Telescope upgrade idea

[benklerk]

Im looking at upgrading my telescope.

At the moment I have the HEQ5 Pro belt mod and GSO 6" RC. Guidescope is cheap skywatcher 80x400mm. The guidescope weighs around 2.5 to 3Kg because of the tube rings and the adapters for the dovetail. I also have a autofocuser, the Sestso Senso, and a new heavy duty focuser, plus a tilt ring for collimation.

With all of this. The scope is a touch back heavy, and I cant much the scope any further up.

Cameras are ZWO 1600mm with filterwheel and 071.

The telescope I'm looking at is the GSO 8" RC with Skywatcher EVOstar 72ED. Yes, I know how to collimate a RC. Once I got used to it, it takes me under 30min now.

I also use a field flattner with the GSO so I'm hoping I don't need to use it with the 8".

What type of problems will I run into I need to be aware off. I know I need to bin the camera but I can also drizzle the guiding.

[Camelopardalis]

Ben, it’s only going to get more back heavy with a larger mirror ;)

What leads you to believe you won’t need the field flattener? I thought it was a feature of the RC design that they are well corrected except for the field curvature, inherent in the design.

[lazjen]

You're going to need the field flattener. :)

[DJT]

You can get better balance using a set of weights like these

https://www.bintel.com.au/product/losmandy-dvdws-counterweight-2-5lb/?v=6cc98ba2045f


Attach to either the plate on the scope or the saddle at the front


I didn’t use a Flattener. Just crop to 75-80%. Why stick glass in front of a perfectly good mirror.

[benklerk]

I have decided not to upgrade. I have been waiting for months for my local council to get back to me, and they did yesterday. They have giving the go ahead for me to build my backyard obs.

So I can now get my GSO RC 14" on a friction drive mount. Camera is going to be the Moravian Instrument G4 Mk 2 with the Kaf 16803 chip. WIth Baader LRGB 3.5nm Ha 4.5 O3 and 4.5 SII filters.

[gregbradley]

Sounds awesome. The 16803 is the pinnacle of CCD development. It never seemed to get any better than that. The KAF16200 is good too with its 6 micron pixels and same sort of QE but smaller field of view. its a better match for shorter focal lengths.

The market seemed to swing towards these CMOS sensors as the costs are way lower. Plenty of great images from both types of cameras although I don't personally think the CMOS have overtaken the older CCDs quite yet.

But that area is advancing rapidly as QHY have shown.

Greg.