I'm David Williams-and have been practicing deep-sky astrophotography. I have a slight mental illness and collect money from the US government and my money has gone up due to my dad's passing. It's gone up from $746 a month to $1120. And would like to ask everyone what they think the best mount is (since soon I'll be in the market for one)?
Like I sort of like the ASA DDM85 mount because I can get one with low pe (at only .01 arcseconds peak to peak) and high enough payload capacity.
Actually if you remember I'm now imaging with a Celestron RASA, and you're probably thinking with such short fl, why do I need such low pe in my mount?
Well I'm planning on holding more than one scope-not only that RASA, but an Orion 10" f3.9 astrographic Newtownian reflector. I'll put it on tube rings and mount it on the back of the RASA.
Did you guys see my pic of the Pleiades? Yep things are better with this neat, nice astrograph. But now I need a mount to suit better things. Also: PS: I'm hoping to get married and get a home out in Nebraska for better skies, because I'm that serious about this astrophoto thing.
So for a more feasible mount that I may still like to own and get a loan for is the ioptron cem120ec (what do you guys think about that one?)
I heard that the regular 120 is currently in-stock, but the 120ec's are not being made right now? Is that true?
Since I've already got experience with the cem60 it make sense that I should go with another, but better ioptron mount. I'd be familiar with.
My current gear is:
ioptron cem60
Celestron RASA
Nikon D800
and of course this provides a wide field of view.
Actually would like to get a QHY ccd (the one with a Nikon D810a chip)
that one for the RASA would be just right (it wouldn't block the light coming in as much)
ps for those who know about Terry Hancock, he moved out to Grand Mesa Observatory, Colorado
PS: I've saved up $5000 (got it even right now) that my mom promises me I've got to only spend on an observatory, and she wants it out here in light polluted Indiana. what should I do?
They say I can get a job on the side (maybe part-time) maybe $200 a week and it wouldn't effect my govn money.
PS: there's a small, but large for Nebraska, city of about 20,000 pop in the panhandle that has some mental health offices/firms in it. And nearby (about 50 miles out) is a black on the clear Sky Chart (as far as light pollution) Wouldn't this be a nice location/deal?
The DDM85 is a great mount. Not only does it have negligible PE, but it does not need guiding - at least for 30min subs - provided that the imaging train is very stiff and temperature stable. I have a fair bit of experience with it, and wouldn't dream of changing it, BUT......
But there are some serious caveats:
1. The way this mount operates is very different from any other, and its required software suite is limited: for example, to make the best of its capability you MUST use MaximDL - it is just the way ASA have built the software.
2. This mount is extraordinarily sensitive to balance, even though it has good load carrying ability. Balance must be super-precise, not only about the usual RA and Dec axes, but radially about Dec axis as well. This means that you have to be very careful to ensure there is no asymmetric loading about the Dec axis - certainly difficult to achieve (but not impossible) if you want to mount multiple scopes. And rotating a heavy camera for framing the shot is may throw performance off.
3. It is HEAVY: RA axis 23kg, Dec axis 20kg. It needs very sturdy and stable mounting.
3. It is very expensive. Unless one is prepared to invest heavily in the rest of the imaging train, it is unlikely that its potential will be realised.
Hope this helps. If you want any more info, let me know.
As expensive as they are, 10 micron mounts may be worth looking into. They are very popular in spite of their high cost. I've never seen a review of one that said they were anything less than excellent. The other, lower tech option that's more similar to your Ioptron mount is the Mesu 200. It's driven by a high precision steel roller bearing and has very low PE.
Oh, and I'd also mount the scopes side-by-side. That should lessen the amount of leverage applied by the second scope, and let you use less counterweighting.
I really like your Pleiades shot. There's some nasty rainbows around the edge that may disappear with flats though I'm no expert on the RASA. Also your star images look a little misshapen. This may be due to the cable on your camera (I presume there is one!) or it could be that it needs collimating. Those super-fast optic systems can be tricky to keep accurately aligned.
I'm excited for your plans. Best of luck with everything!
Cam
I'm still not sure how I'll mount my 2 scopes...Would like to do side-by-side, but one is lighter than the other one in weight....And not only is that a problem, but do't have any experience here mounting 2 and 1'st the RASA a catadioptric but the other one's a newtonian and wonder, like what's the difference between (in order to rotate your image, in a newt) rotating the scope around or rotating the camera or your head orientation around...any?
And the other thing is that there may have been be unaligned optics in my RASA...I'm saying may 'have been' because I'm almost certain they're unaligned now...as I've applied a 'black flocked self-adhesive' inner liner to the
tube hoping to cut down on internal reflections...so I'll need to colimate the optics...And there had been though fresh from the factory, a purple equilatoral triangle halo that moved opposite my mount movements...that is op the stars...when moved...And I don't know what caused it? Does anyone know? Wish to get rid of it, of course. Want to fix-up that RASA. PS: hear that Celestron makes a 14" RASA now...but costs about 4 times as much for just maybe 1.6 time the light gathering power...has like 160mm more fl.
