Scope camera combination

[rcheshire]

Possibly one for Tak owners.

FSQ 85EDX and FSQ 106EDX plus spectrum enhanced 5D MKII.

What do you think?

I think this may be in the wrong forum - apologies!

[gregbradley]

Was that meant to be FSQ85 or FSQ106ED?

I'd go 106ED as I know one user of FSQ85 who was disappointed with quality and flex in focuser even under lightish loads.

Modded 5D mk ii would be quite capable but you'd have to ask whether it would be as good as one shot colour cooled CCDs like QHY8, 9 or 10.

That is not so clear. 5D mk ii is handy in that you don't have to have a computer and that may be very appealling if you are out in the field.

Greg.

[rcheshire]

Thanks Greg. I meant 'and' as in experience of both, rather than a preference for one or the other. However, it seems that my gut feeling is as you have suggested, a preference for the 106.

I do like the less complex DSLR setup, but not sure that it's the best for such a good quality astrograph.

My inquiry is prospective at the moment and I will need to upgrade my 1997 EM-200B - still chewing over the camera preference following the vast inquiries and research I did last year.

I'm a shop assistant's nightmare. Thank God for on-line shopping.

[Hagar]

Hi Rowland. Nice setup but the only concern I would have is the cooling nightmare that comes with a DSLR. A dedicate camera may be a little more costly up front and has only one use but the regulated cooling makes the extra expence well worth it.

[Poita]

I'd only get a MKII if you were needing it for general photography as well and budget was limited, or you didn't want extra computers and camera power supplies when out on location.
As Doug said, trying to cool a DSLR is an expensive and tricky operation, and you won't get low noise levels like a dedicated cooled CCD camera will give. A 5D MKII is still fairly pricey, it gets you up into dedicated CCD territory price-wise.
I can't comment on the Taks themselves, I don't know enough about them.

[rcheshire]

Thanks Doug and Peter. I am inclined to agree. Having successfully designed and built a cooling system for my 1000D, cooling a MKII is really a job for CentralDS. If I was going to do that, I'd spend the money on a dedicated CCD.

Thoughts for the future. I like the optics of the FSQ106, the big focuser and the short tube - it fits somewhere between DSO and wide field with a reducer. But, it also means guiding and that is another subject altogether. If the focuser on the FSQ85 was more robust I would be satisfied with that and might get away without guiding as I have in the past.

[Hagar]

Rowland, you will find he FSQ106ED to be very kind on guiding and with the bigger diameter glass it just chews up whatever light it can find, The focuser is very rigid and hasn't caused me any concerns with even an 1102 CCD and filterwheel hanging on the back.

[RB]

Just back on the 5D MkII, if you intend to use it for astro, I'd highly recommend a scope with a 4" focuser.
Any smaller and it will vignette a lot.
The FSQ106 looks like it has a 4" focuser but the FSQ 85 looks like it's a smaller focuser.

[rcheshire]

The 106 is definitely the better option.

I may need to update my 1997 EM-200B to accommodate the FSQ106. But that means laying my hands on a discontinued Takahashi upgrade, or possibly an Arduino setup.

Then again, and here's a case of rationalising, with careful alignment and because I was fortunate to buy a mount with very low PE, maybe I can get away without guiding for a while.

The 4" focuser has been updated with the newer shorter tube version. It's just a beautiful set up. One that I have been interested in for a while.

I think this will be an ongoing project for a little while to come.