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02-13-2014, 07:53 AM   #601
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QuoteOriginally posted by Stone G. Quote
Thank you dqniel,

I believe that my best answer will be to direct you to my page with Astrotracer sample images:

DSLR Astophotography: Astrotracer Images with Pentax GPS Unit O-GPS1

On the more general level, I also have this page on camera settings to refer to:

Camera Settings for Astrophotography

Good luck - and have fun!
An update for you and others that have helped me:

I decided to purchase just an O-GPS1 to use with my Manfrotto 725B (lightweight but sturdy tripod with integrated ball head). The lower cost, light weight, and somewhat simple implementation of tracking lured me to it. I figured it would be good for starting out, and should pair well with my Pentax K5-II, 14mm f/2.8, 35mm f/2.4, and 70mm f/2.4.

It is set to arrive today! With any luck, I'll get good enough weather to practice calibration and whatnot before I leave for Mexico next week. If I have a good experience with it doing ultra-wide field AP, then I'll soon be in the market for manual focus lenses in the 100-200mm range that are well-suited to AP.

Thanks again for all the advice, and I'll make sure to post my first results for you to see!

02-13-2014, 08:41 AM   #602
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Congratulations with your purchase(s) dqniel.

Mike SF has posted a number of very fine Astrotacer images with wider lenses, where he mixes sharp foregrounds with sharp star images. Just one example here for possible inspiration:

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/38-photographic-technique/199177-astropho...ml#post2559623

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/38-photographic-technique/199177-astropho...ml#post2562567

Enjoy your trip to Mexico!
02-13-2014, 09:03 AM   #603
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QuoteOriginally posted by Stone G. Quote
Congratulations with your purchase(s) dqniel.

Mike SF has posted a number of very fine Astrotacer images with wider lenses, where he mixes sharp foregrounds with sharp star images. Just one example here for possible inspiration:

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/38-photographic-technique/199177-astropho...ml#post2559623

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/38-photographic-technique/199177-astropho...ml#post2562567

Enjoy your trip to Mexico!
That's exactly what I plan on doing. His exposure info and method should be quite useful to me.

I'm excited to try and shoot the rocky coastline, and whatever other interesting landscape features are near our house, and then composite them with shots I do with the Astrotracer.
02-22-2014, 04:01 AM - 1 Like   #604
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fps+large buffer=love


02-22-2014, 04:26 AM   #605
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Good catch. Like it.
02-22-2014, 09:58 AM   #606
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kpTriggerCord

Hello Forum,

After some experimenting with my Pentax K-5 I was looking for remote control from a PC.

A few days ago I discovered a fantastic open-source tool called kpTriggerCord.

It allows to remote control the K-5 but also other Pentax camera's via the USB port. The tool requires GTK2 and is available for Windows, Mac and Linux.
I only tried the Windows version and yes it works.

The GUI in this tool allows changing some parameter values and taking pictures.

Does someone have experience with this tool?

Are there programmers around knowing how to connect to other functions in the Camera? Reference documentation for the API etc?

From the tool web-site pkTriggerCord I learned that with the command line a lot more parameters can be controlled.

Stefan
02-22-2014, 10:11 AM   #607
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QuoteOriginally posted by noste99 Quote
From the tool web-site pkTriggerCord I learned that with the command line a lot more parameters can be controlled. Stefan
I all originates from the same guy in Poland. Have you tried this version:

PK_Tether

02-22-2014, 10:19 AM   #608
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Hi Stone G.
Yes I am working with it right now.
It still has some small things that can be improved but it is really what I need.

Important to mention is that the tool hangs after the third picture taken with automatic delete and save. This is probably due to the fact that some small previews are presented and there is only place for 3 in the window.

This evening I am going to calibrate the focussing of my samyang. I have now a robust mounting of my K-5, a x2 tele-converter and the 800mm samyang.
Finding the focus of the set up is still difficult. Now that I have the camera connected to the PC, I can take pictures and directly analyse them with AstroImageJ or just ImageJ. I hope it will work.

Regards,

Stefan
02-23-2014, 02:56 AM   #609
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QuoteOriginally posted by peos99 Quote
Ok, not perfect but good enough i Think. Pentax K-5 + Pentax 55-300, handheld


The moon above Stockholm tonight nov-17



Last week over Houston, K5, 50-300 tripod.
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02-23-2014, 01:23 PM   #610
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QuoteOriginally posted by Stone G. Quote
I all originates from the same guy in Poland. Have you tried this version:

PK_Tether
I am not able to get PK_Tether running on my XP box. I installed .NET 3.4 and 4 but when it starts it generates an error report to be sent to Microsoft and than quits.
I wil have a look to the source files. They must contain all the details about how to connect to the camera and which functions exist.

St
03-05-2014, 09:57 AM   #611
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Leo Triplet

Last DSO image I will get with my old mount. Upgrading to a better mount.

Nexstar 8se, 1280mm f/l, f6.3, LPR filter, 17 x 180" exposures

Pentax k5, ISO 800, pktether, daylight balance, DNG raw
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03-06-2014, 09:00 AM - 1 Like   #612
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Well, I'm back from Mexico and looking through my first attempts at some rudimentary astrophotography using the OGPS-1 and my K5-II.

There's good news and bad news:

The bad:

-The tourism explosion in Cancun has spread all the way to south of Tulum, so the while the area in which I was staying might have had truly dark skies as recent as ten years ago, the recent addition of mega-resorts has tarnished it. I had better viewing conditions than in the suburbs of Cincinnati, but not by much... it takes just a few mega-resorts to make a lot of light pollution.

-The tracking results with the OGPS-1 provided mixed results. I won't go into all the details, but the tracking was sometimes steller (like when using the 70mm f/2.4), mediocre (like when using the Vivitar 13mm f/2.8), and poor (like when using the Tamron 28-300mm @ 300mm). I'm sure a lot of the issues can be attributed to user error, so I'll have to see if I can improve the tracking results with practice.

The good:

-I was able to see some Messier objects with the naked eye on a few nights, which was new for me. It's nearly impossible to spot them near Cincinnati.
-I got a few decent (for a beginner) images using my OGPS-1 and the 70mm f/2.4.

ISO 800
100 sec
f/3.2 (to minimize purple fringing)
Cropped a lot, removed purple fringing and edited curves in PS

03-06-2014, 04:33 PM   #613
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Good result, thank you for sharing.
03-20-2014, 06:37 AM - 2 Likes   #614
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Hello, this is my first post on this forum

I'm going through my photos on my hardrive to contribute

This is Leo triplet, shooted with a K10 in 2010 with my Orion 80ED (600mm@7.5)
ISO 800, 12x180'' and a few darks for a total time of 43mn 51s
Photoshop and lightroom

03-21-2014, 07:46 AM   #615
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Thor's Helmet NGC 2359

Thor's Helmet (NGC 2359). Tons of light pollution hazing over this image. At it's heart beat a Wolf-Rayet Star. They shine 100's of thousands of times brighter than our own sun. Image is from 22 six minute exposures.

Celestron c8 f6.3 on skywatcher neq6 pro mount.
meade 4000 series broadband light pollution reduction filter

pentax k5, iso800, 22 x 360" exposures.
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