OneCosmos
27-05-2018, 01:32 PM
Well I decided to express an interest myself and I know the seller really well and he gave me a price I just couldn’t refuse so the setup is now sold :P. I’m super happy with my SDM 16” for visual use and the refractor is no slouch on the planets and the moon and enviable for imaging. I’ll just enjoy the best of both worlds.
For all the imagers reading this who are going to Astrofest please make sure you visit the visual field to look through not only my SDM but larger Dobs too that will no doubt also be there.
:thanx:
Chris
I have spent the last decade in Australia building a complete and perfect imaging setup, complete with Sirius 2.3m dome and whilst I have enjoyed it immensely I am inclining more and more to an interest to be properly under the stars with as large a DOB as my money can buy.
Now obviously it would be far easier to break all this down and sell items piece by piece rather than trying to find one person interested in buying everything, but there is such a massive advantage for that person because everything works together in perfect harmony, that I want to see first if they exist and are reading this.
The hard work has all been done, right down to perfectly engineered spacing between camera and flattener to produce the highest quality raw data, both with and without a CLS filter (i.e. if you take the filter off I have the exact spacers required to maintain the flat field which were all specially engineered). A very powerful Intel NUC computer with an i7 processor and solid state disk with all software working right down to the USB/Serial port configs - it is just ready to go.
I have done a very realistic calculation not of the amount it has cost me, (because as we all know there are numerous twists and turns and dead ends that cost money but show no value), but of what it would cost to buy each part of the system brand new. It comes to a grand total of a whopping $43, 850! Set against that $28,500 can be seen to be a massive saving - so long as you wanted all the bits of course. It is a tad under a 40% discount.
Ok so now the good bit, what would be included? This is not an exhaustive list as the number of parts is too numerous to mention, but key items are:
Sirius 2.3m dome with motorised rotation (no motorised hatch);
APM 152mm Triplet with 97% Strehl LZOZ optics;
Starlight Posidrive heavy-duty motor focus unit and controller + handset for visual use;
Riccardi 63mm Field Flattener (certainly a big enough circle for an APS size chip);
Extra adapter to use visually (just unscrew the entire imaging train and put on the new one to use a diagonal);
QHY 12 colour CCD camera (almost brand new);
Orion 50mm f3 guidescope engineered to firmly lock in to the finder bracket together with a ZWO 120 S MM guide camera (works brilliantly);
Skywatcher EQ8 mount;
Pegasus pier (51" tall - perfect height in the observatory);
Hitech Astro Mount Hub Pro - perfectly mounted on top of the OTA - the only cables coming from the system are the mounthub pro power and USB);
XAGYL motorised filter wheel with 5 x 1.25" and Baarder LRGB for planetary imaging;
Lightbox for taking flats;
Intel NUC small form-factor PC running Windows 10 64bit with i7 Proc and 500GB solid sate drive. This is important because all software is installed and working, including SG Pro and PixInsight as well as all the usual free astro software. I simply RDP from my laptop in the house and control imaging remotety.
Obviously there are many other bits and pieces, EQMod cable etc etc. The point is this has been lovingly (and frustratingly) built over a decade and has now reached a point where it represents perfection really. it just works.
Yes, this is a lot of money, but think how much I'd be losing in the sale!
I am more keen on astronomy today than ever but my journey just wants a different path. If it doesn't sell I'll no doubt just continue using it and enjoy it, but it is worth trying to see if there is someone who would be excited to be the next custodian.
Thanks for reading
For all the imagers reading this who are going to Astrofest please make sure you visit the visual field to look through not only my SDM but larger Dobs too that will no doubt also be there.
:thanx:
Chris
I have spent the last decade in Australia building a complete and perfect imaging setup, complete with Sirius 2.3m dome and whilst I have enjoyed it immensely I am inclining more and more to an interest to be properly under the stars with as large a DOB as my money can buy.
Now obviously it would be far easier to break all this down and sell items piece by piece rather than trying to find one person interested in buying everything, but there is such a massive advantage for that person because everything works together in perfect harmony, that I want to see first if they exist and are reading this.
The hard work has all been done, right down to perfectly engineered spacing between camera and flattener to produce the highest quality raw data, both with and without a CLS filter (i.e. if you take the filter off I have the exact spacers required to maintain the flat field which were all specially engineered). A very powerful Intel NUC computer with an i7 processor and solid state disk with all software working right down to the USB/Serial port configs - it is just ready to go.
I have done a very realistic calculation not of the amount it has cost me, (because as we all know there are numerous twists and turns and dead ends that cost money but show no value), but of what it would cost to buy each part of the system brand new. It comes to a grand total of a whopping $43, 850! Set against that $28,500 can be seen to be a massive saving - so long as you wanted all the bits of course. It is a tad under a 40% discount.
Ok so now the good bit, what would be included? This is not an exhaustive list as the number of parts is too numerous to mention, but key items are:
Sirius 2.3m dome with motorised rotation (no motorised hatch);
APM 152mm Triplet with 97% Strehl LZOZ optics;
Starlight Posidrive heavy-duty motor focus unit and controller + handset for visual use;
Riccardi 63mm Field Flattener (certainly a big enough circle for an APS size chip);
Extra adapter to use visually (just unscrew the entire imaging train and put on the new one to use a diagonal);
QHY 12 colour CCD camera (almost brand new);
Orion 50mm f3 guidescope engineered to firmly lock in to the finder bracket together with a ZWO 120 S MM guide camera (works brilliantly);
Skywatcher EQ8 mount;
Pegasus pier (51" tall - perfect height in the observatory);
Hitech Astro Mount Hub Pro - perfectly mounted on top of the OTA - the only cables coming from the system are the mounthub pro power and USB);
XAGYL motorised filter wheel with 5 x 1.25" and Baarder LRGB for planetary imaging;
Lightbox for taking flats;
Intel NUC small form-factor PC running Windows 10 64bit with i7 Proc and 500GB solid sate drive. This is important because all software is installed and working, including SG Pro and PixInsight as well as all the usual free astro software. I simply RDP from my laptop in the house and control imaging remotety.
Obviously there are many other bits and pieces, EQMod cable etc etc. The point is this has been lovingly (and frustratingly) built over a decade and has now reached a point where it represents perfection really. it just works.
Yes, this is a lot of money, but think how much I'd be losing in the sale!
I am more keen on astronomy today than ever but my journey just wants a different path. If it doesn't sell I'll no doubt just continue using it and enjoy it, but it is worth trying to see if there is someone who would be excited to be the next custodian.
Thanks for reading