Deep Sky Astrophotography - Equipment Overview and Setup
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- Опубликовано: 25 июл 2024
- Learn about the equipment I use to take my photos of deep sky objects (DSOs), and how I set it up for a successful night of imaging. Resources for this video can be found here: nebulaphotos.com/resources/setup
Music:
Fishgods by Fourmi is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License. freemusicarchive.org/music/Fou...
Product Links:
Imaging Cam, ZWO ASI1600MM-C: amzn.to/36mrNS8
Guide Cam, ZWO ASI290MM0-Mini: amzn.to/2MJxIsT
Guide Scope, Astromania 60mm Guide Scope: amzn.to/2u9xDYX
Mount, Skywatcher EQ6-R (updated rec): amzn.to/2u9onUQ
Imaging Scope: unavailable as of 1/2020 (it was around $1900, new)
Rings, Plates, and Risers, Stellarvue: www.stellarvue.com/ringsandpl...
Polar Alignment, QHY Polemaster: www.highpointscientific.com/q...
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Patreon: / nebulaphotos
Twitter: @nebulaphotos
Instagram: @nebulaphotosdotcom
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Table of Contents:
00:00 Intro
01:15 The Mount - Orion Atlas EQ-G
04:25 The Camera, Telescope, and Guiding - ZWO ASI1600mm-c, Stellarvue SVQ86, ZWO ASI290mm-mini, and Astromania 60mm guide scope
09:52 Imaging Accessories - Dew control, Bahtinov mask, QHY Polemaster
13:39 Power - Everstart marine battery, Kreiger 1100 w inverter, Minnkota battery box
16:26 Laptop and Software - Lenovo Thinkpad, EQMOD, Cartes du Ciel, PHD2, Sequence Generator Pro, PinPoint, QHY Polemaster
19:32 Leveling and assembling the tripod
21:43 Assembling the mount and adding counter-weights
24:20 Attaching the telescope to mount
26:42 Setting up power and cables
27:37 Rough polar alignment
28:36 Balancing
31:32 Setting up Cartes du Ciel and EQMOD
35:05 Setting up PHD2
36:30 Setting up Sequence Generator Pro
38:47 Using QHY Polemaster for fine polar alignment
44:04 1-star-alignment with Cartes Du Ciel, EQMOD, and SGP
47:30 Focusing with Bahtinov Mask and SGP
50:29 Plate solving and centering on target
53:09 Calibrating PHD2
55:48 Starting the sequence in SGP
Two years on and this video is still going strong. Best explanation for a newbie I've found on RUclips. Great insight into what it's all about.Thanks for the video.
Thanks Lorenzo. Glad it was helpful! Clear skies, Nico
I can not express how grateful I am for this video. After watching so much BS this video was a life saver.
Glad you liked it. I really should do a follow-up, but I've already started so many other videos, I'm not sure when I will get to it.
I wish I had this video 6 months ago when I got my setup! The internet sorely needed this tutorial. thanks!
Nico, thank you for a well-organized presentation. Your presentation style is outstanding; a key reason this hour long video did not feel long.
Soup to nuts here and I agree with the comment that alluded to the fact that this video will be one anyone interested in Astrophotography will seek out or be referred to!
Nico does reveal 99% of the nitty gritty stuff that's really helpful for us newbies. Thank you Nico!
Excellent video mate - Many thanks for taking the time to go into such details.
All the best for now.
Cheers
Jim
Just discovered your channel! I’m a newbie and I’ve watched a few of your videos but then I came across this one! Others have already said it so I’m just joining the chorus but you answered more of my questions than any video I’ve seen from anyone so far... and I’ve been on a binge! Even though I’m far away from anticipating ever owning such a marvelous setup, I actually understood better than 90% of what you said!Subscribed!
This set-up and equipment review video is destined to become a classic tutorial. Nico does not assume we understand the telescope terms, and even though the video almost an hour, it isn't tiring. Congratulations on the outline, which is a great didactic help. We are waiting for more broadcasts!
I will echo what others have said - best overall beginner guide . Extremely helpful to us folks trying to understand how to put all the pieces together and do in what order, etc. Well done, and I look forward to more of your videos.
Thank you soooo much for this video. As a newbie getting prepared to set up my first rig, it’s been frustrating to watch so many 6-10 min videos that just aren’t setting a new user up for success. I even love that you left in error messages as you connected and started the comms process. I feel more confident now, and just wanted to say I appreciate your work here.
As a beginner, this is one of the best videos I've seen so far! Very well explained, so easy to understand. Thank you so much!
This is really great! Following the whole process through from start to finish makes it all hang together really well. Thanks.
Excellent start to finish set up...VERY HELPFUL...also love the train in the background...
Awesome video! I have been over analyzing all of the equipment I want to purchase for my next deep sky setup. Glad I ran across this video, thanks for making it!
you know he is a true astronomer because he looks sleepy
UnderBridge Rock when viewing the night sky and to capture all of the objects and setting up your equipment, you don’t sleep at night at ALL. I myself am an astronomer and a person who spends a long time outside at night.
Näh, it look like that because of lightning 🌩️
😊😊😋
OMG where have you been all my life (or at least these past six months since I started acquiring gear to expand my astrophotography into telescope-based stuff)? Very VERY helpful video, with clear explanations--thank you very much!
Awesome!
A lot of videos out there seem catered to people that already understand a lot about astrophotography. This was a great breakdown for people new to the hobby.
I’ll take a look to see if you have any other videos. If you haven’t done so already, I’d suggest making a video that takes a more in depth look at all of the imaging programs and explains the functions and settings in a little more detail. For example, when you said you had to enable auto stretch - many are curious what that does, why you need to do it, etc. the software seems to have a steep learning curve, so any info with that stuff is a help.
Thanks!
Already two years old, and still it's one of the most useful videos on astrophotography. Thanks for all your efforts 🌌
Ha, thanks. I've been meaning to do an updated version for about a year now. Maybe I will finally get to it this spring.
Excellent video! Thanks for sharing, love the fireflies popping up in the background!
Oh, Olivier, you silly boy! Those aren't fireflies - they're novae! :-) I've already reported them to the Royal Astronomical Society and the IAU, and they promised they'd name one of them Eleanor 2020-P just as soon as my cheque for £35,000 cleared.
I'm very excited.
If you like I could get one named Olivier 2020-D for the bargain price of just £21,000. My PayPal account number is -
Absolutely stunning video! Thank you for the guide - the outline is perfect!
I am just starting out with this stuff and have yet to get first light with my scope and camera setup. Thank you very much for sharing this as it gives me a good idea of what to look for.
Great video. Great gear. Great to see the swarm of lightning bugs behind you too.
This is the best astrophotography beginner video ever made, great work!
Verkligen
Not a great spot to set up. To much light and noise from the train and autos. Do this video again in the right place.
I wouldn't call it "beginner". He has some great videos for beginners but this one definitely isn't. No beginner has that amount of money to use for astrophotography-gear. At least those who do it as a hobby. If you study it or make money with it, then you will - sooner or later - need those things.
@@hinonny8005 Some of us do.
@@goranthoren5522 Then that's a huge POG for you 😁😲 I don't
Thanks Nico; great and complete video for beginners, love the way you explain everything
Thanks Nico for a great well presented video. Although I started in astronomy nearly 40 years ago I've only recently taken an interest in imaging. It seems to me I spend too long setting up and not enough time observing so it's a real treat to see that there are guys who seem to have mastered the technology. Well done for showing us that it is possible to use a portable set up which doesn't take hours of battling with flaky connectors and software. Well done.
Terry Lockyer UK
Reddenning thanks for your nice comments Terry! I keep trying to make the setup even easier, as it can be a bit of a slog. I recently got a little power distribution center called the Pegasus Pocket powerbox to replace the inverter and dew heater controller. I’ll be posting a review soon.
Clear skies!
I have been waiting far too long for a video like this. thank you! Now hopefully i can get my equipment to work!
You have covered almost everything in one great video! Very useful to see your setup thanks.
This is great work. I felt as if I was doing the connections and software connect myself. Very hands on!
Hello.
New subscriber here. I just wanted to thank you for explaining things well and thoroughly. We sometimes as astrophotographers move on up in equipment but do not necessarily understand how all things work and function. Please if you can continue to explain everything. As well as your process of an imaging night. I am glad that you use SGPro because that in itself is very powerful but yet quite daunting when you start with as a program. Cheers to you from an astrophotographer with a lot of the same gear as you have but doesn’t quite understand it all ... Thank you from Québec, Canada
Honestly the best tutorial ive ever seen for a beginner. Thank you so SO much
TomJesper glad you like it!
I agree. This is hands down the best video yet for a absolute newb like me. So new i don't have the equipment yet. It appears to me that once i have selected and obtained the hardware then i have the fun of getting and learning all the control software. And that's before i even take my first image. Then i have to get and learn the image processing software. Wow so much to learn. So much to consider. But so cool. I cannot wait. Thank you!
Hi Ron,
Yes, it is a very rich hobby because there is always something new to learn and attempt to master. It definitely helps to have money to throw at it, but image processing is 1/2 the battle and that mostly just takes time and patience.
Clear skies, Nico
Amazing explanation.I really appreciate your time and didactic way to detailing all needed gear to take professional Astro photography. 👏👏👏
Thanks for the excellent video. Very well organized and thorough!
I'm from Germany. This is a really great video for beginners to do the setup for a telescope. Very informative and simply presented. Great equipment. Thumbs up and keep it up ;-)
Thank you so much. I really enjoyed the video. Clear skies!!
Nicely done! Even though I have different equipment and software, it very much helped me get a better understanding of processes and procedures..
An awesome video! I've always been interested, and you make it seem approachable. Thanks for this video!
Great video, very didactic. The best so far I have watched showing the whole process! Thanks!
Your videos are incredibly helpful! As a complete beginner, I'm so grateful! Thank you for posting
This is one of the best videos on RUclips on equipment review, use, and setup without getting too technical. What?? It was one hour long?? Didn't feel like it when you learn useful tips. Next, can you post video on image acquisition and processing? Thanks much! Subscribed.
Thanks Daniel! I will do a more complete one on getting setup for image acquisition fairly soon I hope. To be honest, it may be awhile until I get to videos on processing, as I have to consider how best to approach it. Most videos on processing are either fairly clear, but simplistic/ paint by numbers OR they really explain why they are doing something, but then become hard to follow. It is difficult to strike just the right balance. Google "Light Vortex Astronomy" for good PixInsight tutorials (not video).
Thank you so much for the A-Z tutorial. Most of my question are around how to set everything up and use it more than what gear should I get. I'm mainly curious about the backfoucs, reducers, cameras and filter setup which you covered really well. Thanks!!
One of the best video. You have showed me where I have been making monumental mistakes in a few areas. look forward to the next video!! I hope you do more on sequence pro
Thanks Paul. I hope to eventually do more on SGP, but I am still learning all of it's features. Very powerful program
You are superior in your presentation to so many others- extremely thorough in your explanations
where even beginners can understand and hope to see more of your observations live-
Thank you very much for this splendid video and careful explanations-***
Great video. Very good teacher. Zero ego. Just good stuff.
Excellent Video, for me i learned alot, ive just swapped over to a GEM mount from an alt az nexstar evolution, so found this vid very informative
and educational, Thankyou.
an excellent site for all knowledge levels short cutting most other ' how to' video's in a step by step manner.
Buenisimo video, es un tutorial en si, muy claro y descriptivo,incluso para algunos como yo muy novatos en esto gracias por compartir. gracias Nebula Photos
What a fantastic video!! Really love how calm you are and you simply took your time to explain everything. Really great job
Thanks Antoine and Dalia! I’ve been watching your videos and visiting your website from the beginning and they have always been super entertaining and informative. I’ve also really enjoyed watching your journey. Thanks for watching and commenting on my video! I really appreciate it.
@@NebulaPhotos Oh cool! You have some pretty wonderful photos on yours, we'll follow you as well. We see that like us, you have to carry everything and find a remote spot to image so best of luck and Clear Skies :)
So I am now a night person..lol another great video Nico, what a thorough explanation and demonstration
Excellent tutorial Nico. Thanks for sharing
tnx so much! i really enjoy your videos, greetings from the south of Spain !
Thank you for such an easy video to watch and learn from. Thumbs up and subbed, cheers.
You do excellent videos.
Easy to understand .
Thanks for sharing your wisdom.
Thanks Michael! I appreciate it. Cheers, Nico
15:54 Love the fireflies on your backgrouns.
Learned so much from this video. For beginners this is a must see! Keep up the good work.
Kristof Dabrowski thank you!
Great videos! You will enjoy the Anderson Power Poles, they are a very easy connection to make and you will get significantly increased battery efficiency.
I like your videos they are a great visual aid to help understand a lot of stuff I've read but have no practice in yet. Plus you give a good practical information.
Kill It and Grill It thank you!
I want to get into astrophotography. Your videos are an excellent resource.
THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH now I have a guide on what/ how to set up for an imagining night ...clear skies.
Hi Keshia,
I have a downloadable checklist that can be modified on my webpage that goes with the video: nebulaphotos.com/resources/setup
Is that what you mean? or something more extensive?
Nico
Nebula Photos yes thank you so much can’t wait for a clear night to start imagining.
This man is just great.he is very very very patient.thanks man.
I'm distracted by those lovely little fireflies zipping about behind you :) Finally getting into astrophotography after a false start 24 years ago! Great video.
Awesome video. Love how you walked through everything step by step.
I have the same guide scope was thinking of getting the 290 mini as it's more sensitive than my 120mm. Did u find the Orion extender needed?
Without the Orion extender, I was having to push both the extension and helical focuser all the way out and then push the mini almost all the way out, just hanging on barely to reach focus. With the Orion extender everything is much more secure and it holds focus night to night if I don't move it. Highly recommended!
Very valuable for starters! Very good! Kind regards from Germany!
I just discovered your videos and I think they're great.
Great video. Showed me where I had been making some mistakes. Thanks.
That was awesome thank you for putting it all together, As a future tip for another video, you might want to look at different OTA, long vs short focal length, what is best for astro photography..
Very nice... Though I am keenly interested in astro photography, thisis Greek to me... You have opened up my eyes for initiation... Thanks a lot.. Will follow you further...
A lot more to say what I am trying to come up with a fully automated set up to making set up of the entire gig in a jiffy, with whatever I know ... It may need a huge power source and a matching truck and arm to just handle... Thank you once again.
Excellent video!!! Keep up the good work!
Thank you so much for this video. It is absolutely excellent.
The fireflies are a nice touch.
Great video! Very informative and easy to follow. 😀
1. One of the best videos on the subject I've seen.
2. One of the best arguments, also, for building one's own, small backyard observatory, rather than going through this every...damned...time. Lol...
Thanks. Yeah, wish I owned property so I could build a backyard observatory. Unfortunately, now I'm living in Boston in a third floor walk-up, so it takes even longer to set everything up. But I am still out there on most clear nights because I love it. :)
Excellent tutorial video. You are an excellent teacher, if I may use that word for description? Well worded, well thought out, excellent knowledge of equipment and excellent tutoring to a basic level for all to understand. I subbed and will be watching your work. Saving this video for reference.
Thank you very much for sharing your knowledge with us. Very interesting and useful.
My pleasure Felipe! Clear skies, Nico
Great video. Thank you for taking the time to show us how you set up your equipment. I am brand new to astrophotography. Got an explore Scientific 127mm Carbon Fiber Refractor Scope and the EQ6-R Pro Mount for Christmas. Also got a whole lot of accessories, cameras and all of that. Haven’t taken my first pics yet but looking forward to getting started with it soon. If you’re ever in the Bucks County area in Pennsylvania, let me know. I would love to meet you and talk about this amazing hobby over coffee or something like that, if that’s ok with you. Anyhow, take care and looking forward to watching more of your videos soon. Regard, Pablo.
Great setup! Yes, I'd love to meet up if I'm ever in the area.
Great video Nico! Can I suggest that when you are centering Vega while running frame and focus, click on the Crosshair checkbox so you get it more exact instead of eyeballing it
Thanks for this! I learned something new about PHD2!
Ahh, good idea Pete! Always looking for new tips.
Great video, thanks for sharing. Just one tip about the 1 star alignment with eqmod. From the user interface for the alignment points, drop down menu, you can pick Append on Sync instead of Dialog based. This allows you to slew the mount with CDC, center the star using the eqmod mouse button slew pad and then add this as alignment point using sync from CDC :-)
Thanks George! These days I am mostly lazy and use the “Solve and sync” button in SGP, but this is good to know!
Hello Nico Carver, I just watched the whole video. I think you have done a good job going through the steps, because other videos do not give such details of the set up. I am an electrical engineer and I always wanted to have my telescope. But now in the electronic age I stumbled across ORION Premium 190 mm and felt drawn to buying it along with Atlas GoTo mount, because they seemed automatic enough for me as a beginner.
However, you seemed to have struggled somewhat, compared to another video I saw, in which GoTo instruction worked effortlessly, while ORION does not have any demo of their product, showing astro-photography in action.
I will find your opinion extremely valuable, about my desire to do astro photography, as a beginner. Also do more videos, showing how different gears compare. Thank you.
Thank you, dear, sir, for your absolutely amazing instructions to capture deep-sky objects!! Well done in every way! Wishing you all the very best! Stay blessed!
Some quotes from the book of Psalms! " When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; Psalms the heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handiwork. P Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge."
love the fireflies in video!
Once you got everything set up and were working on the laptop I thought you could have explained what you were doing more. You would switch between programs but not say why, and what you were doing. Setup was excellent.
This is a great guide video for setup. thanks
Glad it was helpful!
This looks amazing. But (being from the UK) my first thought just after you'd started plugging in all the electronics was "And now it rains..."
Nice video nice content as always. You never disappoint. I would suggest you to please make a video on best DSLR/ Mirrorless cams in 2020 for beginners in astrophotography.
I wasn’t sure if i was watching steve carell or kevin spacey. But who ever you are. Thx for this great explanation vid.
or Anthony Hopkins in his younger years
On my modified dslr camera, I use a quartz silica glass lens that allows the light spectrum of the UV, color, and IR to enter the camera better than a glass lens. I also use it for my guidance camera, which allows twice as much light to enter. My Sharpcap sees twice as much for less exposure time. A good tip to improve light gathering in your cameras.
Awesome video !
thank u for sharing your knowledge this is the best vdo on equip and tools software accessories for astrophotography
Glad it was helpful Shyam! Clear skies, Nico
@@NebulaPhotos shyamrathod@gmail.com
India
Thanks again for your great VDO and all efforts u took in making it
Nice work!
Great video...think I may need to get me SGP! Very nice bit of software.
Hi Nico. I like your videos. Your video about how to do the Hubbel palette, & how to "stretch" the histogram is the clearest video out there. I wanted to warn your viewers though: the marine batteries at walmart are junk. You will be lucky to get one year out of them. Two years at the most, even with light useage. I know this from experience. It saves money in the long run to buy deep cycle batteries made by Interstate Batteries. The cost is slightly more (& often negotiable) but they last a lot longer.
Interesting, my Walmart battery is still working well at 3 years in. When it dies, I will look for interstate though, thanks for the tip!
Great video! The tech is fascinating but scary, and far beyond anything I'll ever encounter. (I'm based in Yorkshire in the permanently cloudy north of England and just do a bit of visual observation of binaries and variables with mounted binoculars these days.)
My closest connection to Nico's evening was those 11-pound counterweights. Speaking as a small but ridiculously top-heavy lady [5' 6", 9½ stone], two of those weights are precisely what my poor bra (and aching back) has to contend with every time I stand up.
Three cheers for sit-down astronomy!
who do we love ? NICO who do we love ? NICO who do we love ? NICO
thank you so much for the great video, so entertaining and helpful , just subbed to you and waiting for ur upcoming videos, much love
Watched your whole video , very good. I use most of the programs you showed, not eqmod but may try that. I have SGP but have not figured it out of yet. Thanks for the info. I guess you are in Newark DE. Was in New Castle yesterday, I live in Edison NJ... Weather has been so bad here it is hard to learn new stuff because of not using for such a long time. Anyway thanks for the info, hope to bounce some stuff off of you in the future if you dont mind.
Steve
Sounds good Steve!
Alex McConahy has an excellent guide for getting SGP all set up and ready to go here: alexastro.com/Alex%20Home%20Page/Articles/SGPFirstWeekv31.pdf
Once you have it set up and understand the basics, it is a joy to use.
so much firefly ! I had to double take thinking these were glitches !
Excellent video!
Cody Kellogg thanks!
Get the NOCO Genius 4 amp or higher battery charger for your Minn Kota battery. Charges pretty much any type of battery. Great show.
Thanks for the good work
thank you very much, its fore me a beautiful video en i learn allot .. thank you.
Good video.. While I was using a tripod I noticed I could make the tripod a whole lot more stable using a corkscrew metal dog tie down screwed into the ground below the center of the tripod. Then I fashioned a way to attach the corkscrew metal dog tie down to the tripod right below the spreader with a ratchet strap. As I tightened down the ratchet it applied about ( my guess) #75 pounds to the weight of the tripod which made it way much more stable. In fact I could practically run into the tripod alone and it not move at all. Using this while looking thru an eyepiece and tapping the tripod, what vibration there way ,was little and it dampened down quickly. The first time I tried this as I remember the large threaded bolt that go's thru the spreader into the mount base I was able to use a metal piece that was threaded and would fit the bolt to which on the opposite end I put a threaded eye bolt and put the metal hook ring from the strap on the eye bolt. Just saying it worked for me.
Great idea! Thanks for sharing it Frank.