Thread: Scope advice...
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Old 01-12-2010, 04:48 PM
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NorthernLight (Max)
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NorthernLight is offline
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Auckland, NZ
Posts: 343
Hi Ian,

and welcome to IIS!


this telescope/mount combo looks pretty capable for visual explorations of the night sky.

It may or not suit for astrophotography (AP). That will depend on what you gonna attach to it as a camera etc. Main issues here are the focuser and the mirror quality.

The mount is definetly not the best choice for AP. It doesn`t have a ST4 port for autoguiding and lacks rigidity because of the alu-legs. I also suspect that periodic error is something no one considered when designing this mount.

Many people make 2 common mistakes when it comes to AP:

1. Telescope: you don`t need a telescope for AP, a Camera lens will be much better esp. for extended objects like constellations, large nebulae or milky way widefields - shots below 24mm focal lenght can be as long as 30sec without guiding!

2. long exposure shots (30sec+), necessary for basically everything apart from solar system bodies, with a quality that would make (at least)you print it and love it- will cost you at least 3Grand worth of (new) equipment (provided you already have the DSLR or CCD) and more than half a year learning curve, if you use every dark night and read continously - and no other hobbies than digital image processing (you need Potoshop).

Look for something like a Sky Watcher HEQ5 (min), an 80mm ED refractor, a 70mm (guide) refractor, a guidecam, a DSLR and all the bits and pieces to screw it together

OR

re-think the whole matter and check the forum what people suggest for a beginners set up in AP. You may also check the signatures of the members that discuss their problems in the AP section (not the beginners) and google the prices for their gear - which doesn`t mean that expensive gear creates great images but you can get a feeling for the black whole that AP creates in your wallet.

Cheers
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