Newby Looking for a place to start

Equipment includes:10 hardin on an EQ MOUNT WITH RA clock drive Brand new unmodified Toucam Pro II 840k with moog adapter 2x Parks barlow. I have downloaded Registax and KC3ccd tools. Any information regarding frame rates,exposure control color correction and processing.Not very needy right? any help I get will greatly appreciated I look at all the pics you guys post and hope to master some of your skills.I've been been star gazing for about 9 months now and would like to try my hand at some planetary and lunar photos.Also I have a mini DV format video camera and 14mm radian with an adapter from televue to mount the Radian and camera to the scope for eyepiece projection.
Thanks
Rich

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Richard, congratulations, you got some nice equipment to get started with!

What I would do first is PLAY with it, get a feeling for what you have...

Shoot at the Moon first, BIG-EASY Target, practice your focusing techniques, play with frame rates/exposures/gain to see what's best for your setup...

There's no exact numbers/technique, only approximates, since changes in equipment/seeing conditions require different settings in the real world...


We will be around for any questions you might have while you play with your setup...



Clear skies, and enjoy!



Ivan

I second Ivan & Joe's suggestion. Shoot the moon first and get comfortable imaging craters and learning to point your scope, focus the image, and play with the camera settings. Try it without and then with the barlow. Learn how to re-focus when the barlow is in and out. After you've mastered that try your hand at Jupiter. It's a challenge at first finding the planet (turning the gain up high when searching for it makes it easier to spot and center). When focusing the planet, either use one of the nearby brighter stars or a Jovian moon, (again gain up high to find and center it, then back gain down to focus it as sharp as possible, then set the gain up high to find and center the planet.)