Cpc 800 Xlt

[Columbus]

Hi guys..this is my first post as I only joind yesterday so please excuse my rambling on:). Great forum and awesome/relevant info for an aussie newbie like myself. I've just splurgged on a new celestron cpc 800 (8") XLT which I anticipate to get in approx 4 weeks time (when I pay it off!! In addition, I also bought:

- 25mm & 8mm celestron x-cel EP's ( 20mm eye releif & 55 FOV - the scope comes with a 40mm)
- celestron x-cel 2 x Barlow lens
- uhtc LPF
- moon filter
- celestron power tank
- celestron dew shade.

I decided on the above due to it's newbie-freindly tech like skyalign, GPS etc but only after spending many nights researching a few options including Dobs,Reflectors,SCTs & refractors and taking into consideration things like, size of aperture vs portability, types of mounts, my hitherto lack of experience amongst others. Thus I decided to go with the cpc 800.

Having read many of the posts and seen some of the equipement owned by people on this forum, is it true to say that I should consider saving up for an ED80mm scope to piggyback as a better finderscope?
I really can't wait to get my scope and hope that I can use the awesome collective experience on this site to make the most out of it.

Cheers

[atalas]

Hi Columbus, congrats on your new scope ! I'm sure you'll get many years of enjoyment out of It . On your question about running out and buying and ED80 ..... IMHO I think that you should wait till you get your new scope enjoy It and see what direction your interest takes . Mounting the ED80 on your new scope would just tax the mount to much and make things a little wobbly assuming Its the mount I think It is.
Anyway enjoy your stay here and I wish you all the best on your new journey in all things astronomical !

Cheers

Louie

[Columbus]

Thanks Louie

Are you able to tell me if I can use my kodak digital camera (easyshare dx7440)
to do some astrophotography with it? and what parts do I need to do so?

Btw, the cpc 800 comes with the next image camera and software. But I would
like to know if there is a way to use my existing camera for those long exposure deep sky images.

Cheers mate

[atalas]

Hi mate , sorry mate I know absolutely nothing about digital cameras ! but I see no reason why you can't connect any camera to a telescope If you have the right connections. A good place to find out is Bintel ,they know a lot about the adapters you need . How your camera would perform? I have no idea mate ,but If you post another thread asking about your camera I'm sure there's guy's and gal's here who can help .
Use your brand camera in the header that should attract some responses with the info
you seek .

[asimov]

Hi columbus & welcome to the forum. I know a little bit about astrophotography using an easyshare lol. I have the 6340.

Yes it can be done but it's not easy due to the size of the LCD screen on the back of the camera = hard to get a good focus....I now use a big magnifying glass so I can magnify the image on the LCD better! Another way is to drag a portable TV out there with you & hook the camera thru that. If you need to know more about it ask away! Heres some pics using the easyshare & my 2 telescopes: 12.5" reflector & a 6" refractor.

Their not very good pictures compared to most that you will see in this forum, but I'm still a learner as far as astrophotography's concerned. The camera is limited to what it can do as well.

I'm guessing your camera would be similar to mine....4 secs. max time exposure, AVI capable as well? Eyepiece projection is the only option with this camera I'm afraid.

I made a camera adapter/holder thingy out of sheet aluminium to hold the camera to the telescope. Can't find a pic of it at present, but sing out & I'll take another of it.

Cheers!

[Columbus]

quote "I'm guessing your camera would be similar to mine....4 secs. max time exposure, AVI capable as well? Eyepiece projection is the only option with this camera I'm afraid"



Hey Asimov
what do you mean they're not very good pics.. théy're awesome, if I could do those of a period of time, I would be very happy. As for the ep projection method, is that where you connect the cam to the back of the scope using some type of adapter?

Cheers mate

[asimov]

EP projection is where you leave your normal viewing eyepiece in the telescope & whack the camera up against it. To get different magnifications, change eyepieces.

The moon shot using: 15mm EP

Jupiter: 5mm

Saturn: 5mm

Mars: 5mm with barlow lens screwed directly to the EP giving existing eyepiece magnification X 1.5

Orion nebula: 35mm All at full zoom except orion. Not much chop doing faint DSOs unless you want to stand there & fire off a couple of hundred shots using the 10 sec delay on the camera....I can get one, 2 sec shot every 14 seconds. If you use 4 seconds, you'll get heaps of noise in the final stacked shot making it just about worthless. I recommend just sticking to planets/moon & bright DSOs.....Good for bright star clusters & globulars too.

It's hard work with this camera just trying to work out all the settings for each given object. The camera over-exposes bright planets cos' of the dark sky background. I have to use different size aperture masks for different planets....depending on what scope & what magnification. It's great fun though & if your up to a challenge by all means, give it a shot!

When your ready to have a go, give us a yell & I'll try talking U threw some of it.

Thanks for your comments.

BTW I'm all set up ready for another bash at mars, just waiting for it to rise to it's max elevation.

Using the 6" F8 achro refractor stopped down to 3.75"/5mm EP with contrast booster on. Camera set to AVI.....Then it's 4-5 hrs processing all the videos!! :sad:

[davidpretorius]

yup CC.

asimov has done some great stuff with that little camera of his. I don't think it possible to squeeze too much more out of it.

I use this to hold my toucam up to the eyepiece.
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/content/images/875186c00dea33c24723e362748217d1.jp g (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/image_zoom.php?show=ZGEzMTQ4OWUwZjA wMWUwZjEzYWRiNDc5ODJmNDcyNjcuanBnP3 dpZHRoPSIxODAiIGhlaWdodD0iMzI0Ig==)
$69 odd from daniel at frontier optics.

Highly recommend it. It clamps onto the eyepiece and then as long as your camera has the normal tripod female thread, off you go!

Next image is apparently a Toucam in sheeps clothing, and there a fair few guys here that have the toucam.

Very exciting, pictures of you and your scope as soon as it arrives!!!

[SpaceGeek]

yo, Columbus

giv me a yell when u get it. i was thinkin of buyin' one sumtime next year. i want 2 know how it goes

[asimov]

Thanks Dave.

Consider the ol' kodak squeezed that hard, it's turning red mate! Just a matter of perfecting what I've learnt now. If I had just one night of really good seeing I could just about guarantee toucam or close quality on mars at least.

If a neximage is a toucam in sheeps clothing, how come the $250 price tag compared to the toucam @ $145 ?

[Columbus]

Guys, thanks for all the info. As soon as I get my CPC I'll take some photos of it and post'm on this forum. It's a few weeks away however... but here's a link to an american website that did a review on the 8" model.

http://www.optcorp.com/product.aspx?pid=6950

Cheers

[asimov]

& do yell out when U wanna sell me that 'free' neximage to me cheap!! :lol: ;)

[davidpretorius]

i remember a few comments when i first joined that said the nextimage was a toucam

[asimov]

Well, I won't be buying it at that price...toucam, here I come!!

[SpaceGeek]

you've done exactly what i did!:jawdrop: . i printed out that whole review last weekend. say, have you looked up all the technical specs like i did?:lol:

[Columbus]

I don't think I went through the technical specs thouroughly. I know the main stuff ....I think, but I was mainly interested in it's user-friendliness/ great technology and good looks ;). I wanted a scope that will allow a newbie like myself to jump right in and enjoy it instead of spending many nights scratching my head in frustration.... oh and it looks good too... have I said that already?

If you know anything that I should know, please let me know (geez how many times can you right know in one sentence?)

Cheers

[SpaceGeek]

i dont think i know anything that u should know but maybe u know something that i should know:confuse2::lol: .

Here's the Q:
Wot power tank is needed to power this thing?

theres 2 of them in the ad but i dont know if to go with the beast or the smaller one (the 12v 7-amp hour one). :help:

brother, where did you buy dis ting from? im thinking of getting mine from Astronomy Online.;)

If u have any Q's, either download the manual (like i attempted 2 do but it froze my CPU), or wait for a couple of weeks for it.

or, u could ask me a Q that i might know the answer to or might not:confuse2: :lol:

catch yall later

[Columbus]

I ordrered it through a local scope & camera shop. Although they don't have heaps of scope models on display, they are the only authorised Celestron dealer in Perth and are able to get it for me and it's accessories. I thought it would be better this way (for warranty purposes etc) but also the prices they gave me were almost the same as other interstate or online ozi dealers. As for
the power tank, I'm thinking of going for the bigger one due to longer hrs of operation etc (good for those occassional star parties and it has an am/fm radio
:lol:) I expect to get mine in mid-late Nov. So there's still a bit of a wait :sad:

Very much looking for ward to it though. Update me when you get yours.

Cheers

[atalas]

Hi Columbus,a little advice on power ! the 17aph power tank will be fine for your mount but you will need an other battery for a due heater come next winter . I have found that the best option for this is a Deep Cycle battery from Super Cheap Auto's .
They have 75 aph DC for $149.00 , this will do for all your power needs (learnt this the hard way) :( so If this is the case ,you can save your money on the Celestron Power Tank. :cool:

[Columbus]

Thanks for letting me know Louie. I'll check out super cheap autos this week. So you think that a dew shade is insufficient? and that I should go for a dew heater instead?

- Can you give me the exact name of the accessory that I need to see the right side up and the right way around. Is it a 90 degree or a 45 dgree diagonal or something?
- Do you put the ep in it?
- Can you use the barlow at the same time?
- Do having all those additional accessories decrease the image clarity or does it enhance it in some way?

Sorry for all these questions but you guys are so helpfull and it's hard to get the exact info you need from the shop assistant.

[atalas]

Columbus If you want to see things the right way up just ask for a correct image diagonal as far as loosing quality....well as long as you don't push magnification to far you'll do all right . Dew shield and a due zapper will be needed and just to confirm,(the scope you are buying is a SCT isn't It ?) now the dew shield will hold off dew on mild nights and will also help keep out stray light from neighbours and even a bright night . A dew zapper will still be needed on colder nights that's for sure !
The diagonal ,yes you put the EP then view and even a barlow can be placed in before
the EP although a barlow is the last thing you should be thinking of right now .
Columbus don't be sorry for asking questions mate thats how we all learn things ,and then we can start feeling comfortable with a new equipment and our new interests .
You know It would be really good If you could get down to a local Astro Club so you could get some hands on instructions , aint nothing better than that mate .