2. Our Astro tools  

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    Being an amateur astronomy beginner since about three years back, I now see that I made a lot of mistakes, mistakes I also see/read that other beginners do. So why not compile my experience, sharing it. As told in the first article, it doesn't need to be complex and expensive (relatively - camera and motor driven mounts will set you back some). 
    The rule number one, given by all oldies; "Do not buy your first telescope at the mall or a toy store". It's true, perfectly true. But, still, there is some of them, giving the newcomer a valid start experience. As I mentioned in the first article, in Europe, a German food chain call "Lidl" have for some years up to Christmas sold a Bresser.de special, Bresser Skylux El 900 mm/70 mm (Bresser has other names for it. "Mars Explorer/Jupiter"). After in 2011 helping a relative to buy a far more advanced scope to the spouce, getting to an even birthday, in Dec when out shoping, I did fell for for the temptation and bought one, $120. 
    This was my first modern telescope. I had had one as a boy, now long gone. The telescope proved reasonable good for viewing of Moon, Jupiter and Saturn, as well as looking at stars, but not for nebulas and galaxies; if your not living in a very dark area and have 20/20 vision, that is. 
    The eye pieces, "oculars", was a bit on the lesser side, me investing in a much better one, a zoom, that I now realize was to expensive and heavy. If today, I had gone for a good 25 mm and a 12 mm eye piece, both wide angle view as I mentioned in the first article. Have two today, $70/pp, and they are as good and cost together a mere 1/4:th of what the zoom eye piece did. 
    The Bresser also has a mirror angle, turning the ocular upwards for easier viewing, I also had to replace this for clearer and more pointed stars. Here I opted for a no-name prisma angle, which proved to be of very good quality. A good relation with the astro shop, to being able to return a tool not working to well with our scope, is invaluable. 
    But whats made the Bresser worth its $120, was that it had for the newbie an absolute ingenious mount. A similar solution can be found on the US ~$100 Vixen Space Eye 70mm starter telescope. They both have whats called a wedge. At the base, where the telescope "mount"/head joins the the tripod legs, there is a plate that lifts up to adjust for the viewer's latitude, making the mount, basically called an altitude-azimut (AltAz aka. enhanced photo tripod) mount, to an equatorial mount. Instead of having the telescope base parallel with the local horizon, EQ mode is parallel to the Equator. Therefore, in equatorial mode, we do not need to raise/lower the telescope, as needed with true AltAz mounts, in order to follow our object of interest's movement over the sky. We just swing it right to compensate for Earth rotation. 
    With an EQ enabled AltAz, we do not need to learn the spatial backward configurations of the pro EQ mounts, the GEMs. These, when passing the south and north meridians, they flip over, re-arrange themselves, breaking any ongoing photos. 
    Though these tripods is rickety rackety, this feature makes them perfect for beginners, wanting a manual first telescope. I still don't understand why not all beginners mounts are like this. Those GEM's that the oldies always recommends, in 70-80% of the cases, they ends up standing like dust collectors in a corner at home, never used, due to being to complex for us newbies. 
    An AltAz with EQ wedge adjustment is dead simple. If we live at 41 deg 40 sec north, we adjust to that latitude (eg, positioning the EQ plate to 90 - 42 deg = 48 deg). Then, having the mount's North arrow to really pointing strait to the north and we're in business. 
    We are now able to follow the objects good enough only with a radial (RA) sideways movement. These type of telescope mounts do it without any mm precision, but still good enough to just nudge the RA knob to follow. In my case, after a half year I added a simple $60 radial battery motor to my Lidl/Bresser Skylux, handling the RA movement and the scope was pretty self going, keeping my object resonable still in the eye piece for upp to 20 minutes. I was even able to take some one-minut shots of the Orion Nebula, M42. 
    It was not stable enough for serious astro photographing, but it does work for visual observation or sun videos (with special sun protection filter), for which I still use it. Problem was; after 6-10 pictures the drive starts to drift. If due to battery voltage changes or due to unevenness in the mount cog wheel, I do't know. 
    This was enough to force me to buy a more expensive set, one I today partly regret. But the Bresser is still my lightest and most field wise mount and I had liked to exchange the current resin based cog wheel for a brass one and a more stable drive. I still might do so :-). 
    Anyhow, the picture right, of the Dumbbell Nebula, Messier M27, is taken with my Lidl/Bresser Skylux tube, but on the more advanced mount, I will talk about below.  But before getting there, will these cheaper do the work for those only having a budget of max $200 for the telescope part. For visual observations, a telescope with a wedged tripod mount, a new eye pieces and a RA drive, as above, is a dead ringer for most newbies'. Easy to transport and adjust, keeping the object in the eyepiece for long periods. 
    To this, if having one of the simpler tripods, like my Bresser, we need to stabilize it. What I found out, the best way is one or two MDF board triangles, the points going a bit outside the tripod legs. Cut the points to a surface, that the tripod legs can rest against. Taper the surface, so we have a 100% contact between the flattened points and the inner sides of the tripod legs.  
    Then get one or two of those baggage belts with a metal tightener. Fasten the belt around the legs, under the MDF triangle, so it rests on the belt and tighten the belt. Do so that the legs gets pressed against the recessed triangle points, locking the legs for any side ways movement. This eliminates the side torque movements that is a big issue with these simple tripods and a cause to much of the vibrations. 
    On my Bresser tripod, I have two of these MDF boards, one smaller 20 cm just under the tripod top and one over the tripod ocular tray and stabilizer arms, seen in the picture here. On my SkyWatcher I have only one, under the tray. Do not try to use the belt without these triangles, then you do as I did, break one or all of the tripod plastic stabilizer arms. Had to make new ones from a square 1 cm wide aluminium curtain rod. 
    But this is about astro photo, so what to do, not to repeat my mistakes? Maybe the Vixen alternative above and a bit more expensive ~$120 RA motor can be more stable alternative. Allowing for some 10-20 sec stable shots. But I walked another route to get better pictures with my newly acquired Sony Nex-5R mirror-less DSLR camera. I went for a more expensive AltAz computerized telescope. 
    Albeight a good one, a package deal Sky-Watcher 1500 mm/127 mm Makutsov Synscan AltAz GOTO telescope and drive. But, as mentioned, it proved not right for me. This due to it lacking a EQ wedge, like on my Skylux, a lesson now learned. The included telescope, also of good quality, is a f-12.3 pure planitary scope, not particula good for Deep Sky, even stars get dim. However, the mount is very good and stable set for visual and planetary work. And you can mix tubes, exchanging these to adjust to different targets and light conditions. 
    I admit having taken some good photos with it, as seen in the gallery, using 30 sec exposures, but no photos longer than that is possible with this pure AltAz. If longer, stars starting to turn around center, creating startrails. After three years, plus 30 sec exposure is needed, if I am to go further. 
    Today, I would taken the chance and bough the Celestron NexStar 4/5SE datorized telescope mount, just the mount, around $500-550. It have what I lack on my Sky-Watcher, an integrated working wedge. It is computer controlled, so after adjusting, it should with acceptable accuracy, pinpoint those object we want to photograph, for at least 1 minute exposures. Sounds little, but still a lot in this "trade". 
    Since it in principle is the same construction as my mount, but with the extras for the wedge and EQ settings, it should be able to track as good as my Sky-Watcher and in EQ mode, maybe even up to 2 min. As telescope concerns, with the simpler manual mounts, I would start with a simple, non-packaged 500-800 mm/70-100 mm, refractor tube, not one of the most expensive ones, but a good "achromat" or "APO" for short, like SkyWatchers f-5 Startravel-102 tube, 500/102 mm, Bresser's f-10 700/70 mm tube or a similar one from the other vendors. Now, the seasoned astronomers reading this, will defintely whine and grumble about this "idiot" recommending a APO, when I should recommend a ED tube....... 
    Sure, I could have done that, but while the Bresser cost some $120 (including tripod) and the Startravel sets you back some $300, a "low-end" Astro 80 ED will cost some $750 and we're still newbies, learning. As seen right, an APO tube will display some "corona" haze around the stars. But, particular with the f-5 Startravel-102, they are to be at a minimum. Not many 500 mm ED-tubes around with the same performance can be found around $6-700. 
    With the Startravel, for the outer planets add a "Barlow" lens of good quality to increase focal lenght, this reviewer seems to have had good result with Jupier, using that tube. My experience with Bresser tube is that, sure, its not like my Makutsov or current main scope, a Skywatcher Evostar 80ED, but still, it's good enough as starter. However, I wished it had been the 700 mm version instead. 
    If going for a longer scope, a 6-700 mm, I also spend some money on a good 1990:ies used 400 mm telephoto lens and converter to the DSLR camera, and if going for Startravel, then a similar 300 mm lens. But these lenses need to be of so called "ED" quality glass or related, to do for astro photography. Talk to the shop, they to check if the right thing. My 1960:ies 400 mm was not good enough, it exibits extreme coronas on stronger stars, though it very good on area with few stronger stars. 
    How strange it may be, but such a lens might be your main photo tool. A 400 mm together with a modern APC-S DSLR is really a 560 mm tele lens, a telescope in it self. And very adaptable, that is my short experience of using mine. Such a lens is perfect for Andromeda or M33, even a bit to big for the North America and Pelican nebulas. I never tried mine on M42, the Orion nebula, due to the coronas, but I think a ED version of it had served me well. Also, many of the most capturing astro photos out on the net is done with 300 mm lenses. 
    If not already having a DSLR camera, look for a mid-size digital DSLR camera with exchangeable lenses, such my Sony Nex-5R (now Alpha 5200), Olympus/Panasonic new similar ones or, naturally, Canon/Nikon's. Samsung has a number of good priced ones, but I seen advices agains them, due to several of them having 10 sec exposure as max and also, it's not possible to turn of their noice supression. We want to do that with our processing program, not in the camera, since that is made for day photos. 
    Adding a 1,25" T-tube converter set, any of these can be attached to any telescope with a standard astro 1.25" eyepiece fixture. If a 2" fixure on the telescope, there exist T-tubes also for that. Ohh, the 30 sec exposures, I mentioned earlier. Note, you will see a lot of people complain in the astro webs, only being able to track objects for maybe 10 sec or less with their SkyWatchers and NexStars. If so, the mount is not 100% North aligned, not correctly matched for latitude and not adjusted with right stars. 
    Apart from photographing objects in zenith, which normally getting blurred if over 20 sec, I regularly use 30 sec exposures with my SkyWatcher. But more about adjusting in my "Navigation" article.  Anyway, this set of equipment, a good modern camera, a good remote function, the tele lens, a acceptable good "planetary" tube and the mount, with all converters between the camera and optics and telescopes, we have all needed for at least our first 2 years in the hobby. 
    And even if updating to an GEM EQ mount later on, these mounts and tubes will still be nice to have, to go out in the field, finding really dark places to observe from. Enjoy yourself and publish your results in any of the astro fora here on the "net".