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Old 18-05-2008, 03:10 PM
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Astrophotography gear.. am I missing anything

Hey,

I've started the process of buying all the bits and pieces to set up an astrophotography rig... I've already got a few things, and have a lengthy and somewhat expensive list of other things I need.

Just wanted to know if theres anything else I'll need..

Have:
8" newt, tube rings and dovetail plate
2 dslr's and a bunch of lenses... (3rd one coming soon)
spc900nc (lx modded) (hoping this can be used as a guide cam)

Still to buy:
EQ6 Pro
60~80mm refractor (guide scope: recommend me something...)


Im sure theres bits and pieces Im not yet aware of...

Plans are this..
both scopes on the EQ6, Nikon D300 attached to the 8" (prime focused) the spc900nc in the refractor for guiding using guidedog (or something else, insert your knowledge here) and my D80 piggybacked on top of it all with my 70-200 2.8 or 170-500 f/5~f/6.3 for wider shots than the 8"


Let me know what im missing, and more importantly, how much more its going to cost me

Alex (becoming extremely poor fast... Damn astrophotography!!!)
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  #2  
Old 18-05-2008, 03:34 PM
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bintel have the orion guide scope (ST80) + rings, i've got the pair on order waiting for them to come in. that would be the cheapest option i guess.
the spc900nc should work fine
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Old 18-05-2008, 03:46 PM
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ooh, what a bargain! Thanks...

Also, can anyone point me to where I can get one of those adapter plates that goes from the mount head to the individual dovetail plates for the two scopes ... (i dont know how to describe it any better)

Cheers
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  #4  
Old 18-05-2008, 04:14 PM
Ian Robinson
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Add :

Coma corrector for the Newt (Baader's MFCC is nice).
Upgrade focusor on Newt to a 2" low profile crayford style and make sure the primary is positioned to give sufficient back focus reach focus at the camera's focal plane. (When fully racked in.)
You might need a bigger secondary to get better illumination on the entire chip or film frame.
Remotes for the cameras.

I'd consider these as MUST HAVES.

Buy a spare dovetail plate , get an offcut of 10mm thick aluminium flat (wide enough and long enough to give a good platform for the guidescope rings and telephoto lens and main OTA) and make your own side-by-side plate. Would work out a lot cheaper than buying one ready made.

Last edited by Ian Robinson; 18-05-2008 at 04:25 PM.
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Old 18-05-2008, 04:16 PM
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Hi,

If you dont get a guide camera like the Orion/Qguider then you will need something to connect your laptop to the EQ6 to send guide commands from PHD/Guidedog; you will need a GPUSB from shoestring.

Why do you need 3 DSLR's?

Paul
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Old 18-05-2008, 04:31 PM
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I dont need 3 dslr's but I already have a D50 and a D80, but am buying a D300 in the next few weeks (i do a fair bit of freelance photography for a few different things... ) I have 2 remotes for cameras (photography gear is pretty extensive.. if its available, I have one or 2)

Ian, Thanks, I wasnt aware of the coma correctors.. Im lucky enough to be able to achieve focus without a low profile focuser, dont ask me how...
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Old 18-05-2008, 04:39 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AlexN View Post
I dont need 3 dslr's but I already have a D50 and a D80, but am buying a D300 in the next few weeks (i do a fair bit of freelance photography for a few different things... ) I have 2 remotes for cameras (photography gear is pretty extensive.. if its available, I have one or 2)

Ian, Thanks, I wasnt aware of the coma correctors.. Im lucky enough to be able to achieve focus without a low profile focuser, dont ask me how...

Mmmmm ..... vigetting and poor illumination (of edge of fov on the chip) may be an issue if you only have a 1.25" r&p focusor.)

Maybe you should do some calcs using http://www.catseyecollimation.com/designie5.html to check out your current optics and OTA hardware and work out what you need to do to optimise the newt's OTA for astrophotography.
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Old 18-05-2008, 05:01 PM
Alchemy (Clive)
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id pick phd over guidedog......ive used both extensively.
Guidecamera a mono if possible
various programs... phd, deepskystacker, photoshop, registax, starrynight-older enthusiast version (all free if you hunt around)... as a minimum

Now you are learning about black holes cos thats where the money goes..... never to be seen again, and it will suck more out of you the longer you participate...... just stay above the event horizon , apparently RC telescopes, paramounts and 16 megapixel ccd cameras lurk around there

cheers clive.
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Old 18-05-2008, 05:12 PM
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paramounts and 16 megapixel ccd cameras lurk around there
:drooling:
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Old 18-05-2008, 10:47 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ian Robinson View Post
Mmmmm ..... vigetting and poor illumination (of edge of fov on the chip) may be an issue if you only have a 1.25" r&p focusor.)


Its a 2" R&P, and I'll probably upgrade it to a crayford 10:1, Maybe even a low profile.. what I was saying is that even with my standard 2" R&P I dont have an focusing issues @ prime focus... have about 5mm of in-focus left to play with..
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Old 19-05-2008, 08:00 AM
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what's your total load weight Alex. sounds to me like the EQ6 will be pushing it with all that on it.

1. Dew heaters for you refractor and camera lenses.
2. somthing like the manfrotto ball head mounts for piggy back work. (manfrotto 486 RC2 http://www.madsens.com.au/new/manfro...mf_tripodheads but you can get them cheaper - around $100 )
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Old 19-05-2008, 11:08 AM
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Paul I'll have to wait and see what it all weights... If weight becomes a problem, then maybe I can do without having the 2nd piggybacked dslr+lense... that removes 2kg

8"+80mm+dslr+webcam should be ok on an EQ6, Although I dont know the weight of the 80mm refractor... People run 12" + guide scope off eq6's
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Old 19-05-2008, 11:42 AM
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remember for best performance you should only be running at 40-60% capacity.
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Old 19-05-2008, 12:07 PM
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urgh.... This is your lovely way of telling me the wish list just got $500-$3k more for a G11/HGM Titan isn't it Paul..

If that is the case, I can probably push for it... I'll get a weight measurement of my gear as it stands, and if someone can tell me what an orion ST80 weighs, I'll see whats what....

Last thing I want is to spend $1500 on a mount only to find in a few months time that Its not up to the task.

Last edited by AlexN; 19-05-2008 at 12:21 PM.
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Old 19-05-2008, 12:23 PM
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The 40-60% is the recommendation, but depending on the quality of your mount and how well you have it balanced you may be able to go way over that. When fully loaded down my G11 get right up to it's "maximum" recommended load and still chuggs along with np at all. I can't comment on how well an EQ6 will go photographically when weighted up.
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Old 19-05-2008, 12:35 PM
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mmmm... Food for thought.
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Old 19-05-2008, 05:18 PM
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im no expert imager with a fancy setup or anything but my advice would be to keep it simple until you give it a bash, start off with the minimum equipment needed and go from there, you'll soon find that it doesn't matter what you get you will always 'need' more. plus once you're actually out there taking images you will know what you want from your equipment and in turn what extra equipment you need to do the job otherwise you'll end up with a list of things to get that never ends.
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Old 19-05-2008, 05:54 PM
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monoxide, yeah i know what you mean. What i'm trying to avoid is buying things that will need to be replaced. Especially something as expensive as a mount. If i go for a g11 straight up, i shouldn't need to upgrade for a long while.. I'd prefer to spend big and do it right than go bare minimum and always be wishing i had something better..
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Old 19-05-2008, 05:57 PM
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Yep, the ST80 for guiding is a killer, I use it on a 3m FL OTA, works a treat (but make sure the mounting is SOLID).

Ian, RCs, PMEs and big cams get you TO the event horison, then, RC flateners, rotators, huge filters, auto focusers............... suck you right in ;-).
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  #20  
Old 19-05-2008, 06:41 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bassnut View Post
Yep, the ST80 for guiding is a killer, I use it on a 3m FL OTA, works a treat (but make sure the mounting is SOLID).

Ian, RCs, PMEs and big cams get you TO the event horison, then, RC flateners, rotators, huge filters, auto focusers............... suck you right in ;-).
Where's that winning Lotto or Powerball ticket ? or that inheritance from a rich relative ?
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