brucew29 Loc: Cincinnati, Ohio

Well I finally received my new Celestron CGEM-DX computerized tripod mount to use with my 10" Newtonian scope...
Now I need to get to know how to use the scope and mount, and to improve upon my Moon photography techniques...
Late last night, after checking the weather forecast and checking the radar, I went out and setup my mount and scope...
Early this morning at 4:00am I got up and drank a cup of coffee or two to get the sleepiness out of my weary little eyes...
Well the shoot didn't go as planned... somehow I had the ISO set at 3200 instead of ISO 1600 as originally planned...
I had to hand hold my 2x magnifier since I was using my Canon 6D which doesn't have the metal frame around the screen for the magnifier's magnet...
So I fumbled around for a while until I thought I had the best focus... at the end of the shoot I realized that I had forgot to lock the focus on the focuser...
Hopefully the focus held under the weight of the camera body... I took about 1,000 shots more or less... I took the photos in burst of 4 shots at a time...
I haven't reviewed all of the Moon shots but I hurriedly skimmed/skipped through the shots and grabbed one that looked halfway decent and processed it...
Later I hope to adapt my Dynamax 8 to the new tripod... I need to remove the Dynamax 8 from it's fork mount and purchase some telescope rings to mount
the Dynamax onto the new tripod...

The Moon was at a low angle, so a lot of shimmering atmosphere for this photo shoot... I took the photos over a 2 hour period...
I had to tape a white hankie onto the 22lb counter balance weight... the weight was black in color and I kept bumping into it...
I had to use a lot of Mosquito repellant... I cursed several times during the shoot but nobody heard me...

P.S. Please excuse typos, word omissions, and poor grammar... still half asleep or just don't know better...
Also, Moon image rotated for easy Download viewing...

(Download)

SonnyE Loc: Communist California, USA

WOW! Bruce. Great image!

I'd say you are off to a great start.
It's always a little bumpy at first. Still is for me.
Just learn from the bumps and in no time you will be sailing along amongst the stars.

CraigFair Loc: Santa Maria, CA.

Beautiful Bruce, glad you moved up to the CGEM DX.
Craig

Albuqshutterbug Loc: Albuquerque NM

That is really looking good for a first effort.
If your camera can shoot video, you might consider doing video, converting to AVI and stacking images.
It's a different learning curve but the results are really nice.
Just something to consider.

brucew29 Loc: Cincinnati, Ohio

Thanks SonnyE... much appreciated...
I was busy during the waxing stages of the Moon so I had to wait for the Waning stages...
I hope to try again in the morning if it is clear and if I can get up in time... I often stay up late until 1 or 2 AM...
I'll check the weather forecast and if it is good I'll set my scope up tonight and hopefully get up around 4:30 AM...

gwong1 Loc: Tampa, FL

Bruce, Great image, now get some rest! Sent a PM. Gary

dlmorris Loc: Loma Linda, Ca

But after all that, a pretty decent shot.

brucew29 Loc: Cincinnati, Ohio

Thanks Craig... much appreciated...

I got the CGEM-DX at half price... I usually take my time and wait for sales... sometimes I get a better sale than expected... patience pays!
It is hard to believe how rock steady the unit is but I must admit that I had to do some tuning on it! I also set it up so the polar axis was just a tad
out of balance so the imbalance rotation would slightly be in the direction that the drive turns the scope and making tracking much easier on the drive motor ...
I also added an electronic focuser so I would not have to touch the scope... so using two controls I can completely control the scope without touching it...
I'll use the Wi-Fi on my Canon 6D so I can also change camera settings and take photos without touching the camera... I also need to get some extra
metal frames for the LCD screen on my Canon 6D so I can attached the magnetic magnifier hood base to the camera's LCD screen so I won't have to hold
the magnifier hood .

Later I am going to use my friend's construction transit so shoot true north and then place a surveyor's stake with a PK spike in it and located in my rear
yard about 50 feet away from my proposed telescope tripod location. I'll place the transit exactly where the tripod will be located. Before shooting true north
I'll set the telescope tripod where I want it and press the tripod legs into the ground with one leg pointing GPS northward... I'll use the tripod leg ground
impressions and use a post hole digger to dig tripod alignment holes and then place concrete solidly in each hole... when the concrete just starts to set I'll
place just the tripod on the partially wet concrete and press the tripod slightly into the concrete making adequate indentations into the concrete while making
sure that the tripod is perfectly level. After the concrete sets I'll have fixed placement points for the telescope tripod legs. Using the concrete set points,
I can then use the construction transit to set the true north guide hub. The guide hub will make it extremely easy and accurate for setting up the tripod
any night my little heart desires! Maybe I am making this too complicated but it would be extremely accurate! Any better ideas about how to go about it
while achieving the same accuracy?

Oknoder Loc: Western North Dakota

For the best accuracy, and considering you are planning on pouring a concrete pad anyways, you could pour a concrete pier constructed out of a piece of sonotube.piers help to eliminate the telescope from striking the pier and messing up the alignment. They make all weather covers to protect your scope from the elements so removal is not necessary. With this setup you could then drift align to get near perfect polar alignment. Instead of rings you could also look into a simple dovetail instead of full set of rings.

BTW great image,
Matthew

brucew29 Loc: Cincinnati, Ohio

Thanks Albuqshutterbug... much appreciated...
I tried stacking but didn't have any success with it... had better results with Photoshop processing...
I tried that free download of Registax 6.1 but couldn't get it to work properly... maybe it was my photos
or I was doing something wrong...

brucew29 Loc: Cincinnati, Ohio

Thanks Gary... much appreciated as always...

I have been buying many new toys lately... I usually don't do that unless I run into a really good price...
I don't like paying full/fool price for anything unless I am forced into it, and that is a rare oddity for me!

SonnyE Loc: Communist California, USA

Hi Bruce,
I've come to the conclusion I couldn't stack cans of beans on their sides in a box.
So I stack with time. Lots and lots of time....

brucew29 Loc: Cincinnati, Ohio

Bobspez Loc: Southern NJ, USA

Great picture and great detail. Before I had tracking on my 4.7" refractor I took video of the moon slowly passing through the frame of the camera as the earth rotated. It looked a lot like video taken from the moon orbiter.

brucew29 Loc: Cincinnati, Ohio

I know about that effect... I have an old B&W video tape that I took of the Moon about 30-35 years ago... I didn't have a drive on my old 10" Newtonian Reflecting telescope ... I was using my homemade mount... it looked like the orbiter "Snoopy" flying around the Moon... really neat effect...