Buying another scope

[Sekans1]

Hi,

I'm new to the forum, so I’ll quickly give a little introduction. I live in Perth and I've been into astronomy for a little while now. I purchased my first telescope (4” Tasco Newtonian reflector) about 6/7 years ago, which has satisfied my astronomy needs up until now. A few months ago I got a Canon EOS 400D, and now I want to get into some astrophotography, and I would also like to upgrade my scope.

So, a couple of questions. I would like some recommendations for a new scope, the most I really want to spend is around the $2000 dollar mark. Obviously I would like a telescope that would be good for astrophotography and also for general viewing. If anyone could give me some advice on what to buy and where to buy, it would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

[rogerg (Roger)]

.. from a fellow Perth member.

For under $2k I expect the most popular choice would be some sort of EQ5/EQ6 and a 80mm ED refractor (like an Orion 80mm ED from BINTEL), or similar. $2k is almost enough to get a Vixen Sphinx mount, but that wouldn't leave you any money for the OTA.

Any idea what kind of astrophotography you're after? (wide field, planetary, narrow field deep sky, etc), that will have an impact on what equipment you buy.

As for where - shop around. I buy from BINTEL the most, but there's many good suppliers in the eastern states/SA.

[MortonH]

You can get a used Meade LX90 or similar for around $2,000 - $2,500. You may want a focal reducer as well for prime focus photography (an f/6.3 reducer has just been listed on the Buy/Sell Forum).

Depends on what kind of scope you want (Newt, Schmidt-Cassegrain, refractor). Bintel have all the SkyWatcher Pro scopes on special just now with GOTO equatorial mounts. www.bintelshop.com.au

Lots of people on this website use Newts for imaging. Check out the Images and Photography forums.

Morton

[g__day (Matthew)]

Probably a ED80 and a goto HEQ5 or a CG5. The ED80 and CG5 would run to around $1,800.

[iceman (Mike)]

Hi, welcome to IIS! Great to have you here.

An ED80 on an EQ6 is a perfect entry point into astrophotography, but will cost you more than $2k. Do you have a DSLR?

Do you want to do photography of planets/moon, or deep-space objects, or both?

[Sekans1]

Yes, I have a DSLR (the 400D). I would like to take pics of both deep-sky objects and planets, are certain types of scopes better than others for certain objects?
I think I would prefer to buy another Newtonian reflector, what size scope would make for some good photo's?

Thanks again!

[iceman (Mike)]

Hi there Sekans1 (what's your real name?)

The scope/camera required to take photos of planets is completely different than the telescope and camera that's required to take pictures of deep-sky objects.

For planets/lunar, you need:
1) Large aperture telescope (anything over 8" is best, largest practical aperture is probably around 12" before you need to start looking into active cooling).
2) Fast framerate webcam - a firewire/USB2 webcam is best, but the ToUcam (still USB1.1) is the best of the budget webcams.
3) A tracking mount, however it doesn't need to be the biggest and best. The exposures are short and so a bit of drifting is ok as long as you can use the hand controller to keep the planet in the FOV. Too much movement and it will affect the quality.

For deep-space imaging, you'll need:
1) A shorter focal length telescope, like an ED80. You can use 10" telescopes for deep-space stuff, but most will also use focal reducers to reduce the focal length. The higher the focal length, the more demand you put on the accuracy of your tracking.
2) A digital SLR or similar. The DSI/Pro work well for a starter. Others even use a modified ToUcam (webcam) with some great results (see BallaratDragons posts).
3) The mount is everything. It has to be solid, it has to track well and accurately. Bigger is better. You're doing long exposures so it needs to be aligned accurately.
4) (optional) as you get experience, you'll want more accurate tracking so you'll need a guidescope, guidecamera etc.

Hope that helps!

[Sekans1]

Thanks for the info. And my name is Jonathon.