Hi guys
I sold all my kit a few years ago, but given lockdown have decided to get some equipment. I bought a package deal of bits which was at a good price and I'm hoping to do some EAA with it.
At the moment I have:
CPC925 (Alt/AZ)
Antare 6.3 focal reducer
80mm Celestron Guidescope
Nextar autoguider (unused which i'm selling as doesn't work in alt/az)
QHY5y original cam
Laptop
I can get some okay-ish results with QHY5Y, but the sensor needs a clean and it's not that good in any event. I had though I could use it for guiding in Alt/Az mode, but it turns out it's' not really possible.
So my plan at the moment (subject to some advice) is to:
1, Spend a bit of £££ on a new / used camera for EAA (planetary photos plus deepsky EAA), but also capable of doing some deepsky imaging at a later date (see step 2 below for the future). I think my budget for this would be around £600 on basis i'll recoup about £200 for the auto-guider which is in A1 unused condition.
2. At some point, probably next year, invest in a hyperstar kit so I can turn the scope into an F3 wide FOV scope for some astrophotgraphy with the same camera. I would have thought even with a camera more attuned to planetary / EAA that it would be possible to get some good results at F3.
I am loathed to defork it and loathed to get a wedge due to set-up time becoming extended. Astrophotography is not something I will spend hours and hours on so i'm never never going to get really good results. I used to autguide with a gt81 on a neq6 and got some okay results but I detested the set-up time and the impracticality of EQ for just getting away at short notice (to get away from light pollution i also have to drive 30 minutes each way). In alt/az i can get the CPC up and running and aligned in about 15 minutes which is by far quicker than I could ever set up the NEQ6 (more like an hour).
So from what I have read, from the point of view of a quick setup, a hyperstar seems the way to go for me as I should end up with a good set-up for visual (and EAA) in the meantime that is also portable and in the future will have a wife angle FOV quick scope that I can dabble with some deep space astrophotography (field rotation aside).
So looking for some advice on my plan, as well as what camera i should consider. I live in a relatively light polluted area and for EAA anyway I am keen to be able to do this from home as i'll remote desktop the laptop and do the EAA from comfort of inside the house. I did wonder whether a canon slr might work (and be cheaper option) but open to ideas 🙂
I am also coming around to the fact I might need to get an autofocuser but at the moment i'm hoping i should be able to get some okay results from manually focusing with a decent camera - i don't mind having to nip out now and again to refocus 😉
Thoughts everyone?
Thanks in advance
Brian