$4.5K - $5k to burn

[rustigsmed]

Hi guys,

looking at getting an imaging setup going, changing jobs with some good leave payout coming up.

i've currently got a 12" goto SW dob.

Looking at getting an imaging setup going. Unfortunately, i haven't a dedicated area or have the potential for an observatory, otherwise i'd be think EQ8 with my 12" :D

Interested to hear what people would get with around $5k.

thinking something along the lines of ...

Mount- NEQ6
Guiding - Lodestar camera/ OAG
Scope - SW ED 120 / 8" newt / 6" mak

I have a DSLR modded already. but maybe if i get the newt, i could get a better camera...

:thumbsup:

Russ

[Octane]

Buy Zane's FSQ-106ED advertised at the moment, and, then everything else will flow through in time.

Or, buy a Losmandy G-11 and then save for a scope. :)

The mount is your most important purchase. It dictates what you will be able to put on it now, as well as later.

H

[jjjnettie]

I'd go with the refractor.
It's got a good wide field view of the cosmos.
Have you considered an RC8 or RC10?

[Astroman]

I'd buy the refractor if I could afford it, great for imaging. Get a focal reducer and it's an awesome widefield scope. Will go on an EQ6 easily too...

[rustigsmed]

thanks guys,

H, as for the G11, i am assumming you mean the G11 G?
http://www.bintel.com.au/Mounts---Tripods/EQ-Mounts/Losmandy-G11-G/90/productview.aspx

hmmm, its quite a bit more than the NEQ6 but I think i read its super quick to set up, and generally more accurate. ease of setup is pretty important to me - as i'll have to carry. but then again its almost the same $ as the new EQ8 with 50kg carrying capacity.

A for the FSQ-106ED ... drool! but yes i'm more concerned with the mount than the optics at this stage but am unlikely to have spare money for quite a decade or so ...

I have considered the RC8/10 jjjnettie i'm unsure of its advantage over a newt with a baader MPCC ... although i could use my camera without its eos clip in UV/IR block and go full spectrum (as i won't need the coma corrector). hmmm!

i think i need to do some more research on the losmandy

[rustigsmed]

Hi Astroman (and jjjnettie) by 'the refractor' are you referring to Sky Watcher ED 120?

[Eggmoon]

You are all wrong... the best thing to do with that much spare cash would be to give it to me.....

:D

[rustigsmed]

haha yes, and what would you get with it then Eggmoon? :lol:

[Eggmoon]

All the things I cant afford for my scope given the overheads that suck up my spare cash like a black hole. Autoguider... good CCD camera... filters... *sigh*

Overheads... like food and clothes for a wife and three daughters. Not to mention how much the puppy costs me....

They keep me poor.... but happy. :)