Posts Made By: John Krawczyk

I've had a 2.5 powermate for almost a year now and only recently got the T-ring for it. I wanted to try to image double stars and lunar features with it and my Nikon D70. It works quite well in that application. I have yet to try it on an extented object, but tonight i might try it on the Trapizium. Here is a sample.

Eta Cassiopeia. 12 arc seconds separation. Stack of (8) 13sec ISO200 images cropped to show at 100% resolution. My scope is a Stellarvue 102 f/7.8 doublet APO sitting on a G11. I figure i was imaging at f/19.5 and 1988mm focal length. I guided the exposures with my ST-4.

The results of doing this are encoraging and gives me something more to image with the D70. I suspect it will work with any CCD camera and i aim to try it out with the ST-402ME i ordered.

Very nice Jose!

I got the exact same image last night myself with my D70 and SV-102 apo. I processed mine with Images Plus. When i get home, im going to compare yours to mine to see which program does a better job.

Artistic effect. You take two peices of string and tape them in a cross pattern over the end of the dew shield. You either like them or you dont.

I've been using mine since i got it April 04. Its does a great job. I got it because i have Nikon lenses too and wanted a great terrestrial camera. I puts out a decent astrophoto with the proper processing. Im still learning the ropes on the processing end. Its a never ending quest for the perfect workflow and technique. Here are two of my best works so far with the D70.

http://ardenastrophotography.com/M42_final_halfsize.jpg
http://ardenastrophotography.com/m45_final_755k.jpg

Feel free to PM or email me if you have any specific questions to help you get going.

John Krawczyk
Crownsville, MD

Thats really nice image Jose! Your being too hard on yourself. Thanks for sharing it.

John Krawczyk

Excellent image Tyler. Looks like they got the scope fixed real nice for you. I bet your DSO work will improve too.

Hi Ivan

-I strongly recommend one. My skies are typically mag 4.5-5. Pretty bad. I consider the LPS filter a must have item.

-The image color shifts toward the cooler blue temps. I do one of two things. I readjust the color temp back to below 6500K or use a custom WB setting that i figured out by trial and error shooting. I have more success with changing the color temps and adjusting the levels for each color channel.

-a picture is worth a thousand words. The left side is an unprocessed image of NGC6888, the cresent nebula. Its a single exposure taken with a Nikon D70 at ISO800 for 3 min thru a 120mm f/8.3 achromat. The right image is the same oject, same camera, same scope only its an 8min exposure taken with an IDAS LPS filter in place. The images were taken on the same night during the summer when the oject was close to zenith. As you can plainly see there is a great difference. If that left side exposure had gone to 8 min you would see nothing but a salmon colord frame. To overcome the low red sensitivity of a unmodified DSLR, long exposure are a must. I cant do that without an IDAS LPS filter.

Hope this helps

Wow! Great job.

Nice job Paul.

I can't wait for a clear night to image jupiter with my 4" apo.

Outstanding image Ed!

You SCT guys are almost making me sorry for selling my C9.25. Almost.