Time to put my money where my mouth is

[Somnium (Aidan)]

After much consideration i have decided, if the price is right, i will pick up a Losmandy Titan with a planewave CDK 12.5 using SG pro for scheduling. the Losmandy is not my first choice and if i don't get the deal i am after i will probably go elsewhere and pick up a Paramount MX and leave the scope for later. either way i will have something on order by this weekend.

[AlexN]

Congratulations!

What camera are you planning on mounting to this scope. Can't wait to see pics of the setup once it's all done.

[rustigsmed (Russell)]

congratulations and good luck Aidan, fingers crossed you can get the Titan working as you like in full remote. the cdk is a mighty fine option too, looking forward to following your journey.

cheers

russ

[Somnium (Aidan)]

Originally Posted by rustigsmed

congratulations and good luck Aidan, fingers crossed you can get the Titan working as you like in full remote. the cdk is a might fine option too, looking forward to following your journey.

cheers

russ

thanks Russ, i figure that i will put the scope in sleep mode each morning and deal with power outages if and when they occur. like i have said, it is not tooo far awar from me 1:45, i can make the trip out and back in an evening (and i have).

Originally Posted by AlexN

Congratulations!

What camera are you planning on mounting to this scope. Can't wait to see pics of the setup once it's all done.

i am planning on using my QHY9 for now. The pixels are marginal (5.4 microns) but it should be okay, i will upgrade to a larger sensor with 9 micron pixels in a while but for now i am happy with the FOV, even if i have to bin 2x2. my main focus is and always has been imaging galaxies and they tend to be quite small

[jase (Jason)]

Nothing like a plan. I hope it goes well for you.

Just some caution in running the Titan in full remote. I did so for 3 years and over that time became quite intimate with Gemini's interworkings. The mount has no homing sensors so as you allude a loss of power during the night can create havoc in knowing where the telescope is pointing. Do your best to park the scope each night after use. A loss of power when parked i.e. during the day will not cause any problems. If you do lose power or in general find that the scope is lost due to some other technical problem, it can easily be recovered with allsky platesolving and performing a sync.

Another gotcha is hitting the east or west slew limits. Gemini will lock up all PC control if this occurs and the Gemini will emit its annoying high pitched alarm, which you will not hear if your are 2hrs drive away. Typically recovery requires pushing buttons on the Gemini hand controller, again difficult if you are 2hrs drive away. You can however work around this I found by scripting LX200 commands directly to the console port on the Gemini. You only need it to slew a small way out of the limit, then you can park the scope and resync if needed. I scripted this the recovery which made is easy to resolve. btw, the high pitch noise appears to be at an ideal frequency for attracting large moths. Try to recover the scope within a couple of hours on warm nights to avoid insect infestation.

If you are going remote, I strongly recommend using ACP to control your set up. You can script the scope's recovery with ease and it also supports allsky platesolving amongst a plethora of other features that you will find extremely powerful when going remote. The titan is a very capable mount once you understand the quirks of the Gemini software. I suspect Gemini v2 has even greater capabilities for remote operation.

[Somnium (Aidan)]

Originally Posted by jase

Nothing like a plan. I hope it goes well for you.

Just some caution in running the Titan in full remote. I did so for 3 years and over that time became quite intimate with Gemini's interworkings. The mount has no homing sensors so as you allude a loss of power during the night can create havoc in knowing where the telescope is pointing. Do your best to park the scope each night after use. A loss of power when parked i.e. during the day will not cause any problems. If you do lose power or in general find that the scope is lost due to some other technical problem, it can easily be recovered with allsky platesolving and performing a sync.

Another gotcha is hitting the east or west slew limits. Gemini will lock up all PC control if this occurs and the Gemini will emit its annoying high pitched alarm, which you will not hear if your are 2hrs drive away. Typically recovery requires pushing buttons on the Gemini hand controller, again difficult if you are 2hrs drive away. You can however work around this I found by scripting LX200 commands directly to the console port on the Gemini. You only need it to slew a small way out of the limit, then you can park the scope and resync if needed. I scripted this the recovery which made is easy to resolve. btw, the high pitch noise appears to be at an ideal frequency for attracting large moths. Try to recover the scope within a couple of hours on warm nights to avoid insect infestation.

If you are going remote, I strongly recommend using ACP to control your set up. You can script the scope's recovery with ease and it also supports allsky platesolving amongst a plethora of other features that you will find extremely powerful when going remote. The titan is a very capable mount once you understand the quirks of the Gemini software. I suspect Gemini v2 has even greater capabilities for remote operation.

This has been My main concern with the losmandy, the lack of an Autohome function but the wAy I see it , I won't lose power often during an imaging session and I can head down if I do to sort it out. I hadn't heard of the safety limit alarm with the moth invasion ... If I control via cart du ceil that doesn't allow tracking over the meridian so if I set the mount limits at 100 degrees then wouldn't that solve the issue. I guess you are relying on cdc , it would be good to have a back up ... Would prefer the paramount and who knows, I have put my offer in , just waiting to see if it is accepted, if not I will be happy with the bisque

[Atmos (Colin)]

Sounds very exciting purchasing a new mount! I would LOVE to buy an ASA DDM60 Pro in the future but hitting the same wall as you... Funds.

If you are able to remotely get over the issue of potential power loss from the Titan through plate-solving then it sounds like it will be a mount that will keep you happy for many years to come

[Somnium (Aidan)]

Originally Posted by Atmos

Sounds very exciting purchasing a new mount! I would LOVE to buy an ASA DDM60 Pro in the future but hitting the same wall as you... Funds.

If you are able to remotely get over the issue of potential power loss from the Titan through plate-solving then it sounds like it will be a mount that will keep you happy for many years to come

Thanks Colin

[Somnium (Aidan)]

Although I am sure the Titan would have been a capable mount I decided to go for the paramount mx, it will just make my life less stressful, features like auto homing, through the mount cabling and t point pushed me over the edge. Better to spend a bit more now and not have to upgrade then spending money twice. So I have just put the deposit on my new paramount mx, it should be here in 4 to 6 weeks.
I just have no idea what scope is going to go on top ...

[rustigsmed (Russell)]

Originally Posted by Somnium

Although I am sure the Titan would have been a capable mount I decided to go for the paramount mx, it will just make my life less stressful, features like auto homing, through the mount cabling and t point pushed me over the edge. Better to spend a bit more now and not have to upgrade then spending money twice. So I have just put the deposit on my new paramount mx, it should be here in 4 to 6 weeks.
I just have no idea what scope is going to go on top ...

Nice work, yeah the auto-home option is a big must have, I was surprised you were opting for the 2nd hand titan over an eq8 in that price bracket. things would have been easier with the eq8 however, life will be even easier with auto homing and full encoders (and less backlash).

What scope options are you considering?? Exciting stuff.

[Somnium (Aidan)]

Originally Posted by rustigsmed

Nice work, yeah the auto-home option is a big must have, I was surprised you were opting for the 2nd hand titan over an eq8 in that price bracket. things would have been easier with the eq8 however, life will be even easier with auto homing and full encoders (and less backlash).

What scope options are you considering?? Exciting stuff.

That was actually the logic i was following. I never really considered the titan in my research before the option came up, then after thinking about it i thought the EQ8 is more feature rich (although not as well constructed) so instead of that i spent 3 times as much and got the paramount ... go figure. but i have always wanted the paramount so why not.

the thoughts about what to go on top are down to

1) cdk 12.5 planewave
2) cdk 14 planewave

i have also looked into the AG optical and officina stellare ranges but for some reason i have a love for the planewave gear.

i will also be piggy backing a 80mm APO for wide field imaging

[AlexN]

Thinking about scope options, your best bet is to list your target priorities and local limitations then extrapolate your required specifications from that...

Eg:
Primary targets: wide emission/reflection/dark new vistas
Local limitations 2~3 arc sec seeing at best.

Camera is qhy9 with 5.4um pixels

Scope requirements:
<600mm f/l to match pixels and seeing conditions
F/5 or faster for dark nebs.

Options :
6" f/4 newt.
Fsq106
E180ed newt


That's how I go about selecting scopes. Figure out what I want to do with the new scope, figure out what my location will let me do.
Figure out what the optimal match to my location, camera and intentions are.
Compile a list of scopes within my budget that hit all those marks are then weigh up pros and cons.

[rustigsmed (Russell)]

Originally Posted by Somnium

That was actually the logic i was following. I never really considered the titan in my research before the option came up, then after thinking about it i thought the EQ8 is more feature rich (although not as well constructed) so instead of that i spent 3 times as much and got the paramount ... go figure. but i have always wanted the paramount so why not.

the thoughts about what to go on top are down to

1) cdk 12.5 planewave
2) cdk 14 planewave

i have also looked into the AG optical and officina stellare ranges but for some reason i have a love for the planewave gear.

i will also be piggy backing a 80mm APO for wide field imaging

yep all fair enough points.

the planewaves do look great, in that price bracket I'd also be considering the 16" ODK for its extra aperture - (and you've got the mount to handle it) so many options but hard to go wrong really.

[Somnium (Aidan)]

Originally Posted by AlexN

Thinking about scope options, your best bet is to list your target priorities and local limitations then extrapolate your required specifications from that...

Eg:
Primary targets: wide emission/reflection/dark new vistas
Local limitations 2~3 arc sec seeing at best.

Camera is qhy9 with 5.4um pixels

Scope requirements:
<600mm f/l to match pixels and seeing conditions
F/5 or faster for dark nebs.

Options :
6" f/4 newt.
Fsq106
E180ed newt


That's how I go about selecting scopes. Figure out what I want to do with the new scope, figure out what my location will let me do.
Figure out what the optimal match to my location, camera and intentions are.
Compile a list of scopes within my budget that hit all those marks are then weigh up pros and cons.

My objective has always been long FL imaging of Galaxies (the hard targets). the camera will be upgraded in time to a 9 micron chip, i do realise that the QHY has very small pixels, for the moment if i have average seeing conditions i can bin 2x2, so the pixels will be 10.8. however, this camera will eventually make its way to the APO.

seeing and LP conditions are pretty good at my observatory location, i really want to push the boundaries as much as possible and see what i can do.

oh and i also have ordered a Pegasus pier from Phil, should arrive around the same time as the MX

[Somnium (Aidan)]

Originally Posted by rustigsmed

yep all fair enough points.

the planewaves do look great, in that price bracket I'd also be considering the 16" ODK for its extra aperture - (and you've got the mount to handle it) so many options but hard to go wrong really.

true, there are other options but i think if i am going to drop big $ one time in my life on this (that the wife knows about) then i want to ensure i have the best quality.