How To Get Started in EAA

Astrophotography
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Hey folks! I stumbled across this video on everything you ever wanted to know about Electronically Assisted Astronomy (EAA), but didn’t want to look like a dummy, so never asked. I did not choose the route he talks about in the video, but I learned a lot that I think will help me anyway.

He’s a bit dry, but he covers putting together your own EAA setup very thoroughly.

He discusses the basics of what you need to get started, which I’ll summarize here.

  1. Tracking Mount
  2. Optical Tube
  3. Camera
  4. Software
  5. Computer/Tablet/Phone

At the end, he very briefly mentions the route I chose, the smart telescope, but if you already have a lot of the gear he talks about, you might want to put together your own rig. I built my own computers for about 20 years, and got a great deal of satisfaction doing so. I’m lazier now, so I choose the Smart Telescope route to EAA when I got interested in astrophotography.

Anyhow, here’s the video. It’s worth watching if you’re at all interested in getting started with EAA!

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I’ve subscribed to Curtis’ channel for over a year and he’s been a great help to me getting started with simple, inexpensive EAA.

His tutorials on power supplies, using headless computers for remote EAA, understanding backfocus all are very well done.

Here’s the video that got me started. I’m a die-hard visual observer, but i spent for the ZWO camera and am having fun with the results.

Vlad has additional EAA videos, too.

Here’s my early capture of M57, following Vlad’s instruction

https://photos.app.goo.gl/vrRT13sy6UD3PLFR8

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Curtis does very good videos! I like him!

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Here’s another way to learn more about Smart Telescopes. Our very own club member, Dave Cox, has literally written the book on smart telescopes. It’s available on Amazon, either e-book or hardcopy, at:

I like his writing style and highly recommend the book. He gave away a few copies at the last club meeting. Maybe he’ll donate some more in the future? Maybe at the Christmas Party drawing? (hint hint)