Newbie in search of help

One would think that after 20 years as an air traffic controller and now 13 years in Casino Surveillance I could figure this out...But I'm lost. I have a Nikon 3300 and a Meade 102 telescope. I want to try astrophotography but I am a bit lost. I have the mount adapter for my camera..but what next?? Not getting much help from local camera shop because because I didn't buy stuff from them. Any help is appreciated.

Welcome. I don't know ANYTHING about astrophotography, but I do know that if you don't have a cpu lens on the camera, you need to be in manual mode. Once you are in manual, you can snap a picture with any settings you want. Hopefully someone can help you with good settings for your needs, but it will all start with being in manual mode. You pick shutter speed and iso. You won't have any metering. Focusing will be with your telescope.
It might be a good idea to practice on some daytime land scenes with your telescope so you get comfortable before working in the dark. Not knowing your photography experience, I'll recommend that you read up on the exposure triangle. This will help you understand how to tweak in your settings.

Welcome to the forum!

Thanks for the welcome and the link! I have been doing nature photography for about a year. I use manual mode 90% of the time. Just wanted to try (and learn) something new.

Astrophotography is a whole new ball game. May I suggest going to the Cloudy Nights website and take a look. They know all about astrophotography over there. We have a few astrophotography people here but not many, and I don't know how often they post.
Are you wanting to shoot planets, clusters, milky way, etc? You can get into shooting multiple images for dim objects and use stacking programs or stiching for large star fields, etc.
I don't know how experienced you are in astronomy, but if you are fairly new to that then you are learning both astronomy and astrophotography.
I have an 8 inch dobsonian telescope. I thought I wanted to do astrophotography until I realized what it took for those spectacular images. I would have needed a new scope, camera, computer, software, etc.

Anyway, welcome to Nikonites and please check out Cloudy Nights. They know their stuff. Astrophotography is cool.

Welcome aboard. Enjoy the ride.
We look forward to seeing more posts and samples of your work.

Despite owning a 8" Mead telescope, I have never ventured any further than some moon shots. Good luck.

What mount do you have. I have a prime mount on the left which mounts to the camera like a lens then you attach it to your telescope. The one on the right is for using your eye pieces with for different magnifications.

All I have is a Nikon "T" adapter, not sure what I need next. Meade 102 telescope and Nikon D3300

I have one of these https://www.amazon.com/Solomark-T2-...08874&sr=8-4&keywords=nikon+telescope+adapter


I would also suggest getting a 1.25 filter, like a light pollution or moon filter to keep dust from getting on the camera sensor. Get a good quality one or image quality will suffer. The filter screws on the end of the eyepiece adapter.
I just looked at the Meade 102 and see it doesn't have a tracking motor so you will be limited to shooting the planets and the moon. You will want a moon filter for the moon. To do deep sky objects like galaxies star clusters and nebula you need tracking.