Spent 2 hours trying to stack my first Andromeda photo before I realized my tripod was loose

I set up my telescope last Saturday night to get a clean shot of M31, but every single frame had this weird blur I couldn't figure out. Turned out the locking knob on my cheap tripod had come half undone during the session, so the whole setup was drifting slightly. Has anyone else dealt with a simple equipment problem that blew up your whole night?

2 comments

2 Comments

wesley_thompson18d ago

Check the clutch on your mount too, that got me one time when I thought it was tight enough but it was just barely slipping under the weight. I started using a little blue Loctite on all my small screws, it's cheap and it stops them from vibrating loose but you can still get them off with a tool when you need to. Another thing I do is put a small level on the tripod legs after I set them, if it shifts even a little you catch it before you start imaging. Honestly the best thing I ever did was buy a set of those spiked feet for my tripod, they dig into the grass so the legs don't slide around at all. You might also want to weigh down the center column with a sandbag or your camera bag if you're on grass, that stabilizes things way more than you'd think.

jamiekim18d ago

Tighten everything twice before you even plug the camera in. I learned that the hard way after losing a whole night to a loose dovetail plate that took me three hours to catch. Now I do a quick check on every knob and screw before the session starts, and I tap the setup gently to see if anything wobbles. It's annoying but it's way better than wasting hours on frames you'll have to trash anyway. Have you thought about putting a dab of nail polish on those cheap tripod threads? It'll hold them steady but still let you break them loose when you need to.