Astrophotography Japan / Unlevel Tripod Consequences (Episode 25)

[@bngwira]

Extremely good video. Presented in a very understated manner. Keep up the good work!!

[@jpastroguy]

Thank you kindly. I appreciate your interest in Astrophotography Japan!

[@MatthewHolevinski]

Thank you for the video Paul, excellently presented.

[@jpastroguy]

Thanks Matt. I appreciate the feedback. Thanks for watching Astrophotography Japan!

[@deepskytrekkin9600]

Thank you for taking the time and effort for this case study. The very bottom line for me is; take five minutes to properly level the tripod or take twenty + minutes to achieve a decent (i.e. not great) polar alignment. An accurate polar alignment is the foundation your images will rely on for the rest of the night.

[@jpastroguy]

@@deepskytrekkin9600 I agree. In principle, leveling is not necessary, but it definitely helps to simplify and augment polar alignment! Thanks for watching Astrophotography Japan! PAUL

[@deepskytrekkin9600]

​A couple of week ago I setup my CEM26 / Z61 but didn't take the time to get a decent level on the tripod. Just like you said I would get DEC within 1 arcminute and then as I attempted to dial-in the RA, DEC would go out of whack. Dial-in RA and then DEC would go out of whack. Chased this back and forth for nearly an hour settling for a mediocre polar alignment and images to match. So I will take to time to get a level tripod and achieve a great polar alignment in a timely fashion. (But most of my images are taken with a CGX mount siting on a 12" pier)

[@jpastroguy]

@@deepskytrekkin9600 Constant experimenting and constant learning is intrinsic to getting good at this hobby! Cheers!

[@nikivan]

You can attach your EQ mount to a vertical wall, and as long as it is polar aligned, it will track well.

[@jpastroguy]

After this experience, I now believe it! Except that polar aligning with modern software tools like the ASIAIR seem to be very difficult to use (for polar aligning) when the angle is too steep. But hypothetically, you are probably right! Thanks for the humor and watching Astrophotography Japan! Clear skies!

[@johnblack9499]

Great video. I've always been concerned about the levelness of my tripod. Now it seems I should focus on the PA. Cheers for a great video and research.

[@jpastroguy]

Hey John, thanks for watching. Indeed, I think an accurate polar alignment and good guiding is where we should focus. The entire process seems to be very forgiving; at least when using the AM5 mount and ASIAIR computer. But I think the results are generally applicable. Perhaps this video will alleviate some worry now that we have data to support it! Clear skies!

[@matthiasharbers2533]

Thank you very much for your lesson!! I also wish you Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and all the best for the New Year for you and your family! Hope we can met again in the 2024.

[@jpastroguy]

Hey Matthias, Happy Holidays to you, too! Lets meet up in Tokyo sometime for a beer!

[@kano2297]

🏅Thank you Paul, I found the answer to all my questions and I was searching but couldn't not find an answer?thank you very much 🏅🏅🏅🏅🏅

[@jpastroguy]

Sounds like you and I had some similar questions and ideas?! I`m glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching.

[@Paul-ds9fh]

Thanks for another educational video. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year Kind Regards Paul. Zeist, The Netherlands

[@jpastroguy]

Hey Paul, I am glad you thought it was educational. I appreciate your interest in Astrophotography Japan! And Merry Christmas to you, too!

[@zeitgeist8167]

Excellent

[@jpastroguy]

Thank you for watching! Clear skies!

[@natto_beer]

Hello. I just came across your channel. This video is just great. I can't see the north star from my observing location due to buildings blocking that direction, and I was also wondering whether my little rooftop terrace is actually level. Thank you!

[@jpastroguy]

Hi Dan. Based on your name (natto_beer), I am guessing you live in Japan??? Regardless, I am glad you found my channel. And especially happy that this video has relieved some of your "worries". I was surprised at some of the results, quite frankly. But the data speaks clearly! Clear skies!

[@natto_beer]

Expatriate here living one country over (s. korea), but I am in the Kansai region about 5x a year. I look forward to more of your content! よろしく@@jpastroguy

[@adventuresofshadowdog]

Thanks Dr. Paul! I learned a lot from this video. Really helpful. Much appreciated. Clear Skies!

[@jpastroguy]

It is nothing critical, but I think it is good background information to know. And rather surprising (some of it). Cheers!

[@berndkruger5030]

hello paul, thank you very much for this interesting video. It provides good facts for the eternal discussion about the need to set up tripods carefully. Please allow me to ask an off-topic question: It's about the ZWO TC40 tripod used here. In another video (SvBony SV225) you used a different tripod, the Geehope B560C. If you had the choice, which of the two tripods would you prefer for a visual setup with a 6-7 kg apochromat (magnification 100x)? I would be happy about a recommendation. Thanks in advance.

[@jpastroguy]

Hey Bernd, it's nice to hear from you. The TC40 tripod has a mounting platform that is unique for use with the ZWO AM5 mount. It is not designed to be universally compatible with various other AZ or EQ mounts. But even irregardless of that, I think the GeeHope B560C will be an excellent choice for visual astronomy-use with your telescope. Thanks for watching Astrophotography Japan!

[@berndkruger5030]

@@jpastroguy Thank you very much! Your assessment is very helpful for me. I'm looking for a stable base for the SV225 mount, which I bought after watching your video. I thought the TC40 would be suitable for it.....

[@BigBadLoneWolf]

Being out of level in N/S will have no effect, as it is negated by the alt adjustment during polar alignment. out of level E/W will be shown in dec accuracy

[@jpastroguy]

I am not entirely sure, but I think the data I showed supports those assumptions. Thanks for watching Astrophotography Japan!

[@kekkoukedarake110]

Never thought of an intentional unleveling impact on performances of mounts. How and where did you get such idea? Great explanations and reasons. I am well re-convinced leveling is very important to avoid any stresses on guiding and mounts. Guiding is also impacted by the observing angle from my past experiences, specially when using heavier telescopes. Less stress on guiding and mounts is always, I think, the base for better imaging. Merry Christmas! And a Happy New Year! More and better opportunities and results in 2024. Happy Year of Dragon🎉

[@jpastroguy]

Hi Katsumi, I have a backlog of ideas in my mind that I think are common knowledge, but I have never seen "proven". On semi-cloudy nights when imaging is not possible, sometimes I can address some of these ideas since they don`t require long exposure times. As a scientist, I am a skeptical soul and like to see evidence to be convinced. To me, astronomy is my new laboratory, so I love doing these kinds of experiments. Clear skies and Happy Holidays!

[@derekregan6926]

Unleveled tripods isn't a new idea, some have been using this method for years as a aid for guiding way before the introduction of the planetary gearbox design of mounts

[@jpastroguy]

@@derekregan6926 Interesting. I never knew there was an actual utility for it! Hobbiest instrumentation has certainly advanced tremendously since then!

[@jpastroguy]

BTW, as you can see, I am a ASIAIR user and never explored any other "software options" like NINA, etc. So my knowledge of more sophisticated options and capabilities is pretty much zero (other than what I see on KZbin). Sounds like your knowledge is much deeper than mine! Thanks!

[@derekregan6926]

@@jpastroguy Craig stark ( stark labs) developed and released PhD as a freeware years ago and Andy Galasso/ Brett Magee pushed development on with the now phd2 versions, it's still open source freeware as it was originally Your air doesn't use the full content of the PhD package which has several really good added functions You can't use other manufacturers cameras/ focusers etc with the air, restrictions to only using zwo For me personally Nina has some really good functions but drives me nuts, I'd rather use APT which is my software of choice, simply superb

[@derekregan6926]

For use with AM5 type Eq mounts a level tripod is sensible especially if using heavy loads without a counterweight If you had used the whole PhD package and read the instructions it would tell you that PhD can be used up to a 5 arc min misalignment, obviously it will make it work harder so the better the PA the easier it can make corrections to center the star, your graphs show visual pa misalignment even on the unlevel but polar aligned graph You mention having round stars as the test ,not so.. bloated stars are a sign of guide error and can still be round if you have errors on both axis. Small round stars are what you want Did you recalibrate between tests?

[@jpastroguy]

Hi Derek, to be honest, I am not quite sure of your overall point. The purpose of this KZbin was to demonstrate that polar alignment and/or guiding has a tremendous range for countering effects of using an unlevel tripod. I certainly was not implying one should intentionally use unlevel tripods for astrophotography. My intention was to provide visual data showing extreme examples of various misalignments with and without guiding. If the nuances of my data interpretation or explanations were wrong or only partially correct; I welcome your clarification and explanations. Thank you for watching Astrophotography Japan. Clear skies!

[@craiggoble3281]

Wonderful piece Paul! Thanks for looking into a subject that I've made assumptions about over the years. Now we know! Hope you have a wonderful holiday season also and I look forward to more of your work in '24. Best wishes, Craig G. in Michigan

[@jpastroguy]

Hey Craig, that was exactly what I was thinking.......assumptions. I like data! It`s a rather boring topic, but one we all grapple with every time we do imaging. And some of the findings were a bit surprising to me. Happy Holidays! And clear skies!

[@whatmattersmost6725]

First.. Good info.

[@jpastroguy]

Yea! Too boring a topic for anyone else, I guess....... I too thought it was good "supplemental" information to add to our astrophotography knowledge. Nothing earth shattering. Just interesting. Thanks for watching!