Astrophotography Tips
By Chris Vedeler

Astrophotography is an art and a science. It takes a lot of time and a lot of practice to get to where you can consistently get good pictures. I'm still learning new stuff every time I go out. I learned the most by trying stuff myself and seeing what happens. However, there where several times along the way I wish I could have talked to someone who had been where I was to help me figure out a problem. There are two internet news groups that have been invaluable to my amateur astronomy education: MAPUG (The Meade Advanced Product Users Group) and APML (The Astro-Photography Mailing List) I have written, and continue to write, articles to outline how I went about dealing with some of the issues that I have come across in the past two years. I am a very visual person and so I like pictures and illustrations. If I can see a picture I don't need a long explanation. I try and put pictures in when ever I think they would be useful.

Click on the sections below to read each article.

Meade f/3.3 focal reducer vs. Optec Maxfield f/3.3 focal reducer.
A real world test of these two f/3.3 focal reducers.

Focusing Tips.
A review of three different approaches to focusing for astrophotography.

A Test for Mirror Slop.
This is the results of a test I did to determine the effectiveness of the Mirror Stabilizer vs. no stabilizer vs. locking the mirror down completely.

Schmidt-Cassegrain Mirror Stabilizer.
For $1.50 and about 30 seconds of your time you can virtually eliminate image shift and focus problems with your Meade Schmidt-Cassegrain.

See how you can make your Meade Superwedge more stable.
An easy and inexpensive way to improve the stability of your Meade Superwedge mount.

Comments: ckvedeler@access4less.net


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