Opinions sought on my ideal setup (one day I'll get it!!!)
Hello everyone!!
I've been looking to the future and when I upgrade my setup and have come up with what I consider my ideal setup. I currently have an 8" f/6 newt on a HEQ5 Pro mount and use an Orion ST80 as a guide scope. I use a QHY5 to guide and a QHY8L to image. In the imaging train I also have a Baader MPCC and a Baader UHC-S 2" filter. Attached to the focuser I have a Skywatcher electric focuser so that I can focus without touching the scope. As you can imagine, the HEQ5 Pro is starting to strain under all this gear!!
So when looking at the new scope, I thought about what I liked about my current setup and try to improve from there.
Firstly I liked the flat field (no to little coma) that comes from my MPCC. I also like my current, and would like more, aperture size. I like my ST80 as a guide scope and I love my QHY5 and QHY8L.
So taking this into consideration I came up with the following:
* A GSO 10" RC (aluminium unless I can afford the CF)
* A Losmandy G11G
* An extra 21lb counterweight as I believe the Titan G11G only comes with one and I think I'll need two.
* 2" Camera adapter (so that I can attach the UHC-S filter to the QHY8L - it currently attaches to the MPCC)
* A star diagonal to make it easy to look through
* A 2" eyepiece
* A finderscope
* A JMI Motofocus
* Losmandy DVA Adapter for the guidescope
Further down the track I'd also look at getting the following:
* A 0.5x focal reducer
* A 2" 2x Barlow
* An Orion T-thread spacer ring kit.
All up I'd have to keep the price below $7,500 which would include shipping.
So my questions are:
1. Will this setup work for imaging considering the CCD I have?
2. If not, what do I need to add to get it to work?
3. Is this setup cheaper than a tinnie as my wife constantly asks why I didn't take up fishing as a hobby instead of astronomy!!
Just to clarify Mario, is the mount the G11G or the Titan, as they are two different mounts.
Malcolm
This is the second time I've done this! It's the Losmandy G11G - I was contemplating the Titan but felt it was overkill. But all I've really achieved is to confuse myself!!! I've since fixed my original post...
If you like the flat field then another choice is a vixen VC200L or the VMC260L both of which are optimised for photography and much lighter than the RC scopes.
If you like the flat field then another choice is a vixen VC200L or the VMC260L both of which are optimised for photography and much lighter than the RC scopes.
Thanks for the info - if I got one of these I think I could use my existing mount. Some questions which I'm not sure about - how would my image times that I take with an 8" f/6 compare to a 10.25" f/11.5 scope? What about if I add a 0.5x focal reducer into the mix?
What kind of a hobby is that? For the real hobby how about an EQ8 when they are around? 
