Have you regretted down sizing?

[dec_odonnell]

Afternoon all,

I've come to the unfortunate decision - I need to downside.

Life changes have dictated that my 9.25 SCT with mount and tripod is just too big/heavy for my needs and is up for sale.

Have any of you down sized from this kind of setup, if so, what did you go to? Did you regret it?

The 9.25 is a brilliant scope, I just would rather something that I can carry out the back and down the stairs in one go, Or travel with more easily.

Currently thinking and ED80 triplet or similar on an EQ-5.

[dec_odonnell]

Forgot to mention, I would be wanting to go down the direct imaging route..

[glend]

I have been gradually stepping down in size, from a 16" Dob, down to an ED150 refractor on a CGX mount. I have gone through the visual stages, to traditional imaging, now do EAA. Age and health issues were the drivers. My best investment was building an observatory in my backyard, no need to carry things. Frankly if I had to carry and setup I would probably have retired from astronomy by now. I do not travel with my gear any longer, no more dark sites, but it's pretty dark in my location outside of a city.

Seeing as how your already in a dark location, it is an ideal time to build yourself an observatory. Nothing like sitting in front of your high definition big computer screen in the observatory watching Sharpcap build an EAA image.
If your unfamiliar with EAA (Electronically Assisted Astronomy), it is the use of high frame rate astronomy cameras to stack and align frames to build up detailed images. Traditional imaging uses typical long exposures, and complicated processing routines to create an image. You can argue about quality but for most folks, who are not creating award contenders, EAA meets their needs.

[ChrisV]

Hope you are enjoying live imaging Glen!

[glend]

I do Chris, much less hassle. No darks, bias, flats, stacking, layering, etc etc.and of course the time saving is enormous. Not for everyone, but for old me ideal.

[AdamJL]

I'm not at the stage to think about downsizing but I can speak about having a nice portable and lightweight setup.
My Esprit is not that, but my other scopes are definitely in that category and they're a joy to use. Sometimes changing things up are enough to reinvigorate a love of a hobby. I know astro has created the spark for me to get back into terrestrial photography as well, which I did for 20 years as a hobby before looking up at the stars.

[floyd_2]

I'm with you Glen. I've been through various scopes over the years from a 15" Obsession, 10" Meade SCT, TV101 and so on. It's been a great journey. I've also ended up settling down with EAA using SharpCap. In my case, I use SharpCap to do real time stacking of exposures from 15 seconds to 2 minutes depending upon conditions / filters etc. I think that this is the most that I've ever enjoyed astronomy as it allows me to view in comfort (I have an astronomy shed that's nicely fitted out and comfy) and EAA allows me to see more than I ever could at the eyepiece.

I have an AZ-EQ5 set up in EQ mode which is fairly easy to move around. I would prefer an EQ6 but the weight is a problem for me. I've started using a 94mm APO on this mount very recently and it's all going perfectly for my needs married up with a ZWO ASI533MC Pro / guidescope etc. I'll eventually get an off axis guider for my C9.25 / f/6.3 reducer combo and see how it goes on the AZ-EQ5. Its fine in AZ mode, but exposures are pretty limited. The results are good though. We'll have to see how it fares in EQ mode on the AZ-EQ5 though.

If you decide to go with EAA, I guess you might need to consider what sort of FOV you're after with a downsized setup. My refractor gives 1.57 degrees which is good for wide field viewing. The C9.25 at f/6.3 gives me a FOV of 0.44 degrees so it's sort of the best of both worlds.

Good luck with your downsizing Declan.

[issdaol]

I considered downsizing years ago as I was doing the backyard build or find a dark spot somewhere and setup every time.

When you have a large scope and mount and lots of accessories it gets tiresome and harder as you get older.

Buying my dark site property and building the observatory out there now means I dont have to worry about any of that now....all I have to worry about are my ageing eyes !! lol

I plan to build an additional larger observatory next to the current one so all of my scopes (or at least the main 2) are operational simultaneously.

In terms of preferential limits......6 inch refractor is the smallest I like to go (TOA150) anything smaller means I am compromising on my preferred visual experience.

I will have to investigate EAA and see where that is at now....but in earlier versions I wasn't happy with the results......perhaps someone can recommend some really good EAA gear for me to investigate?

Cheers!