Telescope Array .....

[FlashDrive]

http://www.herculesoptica.com/ta70.html

Telescope array TA-70
The product is designed by ASTROSHOP and consists of four SKYROVER 70SA main mirrors .

4 telescopes, one for each filter, LRGB/Ha, SII, O3, Hb or photometric filter UVBIR for deep space
4 Telescop for deep space .
The product has a good extension, and it is equipped with more other equipment, such as the fifth telescope and the guide star equipment.

Col.....

[glend]

Col is it still April Fools Day? I have enough trouble getting one to run.:screwy:

[LewisM]

Ah, the revolutionary new reflecting refractors....or refracting reflectors.

I had better lay down...getting confused and in a tizzy:lol:

[FlashDrive]

Nah ...it's real ...:D

[astroron]

Am I too gather here, that you would need 4-5 cameras and other multiple stuff to run of this array?:shrug:
Cheers

[ab1963]

Ridiculous.....:screwy:

[FlashDrive]

Ah ... yes Ron, Cameras and associated equipment are needed to run this Array, along with deep pockets .....:D

[leon]

A bit over the top, what happens if one is out of focus.

Leon

[astroron]

Amazing,just amazing. :rolleyes:
Cheers:thumbsup:

[glend]

Well I guess you simply run four focus motors on them as well, with four instances of SGP to control them. Might be messy to dither them unless you can sync the SGP instances, or create virtual equipment profiles. Do you run one guidescope? It would have to be on a standalone PHD2 instance and not under SGP control I would think.

[FlashDrive]

I'd call it a.... North Korean Missile Launcher .....;)

[leon]

Just one reasonable sized Tak would just do me fine instead of that thing, thanks.

Leon

[xelasnave]

Well I would like two sets so I can have eight dedicated filters ..and cameras, focusers etc ..eight lap tops maybe and get eight hours for one put in...fifty hours for a nights efforts ... I must start a gofund me page..goal $70k☺
Alex

[leon]

Sorry Alex you wont get a cent out of me, now if you needed a new walker no problem.

Leon

[xelasnave]

OK I will use the profit from the lite motorised wheel chair.
You know folk like me or a little worse than me who can still drive but find walking an issue and are by them selves and only have a small car need a lite wheel chair that you can lift in and out so I figure hub motors and I small battery...going to do one soon hopefully.
Alex

[glend]

It's called a Segway isn't it? Keeping with the theme of this thread, how about four electric motors in four wheel hubs, bolted onto a nice recliner chair frame. A joystick and hand throttle, and use regenerative braking.

[xelasnave]

For me balance is the thing.
I made a motorised walker with a platform to stand on but even five inches off the ground I could not handle it..may as well been trying to stand on top of a ten foot ladder...I cant balance on long tuff grass.

Segway is probably to heavy for a weakling like me.

So now guiding the thread gently back to the op.

Well I would like even the four set up which would probably mean a couple of filter wheels in the mix...the time I get behind the scope has me wondering how I can get more time..you dont get much these days because of weather so a multipack scope set up really appeals.. its is unfortunate that is so expensive.
I give a lot of thought to building a multi camera set up using a particular dslr..needs to be avaiable cheap and easy to get modded versions...and all with the same lens..that set up would not be too complex and you would only need a bar to sit all the cameras on..and they only need to be approx aligned really...
Alex

[xelasnave]

And thanks Col for your OP.
I enjoyed the fantacy☺.
Alex

[Slawomir]

Certainly the array looks interesting.

I think I would rather go for RASA 8" and image with one larger aperture at f/2 which is more than 4x faster than f/5 for extended objects, would capture more stars due to larger aperture and would resolve much finer details (larger aperture again). All of that with just one camera so a cheaper and simpler system. The only compromise I can think of would be a smaller field of view with RASA.

[xelasnave]

Anyways all the scopes dont have to be on the same mounts...so seven 12 inch RASA on eq8s or better ...there would be no need to change filters as each scope would have its own.

A 10 minute snap should capture the faintest object☺.
Heck lets go 20 inch and a full time tech assistant☺.
Alex

[glend]

You will need fast narrowband filters at f2 and those are not cheap. But then again the RASA is over priced in my opinion, given the cost of used Edge 8" which are Faststar ready.

[JA]

I've always liked the array idea, but a 4x array whilst attractive from a light gathering and time on target point of view, seems like it would present several challenges: complexity, focus, system weight, simultaneous triggering, cost, etc...

I've settled on trying to build a 2x system using two Nikkor 600mm f/4 lenses (6.3kg per lens) as that allows for ease of full frame camera or other camera mounting and keeps the overall weight, ease of use and complexity reasonable. I just need to make or purchase some components (beyond a typical side by side mounting) to help mount the pair and get some time. If worse comes to worse it could make for some great binoculars, for someone with some very wide set eyes:D

Best
JA

[Slawomir]

Fast narrowband filters are much much much (pun intended) cheaper than additional 3 cameras, motorising additional 3 focusers, 3 more laptops/or super fast one to handle downloading 4 datasets at once etc etc

RASA was just an example of an alternative to an array of four small aperture f/5 refractors.


JA - it sounds like an interesting project - please keep us updated :thumbsup:

[glend]

Yes that is true

[lazjen]

Just a quick thing to note - you would not need extra machines to control the cameras/focusers if you used something like INDI/ekos to control it all.

Camera and focuser costs alone though blow this out of the water. :)

[JA]

If one is using DSLRs and OK with a few hundred millisecond delay between "simultaneous" exposures on 2 cameras, then DigiCamControl has a multiple camera feature that can be used to control exposure, etc, on multiple cameras (I've yet to try its multiple camera feature and hopefully it offers the same degree of control as it does in the Astro module).

Not that you'd need it but, the literate suggests it could handle up to 127 cameras via USB and Hub, just not perfectly simultaneously (a USB communication, not software limitation). There would be a 0.2 to 0.8 second delay between cameras (Not an issue for astro if organised appropriately for things like dithering).

For info:

GUI ....
http://www.digicamcontrol.com/doc/userguide/interface/multicam

Literature....
http://www.digicamcontrol.com/doc/usecases/multi

DigiCamControl software handles, Canon, Nikon, Sony and many others and incorporates an astro specific module amongst other features.

Best
JA

[FrancoRodriguez]

I wonder just how difficult it would be to align all these telescopes. I suspect it would provoke a horrid migraine...