Quote:
Originally Posted by pluto
At the moment I have an f7.5 SW ED80 APO and it's great. But I'm now imaging narrowband and I noticed the SW102 f5 achromatic, like this one: http://www.bintel.com.au/Telescopes/...oductview.aspx (Andrews has the OTA only for $299)
So I'm thinking that it would be nice to have that slightly wider FOV and larger aperture so I can acquire more light more quickly.
As I understand it, because I'm shooting NB (7nm), I shouldn't experience the usual achromatic limitation of different wavelengths not coming to focus together.
So my questions are:
1. Am I thinking along the right lines or am I way off? 
Can be done, been there with sw120 f5 not as good as an apo
2. In terms of imaging NB with my Atik 314L+ will the optical quality be as good as my SW BD ED80?
Probably not, they're good scopes the ed80's, also had one.
3. Would I be better off getting a 0.8 reducer to bring my ED80 to 480mm f6? (or a similar reducer)
If u get a good reducer
4. Is the focuser any good on the SW102? If not would it need to be replaced or could I get away with using an electric focus drive to get more accuracy? (like this one which I was thinking of getting anyway: http://www.bintel.com.au/Astrophotog...oductview.aspx)
- I guess I could just swap the focuser over from my ED80?
If your serious about imaging and don't want to manually refocus after every few images then automated is the way to go. Will cost u tho.
5. Does anyone know how heavy this scope is? Or more importantly, how much heavier than the ED80 it is? The ED80 is currently well suited to my EQ5 and I don't want to get a heavier mount at the moment as I have to carry it everytime I use it.
2.5kg according to http://www.skywatcher.com/swtinc/pro...1=1&class2=103
I'm just thinking that for a relatively small amount of money I could be getting a fair bit more image in less time. Either way I won't be getting rid of the ED80 any time soon, maybe it's just the cloudy nights lately have given me too much online window shopping time  |
Best to stick with the ed80 until u get serious they produce great images.
My 2c worth hope it helps.
Marcus.