Mak, but I will definitely do a vid showing it how I made the mod, thank you!
Are you using the eye piece that came with this telescope? I've heard you need to spend another $500 on a good eye piece for images this clear with the Skymax 127. Looking for clarification because I will already be dropping $500 on the telescope alone.
What's the name of the song that sounds from the 8:00 minute to the end? And the adapter to attach the dovetail of the mak to the L of decline of the star adventurer? Thank you!
The song is (To the Stars) from the movie Ad Astra with brad Pitt, here’s the link th-cam.com/video/6l1vqupFqLE/w-d-xo.html The dovetail saddle is from William optics, it’s about 50 bucks.
@@AstroPilotchannel Thank you very much, your videos have helped me a lot the truth, even though I do not know much English since I am from Spain but you know how to transmit well what you do in your videos. Greetings from the Canary Islands!
@@AstroPilotchannel thank you very much. Excuse me, just one more question, the lunar or solar tracking of the star adventurer how to work? I do polar alignment, move to the area of the moon that I want to photograph, counterweight, and close clutches? Best regards
@@nebulasky522 correct, everything works the same, just make sure you have a good polar alignment and it will work like a charm, for solar you would have to polar align the night before, personaly I have only tried lunar mode, works great!
Yes I’m pretty sure you can, I’ve seen people do planetary that way to, I haven’t tried it that way, I got into lunar and planetary after I got into deep sky so I’ve always had a tracker, but I believe there are several videos of people doing it without trackers.
@@AstroPilotchannel well I imaged the solar system with a phone and a telescope handheld so I think I will figure it out😂. I was just wondering how I would align them properly because last time the program didn’t align it. It’s different when you do a close up instead of a full lunar/ planetary disk. I post all my images on instagram at @astrosheepy. It would mean a lot if you went to take a look
@@astrosheepy3906 lol gotcha, hmmm you’ve got me on that one, I don’t have a clue on how to align them like that😂, I will check your insta right now though! My insta is @jts-Pilot. Thanks for all the questions and support, clear skies! Wish I had an answer for you
Yes, I believe it’s around 2600 to 2700mm with that camera, it has a tiny sensor, the native FL of the scope is 1500mm, and with a crop sensor DSLR it’s 2200mm
Great pictures! great video, thanks
The music was perfect, I could gaze at you pictures and felt a sincere moment of bliss that I live in this space time so wondrous . TY
Them are some of the sharpest images I've seen of the moon
Thank you so much!
most enjoyable. Thank you! I am leaning towards the 127 AZ-GTi on the AZ-GTi Go To Mount for portability. I have an 8" dob
Another great job cowboy. I have that tracker, I’m glad to see it handles a rig that big. 👍
Fascinating pictures.
You certainly know your game.
Thank you for sharing your great work.
Thank you so much!! Clear skies
Excellent video, great images, great music. You’re on your way.
You put a lot time in this, great work. Thanks
Great photos! Very nice choice of accompanying music
Wow 🤗 those are excellent images 😎🤞👍
Beautiful pictures!
Thank you so much!!
Comparing to other works - sweet and sharp 👌
Thank you!!!
Beautiful images, really well done. I have the Skywatcher Skymax 102. I'm planning to buy the 127 too. The 102 is great because it's super portable. It also produces really good images. The 127 is still portable enough. Its larger aperture makes a huge difference to the resolution of objects. This is what I'm looking for. You just can't beat Maks for Lunar and planetary work. I love my Mak.
Awesome!!! Yeah they are so versatile, small but packs the punch of a giant reflector, thanks and clear skies!
Beautiful
Great job!! I have my 2i Pro now, just using my DSLR and lenses, but I was leaning toward a refractor telescope, though I am now strongly considering a MAK. I would love to see nebula and galaxy imaging with a MAK.
Best shots ever.
Thank you!!!
That's awesome, that's why I got skywatcher star adventurer 2i pro pack it's a good sky tracker, that shows the star adventures power and potential
I know I was really surprised that is could handle it, it’s a tough little mount, I love it
Well done. I’m a new subscriber .
Good lord that must be way over the recommended payload for the StarAdventurer
Nice video, thx. Adding contrast always affects colours (try it on a landscape) and often produces odd colours. If you use photoshop, change the bending mode to “luminosity” (instead or normal) to stop a contrast layer altering colours too...
I like the idea of having a "Computerized" scope. Since I now live in a city of about 70,000 souls, light pollution is a marked problem! I've seen advertisements for a "Dark Sky" sight in New Mexico. They advertise them as "so dark and clear, you can see the stars as dim as Magnetude 7"!!!
My city sky is about Magnetude 3 !
As a boy, living on a very Rural Farm 🚜 far from even the nearest Village, which was barely a "wide spot in the road!!" I could sometimes see to nearly Mag 6. But never quite there. You could dark adapt your eyes 👀 and roam the sky. Those Mag 6 stars would occasionally "flicker into view", but then were gone again.
Anyway, that's how I learned my way around the night sky. In clear Rural air, far, far from the City. Back then, the 1960's, there were scopes with "Clock Drive", but only the really lazy Astronomer was buying that! Computers 🖥 did yet exist for the home. We had a selection of Star Atlases and the Planasphere! And of course, YOUR OWN BRAIN !
Setting Circles could help. IF they were accurate. And IF you knew how to use them properly. And IF you had taken the time to accurately align your equatorial mount! They worked in a permanently installed location such as a genuine Professional Observatory.
Thanks for sharing your experience with the 127. I started out with a three inch, f/12 refractor. And that was at age 14 in the 1960's.
🔥🔥🔥
Very crisp lunar images with that 5" Mak. Have you recorded any planetary stuff? Thanks for your efforts with light weight gear!
Thanks! Yeah I’ve got a couple videos on planets, I plan on doing some more soon too
Wow, great photos there! I consider buying a 127' as my first telescope... How good do you think it performs for "digiscoping" purpose, like zooming in on far away mountains?
Nice one ! Happy to see the Star Adventurer can handle that scope. Have you tried DSO imaging yet with that set up ? Keep the good work man !
Thank you, I did try it on the Orion Nebula a while back but didn’t guide, and even 15 sec exposures where too much, I would like to try and guide with it some time, but I think it might be too much focal length, thanks again and clear skies!
@@AstroPilotchannel thank you !
Awesome shots, do you know a way to wifi image to a tv?
Tbh looks like u took it like it was few kilometres above the moon good job!
Haha thanks✌️
Well done
👍
Just wow THIS is planetary imaging and how should be done.
Thank you!!!!
Hhm I think I’m gonna get this scope to! Then I can add it to my zenithstar 61 so I can do deepsky and planetary on the go!
Awesome!! Great idea!!!
im thinking of getting this mount for my 127 skymax..
Hi! Thank you for sharing this. May I kindly ask you what should I choose as my first telescope. The Skymax 102MC AZ Pronto or the Explorer 130/650 on EQ2? Which one would offer better image quality, ease of use and, of course, that Wow moment when viewing the Moon and the planets? The Explorer looks also quite big and not so good for traveling. But I would like to buy the one with the best performances. Thank you!
Thank you, I would definitely go with the 102mc , better image quality and easier to use. 👍👍👍 good luck and clear skies
I’m also just starting out and have gone with a wide sky z61 and a deep sky,sky watcher 90x1200 with the same tracker. I have a canon Rebel DSLR and of course, just waiting for some clear sky’s, lol. Good luck.
I notice you are using a vixen clamp for attachment rather than directly with the 1/4” bolt. Is this for accurate balancing, os something else? Thanks.
Nice video. Have you tried the Maksutov 127/1500 with sky adventurer on the planets?
Thanks! Yes but in mono, it does a great job!! I can’t for this summer to try them in color with the zwo 120mc s
@@AstroPilotchannel I saw a few images from other videos of yours they look nice. A planetary video capture with sharpcap would be useful. I wanted to ask you how good it tracks the planets, how long (an approximated time) the star adventurer keep the planets in center of the fov, or close to center without needing to adjust the position of the mount
@Galaxy Art Media thanks!, it does really well, the tricky part is finding the object, but it does track well, every once in awhile it will start too stray out of center but it’s very controllable, when at the FL the slightest touch shakes the view A LOT!
@@AstroPilotchannel But you can use the wifi adapter to control with wifi without touching i think that is very useful for the planets. you have the wifi version?
@Galaxy Art Media no can do lol, I’ve got the original version.
Hi, Great video, ive just decided to sell up all my big astro set up and going to solely concentrate on luna and planetary imaging, how do you find the SW mount with the 127, does it take the payload well?
Thanks, it does take it well, you just need to get it balanced perfectly, the only issue is it can be quite shaky when trying to find thing at that much focal length. Thanks and clear skies!
I don't know about you guys, but the music for the images calmed me down. Great video, beautiful images. Do you have an Instagram by any chance?
Thanks man yeah, my insta is @jts_pilot
What tripod are you using?
Great picture im after the 127 what camera piece and lenses are you using and what will i need to get set up to capture images like this please can you give a quick list of eyepieces and camera make done a lot of research and these seem best bang for buck thankyou would like refractor but not in my budget for a esprit ed80
Thanks, it’s a great scope for lunar and planetary, the best combo so far that I like, is a 2x Barlow for imaging with the ASi 120. For visual I like a nice 18mm eyepiece with and without a Barlow.
@@AstroPilotchannel thankyou for that im going to get the tablemount go to version skywatcher 127mm.
Which tripod is that and how do you connect it to the star tracker? Did you need any adapter?
It’s the Skywatcher 3/8ths thread stainless steel tripod, I got mine from (first light optics) it’s like an heq5 tripod but without the metal bib so it fits anything with a 3/8ths thread
Great job!! Have you yet tried tracking/photo of DSO with the SkyMax127 + SA + guiding system? I' m soooooo curious to know if it work....if the guiding could be made precise, and also know if the Mak127+cam+guiding scope-cam are, together, too heavy for the SA.
Thanks!, I did try it once before on deep sky on the trifid nebula, the down side is the slow f13 F ratio so it takes very long exposures, it’s about the max the SA can handle, but can be done
Hi - excellent video! I plan to do something similar, and wanted to ask about the red wedge rail that you are using to mount your telescope in - do you have a link to that so I can purchase something like this? Thanks in advance.
Hi and thanks. That is the William optics dovetail saddle, just google it but you can find ones that are the same for much cheaper. I believe I got the William optics saddle for about 50$, thanks and clear skies.
@@AstroPilotchannel Awesome - thanks heaps for that information! Looking forward to more of your videos!
@@HelmutBemboka your are very welcome and thank you, clear skies my friend!✌️
What software are.you using, and will is it availible on Mac Pro?
I used sharp cap for capture, then I used auto-stakkert 3 for stacking and Gimp 2.1 for final processing. I don’t know if they are all on Mac
Does the 127 need extra counterweight in order to balance? Is this tripod head I see there for balancing the scope?
Yes indeed, i modified the ball-head adapter where I can attach anything with a 3/8ths thread to it. I use a ball-head for my deep sky scope, and the photo head you see here for the 127. I can make a video about if you would like
@@AstroPilotchannel I own the star adventurer and planning to buy the mak127. I don't know if it will balance with the 1 counterweight. I think it won't.
@@planetman1983 it won’t, probably be better off just getting another counter weight
@@AstroPilotchannel please make a video or tutorial for this modification, how long are you able to do unguided subs with the current setup?
@@umangjeet if you talking about the counterweight mod, yes that’s a great idea! I’ve got a new vid coming out tomorrow using the Mak, but I will definitely do a vid showing it how I made the mod, thank you!
I wasn’t able to get any good photos, since my telescope was out of focus til like 1.
Well that’s no good, I purchased a Large 3D printed bathinov focusing mask for the scope, makes focusing a lot easier. Better luck next time.
@@AstroPilotchannel yeah, that will be the next thing I buy, just to save time.
Hello me on a different device!
Are you using the eye piece that came with this telescope? I've heard you need to spend another $500 on a good eye piece for images this clear with the Skymax 127. Looking for clarification because I will already be dropping $500 on the telescope alone.
Yeah I actually just used some older eyepieces a friend gave to me, they’re nothing special and gave great views
What's the name of the song that sounds from the 8:00 minute to the end? And the adapter to attach the dovetail of the mak to the L of decline of the star adventurer? Thank you!
The song is (To the Stars) from the movie Ad Astra with brad Pitt, here’s the link th-cam.com/video/6l1vqupFqLE/w-d-xo.html
The dovetail saddle is from William optics, it’s about 50 bucks.
@@AstroPilotchannel Thank you very much, your videos have helped me a lot the truth, even though I do not know much English since I am from Spain but you know how to transmit well what you do in your videos. Greetings from the Canary Islands!
@@nebulasky522 thank you! I’m glad I could help you out, all the best my friend and clear skies!🌌✌️
@@AstroPilotchannel thank you very much. Excuse me, just one more question, the lunar or solar tracking of the star adventurer how to work? I do polar alignment, move to the area of the moon that I want to photograph, counterweight, and close clutches? Best regards
@@nebulasky522 correct, everything works the same, just make sure you have a good polar alignment and it will work like a charm, for solar you would have to polar align the night before, personaly I have only tried lunar mode, works great!
Is it possible to do align and stack untracked lunar surface images?
Yes I’m pretty sure you can, I’ve seen people do planetary that way to, I haven’t tried it that way, I got into lunar and planetary after I got into deep sky so I’ve always had a tracker, but I believe there are several videos of people doing it without trackers.
@@AstroPilotchannel well I imaged the solar system with a phone and a telescope handheld so I think I will figure it out😂. I was just wondering how I would align them properly because last time the program didn’t align it. It’s different when you do a close up instead of a full lunar/ planetary disk. I post all my images on instagram at @astrosheepy. It would mean a lot if you went to take a look
@@astrosheepy3906 lol gotcha, hmmm you’ve got me on that one, I don’t have a clue on how to align them like that😂, I will check your insta right now though! My insta is @jts-Pilot. Thanks for all the questions and support, clear skies! Wish I had an answer for you
What is the focal length ?
He said around 2700 mm
@@ramintakloo-bighash6509 ok thank you
@@arthurkhomyk4688 I think that’s what he said.
Yes, I believe it’s around 2600 to 2700mm with that camera, it has a tiny sensor, the native FL of the scope is 1500mm, and with a crop sensor DSLR it’s 2200mm
Who knew this camera could do more than just guide?! Awesome images and video! I have an almost identical setup.
The music is overpowering your voice. It was really hard to hear you at some points.
Yeah I was really bad about that in some of my videos, I’ve since improved lol
Kellners are not fit for purpose.