Let's introduce ourselves. - Forums

Topic starter

Feb 3, 2023

Hi everyone, my name is Andrew and I am from The NSW Central Coast at Woy Woy. I usually shoot from my backyard which is Bortle 4. I recently put up a big shed in to hold all of my scopes. When laying the slab for the shed I got the concrete extended to include an observing platform for me. The shed holds quite a number of telescopes that I have collected and used over the years.
The telescopes range from Ptah, the 25" Obsession Dobsonian, Hector JNR a 20" Dobsonian I have had for 30 years, Pluto an 18" Obsession, Arthur an 18" Astrosystems Dobsonian and Tyrion a 12" Skywatcher Dobsonian. The Photographic mounts range from EQ6-R, NEQ6, Siris EQ-G, and 2x Skywatcher Star Adventurers. The scopes used for photography include the Skywatcher 150ED, Orion 80ED, Meade 10" LX200 SCT, Skywatcher 8"f4 Quattro, and the Bintel 8"f4 Astrograph.
I have been interested in Astronomy since the age of 8 and started to photograph the night sky when I was 13. I never stopped visual Astronomy but I did stop photography. in 2004 I discovered my Planetary Nebula, Murrell 1 and in 2007 I was given the Lone Star Observers award at the Texas Star Party.
While I did stop shooting the sky I didn't stop Photography. In 2002 I started shooting Professionally part-time. By 2013 I took my Photography Business full time shooting Weddings and Events. in 2009 I purchased the Nikon D3s for my Wedding Business and discovered that it was great in low light and I started to capture Nightscape images with the Milky Way. I purchased the Skywatcher Star Adventurer to try my hand at deep sky via camera lenses. It has been a slippery slope since then with new gear being purchased regularly. My last addition was the ASIAIR Mini only this week which I used for the first time to capture NGC2647.

Peter Robertson

Feb 3, 2023

Hi Andrew, I am envious of your kit! I am just starting out on his hobby (< 2 years) and still pondering buying my first telescope. I enjoy seeing progress in my work but feel it is slow relative to others.

I have been using a Canon Ra, and a apc canon modified before that, along with Canon lenses (mostly 135mm, 300 and 400mm ) on a startracker. I have just purchased an EQ6-R and will try that with the 400mm lens before putting a medium sized scope on it. Plenty of clear skys in Perth but biggest problem is light pollution. I have a astronomik MaxFr 12 nm ha clip filter and I find processing images with that the most fun, perhaps because it deals with the light pollution and easier to process in PS. So thinking about trying narrow band soon, though I also enjoy the ease of using a DSLR. Getting out of the city more is also priority. Finally I appreciate any feedback.

Respectful Supportive

Jacob Heppell

Feb 3, 2023

Sounds like your a well seasoned astronomer there mate! With your set of gear, I can see why you'd love visual astronomy. I'll just have to get by with my 8" skywatcher goto dob!

Jeff Coldrey

Feb 3, 2023

Hi Andrew and others. I’ve alway been fascinated by science, which led me to becoming an engineer in Australia and the US. But nowadays I mainly manage people and financials, so astrophysics and astrophotography give me a much needed technical fix. I got hooked about 20 years ago when my boss lent me his Meade ETX for a couple of weeks. One look at Jupiter and its Galilean moons got me hooked.

And what a great bunch of curious and creative nerds!

Well Written Respectful Engaging Supportive

Frank Alvaro

Feb 4, 2023

Another Aussie nerd here 🙂. I'm located in the SW outskirts of Sydney, probably in a bortle 5-6 zone. I've been doing astrophotography for nearly 2 years now after a lifelong love of astronomy, and I love the technical challenges and the great reward of those final images (but they're never really final, are they?). The ASIAir was an easy and worthwhile entry into the hobby, although now I'm contemplating a move to NINA, which promises even more geekiness. I use the images from this group to choose my next DSO targets; so many great images here.

Frank

Well Written Respectful Engaging Supportive

Michael Worthington

Feb 5, 2023

Hi Andrew Et al,
I started AP around 2008-9 when the GFC was kicking in,
purchased an old EQ5 & 8"newt, and wanted to take pictures so I gaffed a $150 point&shoot to the scope.
Finally found some income and graduated through s short series of DSLR's from 450d - 5dmkii - CD5DS (cooled 5dmkiii)
Built a ROR obsy, fitted with a Pier & NEQ6 moonlight focus, SW 400mm guide scope & zwo guide cam.

1 year ago switched to the dark side, a QHY268M & FW Antila, and have only had one successful imaging session, as we've had approx. 2-weeks of clear skies for the past 4 years.
Started learning Pixinsight, currently using NINA & associated software, but I'm interested in "The Sky Imaging Bundle", has anyone had experience with that? & more so, is it worth it?

Michael Worthington (spaceworthy)

Jeff Coldrey

Feb 5, 2023

Hi Michael. I’ve been using TheSkyX with all of the associated plug-ins for about 10 years, and absolutely love it. The only exception is that I prefer to use PHD2 for auto-guiding. Hope that helps.

Might also be worth considering an extendable pier to get beyond those clouds.

Well Written Concise

Roger Gifkins

May 29, 2023

Hi Andrew and others
I fell in love with astronomy when I was 7 or 8, but I did have nightmares about infinity and the edge of the universe and such things. I still don't understand those aspects, but I don't stress on it like I once did! My first telescope was an 8" Newtonian in 1972 for which I ground the mirror and got the local plumber to roll a sheet metal tube. A clumsy beast but much used over the next 40 years. In 2010 I launched into astrophotography with a 4" refractor and a second hand mount, and quickly realized the need for a permanent observatory. I now have a shipping container with a roll-off roof in the back yard and a semi-automated setup. The current rig is a 6" refractor on a Paramount MX+ with a Moravian CMOS camera. I'm using NINA, TheSkyX and PHD2 to run the telescope and processing is done in PixInsight. I'm fortunate to live under Bortle 2 skies although near the east coast so more cloud than some places. I try to image every clear night, not that we have many of them any more!!!
CS
Roger

Helpful Insightful Respectful Engaging

Chris Evans

Sep 4, 2023

Hey, I'm Chris, got into mono narrowband imaging this year. I live in Suffolk, UK. Ex-RAAF pilot. Youtube channel here:

AstroCandyTV - YouTube

Des P

Dec 19, 2024

G'day All,

I'm a keen photographer with a passion for landscape astrophotography (nightscapes) and a fairly new interest in deep space. I live in Canberra, so have good access to some great dark sky locations nearby.

I shoot Fujifilm cameras and use a MSM Nomad tracker.

My personal website is at DesParoz.com.

Well Written

Alex Nicholas

Apr 2, 2025

Hey all,

I'm Alex, I'm from Brisbane and I've been into Astronomy and Astrophotography since 2008.

I've owned about 30 different scopes over the years, and cameras ranging from TINY CCD's through to MASSIVE CCD's (KAF-16803), and more recently, a few mid sized CMOS sensors… I'm currently 'settled' on a fairly basic rig with a mono APS-C CMOS camera, a 120mm f/7 triplet APO with a 1x and 0.8x flatteners on a little harmonic mount…

Its simple but quite powerful and versatile and I've been having a ball with it…

I still lust after a 150~180mm f/2.8 newtonian for hunting dark nebulae, and a 12" F/8 RC for hunting galaxies, but the single scope I have is wide enough for large nebs, fast enough with the reducer at f/5.6 for dark nebs/narrowband work, and long enough at f/7 for galaxies and smaller nebulae, and the upside is I can carry the mount/tripod/scope/camera, ready to image, in and out of the house in one hand…

Helpful Insightful Engaging