$8k budget for full setup telescope

[Danny_86]

Hey everyone,

I need some help, I was looking on getting a full setup for shooting Astrophotography, everything from telescope, mount, powertank, autoguider, ccd cameras, plus all the small extras you need. All in a budget around $8,000. Looking for good quality, plus i was looking at something around the 2000mm range or would a 2x barlow lens be fine or do you lose sharpnest?

it would be great to here from you guys, cheers :D

[rat156]

Hi Danny,

It depends on what type of astrophotography you want to pursue.

For purely planetary, then the mount doesn't matter, what you want is light gathering ability of your scope and a good sensitive camera. If, on the other hand, you want to go after faint fuzzies, then the vast majority of you dough should be spent on your mount, this doesn't preclude doing planetary as well, but you will have spent a lot on your mount...

Any particular reason you want to shoot at 2m? The longer the FL, the harder it is to get everything perfect, which means a permanent setup for most people. There are several fine imaging scopes that are about 1m in FL (which, BTW will match the pixel size of your camera better), coupled to a good mount, these make a good basis for AP without too much trouble setting up. Cameras are another barrel of monkeys, OSC vs LRGB, DSLR vs cooled CCD, again it depends on your personal preferences. Personally I'd go cooled CCD, LRGB with OAG, an AO unit can also be great.

So for $8k, a Losmandy G11 or EQ8 (I've not been following the EQ8 thread here, so go to that for advice) or similar mount, secondhand G11s come up from time to time and should be about $3k, good luck getting a secondhand EQ8, they're new (just checked the classifieds, there's one there). A nice 1000mm FL refractor would be good, but bang for buck an imaging newt and corrector is the way to image at 1000mm, then whatever is left over on the camera. DSLR and OAG can work well, as long as you're not too far into the city light pollution.

Cheers
Stuart

[Lee]

Two things - I'd also suggest you have a think about the 2m FL, as a beginner you'll struggle to start at that scale. The best advice is to start out with a smallish refractor.
I also wouldn't try to assemble a rig in one hit at the one time - I would suggest the best EQ mount you can afford, a scope, and a CCD. Then do some unguided stuff, then work out which guiding gear you need, then think about filters etc
The 'extras' will eat more of your budget than you think!

[lazjen]

I'm not really experienced enough to give specific equipment advice, but I can tell you that it's likely you'll either need to spend more money, and/or to limit your expectations more than you expect. At least you seem to be aware that there's "all the small extra's you need" as they can add up.

To start with, if you've got a DLSR already, you can use that to "save" money in your budget. You can learn a lot with it before perhaps moving on to modding it or CCDs. This is basically the path I'm taking at this time - I'm using the DSLR, but eventually I'm going to go the full CCD route.

If you've got access to 240v, you can save some initial spend on powertank/batteries until you get the rest of your gear sorted and can do better power usage calculations.

One piece of advice I took from this forums/net research was to not "skimp" on the mount. For my setup and budget, the G11 was a stretch, but I'm glad I made the effort for it. I do not have a permanent setup, so it's manageable to carry around and setup where required. If you are going mobile, make sure you can handle the weights involved.

As you do your research, you may find that some brands are obnoxiously expensive in Australia - if in doubt cross compare with overseas prices to check. The classifieds here tend to have a lot of gear, so second hand might be the best way to go to fit the budget.

[gregbradley]

$8K should get you going.

You need to spend the most on the mount which whilst not seeming to be the most exotic piece of equipment it will be the most source of trouble if you do not get a decent one.

Check with the posters here but I think the EQ6 is used a lot plus it has an upgrade path. A Losmandy G11 would be within your budget as well.

2 metres would be challenging for someone new to imaging. You'll get best results from shorter focal lengths like 600mm.

Refractors like ED80, 127mm scope that is often used on this site would get you going nicely.

Cameras in that budget would be SBIG ST8300 (they can go 2nd hand for as low as $1300, I saw one on Astromart just recently).

Or QHY9 (about $1800)

Autoguiders use QHY5 (not sure of price but around $400) or SBIG STi (US$595 - my pick or use the guide kit for $795 and you have everything you need to guide) or Starlight Express Lodestar (US$695, very popular).

There is also an Orion autoguiding kit with a little scope and camera for around $500. The SBIG STi autoguider and guiding kit (a lens and rings, well made) is a complete solution plus the SBIG takes darks whereas the Lodestar does not. What does that mean? It means without darks the software can confuse a hot pixel with the guide star and give erratic guiding. Maxim DL software ($600) allows you to use Lodestar and subtract a saved dark. CCDsoft does not.

You'll also need a planetarium software like the Sky X or similar.

That should come in around $8K I think.

So EQ6, SBIG STI and guide kit, 127mm refractor, QHY9 or SBIG ST8300
with filters and filter wheel. It would be close possibly a bit over. You could economise by getting a smaller refractor like an ED80 but you will soon want a larger one like the 127mm and take a loss on the upgrade.

Another alernative to keep cost down is to get a modified DSLR like a 350D. These go for $400 or so and are popular. A good way to start and spend more on the mount and get a Losmandy G11.

Check the classifieds here to get a dsicount over new prices. Also Astromart.com is a resource for 2nd hand astro equipment.

Greg.

[lazjen]

For guiding, PHD/PHD2 (free) allows you to load saved darks - I use it with the QHY 5L II.

For a planetarium you can use Stellarium (free) and get a plugin called Stellarium Scope to control the mount. Definitely works with G11.

If you go Canon DSLR, you can get APT or BackyardEOS for grabbing your images. Both integrate with PHD/PHD2 as well.