What to buy with $2500

[mathewb]

Hi all,
I realise this is an incredibly open ended question, but I am hoping that your combined experence might lead me a little further down the road to enlightenment.

My predicament - I am studying Astronomy (Masters through JCU, finally!) and I need a decent scope. I have always wanted one but never had the time or cash to get fully involved. I now have a limited budget and all the time I need so ...

I'd like a scope that;
1) I can use my Cannon DSLR with - especially for deep space objects.
2) That is not going to require a smitrailer and a forklift to move around and
3) Is upgradeable as more fund become available.
4) Budget of $2500 to $3000 (intially) that lets me attach my camers from the get go.

A friend has a 16" optical tube assembly that is sitting in a cupboard, its home made and is f/20 so very slow indeed! It doesn't have eyepieces or a stand so this is another option.

I would prefer to buy my own scope though....

I would normally just visit my local astro society, but they are a tough bunch to get hold of (Parkes, NSW) and I am an hour and a half away over fairly crappy roads...

One other question - where to buy? Im happy spending a few extra $$ if it means I can actually walk into the shop and talk to the person I bought it from rather than dealing with emails and ebay. I vist Sydney a couple of times a month.

Cheers,
Matt.

PS. Has anyone built a spectroscope and managed to get it to work with thier scope? Its somethign that I want to try and do myself. Its a question of life imitating Hubble!

[barx1963 (Malcolm)]

Hi Matt
I am not an imager, but I can help with some of your queries. I have no hesitation in recommending Bintel ( www.bintel.com.au )for service and advice. Thay have stores in both Sydney and Melb and are knowledgeable and used to answering queries. I have also dealt with Andrews ( www.andrewscom.com.au ) with no problems, but have not had to ask any technical questions so cannot comment on their knowledge.
For imaging, getting a good EQ mount is the most important thing. From what I understand a Skywatcher NEQ6 is pretty much the most basic decent mount out there and it will use about $1800 of your budget. The cheaper HEQ5 is capable but cannot handle the loads.

Malcolm

[Poita (Peter)]

If you want to come out to Mudgee I'd be happy to show you a bunch of options, I have access to a range of scopes, mounts and camera setups, and there is the Mudgee observatory to visit and pick their brains.

For most DSO photography I'd go for a 4" refractor on an EQ6pro mount or CGEM mount.

The mount is the most important bit by a long shot, a $4000 scope on a crappy mount won't perform as well as a $1000 scope on a great mount.

I'd spend the money on the mount, maybe 2nd hand if you can score one, and a good guider. Whatever is left spend on the scope and adapters etc.

[Poita (Peter)]

Oh, and I use a star analyser 100 for spectroscopy, it works a treat.

http://www.rspec-astro.com/star-analyser/

[Andy01 (Andy)]

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...ad.php?t=91768

Reckon this outfit is worth a good look. Suits your budget, portable, Dslr friendly and a great kit for the price.

Cheers
Andy

[NorthernLight (Max)]

Hi Matt,

I fully agree with the other comments. It is the mount that enables astrophotography. You wouldn´t even need a telescope. A camera lens will do the trick especially for extended DSO´s like the Magelanic Clouds i.e.
The NEQ6-Pro or EQ6-Pro Orio Atlas are pretty much all the same mount from a company called Syntha. It is the mount of choice for generations of imagers. Sure many venture off to Losmandies G11 later on or fork out Dollars that buy you a german car for a Paramount ME. But the EQ6 is rock solid and carries up to 17kg with ease. It can be guided and there are lots of forums that detail how to tune it even further.
I bought mine at Bintel in Melbourne (and lots of other stuff), was very happy with their Service and would always recommend them.
In terms of telescopes, it really depends on what you want to shoot, how much mgnification you require and how good your polar alignment will realistically be. Shorter focal lenghts give wider fields, are easier to guide, are much more forgiving when your pol alignement sucks and when we talk about a refractor, then they are maintenance free as well. ED80 or ED100 would be my suggestion. Bear in mind that you will need a guide scope and an autoguider as well.


"A friend has a 16" optical tube assembly that is sitting in a cupboard, its home made and is f/20 so very slow indeed!"

Just to get it right, your friend has cupboards that accomodate a telescope that has a diameter of 0.4m and a lenght of 8m?
Impressive cupboard!

Cheers

[zzkenc (Lokie)]

go and ask http://www.sirius-optics.com.au for their special
I went in some time ago and saw a starwatcher reflector, can't remember the size and NEQ6 mount for <$3000

[brian nordstrom (As avatar)]

Hi Matt all suggestions here are very good , you wont go wrong with either , BUT that 16 inch f/20 ??? is a scope with over 8 metres long ???? are you sure that its that long ??? thats a monster , mate .Whew !!! .
Brian.

Originally Posted by mathewb

Hi all,
I realise this is an incredibly open ended question, but I am hoping that your combined experence might lead me a little further down the road to enlightenment.

My predicament - I am studying Astronomy (Masters through JCU, finally!) and I need a decent scope. I have always wanted one but never had the time or cash to get fully involved. I now have a limited budget and all the time I need so ...

I'd like a scope that;
1) I can use my Cannon DSLR with - especially for deep space objects.
2) That is not going to require a smitrailer and a forklift to move around and
3) Is upgradeable as more fund become available.
4) Budget of $2500 to $3000 (intially) that lets me attach my camers from the get go.

A friend has a 16" optical tube assembly that is sitting in a cupboard, its home made and is f/20 so very slow indeed! It doesn't have eyepieces or a stand so this is another option.

I would prefer to buy my own scope though....

I would normally just visit my local astro society, but they are a tough bunch to get hold of (Parkes, NSW) and I am an hour and a half away over fairly crappy roads...

One other question - where to buy? Im happy spending a few extra $$ if it means I can actually walk into the shop and talk to the person I bought it from rather than dealing with emails and ebay. I vist Sydney a couple of times a month.

Cheers,
Matt.

PS. Has anyone built a spectroscope and managed to get it to work with thier scope? Its somethign that I want to try and do myself. Its a question of life imitating Hubble!

[Terry B]

Originally Posted by mathewb

Hi all,
I realise this is an incredibly open ended question, but I am hoping that your combined experence might lead me a little further down the road to enlightenment.

My predicament - I am studying Astronomy (Masters through JCU, finally!) and I need a decent scope. I have always wanted one but never had the time or cash to get fully involved. I now have a limited budget and all the time I need so ...

I'd like a scope that;
1) I can use my Cannon DSLR with - especially for deep space objects.
2) That is not going to require a smitrailer and a forklift to move around and
3) Is upgradeable as more fund become available.
4) Budget of $2500 to $3000 (intially) that lets me attach my camers from the get go.

"snip"

Cheers,
Matt.

PS. Has anyone built a spectroscope and managed to get it to work with thier scope? Its somethign that I want to try and do myself. Its a question of life imitating Hubble!

The mount is the most important. An EQ6 at minimum. Assuming you want to use the scope for more than "pretty pics" for your study you have different requirements than the usual suggestion of an 80mm refractor.
aperture rules for spectroscopy or photometry as it lets you image much fainter objects. A DSLR is OK but a dedicated CCD is better- second hand ones come up at good prices often.( I may have an old SBIG ST9E to sell soon.)
As for spectroscopes, I have built one but now use a LISA commercial scope. see http://www.shelyak.com/?lang=2
PM me for more info if you like.
Cheers

Terry

[Barrykgerdes]

There have been some excellent suggestions
I assume you have a good laptop and a DSLR
I would suggest the EQ6 @ $1800
A Skywatcher ED80 @ $600
and a Star shoot guider @ $319
All from the B&T shop

A little more than $2500 but not much for new gear. You may pick up some items S/H

Software for the computer is free and with this you would have gear to make quite professional photos using the ED80 as a guide scope and your DSLR as a wide angle camera. Master this and you will be well and truly hooked and cost will nolonger be a problem as you upgrade to a good CCD and 8" newtonian for some narrower fields.

Barry

[Shano592 (Shane)]

Perhaps it is F/10 with a barlow?

[mathewb]

OK ... This is what I ended up with, for a bit more ($2800)

NEQ6 Mount with GOTO
8" Bintel f/5
4 eyepieces
mask
all the fitings for mt DSLR
50mm Orion autoguider.

Im very happy with my new toy, I just have to put it all together now

Thanks for your help,
Mathew.