Here's a couple of (not so good) shots of the new rig... my C11 and ED80 side by side on the EQ6. (My flash wouldn't play the game - maybe too much contrast between the white of the mount and the black of the obs walls
)
I finally managed to get it all mounted and balanced this afternoon. Rain stopped play before I could get both scopes optically aligned, so that's the next job
.
I plan to use an Orion XY guide star finder to allow me to leave both scopes "rigidly" mounted and aiming at the same point.
Looking forward to getting back into some imaging. The C11 should go well on the moon and planets to start with, and the ED80 on paper should allow me to improve the resolution of the spectra I capture with the SA from about 34Å with the C8 @ f/6.3 to nearly 20Å
. It will be an interesting experiment to see if I can achieve it.
Not sure what I'll achieve with the C11 and the SA... it depends if I can use the second focuser to achieve a greater back focus and hence greater dispersion
.
So, I'll soon be playing about learning to guide
... I think it'll become necessary using the ED80 for spectra even if not capturing DSO's.
Buying the C11 was a bit earlier than I'd planned but when it came up, I decided to grab it
.
Long term the plan is to get something like an SM60 and BF10 for the ED80, maybe a QHY8 for DSO's and ultimately an ST7 and SGS combo (dream
) but that might all take some time, and depending on opportunities might differ a little bit
.
I already have all the business for EQMOD, but after an initial play I think I'll leave that on the back burner a while... too much technology for me to sanely sort out in one hit
.
Al.