What would your perfect imaging portable set up be??

[TrevorW]

I've been thinking about that grey nomad road trip and what would be a good portable setup to take for imaging

This is what I had in mind, any other recommendations

1. Tak FSQ 106 ED
2. AP Mach 1 Goto
3 Eagle Folding Tripod
4. QHY 12 OSC Camera

:question:

[Marke]

Pretty much that , I have a Mach1 and eagle pier , qhy10 and an Orion 102CF but would take the Tak if I had one :)

[cventer]

Tak Fsq106
Paramount mx
Rob miller tripod
Qhy10 or 12 for OSC or STF8300 for mono

Paramount Mx homing plus 1 star alignment will get you within a few arc min of Pole in less than 5 minutes

[Marke]

You cant use your MX as a goto without a pc if you just want to do visual :P

[cventer]

Well then you Need to update the title. As it says perfect portable imaging rig which assumes you have a laptop.:P

But point taken.

[gregbradley]

You can't image without a laptop either unless you use a DSLR.

FSQ106 is not ideal for visual, its designed primarily as an astrograph (some swear by them for visual though).

Mike's setup is "portable" but then only if you can lift 150kgs above your head!!

Greg.

[desler]

Anything under clear dark skies!!!!!!!!!

Sorry, suffering from lack of imaging time!!!!!!

FSQ106
G11
QHY9 + fliters.

It's what I use at the moment!

Darren

[strongmanmike]

Not any more, have trouble rolling my stones out of the way to mow under them now :lol: :sadeyes:

My system is portable...just!! but I would want to be there for a few days to make it worthwhile.

An AG8 though on say, an EQ6 Pro or similar would be easily managable by most people and then you would have 8" of apperture rather than 4" and at F3.8... under those dark skies you just drove too ;).

Mike

[strongmanmike]

A Big Eski :thumbsup:

[Moon]

I'd thow a self guided camera in there instead of the QHY9/QHY10/QHY12. It keeps things simple.
James

[jenchris]

USS Enterprise and Hubble (I'm not greedy).

[Marke]

If I was doing a road trip as suggested in the original post I would certainly be looking at all options for back up such as what happens if your laptop fails or you have software problem . It would be good to be able to at least continue with some sort of functionalitly such as using a DSLR with the scope , hence my personal reluctance to rely on always having to use a laptop.

[bmitchell82]

Thats why i don't mind the eq6 at all :) its tiny little hand paddle will do everything you need :) does it do it well... not really :P but you nowdays you can get camera connections to the CW shaft :) handy that!

Ill go with Mike on this one being a one eyed newt lover myself, AG8, tuned EQ6 + a nice mono FW, OAG, a little eeepc to run the shebam.

It would take very little space and you could have the whole thing in 4 boxes (and the tripod out on its own).

bm

But your portable is not my portable :D hehehehe hey boys back up the flat bed and hiab!!!!

[rally]

Greg,

Did you ever try the FSQ visually ?

I used a 106N many times, it was absolutely superb on all objects and exhibited excellent contrast that Taks top end refractors are renowned for.
The moon was excellent and as you would expect from such a well corrected device there was no CA to be observed.

I have never understood why anyone would say because its a flattened field device that it isnt good visually.
Clearly they never actually tried one !

I doubt you would find a better OTA for visual use in its size - equal maybe but I doubt better.

The only trick to the early FSQ106's was focus for visual, they had very short back focus (a well known issue for AP when trying to add in MOAGs, electronic focussers etc) so you needed to use the dedicated Tak FSQ diagonal and appropriate adapters in order to use it visually.
This diagonal was extremely short profile and used a negative length adapter, the diagonal optics actually protruded back into the FSQ to within a bees whisker of the 4th Petzval element.

Any standard diagonal would put the EP beyond the focal point and hence it wasn't useable.

So although the OPs post was for AP, he could certainly use it for visual and not have any regrets or downside - just make sure you have the right diagonal and the adapter that is needed to go with it as well as the low profile 1.25" compression adapter.

Rally

[Octane]

I agree with you wholeheartedly, Rally.

I've used my N a few times for visual and it was an absolute pleasure. Pin prick stars all over the field with loads of contrast.

I have the Takahashi diagonal, too. :)

H

[Mighty_oz]

I second this one as that's what i've got for my trip when we go :) With the addition of an RC 10" for the galaxy stuff hehe

Marcus.