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Thread: Need Help with 15mw astronomy laser

  1. #1
    100% Recycled Pixels. Twigsoffury's Avatar
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    Default Need Help with 15mw astronomy laser

    hey!

    So i'm about to order a 15mw laboratory laser to mount on my telescope as a AF focus for my Camera. I've run into big problems with getting a perfect manual focus on my compact SLR camera and my friends 5mw laser was rather good at using as a AF assist lamp (just holding them side by side) so I'm thinking a considerably larger laser will easily function as my Galactic AF lamp for my newtonian reflector ^_^

    Hes an example of my problem from last week out west of the city.



    It's just...absolutely impossible to focus on something you can't see, not through a finder, and certainly not through a 3" LCD screen.

    I can use a bright star like this and dial it in manual focus, But anywhere by itself i'm stuck practically guessing what the focus point should be =|


    It goes great on the moon, But farther out objects are very hard, and nebula are absolutely out of the question, especially long exposures where focus is extremely important.


    Anyways my whole problem, is i need some ideas for the power supply, and ideally i'd like to use a resistor in tandem with a higher voltage battery pack so i could leave it on for longer periods of time. but... Ohm's laws kinda escape me as math has never been a good subject of mine. =p


    Anyways I hope you guys can help me, You've always came up with kick ass ideas in the past ^_^


    (lol taken at 4am in the morning @ a extremely high iso)

  2. #2
    The floppy drive is no longer obsolete. AmEv's Avatar
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    Default Re: Need Help with 15mw astronomy laser

    HS physics guy, right here.


    Just give me the battery pack voltage, the rating of the device (volts/amps), and I can help you out.
    Two years. They were great. Let's make the next ones even better!

    Tri.fecta

  3. #3
    Spam Sniper SgtM's Avatar
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    Default Re: Need Help with 15mw astronomy laser

    Get in touch with CJ (oneslowz2 too. He's been doing some killer astronomy stuff lately.

  4. #4
    100% Recycled Pixels. Twigsoffury's Avatar
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    Default Re: Need Help with 15mw astronomy laser

    Quote Originally Posted by AmEv View Post
    HS physics guy, right here.


    Just give me the battery pack voltage, the rating of the device (volts/amps), and I can help you out.

    2.800 to 3.00v operating input voltage

    <280mw operating amperage

    Now i'm not quite sure but i might go ahead and get a 40mw laser instead.

  5. #5
    Mentally Underclocked mDust's Avatar
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    Default Re: Need Help with 15mw astronomy laser

    Where are you getting the laser? Online? Have a link?
    I'll procrastinate tomorrow.

  6. #6
    If you can't hack it, you don't own it! Oneslowz28's Avatar
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    Default Re: Need Help with 15mw astronomy laser

    Any bright star you focus on will be more than sufficient focus for any object you can see with that scope. My buddies and I image with several different scopes and we always focus on a near by bright star. That is as close to infinity focus as any focuser you are able to buy will get. The laser idea is a good one but you are only focusing on that laser within a mile or two inside our atmosphere. You are not actually seeing it anywhere near close to your target.

    That is a nice dob btw! Here is my baby and one of my latest images.


    10" Meade LDX-55 Schmidt Newtonian on a Meade LDX-55 Goto GEM


    Taken with a 14" Meade LX200 with a 100mm William Optics Triplet acting as a guide scope.
    Last edited by Oneslowz28; 10-19-2012 at 09:57 PM.

  7. #7
    Mentally Underclocked mDust's Avatar
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    Default Re: Need Help with 15mw astronomy laser

    Whelp, I have a new, expensive hobby. Thanks Oneslowz28!

    How far outside of urban areas do you have to go to get such pics? The night sky is usually a dim yellow here. I've always wanted to take a trip to MI's UP to witness the Milky Way with my own eyes.
    I'll procrastinate tomorrow.

  8. #8
    If you can't hack it, you don't own it! Oneslowz28's Avatar
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    Default Re: Need Help with 15mw astronomy laser

    You could not have been more correct when you said expensive.

    You will need to be in a fairly dark sky. We wont even image if the milkyway is faint. It needs to be very visible before we will roll the roof of the observatory back for imaging.

    To get started you will need a telescope with a computerized mount. To get a shot like the one I posted you will need a minimum apeture of 8" for a Newtonian or 90mm for a refractor. The mount needs to be able to hold about 60% more weight than what your optical tube weighs also. This is because you will need to mount a second telescope onto it to use as a guide scope and you will also need to mount a dedicated Astrophotography CCD camera or at the very minimum a Astrophotography modified Canon DSLR.

    The Cameras. You will need a Canon DSLR. Nikon wont cut it here as they do not modify well nor do they play nice with any of the image capture software that is out there. Anything 1000d and higher will do. You will need to have that camera's sensor modified. I recommend Hap Griffin for the mod. This will run between $300 and $600 on top of what the camera cost. You will also need some sort of camera you can use for guiding. We use a Meade DSI II. This guiding camera will need to be mounted on a guide scope that is piggy backed onto the main imaging scope.

    You will need software to run the scope, automate the camera's imaging process and something to stack, stretch and post process all of the images you take as well. We use a combination of programs to control the scope, I like Registax for stacking, and Photoshop for stretching and processing.

    The image I posted above was a combination of 2 hours of exposure with 90 second subs . That means I took a 90 second exposure, waiting 90 seconds for the camera to cool down and took another one. There are also about 30 dark frames @90 sec each, 30 bias, and 30 flat frames stacked in there. All in all it took about 14 hours to produce that image and about $35k in equipment.

  9. #9
    Mentally Underclocked mDust's Avatar
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    Default Re: Need Help with 15mw astronomy laser

    Quote Originally Posted by Oneslowz28 View Post
    ...$35k in equipment.
    I think I've done all I can with this hobby. Next!

    Quote Originally Posted by Oneslowz28 View Post
    ...roll the roof of the observatory back for imaging.
    You work in an observatory now?!? Do you have more pics online anywhere?

    Also, does your equipment auto-track or are you sitting nearby, with beer in hand, making adjustments all night?
    I'll procrastinate tomorrow.

  10. #10
    If you can't hack it, you don't own it! Oneslowz28's Avatar
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    Default Re: Need Help with 15mw astronomy laser

    I don't work in an observatory. A friend of mine owns a 14" Meade LX200 that is inside a backyard roll off roof observatory. We guide everything with guide scopes and cameras and PCs. Here is our facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pleasantpoin...vatory?fref=ts

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