How to Optimize Your Astrophotography Trip | 12 Tips for When You Drive to Dark Skies
🌌 Astrophotography Tips for Light-Polluted Skies 🌌 In this video, I share practical tips for capturing the night sky even if you live in a light-polluted area, like I do. Join me...
One thing I would recommend if you're going to a remote spot is a satellite communicator in case there's an emergency. I live in Oregon, so our dark skies are in the desert. On one of my car camping trips, I learned the hard way to not let the 12v battery drain lol. The result was me getting stranded for a day in temperatures that reached north of 120 degrees fahrenheit with no AC from the car. Thank god it was a dry heat so dousing in water to cool off worked super well. I'm lucky I had my communicator, or that nightmare would have been much worse than it was.
oh wow that sounds extremely scary! I have 5G service practically everywhere I go in the mountains, luckily!
Excellent tips!! Thank you! Also, can't go wrong with a collection of different sized zip ties and a spool of double sided velcro plus a roll of black gaffers tape. Also, probably goes without mentioning is to have a good lens cleaning kit.
I find myself saying "where's my good velcro" and I cringe at the sentence but it's true haha
Good tips... For the flat frames, use a tablet and set it to a white screen. Besides using it to control the setup with the ASIAIR, I also use it for the flats. I really liked the environment you created inside the car, very creative. Clear skies to you.
oh yes the iPad is great! I use it on smaller scopes as well. You gotta be very careful it doesn't fall, though :D
Many thanks...I think I would improve...the car ... California 4 motion if you add solar panels you can stay longer and more comfortably 😁
I can't afford to maintain 2 cars and I wouldn't want to be cruising around with an RV in town :D but I fully agree that would bring the experience to another level!
@the_space_koalaI live in between Rome and calabria but the short wheel base is only 4.95m your car is 4. 720 but without the roof terrace.. the Beach model with leather seats can work as both like mine and it has a spare battery 😁
A gas stove might be priceless for enjoying a cup of hot tea and/or for warming. Thanks for your tips!
Some really good tips here. I'll put some into my gear. If I have any ideas I will be sure and share them.
These are good tips. Thanks.
Nice tips! You discussed something about travelling by plane. In these cases, how do you do with batteries? I know that you cannot really bring lithium batteries with too high capacity with you on planes… How do you get power for your mount/camera/asiair then?
batteries are the most difficult part. At some places I was able to rent. During a long astro road trip last year I bought a battery and resold it at the end. You can also take 100Wh power banks on a plane, you can daisy chain them (if they support that) and you can purchase a USB PD - 12V trigger cable.
@the_space_koalaThank you for the reply! In your experience, how long will a 100Wh be able to power a setup like: zwo am5 + asiair + cooled camera?
sorry I just saw your response - a single 100Wh power bank provides very little energy (at 12V that gives you 20Ah on paper but in reality it's likely to be a lot less due losses in voltage conversion). I recommend getting at least 2 of them and minimizing your cooling/heating to save power.
@the_space_koala Thank you for your help :) Also, great videos in general, your channel is one of my and my girlfriend’s favorites on astrophotography! We are even inspired to make a channel about astrophotography thanks to you!
@AA-nh7pvaw thanks! Good luck to you guys with your endeavors, I hope you’ll do it!
You can carry equipment reassembled because you don't have to go off-road to get to observing site. I prefer to waste time rather than break equipment. However, my camera and oag and filter drawer are preassembled. Cables are bundled into harnesses too. Agreed about strain wave, the cw are the biggest pain point for me
I do go off-road. The last bit to get to some of my observing sites are gravel! Granted I drive carefully :)
@the_space_koalatry our observing sites 😂. I spend the first 1 hour fixing broken stuff in my trailer and I assume all my carefully padded and packed optical instruments are guaranteed out of collimation. Try 1 hour of rain damaged mountain gravel roads climbing 2000m to 2500m in elevation. I would never risk transporting my scopes with accessories attached on the roads I have to traverse.
@Hilmi12 haha you need to pack them as if you checking them in on a plane lol
Good tip Luca, on pre assembling as much as possible. Also Footwell (and, or wedged in) is the safe place camera/lens, Guidescope. Dusk and dawn is 'Deer Oclock' out in the sticks. If you have to emergency break for any reason, stuff in the car moves fast. Good tip, that you missed, is 'A windbreak' I have one with sectional alu poles and 1 metre high pre attached windbreak, which covers from tripod top to top of lens dewshield. Always in car, quick to assemble and move if needed. 'Flashlights' headtorch, you can't have too many. Tools, yes, once had to cut pieces of stick and knock in to a loosened tripod collar. Had penknife and hammer. Evening session saved. My Tripod to Wedge connection, is a reinforced wooden, block with a tightening screw, on a central tube. So Mount can be rotated easily. My entire gear cost less than the smaller Harmonic drive I think. But it's cool. Good tips.
Much appreciated! Regret not watching this earlier. I have a tips on lighting. I’ve got a strong LED chargeable light bar with magnets sticking outside the car instead of flashlight or headlamp.
Also a very good idea! Thanks for sharing
👍👍
That bubble wrap tip is brilliant!
And if it gets cloudy you have entertainment 😁
Wow! where is this location?
this is Lugano, Switzerland
that humidifier tip is actually an amazing idea that I am going to borrow!
It is - otherwise it’s like sleeping on a plane
Great job, common sense rules.😊
Space Koala, I will end up buying one of those Supermount tripods, just because there are no real alternatives on the market for "heavy" loads like my C9.25HD; I am still waiting for my Wave 150i to become available here in Italy, and I plan to use it with the C9 and a counterweight bar. Not considering the original ZWO/SW carbon tripods (bundled with their mounts), you will find that EVERY carbon tripod available will never spread its legs enough. Multi angle spreader are always useless to astrophotographers, just because one angle is too "steep" and the other is too wide open to the ground, thus reducing strenght and stiffness. I could say that "a tripod is for always" just like diamonds, and even a crazy price (you know what I am talking about) will be perfectly justified to me. Yet I still don't know which leg size to buy: 42 mm or 48 mm...but maybe it's not so important at the end.
they have 3 sizes I believe, I have the 2 smaller ones (42 and 48) and I think the maximum capacity changes only between them. For the C9 you can easily get the 42. I actually bought both of mine in Italy from Artesky - one was on sale in stock while the other one was ordered from Supermount - you can actually ask them to custom order it for you. Otherwise you can also order from Korea directly, they do ship to Europe.
@the_space_koala I just called Luca of Artesky several times in the last few days (we know each other pretty well now). It's nice that you think the 42 mm version would be good for imaging with the C9, as I am pretty sure prices will be greater now, and saving 200-300 euros would be good. Luca has no availability right now and I am still waiting for an answer about pricing. Finger crossed. You're great ;)...and thanks for the quick answer.
It's preferred to get a strong case to carry the precious RASA othe wise you may smash the camera with corrector place because I drop sweat during attaching my RASA to the mount.good luck😊
really? It is only like 8 kilos. If i have everything installed it is 10kg. How do you mount it? It is so much easier to point the DEC to due east or west and then you just gently place it on
@the_space_koala AM 5 mount but I consider the scope as brittle glass , I dropped (horrible mistake) 70 mm svbony scope because the mount nobes not fastened well (forget doing that) and the scope sloped down withe the 1/10th focuser bending mechanical damage but the optics was fine and the result the scope without fine focuser, I am very careful after that lesson to deal with RASA,my greeting to you.
Very smart. Great tips. ❤
@14:04 — that “adjustable clamp” is also called a “crescent wrench”, after the company who popularized that style. There are many types of adjustable wrenches now, including some with “no mar” plastic jaws. If you’re interested in that sort of thing, I’d encourage you to check them out.
Oh, and some of those adjustable wrenches can now be had in fiberglass or carbon fiber styles, so that you wouldn’t be putting metal close to your equipment.
wow thank you so much I need to get one immediately!