Going DEEP with a Ritchey-Chrétien Telescope
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- Опубликовано: 5 сен 2024
- In this video, I use a new Ritchey-Chrétien telescope, the iOptron Photron RC6. I'll cover the advantages and disadvantages of using a telescope like this for astrophotography.
Full Post: astrobackyard....
My final image of the Pinwheel Galaxy should give you an idea of the image scale you can expect with a DSLR camera.
Music by Aljosha Konstanty:
music.aljoshako...
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Man you got a great life Trevor! Young, healthy, beautiful home, beautiful wife, beautiful Dog, a RUclips Channel that's absolutely flying and doing so well! Life is good for you bro! Great to see! Loved the final image Trevor, the Pinwheel Galaxy is one of my fave DSO's! Thanks for the ace content Trevor! Wes, Liverpool, UK.
Trevor, you are as real as it gets! That makes watching your very informative videos a real treat! You project enthusiasm which happens to be very contagious to me as a viewer. Astrophotography for me is filled with triumphs and failures and it is such a rewarding hobby. You never seem to sweat the failures and you learn from your mistakes with a positive attitude. I look forward to learning from you as you create and share more interesting videos. And thanks for the Sharpcap polar alignment tip on one of your other videos. It was a welcome game changer from my usual polar alignment struggles! Wishing you all the best from Chebeague Island off the coast of Maine. Clear Skies!
I've learned more from this video than nearly all your others. Long focal length; tube extensions for focus etc. Thanks Trevor. Great as usual
Thanks man. My pleasure
Awesome.........your videos are the reason I got into astrophotography.....and rekindled my love for astronomy......keep it going
Trevor, yet another great video! I think one reason why your blogs are so enjoyable is that they are so personal and authentic. It is clear you really are totally gobsmacked by the night sky and that enthusiasm is infectious. We live in a truly amazing time, when we can just waltz into a store and buy gear that lets us see and record things people could only fantasize about a two decades ago. BTW you should consider packing up some gear and coming to the Saskatchewan Summer Star Party! You, Ashley, and Rudy would be among friends, and you'd all have great time.
The end bit with you and your wife smiling was priceless
Great video! There's just one thing I'd note to a potential RC buyer, as someone who has used an RC6 for years now: Collimation sucks to learn. Once you get it down it's not so bad, but if you're like me it's going to be a few failed attempts before you get it right. Between this and a newtonian I'd say the newtonian is much easier to collimate, if nothing else because it is much more tolerant to a lack of precision. RCs need to be spot on, and any deviance from that greatly reduces your image quality much quicker due to the nature of its hyperbolic mirrors. I'd advise that, if you buy an RC, you learn to collimate it with a cheshire eyepiece instead of relying on a fancy HG laser collimator, especially on the less expensive models like an RC6 or RC8. The stock focusers have enough slop that your laser collimation can look spot on but your mirrors are still out of alignment. Instead, use a cheshire to center the secondary, then with the draw tube empty sit back a ways from the scope, look into the back so that your pupil is in the center of the secondary's bullseye, then adjust the primary until the secondary assembly is centered in the draw tube. In my experience this is a much more accurate method when using a focuser that might not be 100% square with the rest of the system.
Would love to shake your hand! Your videos over the past few years have helped me massively and also inspired me.
Figured I'd watch one of the older videos before you even had an asiair. A video where you're talking about 20 thousand subscribers,now you are approaching half a million. You sure have come a long ways in a short time my friend. Keep it up Trevor!!!
Mannnnn you transmit so much emotion in your videos, love it!
Your wife feigns interest much better than my wife does! Congrats on the new scope! I hope you maintain a summer of clear nights after getting it.
I think she probably just felt awkward being on camera. ;)
Welcome to the RC / SCT narrowband viewing/imaging. Always look forward to your manner and presentation of products and night targets.
I know you get a crazy amount of comments, but I feel the need to comply with the masses and say your channel has been extremely helpful during my noob period of AP. Thanks, brother.
@12:53 Felt that passion deep inside wanting to escape and explore
I really appreciated this video and the blog post. I learned a lot. I appreciate even more watching you grow as an astrophotographer. They say "shoot for the stars and you'll reach your dreams." In your case, just shoot the stars. You're great at this. Nice to see someone enjoying the journey as much as getting to the destination. Clear skies!
Amazing final image Trevor! All variables considered, the poor seeing, Moon etc etc you still managed to get an image i could only dream of producing! Plz keep up the amazing work sir! Thank You! Wes.
Ritchey Chretiens are the King of Kings in amateur Astrography and photography. Absolutely amazing! Fantastic passion and thanks for sharing your journey! Cheers.
Ashley is the ultimate cool, she celebrates your love for the heavens with you. Her smile shows that your joy is her joy.
Great work Trevor, your vids give an excellent impression of the ups and downs of imaging -I can almost feel the cold too!
Well explained and good tips on selecting camera to match the long FL. Just purchased a 6" RC because the price point was in the range of... just buy it and see what happens.
Really great job Trevor! M101 looks amazing! Thanks for sharing your technical experience with us, but not only that, I´m really thankfull that you share a real life astrophotographer experience with your family and friends, like you do in most of your videos. That´s the best thing about your channel!
I recently bought an 8" RC and looking for a mount. Your videos are fun to watch and informative. Nice to see your wife getting some interest as well. Tell her there are other women into this hobby as well. Me being one of them. BTW, You two make a cute couple.
Great video as always! Just a tip - to make sure the star is in the center of the screen, turn on the grid for live view.
Wonderful video series. The only thing I like better than being out there, is watching your videos. Keep up the great work!
I recently discovered your channel Trevor, what a great source of information. As a beginning astrophotographer in a light-polluted area in the north of the Netherlands it is a big help to show me the right path. Much appreciated, thanks !
Nice mass effect music! Good choice.Haven’t played that game in ages
Nice setup. I'm looking forward to seeing more results. Like you I've been s small refractor guy for a long time but have been considering getting one of the ubiquitous 6-inch RCs to try it out. Sorry I missed you at NEAF, there are just so many great people to talk to yet so little time to go around and see everyone.
Nice work,and great channel for someone who needs guides for AP. Keep showing everyone the various avenues in AP. Hopefully your efforts will pave the way for those curious about the hobby.
"Respect" in his field of endeavor be it hobby or career......quietly and unto himself is his ultimate reward". You sir have "discovered" the pinnacle of pure joy in life for the purpose of joy alone , further than any glass made by man could ever attain.
Great vid young man. I’ll be receiving my 6in. Orion RC in a few days. Can’t wait.
Thanks Gene! Have fun!
Another epic video Trevor! Hope to see you at Cherry Springs!
Great work as always despite the bright moon washing the sky out. Good to see a beer making an appearance next to the CCD's.😀
Ashley looks really interested :))
She was this time!!
If you could write a book that covers astrophotography (explaining everything about equipment, tips etc etc) for Beginners to Advanced level I would instantly buy it buddy. The experience you have gained doing this all these years is priceless. Thanks
I just found out you have your own website with tutorials etc etc. which is very cool.
I ordered a 203/1624 RC yesterday. Some people I spoke to all said I should rather get a Newton but the low weight and really nice focal range got me to order the RC over a Newton.
After watching you succeed with a RC I think I'm ready to also try my best to learn how to use it.
Thanks for your videos! Your channel actually got me started with this and it's been amazing so far.
So glad to have helped. Have fun with the RC
Sorry to say, but the chances are, you will hate it. They are basically impossible to get properly collimated, and they are slow as hell. A f/5 newtonian of the same size has a better pixel size, is easier to collimate and is faster.
I sold my RC8 for a 8" newt within a month, never looked back.
Arrived today and I couldn't wait so I did some quick and dirty setup to see what I can expect from it.
200s with rather bad sky conditions
gyazo.com/49876db3cfc8ff4d53dcbc1f1ec2abbe
Have no Bahtinov for that size yet so I focused using FWHM.
Kinda happy so far and hyped to see what it can do once it's properly setup
I love my ioptron mounts, I have not tried one of their telescopes yet.
Trevor, i had to get a napkin to clean up my spilled coffee when i heard your comment about your Robin friend! His brother somehow managed to get to Hutto, Texas. I’d really like to send him back!!! Ever informative! One of your subscribers was hinting at the need for CCD. Did you have to send yours back? Was it only on loan? Just absolutely fantastic content, Trevor. I simply can’t believe you don’t have more followers. Guess folks haven’t discovered you yet. Won’t be long, my friend. You have a unique humble and informative tone which serves your videos well as you express your passion of the cosmos.
Wrote too soon. Thanks for hitting on the imager choice.
He went "DOWNTOWN" for this one! Looks great to me!
I like all your Videos and they helped me very much in my Astronomy life. Go on and i send you many Greatings from Germany 👍👍
That image came out great despite the crappy conditions Trevor. Thanks again.
Another great video, Trevor. Loved your NEAF one too and wished I could have been there - looked like astronomers' nirvana.
This channel deserves many, many more subscribers.
Yet another awesome video mate. Keep up the good work.
Great work Keep it up!
and the fact you are doing it from a backyard with lots of light pollution is incredible!
cheers and lets take it to 100,000 views!
Mike
A 'little bit' short focal length guide scope you got there for a 6"/F9 RC, don't you think Trevor?
Also this: PRIMALUCELAB - COUNTERWEIGHT PLUS 1KG AND CLAMP. That should allow you to slide the rc further forward.
11:40 to my understanding the RC is actually more involved.
I have so far used my diy refractor and a Orion observer 114 Newtonian so far (I plan to build a RC in a couple months) both do their jobs well and both have their issues.
Another awesome video Trevor!! Keep doing what you're doing
Once again , fantastic video ! Clear skies !
Hey Trevor nice job again- yeah sorry you need to get platesolving at this FL - SGP and Plate solve 2 makes this issue disappear - thats the challenge going longer and deeper but the tools are there - its an evolution as a imager - autofocus and platesolving are just incredibly powerful - anywyay glad you enjoyed NEAF -too far for us in New Zealand but I loved the video of you getting round - yeah my wife has has the same look - so don't worry :) great job on the videos keep them coming - I love watching what your up to :) I can hear a dark sky located house calling in your future :) clear skies from NZ :)
Simon Lewis Platesolving?
yes - platesolve 2 in Sequence Generator Pro allows you to choose what the framed image will look like using a calculated field of view and a downloaded B&W sample image - that gives a set of co-ord that SGP uses to slew the scope to - the camera then takes an image and then compares this to the known star field and calculates how far out the image from the camera is - it then juggles the mount to decrease the error and then repeats until the error from wanted framed image to actual is minimal - so you don'tneed to do this sighting through finderscopes and live images - SGP manages the whole alignment - add in autofocus and then it will slew the mount, adjust focus, frame and then start running the image capture sequence you loaded - add in the ability to adapt to temp changes, filter changes etc and you realise you won't be able to live without framing and platesolving ever again :) LOL
Wow! Thank you for the detailed response Simon. I was clueless to this procedure. It sounds awesome!
amazing stuff every time. glad I found this
You always produce an amazing image no matter the weather conditions!
Hi Trevor, your videos are great, I love watching them. I live in Brazil and I love astrophotography. I have been practicing since 2015. Your videos have inspired me because I still use a modified Canon T5i. Continue with your publications because it has certainly encouraged many people to improve and grow in astrophotography. Thank you for that and congratulations.
Great video and image ☺👍👌
Notts boy24 well fancy seeing you here. I’m not stalking you honestly 😂
Cool .. Ritchey's are definately the domain of Galaxies 👍 I looked at the same 6" your reviewing, but after plugging it into AstroAid with my Full Frame Sony I quickly came to the conclusion the field is much too wide for all but the biggest galaxies. With your mount I'd think an 8" Ritchey would be a piece of cake .. or even a carbon truss tube 10".
love ur videos. Helped me a lot at the beginning, thanks
Great video, as well as the final image. Very nice
Amazing!!! Great picture!!! Hopefully one day I can take pictures like that. I still have a little tabletop scope...lol
Really awesome dude, love your videos. I’m finally getting my first telescope, not for photography but just trying to get my foot in the door. Thanks for everything you have taught me!
I really love it!!! well done
throw a .75 reducer on these and they rival refractors, if not beat them in my view. Instantly becomes the overall scope to use, both solar system and dso imaging. The con is if they need collimation, get ready to spend some bucks on the accessories.
Very impressive final image! I'll be trying my Canon 4ti for astro until the process becomes better known. Focus is always an issue. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.
You explaining this to your wife makes me so happy that I'm not alone!! It's the same 😂😂😂
Hey Trevor!
Question: At 10:36 did you say that you took only 3" subs for this photo?
Thanks for another informative video. So glad this adventure is working for you! This has been a long winter here in Montana and we are so glad Spring has finally arrived! Too bad it brought a big bright moon along, but a good time to work on software updates and explore program features. I have been using plate solving in APT and it is working well for me, and syncs properly with Stellarium. I had a hard time with some other plate solving solutions but APT has been straightforward for my setup at 600mm with a DSLR.
Ashlegh really love the sound of your voice. My wife wouldn’t come out to listen to me yammer away. The scope seems nice though.
Awesome picture! I can gardly wait to get my Starsense Auto Aligner for my Nextar 8E in two weex. Then I will be outside almost as much as you, looking at the awesome images in the universe.
Why this guy has only 20k subs?
20001 now, i subbed
27k now 3 months after your comment
try 29,000
Good question....i subbed
60 k now
Nice job on the video Trevor. I will be watching with great interest as I did purchase the RC6 from Steve. I have not yet been able to attain proper back focus using my DSLR (EOS 77D) in prime. I did have the 2 and 1 inch rings in place and the t-ring with a 2 inch extension, yet all fuzzy. It certainly is not the same as using my 130mm newt. Anyway, I will continue to watch your progress as I am curious, cheers.
Hubble is RC telescope I think. Very cool. I recently purchased Esprit 120 and it has much longer focal length than my previous OTA and finding objects is harder if you don't do finder alighnment to the OTA. I like the idea of using the camera for alignment. It would simplify my entire approach. I bought new eyepieces and I want to do more observing, but the camera alignment is a great idea. My mess is smaller, but it exists for the same reasons. 'Gotta do something?I support your transition to career Astrobackyard if you go there. Thanks Trevor
Thanks Kevin!
GSO makes a great scope, regardless of paint colour.
Hey lucky you checking out that RC, nice video! Question, why don't you look into plate solving? Makes alignment sooooo much easier and faster, even if you have light pollution or full moon nights.
I would have never used the DSLR over the ASI294mc pro in this situation, F9 is just too slow for a camera with the sensitivity of a DSLR.
Good advice, i totally agree! Anything slower than f/6 will usually result in very noisy images with a DSLR unless it's one of the higher end DSLR's, and even those aren't much better with slower scopes
LMAO!!! I love how is "decent" photo would be a dream for me... Well done!
Good points about field of view 👍
Try M51 on a ST4 with a 10" newtonian deep sky!
Great video and image at the end! :D Mass Effect music! Great choice! :D I'm also thinking about buying a RC 6 or 8 in telescope.
Can you post your shooting info: # subs, exposure time, ISO, #darks, # flats, # bias, any software tools you use, EG photoshop DSS, etc. Thank you in advance. I've been shooting M101 for a while with 6 inch SCT FL 1500 and do not have similar results. Using a FF Nikon D750
Your scope is too slow to create good results with a DSLR, the slowest scope i would recommend with a DSLR is f/6.
Hey trevor,you looked familiair to me,the same guy from the bird nerds,you are very passionate about your new hobby.I like that!
new hobby? i don't think so.
Loving your channel man.......
What would be a good camera for a Celestron C11 EdgeHD for similar applications? It has about double the focal length of what you had here, at F10. Thanks!
Well done trevor, your awesome mate
Enjoyed the video & great image.
I hope you enjoyed yourself at NEAF. Come visit us at Rockland Astronomy Club, the sponsors of NEAF. ADM makes weights for the dovetail which can be attached to the front of your scope.
Clear skies,
Rocky
Hey Trevor check out Meades counterweights #1402. They are a series of small weights which attach to the underside of the dovetail bar in the front to help balance RC telescopes and the likes. I think this product may interest you even tho you mostly solved it the way you did.
Hey! Nice video!!
Can i have a question?
I just began testing the astrophotography and bought a Bresser Newtonian 130/650 f/5. I want to buy a studier mount ( cuz it came with a dobsonian mount ) and i'm thinking about Skywatcher EQ 3-2 or the Bresser EXOS-1 EQ4. I would want to buy a motor to, but without a GoTo for now. Which one do you prefer? And is the RA motor enough to track a DSO or is the DEC motor nessecsery?
Thanks for the reply !!!
Great work
Aloha From beautiful Maui! I pretty much just joined the ride with you man, and you are the absolute best! Every video is awesome. I am going to really pick your brain soon when I raise a couple of thousand dollars because I want a small Refractor with mount etc. so I can take some astrophotography photos with my Canon 70D. I am doing some now with my Celestron 8 CPC on an Alt. Azimuth mount so short exposures and stacking and they are just OK but I am getting better. So you will be hearing from me. And if you ever visit Maui look me up. I live Upcountry in Kula and the night sky is pretty damn good here!
Trevor, I have watched many of your excellent and informative videos. Very well done. I often wondered why you use refractors for or deep space observations. You know as well as I that some type of reflector astrograph is much better for the detail. The choice of an RC is a good one on a precise mount. I almost took the dive into the hobby, but I compiled a list of the cost of an reasonably priced RC, a tripod and mount with precision, accuracy, and weight capabilities, add a guiding scope and a CCD. The price was for lack of a better word "Astronomical".I still seek more cost friendly equipment. I next went to Google to search for deep space images taken by Hubble and even more by the Voyager space craft. This is a very compelling argument against me making such expensive purchases for a small hobby.The point is you must think about how serious you are about this before taking an expensive dive. Anyway I'm still shopping for some telescope deals.
You can limit the expenses and still have the potential to produce fantastic images. A used market modded DSLR as a start, but where you should step up financially if for the mount purchase, don't cheap out on the one item that will either make this hobby fun, or waste your time fiddling with an ill-performing mount and growing frustrations unless you are the type who doesn't care about round stars. I have finally came to the conclusion that I'll be making changes to the hobby that for the most part I have enjoyed for the last 7 years. My physical environment has made it very difficult to image anymore from the convenience of my backyard, neighbor's fence line trees have cut off the best parts of the night sky. Like most others, contending with an ever growing light pollution problem and something I thought about mitigating by going narrowband and also working around the sky restrictions by downsizing and going to dark sky sites. But, that would require a whole new set of responsibilities so I've decided to start walking away from the hobby mainly because of my own physical limitations. That all started with a near-fatal motorcycle accident in 2005 and the effects of the multiple injuries I endured have never stopped since in terms of discomfort and operations. I've needed double hip replacement surgery for over a year now, also ankle surgery, both as a result of multiple fractures and trauma. I've decided to move forward on the operations and that will put a damper on a lot of things, including imaging and I'm going to start selling some items as I move in a different direction.
It's really a shame in light all the technology advances today to help amateur astronomers, the era of astronomy is in quotes because of the ever-increasing threat of light pollution ruining our dark skies. The city where I live is typical in that sense, it is a prime example of urban sprawl, an ugly phenomena that has been beaten to death with suggestions, but nothing has ever been done about it. Where I live, we are losing the last open space that separated us from the next typical suburban city and its own maze of tract houses and strip malls, it's like cancer that can't be stopped with developers and local politicians running the show. The natural creeks flowing down from the foothills that provided refuge for many local wildlife species, which also provided a visual respite, are being replaced by asphalt and culvert tubes. I guess I was lucky not to live in the residential neighborhood where the city allowed a developer to build a high screen and ugly driving range, the kind with our favorite prison yard lights shining into those poor folk's backyards for 100s of yards beyond the facility. Once I saw that go up I said it was time to move on. Then closer to home our HOA decided to put in tennis courts, nice, but do they have to leave the court's blinding lights on whether there is someone playing tennis or not?
Anyway, thanks Trevor for your information and enthusiasm and I really enjoyed watching your videos and will continue to do so.
Excellent video as usual!
Ash is such a good sport with your shenanigans 😉
Thanks, Trevor! Nicely done!
Hey Trevor, another excellent video! Hey it might be a bit of a personal question, but what is your day job? Just curious to know, your astrophotography is such a large part of your life, I wonder how you can fit in anything else? Love your content mate, what an amazing ambassador you are for this hobby!
Waiting on my Photron 200. Hopeful! :-)
This is the funniest video ever on this channel 😉 and of course good job ! 👏🌌
How do you rate the optics compared to your love of refractor? Dylan uses the rasa, galactic hunters use 8in astrograph you use refractor and all pictures come out amazing
Phenomenal as always! You inspired me to begin astrophotography and I am excited to spend hours doing this incredible hobby! P.S Rudy is my dogs name to :P
I just purchased an iOptron 200mm aperture and a Badder Hyperion 17mm eyepiece and boy I need lots of back focus extension rings, the 4 inches that comes with the telescope is not enough I need 3 inches more! (3.7 inches diameter ring Before the focusing unit) Trying to find out where to buy these rings to no success. Do you have a source?
You set up too close to that Robin, lol. It's like, "Get the hell off my lawn!" lol
3:25 you look like Jim Carrey in the movie Cable Guy!!! 😆
Trevor, what would you need to do to make this a career? Every thought of hosting some live video workshops to teach some if your skills?