Richard Higby Astrophotography
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Buy the best mount you can afford. Equal if not more money should be spent on the mount as on the optical assembly. Seek careful advice.
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Join an Internet Yahoo Astro Imaging group. Many have been where you are going.
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Join a local Astronomy Club.
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It can get cold imaging on a Winters night. Stay warm with layers of clothes. A beanie and gloves are essential.
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With portable mounts, mark the ground so that tripod placement is repeatable.
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Buy secondhand where practical and after testing.
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Level the mount with a long spirit level in all directions. Whilst not critical with many mounts, a level mount makes polar alignment easier.
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With the German type equatorial mount, balance is especially critical in all planes for accurate tracking. Hours and many images can be wasted if not observed.
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Mains power is always preferable to batteries.
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Tie cables together and preferably under a cover and under the tripod mount. Walking through wires in the dark by you or visitors can be an expensive disaster.
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Allow at least an hour for the optics to reach outside temperature. You will be amazed at how much difference this can make to viewing and imaging.
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Take as much time as needed to aligh the telescope to the Celestial Pole and test for accuracy via the various methods. After balancing, I have found this to be the next most important aspect to successful imaging.
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Nothing would appear to beat "The drift alignment method" for accurate alignment on the Celestial Pole with a portable mount.
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Fit your scope with an inexpensive"Red Dot Finder". This simple gadget speeds up alignment and "goto" capability.
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Also you must fit your scope with and 'anti dew' heater strap to negate "dewing". Once a scope's objective is "fogged", it is dificult to recommence imaging for that night.
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An auto focus device such as "RoboFocus" has been the best addition to my system and should be contemplated as one progresses.
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Finally take time to allow family and and friends to experience the universe at night through a telescope. I still remember and will never forget my first awe inspiring sight of the planet Saturn and its surreal ring system.
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Welcome to a challenging and fascinating hobby.
First, perservere and don't give up.
Richard Higby
A few suggestions from my own humbling experiences for those starting in this absorbing hobby.
