Peter Ward
22-04-2013, 09:17 PM
I'd purchased this little scope recently for the up-coming annular solar eclipse....and have been trying various combinations with it since.
My KAF8300 based camera (no prizes as to the brand :) ) and this scope worked *so well* together I decided a little more compression might be in order.
Precise parts also recently whipped me up a suitable adapter allowing use with the FSQ 0.75 reducer.
With Taka's reducer, the FL is near enough 300mm and at F3.75 puts this scope squarely up against Canon's 300mm L series F2.8...and despite my immense liking for Canon glass....it frankly kills it for deep-sky use.
Here is a link to the initial results (http://www.atscope.com.au/BRO/gallery239.html)
No processing was done to this image other than: dark frame subtraction and tweaking of a few curves.
I suspect there is some focal plane tilt happening, as evident by less than pristine stars at lower right of the image, linked above.
It is still a pretty chunky 'scope, with weight being on a par with a Canon's 500mm F4, hence is probably not going to be happy on all but the most robust of grab-and-go mounts. Overall I'd still have to say this is probably one of the best small astro-graphs I've tested, and well worth a look.
My KAF8300 based camera (no prizes as to the brand :) ) and this scope worked *so well* together I decided a little more compression might be in order.
Precise parts also recently whipped me up a suitable adapter allowing use with the FSQ 0.75 reducer.
With Taka's reducer, the FL is near enough 300mm and at F3.75 puts this scope squarely up against Canon's 300mm L series F2.8...and despite my immense liking for Canon glass....it frankly kills it for deep-sky use.
Here is a link to the initial results (http://www.atscope.com.au/BRO/gallery239.html)
No processing was done to this image other than: dark frame subtraction and tweaking of a few curves.
I suspect there is some focal plane tilt happening, as evident by less than pristine stars at lower right of the image, linked above.
It is still a pretty chunky 'scope, with weight being on a par with a Canon's 500mm F4, hence is probably not going to be happy on all but the most robust of grab-and-go mounts. Overall I'd still have to say this is probably one of the best small astro-graphs I've tested, and well worth a look.