Lets go Shopping

[Striker]

Wahoo,

Most of my insurance money has come through with only a few odds and ends still waiting on payment.

Mount has been decided AP900

Scope I have narrowed down to 3 I think.

I totally agree the Taks hold there value much more then other scopes.

So they are at the top of my list.

TOA150 $14,100
TOA130 $9,100
ASA 10" F3.8 with accessories approx $10,000

For those who are not familiar with the ASA scopes it's the smaller version of StrongmanMike 12" he has been waiting for the last 6 months.
http://www.astrosysteme.at/ikreator/asa/cms_pub/content_7-en.html

And the TOA's
http://www.bttechnologies.com/telescope_takahashi_toa.htm

I am leaning towards the TOA130/150 for simplicity not having to worry about cooling and collimation on a daily basis even though the ASA would be a terrific performer if everything is working right.

The WO132 did get a mention but even though it looks great value for money I would prefer to stick with a true performer.
I would like to make a decission which way in the next few days because all these scopes come with a waiting period of 4 to 12 weeks.

What do you guys think.

[Dave47tuc]

TOA 150 :thumbsup:

[RB]

TOA 150

:thumbsup:

[Starkler]

Aperture !

But dont listen to me :whistle:

[Astroman]

TOA 180 err I mean 150 :D

Awesome choices there Tony..

[gbeal]

Tricky mate. At first I was siding with the TOA180/150 line, but as it has also been pointed out, aperture wins, so I may lean to the 10" astrograph.
Either way as I keep pointing out, we are definitely spoilt for choice.

[iceman]

A security system for the observatory :P

[Striker]

All ready organised Mike.

I will have a sign up saying smile for the camera's and watch where you stand...lol

[Striker]

No doubt the 10" Astrograph will be a nice imaging set up....its very tempting

I just dont like the fact of crucial collimation and cooling with newts.

I am trying to convince myself here.

When I go out to image I would like to start imaging within 15 minutes of doing so...I do have limited time's here.

I suppose that's where I have always liked a nice apo.

[acropolite]

I have a funny story re security cameras you may want to consider when setting up your security system. One of our customers is a fish reseller and had a break in which was duly recorded by the security cameras. The owner could see the thieves loading crafish from his holding tanks into bags. One of the burglars saw the security camera and came closer to examine the video camera. Gotcha, thief number 1... full frontal. The moronic thief then walked over and grabbed one of his mates and bought him to the camera to show him the camera. Gotcha thief numer 2, full frontal group pose with thief number 1. They then ripped the camera off the wall and to cover their tracks torched the building. Luckily the recording equipment was in another building and was undamaged. The police easily identified the (repeat) offenders from the videos and those involved are now enjoying a stint in prison.:thumbsup:

[Ric]

They are three great scopes you have narrowed down to Tony, and all are top performers.
The Tak's are great for the reasons you have mentioned but the ASA is a fantastic scope as well.
You have left yourself with a tough but enjoyable choice, whatever scope you choose I think you will definitely be happy with it.

Looking forward to here of your decision.

cheers

[rogerg]

The fast focal ratio of the 10" would be hard to go past. Very nearly the same focal length but faster. I suppose you're going to reach skyfog limit at about 20 - 40 minute exposure times with the Taks anyway so it just means you'd be cutting that exposure time not reaching deeper.

I think I'd go for the 10" to keep short exposure times. That would mean you could script it to cover a significantly larger range of objects each night. Possibly quite a powerful tool for sky surveys also - wide field and fast.

Once you have the focuser setup right (assuming you'll have a temp compensated focuser) the temp shouldn't be much of a problem, but then I can't speak from experience as I have never bother activating the temp compensation on my robofocus. Having said that when chosing some of my equipment and considering the Tak's the one thing I really liked is they appear to have the edge on simplicity - less hassle in many regards.

Roger.

[Striker]

Thanks Guys,

No doubt the ASA will be an awesome scope its the collimating that puts me off...this is going to be so critical with this scope.

Anyone that does color ccd imaging with a monochrome chip will know if you have to take off the camera to collimate means you will have to take all your flats for every color chanel again plus Luminance and HA if used...yes this can be done but its just something else that has to be done to an already long process.
I think the faint fussies are better imaged at a dark site.

Still thinking.

Also I am not really sure I will get the benifit of such a fast scope in the suburbs of Brisbane.

I would be lucky to get 120 sec exposures.