Recommendations

[Adrianf]

OK If you had $1300 to spend on a telescope what would you buy? Reflector or refractor?
I would like to get into astrophotography. I would like a goto (mandatory for photography)

Adrian

[timthelder]

Hi Adrian,

Per your question, knowing what I know now, if I only had $1,300 to spend???

I can't help but to be a little bias. I would buy a 6" SCT, Advanced series SGT, CG-5 combo. The price on those have come down to about $900, new. That would leave me about $400, to put towards a camera, (DMK $390?)

My reasoning...At times my 9" SCT is too big, even with a 6.3 reducer. A good quality 80-100mm refractor is going to cost as much as the above mentioned set-up, without a mount to put it on, not to mention a camera.

With a 6"SCT on a CG-5, you would be well under the maximum payload of 35lbs, leaving you plenty of room to add a guidescope and some other goodies later, (microfocuser, etc.) Even without an autoguider, that set-up will track well enough when it is properly aligned, to allow you to do some short exposure photo's of some DSO's.

I'm sure you will get plenty of feedback on this question, I'm sure there are some other very good idea's as well.

I would stay away from buying used, unless you know the seller, as you may get something that needs a little TLC. Happy hunting!

[Dragon Man]

Ummmm . . . that all depends on the type of Astrophotography that you want to do.

Planetary = SCT
Deep Sky = Large refractor or almost any reflector :thumbsupmate:

But in all honesty, $1300 won't buy a whole lot of scope AND GoTo mount. It would certainly buy one or the other, but not both for good Astrophotography results.

Some smaller cheaper kits will do the job, but the cheaper you go, usually the harder the capture is to get.

You want a decent size apature, and a fairly accurate GoTo. For Deep Sky you will also want Autoguiding.

Sorry to make it sound more complicated than you hoped, but Deep Sky needs good guiding, not necessarily GoTo.

Planetary doesn't need either, just good tracking.

[Radar]

Hmm, this is always a toughy Adrian. I agree that for deep sky and planetary work, you'll need a mount that can track well. Even though some scopes are better for different things, the biggest aperture possible is good for all kinds of astrophotography.

Is $1300 your final budget, or can this grow over the next couple of months? It might be worth waiting a month for two. I'm thinking along the lines of something like this -

http://www.myastroshop.com.au/products/details.asp?id=MAS-010

A scope like this could do deep field work, and I imagine would be okay for planetary (why can I feel Rumple's Riot about to enter here). :biggrin:

Paul and other planetary guru's, could this scope to planetary?

I saved for six months to buy my mount, I had to make huge sacrifices, like telling my girl to get a second job over the weekend, which meant I had to go without my voice activated dishwasher and beer fetcher at home on weekends, I also told my bank manager that I wouldn't be able to pay my house repayments for a while. Needless to say, I got my mount. I'm homeless and single, but I have a mount. :biggrin:

But on a serious note mate, I think these kinds of following setups are good value for money.

http://www.btow.com.au/telescopes-tasco.shtml

What kind of camera system are you thinking about using on it?

Cheers

Ray

[Adrianf]

Thanks for the info gents. I already have a 10" Dob so maybe I should just look at the mount and attach my dob to it. I was looking at something a little more portable so I can throw into the 4X4 and go bush away from spotlights (night bowls across the road :( and other light pollution). I will think about it and maybe just keep adding to the bank balance for awhile. Radar you certainly did sacrafice alot I am not sure if I could survive without my voice activated dishwasher I fetch my own beer tho I need the exercise.
I have a couple of choices as to camera I have just modified a webcam I have a DSLR I also have some 35mm film cameras (need adaptors) or I have been looking at a dedicated astrocam still undecided.

Adrian

[Tenacious Del]

reading this thread reminds me about how expensive this hobby is. :frown:

[Dragon Man]

If you want to get away with the best you can for the least amount of $$$, then the ED80 is probably one of the most favoured Deep Sky imaging scopes in the world. Especially for their price.

And even though an EQ6 would be nice for it, for portability the EQ5 or HEQ5 will do nicely.

This combination will give you a pretty good imaging outfit within your budget.

Guiding is simply a matter of mounting a very cheap Achro onto the set-up. Guiding programs are free to download and you have the modified Webcam for guiding already.

At present, Andrews Communications has the GoTo HEQ5 Pro for only $999 !!!!!! http://andrewscom.com.au/site-content-section-10-skywatcher.htm

Add an ED80 at around $499 http://yorkoptical.com.au/ProductMenus/Telescopes/tabid/42/CategoryID/327/List/1/Level/a/ProductID/169/Default.aspx?SortField=UnitCost%2cProductName

and you are close to budget.

A cheap Achro for guiding can be bought 2nd hand for about $100, or Bintel has a nice little guidescope for $210 https://www.bintelshop.com.au/Product.aspx?ID=7877

Thats $1700 for the whole lot! Not bad for an imaging and guiding oufit.

[Adrianf]

Thanks for the info. Its now down to buying a complete refractor with tracking setup (100mm or better) or buying a mount to fit the 10" dob. But before that happens I will get more money in the kitty first. I might also go to the Qld AstroFest in July and see what others are using. Might see you there.

Adrian

[Adrianf]

It now looks like my budget will be around $2000 for both the scope and mount. At the moment it looks like the 120 x 600mm with HEQ5PRO "Go-To" computerised mount and V3.0 hand controller...A$1449 + a DSI camera around $400
or PROMAK180 OTA 180mm x 2700mm Maksutov-Cassegrain $999.00 and EQ5 Synscan $999.00 and get the camera later.
Any comments on the above?

Adrian

[rogerg]

It now looks like my budget will be around $2000 for both the scope and mount. At the moment it looks like the 120 x 600mm with HEQ5PRO "Go-To" computerised mount and V3.0 hand controller...A$1449 + a DSI camera around $400
or PROMAK180 OTA 180mm x 2700mm Maksutov-Cassegrain $999.00 and EQ5 Synscan $999.00 and get the camera later.
Any comments on the above?

Adrian

There's quite a difference in focal length between those two OTA's. 600mm vs 2700mm. This means a few things, which would make your decision:

Shorter focal length is easier for photography. It is less demanding on the mount.

Longer focal length is more suited to planetary and lunar photography, and those are not so susceptible to the problems that a lesser quality mount will introduce.

With the refractor you get a focal ratio of F/5. With the Maksutov-Cassegrain you get a focal ratio of F/15. That's a huge difference (makes me wonder if you have those numbers right, or I have my calculations right?). If the difference is that, then the refractor is practical for deep sky photography where as the Maksutov-Cassegrain is not, as a focal ratio of greater than F/10 just isn't really worth it in my opinion. If the Maksutov-Cassegrain is really F/15 I'd steer well clear of it.

Roger.

[Adrianf]

OK I think the numbers are right I just cut and paste from the websites.

Adrian

[Radar]

I agree with everything Roger said.

Adrian can you send me a link to the Mak website?

Ray

[Adrianf]

This is the one I was looking at about 2/3 way down page just above the Collapsible Dobs
http://www.andrewscom.com.au/site-content-section-10-skywatcher.htm

"PROMAK180 OTA 180mm x 2700mm Maksutov-Cassegrain OTA has a 1.25" visual back and is gold in colour.
It is supplied with a matching gold coloured 9 x 50 finderscope in a white holder, 1.25" push-in diagonal, LET 9mm and 20mm eyepieces"

Adrian

[rogerg]

That Mak definitely sounds like it would just be a pain for you to use. A focal length that long is going to make most forms of astrophotography annoying, and put a lot more "pressure to perform" on the mount, which will result in frustration I think.

I would stick with a shorter focal length.

The 120x600 refractor you mention is not an ED, so you're not getting as good optical quality (and hence astrophoto's if you do them through the 'scope) as if you get something like an ED 80 (skywatcher pro ED80 or orion ED80 type thing).

How much is an ED100 I wonder? can you get an ED100 like an Orion and the EQ5 and would they be a good match? I don't know, as I am not familiar with the EQ5/6 mounts.

Roger.

[Radar]

I checked out that link Adrian. I totally agree with Roger, that Mak would be hard to do photography with. And it would put extra stress on the mount due to the guiding tolerances.

An F5 relfector could provide a good aperture, but also be good for photography.

Ray

[Adrianf]

Which one of these would be ok?

http://yorkoptical.com.au/ProductMenus/Telescopes/tabid/42/CategoryID/327/List/1/Level/a/ProductID/169/Default.aspx?SortField=UnitCost%2cProductName

or
http://yorkoptical.com.au/Home/tabid/36/CategoryID/542/List/1/catpagesize/10/Level/a/ProductID/56/Default.aspx

I would probably go for the HEQ5Pro mount with the V3 controller $1099
http://andrewscom.com.au/site-content-section-10-skywatcher.htm
its somewhere on this page.
I have seen a Skywatcher ED80 Pro for around $500 pre loved would that be worth a look or pay the extra $200 or so for new?

By the way even looking at buying a new scope and the sky became overcast.
Sorry if I am being a pest but I am looking for advice on the best way to go.


Adrian

[rogerg]

I'm not positive which of those two would suit you best. The larger aperture of the 120 will give you brighter, more contrast views. But the ED 80 is a better quality optics than the non-ED 120.

So... for photography, the ED80 will give you a better result - close to colour free, probably flatter field although unsure about that. Probably better sharpness, although also unsure about that. But visually while there would be more false colour in the 120 because it's not ED the difference wouldn't be so noticeable and would be offset by quite a bit more aperture (more brightness).

Your local conditions might have a play in your choice too. More light pollution, get the larger aperture 120 so you can see more visually perhaps.

The perfect solution is always the one that's a bit out of the price range :smile:

Roger.

[Adrianf]

"The perfect solution is always the one that's a bit out of the price range"

I can vouch for that all the ones I would like are about 2-3 times more than I can afford. I dont live in a very light polluted area except when the bowls club across the road hold night bowls then there is a problem. But I am looking for something I can put in the car and drive bush and camp for a few days.

Anyway I will keep looking

Adrian

[rogerg]

But I am looking for something I can put in the car and drive bush and camp for a few days.

For portability, I don't think there will be a big difference between those two refractors. They're both the same focal length, so the tubes are going to be about the same length just the 120 will be larger in diameter and heavier. Both you need the HEQ5 or larger mount for, and both would take the same setup time and alignment.

Roger.