[VSTAR]

Hi Bob. Welcome to the forum. The K1 is certainly a challenge when first starting, but with practice, the instruction manual, and the excellent ebook by Yvonne Bourque, it becomes easier to use and more predictable. The ebook can be purchased on this site. You paid how much for the camera.....get the ebook, turn to page 289 and read the next few pages about the GPS and astrophotography. Astrophotography is not my specialty but you can always reach out to me, as I am in Toronto, if you have any questions about the camera, lenses, accessories. Best of luck with the camera! Regards, David.

[Bob King]

Thanks Viking42. R u into astro stuff? If so, any particular places you find good. I am new at this, bought the Pentax book and read most of it. Now if we can only get some clear nights .
Bob

Cool! Say, let's hear you say, "out". How about "house" and "mouse". I've been watching "Murdoch Mysteries" recently, and it bugs me that no one on that show, despite being set in Toronto, pronounces those words correctly.

[normhead]

Cool! Say, let's hear you say, "out". How about "house" and "mouse". I've been watching "Murdoch Mysteries" recently, and it bugs me that no one on that show, despite being set in Toronto, pronounces those words correctly.

For some reason that show has a very high proportion of newfies. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

For some reason that show has a very high proportion of newfies. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

They just started showing it on local TV stations (i.e., via conventional broadcast) around here very recently, and one station has that show on, one episode after another, for hours and hours on Sundays. I'm already sick of it. The early ones were pretty good, but the latter mostly seemed to be political propaganda.

[Viking42]

Thanks Viking42. R u into astro stuff? If so, any particular places you find good. I am new at this, bought the Pentax book and read most of it. Now if we can only get some clear nights .
Bob

Hi Bob,

Sorry, virtually no experience here with astro photography. Wish I could help you with the technical side of that, but there are plenty here who know their stuff on that topic. As for locations, I've always liked images including water and lighthouses or other related structures. You might snoop around Georgian Bay, Bruce County, Lake Huron shores, etc.... maybe western Lake Erie shore too. They should be far enough away from the big cities to give you minimal light pollution. Hope this helps.

[eddie1960]

Thanks Viking42. R u into astro stuff? If so, any particular places you find good. I am new at this, bought the Pentax book and read most of it. Now if we can only get some clear nights .
Bob

Hi Bob, I am not really an Astro guy (though like you would like to know more) you will find the best Astro shooting in Ontario at the Dark Sky Preserves, sadly none really just a day trip drive as they are a few hours each way

Dark-Sky Preserves - Plan your visit

lists all the dark sky preserves inCanada

Closest to us in Toronto is the Bruce Peninsula Park or have a look at the Royal Astronomical Society pages there is a load of info there

Dark-Sky Sites | RASC

sadly under current rules we will have to wait until probably spring before being able to hit the best sites (too bad because clear winter nights while cold I would think are the best (plus far enough north you may get northern lights

[mkgd1]

Welcome to the forum, from Arizona.

[Bob King]

Cool! Say, let's hear you say, "out". How about "house" and "mouse". I've been watching "Murdoch Mysteries" recently, and it bugs me that no one on that show, despite being set in Toronto, pronounces those words correctly.

I am actually from Nova Scotia (Covid9 free) , why did I come to Ontario back in 75. On the phone most people ask me right away "What part of the East Coast are you from?" My accent must be pretty thick. So here I go. Out. How's that?

[WhatsMyNameAD67]

Welcome from Tennessee!

[Bob King]

Hi from Australia. There’ a range of e-books covering many Pentax digital cameras available through the forum site. Please follow this link Pentax eBook Sale - 30% off until January 12th - PentaxForums.com

The Astro features on the K-1 are great. Basic tips are:

GPS must be on and given time to get a location lock.
Turn on Astro function via the camera menu.
The e-compass needs to be calibrated each Astro session. This can take a couple of goes. It involves rotating the camera through its three axes. The camera will tell you when calibration achieved. This is needed so camera knows what direction it is pointing to and at what angle to the horizon.
Calibrate and use camera away from any large steel objects eg your car, shed which can introduce local magnetic anomalies to the e-compass.

Hi Peter, Australia, a place I always wanted to visit but from what I have seen on Nature Programs, I could be looking at the stars and get gobbled up by an alligator or whatever you call them. My wife would never accompany me to travel to Australia so I guess it is not likely to happen.
I have no problems setting up the GPS, or astro tracker, but I am waiting for a new tripod, my current one is very old and is not steady enough.

[MSL]

Welcome. As you can see from above, quite a few of us from the GTA. Also quite a few of us, including myself, that know nothing about astrophotography. But there are a few forum members who post some stunning shots, so you might start by looking at what others have done and then posting any specific questions you have. Quite a few of us started out that way, whether it was for macro / portrait / landscape photography.

I am actually from Nova Scotia (Covid9 free) , why did I come to Ontario back in 75. On the phone most people ask me right away "What part of the East Coast are you from?" My accent must be pretty thick. So here I go. Out. How's that?

Perfect. Tidewater Virginia (where I'm from) and parts of N.Carolina were settled about the same time as the area around Toronto, and by people of similar social class and geographical origin, at a time when the pronounciation of that "ou" diphthong was changing in England from the Norman French ("OO", as still done in Scotland) to the "OW" sound we get from most folks in the U.S. today. Funny thing, though, is that it changes depending on whether the subsequent consonant is voiced ("proud") or unvoiced ("house").

Fun facts to know and tell; collect 'em, trade 'em, feed 'em to your friends!

[STARHUNTER94]

Welcome from North of Toronto

You're in the right place to learn more about all things Pentax, including Astro. Don't get discouraged: this time of year is hard when learning in the cold!

[Bob King]

Your Astro failure is pretty vague. Have you got some images to share? Specifics of what you were shooting? There are more than a couple of us “just west of Toronto”.

Issues like calibration, focus, decreased exposure times for Tele lenses, and in winter condensation are common issues. Finding dark sky is another difficult task (I shoot near Dunnville for some good dark skies). I coordinate moonless nights and a a dark sky website for darkest opportunities. Also time of year wise- the galactic core is easy shooting.

The album has exif intact for most images.

Pentax O-GPS1 / Astrotracer | Flickr

Matt,
I have a few photos to post. Unfortunately our Internet Service is not the best and the Chief of Staff is watching a movie in the next room. Whenever I upload big photos, the screen on the TV freezes and the Chief gets upset. So tomorrow (when the TV is off) I will download the photos from where they are and place them on a memory card and post them to the forum Thursday evening. Wed evening is too busy for me to do anything.