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Old 31-03-2010, 10:41 AM
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MelD (Melvyn)
Mel Davis

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6SE on a wedge

Am I wasting my time trying to image with a 6SE on a wedge? Does anybody agree with the findings of the 2008 review (quoted in part below)? Advice please.




"Decent Wedge, but Not Needed For a Painful Reason

Written: Feb 24 '08

Product Rating: http://img.epinions.com/images/epi_i..._big_stars.gif Pros: Sturdy construction, low mass, built in azimuth and latitude adjustment.

Cons: The scopes it is designed for do not have practical photographic tracking ability (See Review).

The Bottom Line: There is no need for this component given the unusably poor equatorial performance of the NexStar SE mount.

Pirich's Full Review: Celestron (93658) ...........

The Celestron 93658 wedge is a reasonably well executed mechanical device for one of the more tedious parts of astronomy- polar alignment. Unfortunately, the mount it is designed to go with has serious tracking issues for long exposure astrophotography. Unless a redesign is undertaken on the NexStar SE series mount, there simply is no reason to buy or use the matching wedge.

Recommended:
No "

Last edited by MelD; 31-03-2010 at 10:42 AM. Reason: Punctuation
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  #2  
Old 01-04-2010, 10:55 AM
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Moon (James)
This sentence is false

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I had an 8SE before and my advice is to save your cash and not buy the wedge. It's too shaky to get really good images.
Just enjoy it as a visual scope and you will be happy!
James
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Old 04-04-2010, 04:07 PM
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Mel Davis

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Thanks for the thoughts, James. Fortunately I have built the wedge from 5-ply (to reduce weight for portability). Imaging is my primary interest. My other scope, an ED80/HEQ5 Pro is too darned heavy to fly to interstate dark skies. Any suggestions?
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Old 04-04-2010, 09:23 PM
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Moon (James)
This sentence is false

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Quote:
Any suggestions?
Not really. EQ5 is already light weight.

How about just a DSLR + Tripod and some star trails?
James
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Old 06-04-2010, 07:01 AM
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I have seen some good pics taken by piggy backing a camera and small lens on top of the se, the smaller lens don't require great tracking. You would need a counter weight to balance the scope.
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Old 06-04-2010, 07:07 AM
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:p
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Old 09-04-2010, 11:01 AM
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Mel Davis

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Hi Jason,
Thanks for the thought - I do have a Canon 300D which I am about to have modified, and I also have several high quality lenses, so that should work well. Is the camera mount a Celestron product?
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Old 09-04-2010, 11:07 AM
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Mel Davis

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Moon View Post
Not really. EQ5 is already light weight.

How about just a DSLR + Tripod and some star trails?
James
Your advice is much appreciated, and I'm looking back to the HEQ5 to see if it's possible to travel (by air) with that. Obviously carrying the counter-weights with me is out, but I'm thinking now of using one of those collapsible canvas buckets (Australian Geographic) and filling that with water to balance the scope at the other end. Mad, I know, but I'd really like to beat the challenge. Any further thoughts will be appreciated.
Regards,
Mel
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Old 10-04-2010, 06:50 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MelD View Post
Hi Jason,
Thanks for the thought - I do have a Canon 300D which I am about to have modified, and I also have several high quality lenses, so that should work well. Is the camera mount a Celestron product?
Yes it is, not sure where to get it?
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Old 12-04-2010, 08:45 AM
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tlgerdes (Trevor)
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I was using an ETX125 with a wedge until recently, we made a strap that wrapped around the tube for piggybacking a DSLR. Your alignment is critical, but on a good night I could go 4mins at 100mm unguided. Good enough for a pic in last years compendium.

This is a great FOV for some of the larger DSO like LMC, SMC, Eta Carinae, and sectional views within the Milky Way.
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