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Paul Romero
professor emeritus
Reged: 04/05/05
Posts: 556
Loc: Reno, NV
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Hi all,
I have a 115mm A&M APO refractor with a F 7 focal ratio. I have a mi-250 mount to support it. I also have a ST7 SBIG camera and a neximage webcame. I plan on using either a guide scope (f7 -f11) or an off axis guider to guide my scope and Pentax K1000 camera with a shutter cable.
Could someone advice me as to my chances for success for DSOs under a dark sky? I heard F7 is too slow for film..
thx,
Paul
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Nexstar 11 GPS
8'x10' backyard 'skyshed'
and presenting...."Sweet Pudding", my AM 110mm FLT on 'Max', a MI-250 mount.
travel: BORG 45EDII on an Astrotrac.
"Pablito Clavo un Clavito en la Calva de un Calvito"--by Jose A.
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ClownFish
Post Laureate
Reged: 04/26/05
Posts: 5600
Loc: Islamabad, Pakistan
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Wo.. isn't that like a $7,000 mount? You can do it at f/7 - but your exposures will be long. So you will need a very accurate Polar Alignment and probably will want to autoguide. The exposures may be over an hour.
I would do a 30, 45 and then an hour test shots. You may want to take 2 or 3 shots of 45 minutes each and stack them. Be sure to use a good astro film - like Kodak E200!
CF
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Learn all about POLAR ALIGNMENT with my Drift Method Tutorial and simulator!! Or visit my Foreign Service Blog!
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JBull
sage
Reged: 10/10/05
Posts: 401
Loc: Dallas, TX
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Wow, nice scope and mount. I think you could get some Great images. Plus you live in an area of the country with less light polution. You might consider a focal reducer such as the William Optics 0.8 or Televue 0.8 that would bring you to f/5.6 and flatten the field. But in any scenario you can do very well under dark skies. If you haven't already become familiar with polar alignment and tracking then visit Clownfish's site where there's a great tutorial. If you're just starting out with film go for easy targets and shorter exposures and work your way up as you get good at guiding. Take notes after each exposure about what you did right and what might have gone wrong, how long you exposed and sky conditions, etc. These things will show up when you get your film back. I bet you could get an awesome image of Orion Nebula on the first night with only about 5 minutes exposure. Good Luck!
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Jeff Bullard
Dallas, TX
Check observing forecast for astronomers anywhere in the world:
http://astroforecast.org:8080
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Paul Romero
professor emeritus
Reged: 04/05/05
Posts: 556
Loc: Reno, NV
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Hi,
Thanks for the advice, particularly exposure times. The scope and mount should work out good, but first I have to test the mount, as I bought it used, and hopefully it will turn out to be a good one. The film I have is not the E200, but the camera shop said it was almost as good; I think its Fuji brand. In any case my location in Texas is far from home, but as it is where I am working at the time, so I do need to get all my gear from home and bring it here. At that time, I will be able to be specific about the film, and other details.
will have to ship the film out for processing if I cannot find a HQ film processor/scanner here in MIdland, TX.
Ciao,
Paul
--------------------
Nexstar 11 GPS
8'x10' backyard 'skyshed'
and presenting...."Sweet Pudding", my AM 110mm FLT on 'Max', a MI-250 mount.
travel: BORG 45EDII on an Astrotrac.
"Pablito Clavo un Clavito en la Calva de un Calvito"--by Jose A.
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JBull
sage
Reged: 10/10/05
Posts: 401
Loc: Dallas, TX
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I do some work out near Midland too. There's an environmental lab on I-20 between Midland and Odessa where I work a few days each month. Not too far from Ft Davis where they have the UT-McDonald Observatory. Great dark skies out that way.
I use primarily Fuji Sensia 400 film which is very good for red and blue but always requires digital enhancement on the green channel to balance it out. Fuji Provia is supposedly better and Kodak E200 is by far the favorite among film astrophotographers. Note these are all slide film that require special processing. Regular color negative film can do an OK job too but not usually recommended. The only color negative film I liked was Fuji Superia Xtra 800.
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Jeff Bullard
Dallas, TX
Check observing forecast for astronomers anywhere in the world:
http://astroforecast.org:8080
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Paul Romero
professor emeritus
Reged: 04/05/05
Posts: 556
Loc: Reno, NV
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Jeff,
I hope to visit that observatorhy soon!
Paul
--------------------
Nexstar 11 GPS
8'x10' backyard 'skyshed'
and presenting...."Sweet Pudding", my AM 110mm FLT on 'Max', a MI-250 mount.
travel: BORG 45EDII on an Astrotrac.
"Pablito Clavo un Clavito en la Calva de un Calvito"--by Jose A.
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Paul Romero
professor emeritus
Reged: 04/05/05
Posts: 556
Loc: Reno, NV
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Hi all,
I found out what my film is. It is "Kodak Elite Chrome 200 film". I dont suppose this is the same as "E200" which has a large following, it is?
Thanks,
Paul
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Nexstar 11 GPS
8'x10' backyard 'skyshed'
and presenting...."Sweet Pudding", my AM 110mm FLT on 'Max', a MI-250 mount.
travel: BORG 45EDII on an Astrotrac.
"Pablito Clavo un Clavito en la Calva de un Calvito"--by Jose A.
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tommyhawk13
sage
Reged: 09/28/07
Posts: 492
Loc: Jacksonville, Fl
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Same film. If it is advertised as "professional", then it was just kept refrigerated. Someone here can correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think you need to spen the extra cash on cold film. For daylight shots, the refrigerated (fresh) film makes brighter colors.
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Meade Starfinder 8,Meade SN-8 OTA, Orion Atlas, and a handfull of film cameras
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Phil Jones
sage
Reged: 11/21/05
Posts: 289
Loc: TX
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I use to shoot through an F/8 refractor (FS128) using Fuji Provia 400 pushed one stop. On brighter objects (Orion, Pleiades, Eagle), this worked fine.
BTW...I used a ST-7E for autoguiding in a separate scope. This worked well.
-Phil
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http://www.visualuniverse.org
VisualUniverse Blog
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