Our Top 5 Black Friday Amazon Astrophotography Accessories

Buying astrophotography gear on Amazon can be risky, especially if you are purchasing large items like computerized telescopes. The expertise and support just isn’t there.

In fact, I don’t recommend purchasing your telescope on Amazon, no matter how good the Black Friday deal is. Instead, consider purchasing it from an actual telescope dealer who will help you with what you need, and support you after you buy it.

However, Amazon can still be a useful place to shop for astrophotography accessories, especially generic items that are not specifically made for our expensive hobby. There is nothing over $50 on this list. 

This USB-powered dew heater is under $20, and is perfect for small refractors and guide scopes. 

With that out of the way, I wanted to share some of my favorite astrophotography accessories I have purchased on Amazon over the last few years. These are simple, affordable tools to enhance your astrophotography experience, and I have used them all. 

All of the items on this list have been in our Amazon cart (some multiple times). I continue to use them regularly and wanted to share them with you so you can take advantage of the Black Friday sale prices.

Our Top 5 Black Friday Amazon Astrophotography Accessories

This is a simple list of our favorite Amazon astrophotography accessories. If you have a keen eye, you may have noticed one (or all) of these items make an appearance in my YouTube videos at some point.

I have included links to the exact models of items I purchased, but you may find an even better deal for an identical re-branded product (because, Amazon). If you have any additional items that have made your nights in the backyard easier, I am sure others would love to hear them in the comments. 

1. Coast HL4 Red Headlamp
2. SVBONY Red Laser Collimator
3. USB Dew Heater Band
4. Remote Shutter Release Cable
5. Power Bar with Powered USB Ports

1) Red Headlamp (Coast HL4)

A red headlamp is necessary for checking on your gear throughout the night, making sure you do not knock your equatorial mount out of polar alignment, making adjustments to your target or equipment, etc. They are also great if you attend star parties, where the use of white light is often prohibited.

It can be hard to find a good red headlamp that isn’t too bright, that’s adjustable, directional, and has a direct-to-red option. In fact, one of the most common questions we get asked is ‘What headlamp are you using?‘. Ashley and I both use the Coast HL4 Red Headlamp.

The Coast HL4 Red Headlamp is perfect for an astrophotographer.

This headlamp is great because:

• There is a direct-to-red option, meaning there are separate buttons for the red and the white light options, so you don’t have to worry about hitting the white light button at a star party.
• You can angle the light to aim it down towards the ground and away from people’s faces.
• It is bright enough to be useful, but not overly bright.
• It uses aaa batteries that can easily be replaced, with spares on hand. 

2) SVBONY Red Laser Collimator 

The SVBONY red laser collimator is our most recent purchase on this list. This simple, affordable device ensures that my reflector telescopes are properly collimated before using them for observing or astrophotography. 

Since having acquired a few telescopes that need to be collimated (i.e. the Sky-Watcher 350P Flextube Dobsonian and the Sky-Watcher Quattro 150P Newtonian), I needed something to accurately complete this process.

In addition to reaching accurate collimation at home, I have also been traveling with the 350 Flextube to star parties and public outreach events. This can cause your telescope to lose collimation, so this has also been helpful for accurately adjusting collimation on the go.

Simply put, if you own a reflector telescope, do yourself a favor and pick up this extremely useful accessory right away. Try it once, and you will wonder how you ever lived without it. 

SVBONY 1.25 inch collimation eyepiece with adaptor.

3) USB Dew Heater Band

Dew heater bands or straps produce heat once plugged in to keep your telescope/lens free from moisture so you can collect multiple hours of exposure time on your target.

If you live on the East Coast like me and you’re into deep-sky astrophotography, you likely have several of these already. Depending on your setup, or whether you like to shoot deep-sky and wide-field at the same time, you will need to have a few of these on hand.

At our house, if it’s a clear night, there is the potential for up to three rigs to be running (between me and Ash) so I had to increase our USB dew heater band inventory. These rather generic-looking dew heater bands from ‘LOSHARP’ are actually pretty well made.

Keep in mind that USB-powered dew heater bands are always on the smaller side, so they are really only suitable for telescopes with apertures of 100mm and below. I use this one on the William Optics RedCat 51, and all of my guide scopes. 

The ‘LOSHARP’ USB-Powered Dew heater band is suitable for small refractors and guide scopes. 

4) Shutter Release Cable / Intervalometer

A remote shutter release cable is a handy accessory used in photography to trigger a camera’s shutter without physically touching the camera. More importantly, a remote shutter release cable allows you to capture photos longer than the default 30-second max when using Bulb Mode on your DSLR/Mirrorless camera. 

The one mentioned here is for Canon EOS cameras. I have used this one for many Canon cameras, from the Canon EOS Rebel T3i, to most recently, the Canon EOS Ra. If you shoot with a Sony or Nikon camera body, try to find the equivalent version that supports your exact model. 

I use a remote shutter release cable to automate a series of image exposures on my camera and star tracker.

There are plenty of other options for camera automation, but I still prefer the simplicity and reliability of a wired remote shutter release cable in most situations. If you plan to shoot nightscapes or the Milky Way this will become an important piece of your kit to:

• Reduce camera shake when shooting at slow shutter speeds
• Controlling the camera by automating a sequence of exposures
• Choose the duration of the image, number of images, and any delay between shots

 All of my Milky Way and Nightscape images were captured using this cable. I have found that 2 aaa batteries will last up to a year in this device. 

5) Power Bar with USB Ports

As you know, there are several items that need to be powered on a deep-sky astrophotography setup, including your telescope, camera, camera control, and dew heaters. If you use the ASIAIR, then most of your gear is being powered by that unit, but a power bar is needed for the telescope mount, and to power the ASIAIR itself. 

The long cord on this model is extra handy when setting up your astrophotography rig because it gives you enough slack to velcro the power bar to the leg of your tripod (shown below). This keeps all of the ports accessible and off of the ground. This model is surge-protected for added peace of mind. 

Power Bar with USB Ports (2 Pack)

6) Bonus Pick, EQMOD Cable

This one is a bonus pick because it doesn’t look like it is part of any Black Friday sale. However, the cable is inexpensive and can completely change the way you do astrophotography. 

I am talking about the Washinglee RJ45 Control Cable for Sky-Watcher Mounts. This is what you need to control your Sky-Watcher telescope mount (like the Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro) with the ZWO ASIAIR Plus WiFi controller. 

In fact, this cable will allow you to control nearly every Sky-Watcher telescope mount there is. I have successfully controlled the HEQ5, EQ8-R Pro, and even the new CQ-350 mount with this cable and the ASIAIR. 

So, if you want to finally control your Sky-Watcher or Orion telescope mount via the ASIAIR, this is your answer. 

Conclusion

I hope that at least one of these picks fills a gap in your astrophotography experience. Sometimes the simplest item can make or break your astrophotography session (which becomes painfully evident when you forget to pack it). 

Sometimes it just helps to know what products work and what other people are using. The best part about this article is that I now have a link to send to people who ask about any of these items. 

For those interested, my big Black Friday Amazon purchase (so far) is a fancy coffee grinder. I suppose this could still be considered to be an ‘astrophotography accessory’, but I don’t think my accountant will see it that way. 

Happy Black Friday Shopping!

Looking for astrophotography telescopes and cameras? Check out the Black Friday deals currently running on Agena Astro and High Point Scientific.

Related Content: 

• Choosing a Star Tracker for Astrophotography (Top Choices)
• How to Choose a Portable Power Station for Your Telescope
• The 20 Best Stargazing Apps for Your Smartphone