Another returnee

[kens (Ken)]

It's been over 25 years since I last peered down the eyepiece. Kids, work and other interests all got in the way. I've still got the old gear: Vixen 150mm Newtonian, Super Polaris mount etc... Back then I was right into astrophotography using my Minolta X500 and developing my own film. Notable targets were of course Halley's comet and the 1987A supernova. Now I'm approaching retirement and the prospect of being able to build a dome into our renovations has rekindled my interest. For now I'm putting the old gear back together but I'm seeing how far things have moved on. As a retirement gift I'm getting an Atik 420 CCD camera and I figured I'd better get a collimator as the scope has lain dormant in storage all that time. A few bits have gone missing like the toe saver and one clutch for the motor drive. Thought I had fried the Vixen DMD-1 controller when I forgot to check the polarity of the power source but luckily it was just that it had discharged the battery pack. I've ordered an adapter to convert the 36.4mm eyepiece to the more standard 1.25" plus a replacement clutch and McGyver'd a toe saver.
That should tide me over till I can get come to grips with the latest technologies before embarking on the inevitable n+1. I'm new to this community but I'm assuming that like bikes and fishing rods, that's the ideal number of scopes.
Looking forward to getting to know others in the community.
I'm also over on SGL

[scagman (John)]

Hi Ken,
Welcome to this great forum.
You'll have plenty of fun getting to know digital imaging and processing your new images.

Cheers

[ZeroID (Brent)]

Hi Ken and
Boy are you going to see some technology differences !
Hope your Vixen has survived it's hibernation period OK.
Plenty of help and advice around here. Ask questions, be prepared to spend money.

Cheers
Brent

[MattT]

Hi Ken,
It sure has changed since way back then. You must have been right into it then too...I used to dream of owning an EQ mount then
Lots to enjoy...the sky is still the same, different names for stars though.
Matt

[AstralTraveller (David)]

Super Polaris mount - now there's a blast from the past. Haven't heard them mentioned in years. I have half an idea that they became the present GC-5/ EQ-5 mount but I could be wrong (it happens ).

And you developed your own film too. What did you shoot with? I think a lot of people used Ektachrome 400 but hypered Techpan 2415 was the state of the art.

[kens (Ken)]

Yep - Ektachrome 400 or Ilford XP2 400 push processed to 800 or 1600.
I need to dig out the old slides and convert them to digital. Scanner technology is now good enough to get a decent reproduction.
I think the Super Polaris became the Great Polaris (GP) mount. Some parts are still compatible.
The Atik 420 arrived yesterday so I'm itching to try it out.

[Paul Haese]

Hi Ken. I have been involved in Astronomy for 41 years (50 now) and I can say you had some pretty modern gear in 80's. You must have spent some money, because stuff was so expensive back then. We made most things and I can still remember my drive corrector that I helped solder up with the help of an electronics expert in our society. Amazingly it worked. Film was the rage way back then, hypered or not. I sometimes take a look at the good images I produced then (out of the many garbage ones I produced). The transition to digital can be a bit daunting but learning is good.

Yes things have changed dramatically. You will marvel at what can be achieved. There are many people that can help here and quite a few to inspire you with imaging.

If you are going to buy a CCD, just take a bit of time to make the decision of what you want long term before laying out the cash. Pixel size and sensor size really determine what can be achieved, not to mention how much has to be spent. Also keep in mind you will need a guide camera too and an off axis guider or guide scope. You Can hand guide, but one little slip and your stars will suffer. CCD is not like film that was more forgiving of guide error.

Best of luck and feel free to ask more questions.

[kens (Ken)]

It was indeed quite expensive gear. If I recall right it was in the order of a couple of months pay for me back then. I need to drag out my old slides and convert them to digital but I might find they are not as good as I fondly imagine. When I mentioned them to the wife she muttered something about "those fuzzy oval shaped things" and they weren't galaxies
For the CCD I made a bit of a snap decision to take advantage of my employer's generous retirement gift offer. It's an Atik 420 which seems to fit the bill pretty well but time will tell.
I do have a guide scope - Vixen 60mm f12 refractor of the same vintage but I think it puts a bit too much load onto the mount so a guide camera sounds like a good idea to look into.
Right now I'm just waiting for some clear skies to try everything out in earnest.