BigMisterP

Was there any further progress on this, the thread just seemed to die off

Seeing more n more people talking bout this company how do they compar to more wel nown product?

For sum reeson i have it in my head that 8” if a good apature for a reflector. I’ve seen Schmitt Cassegrain, Ritchie Chretiene, Rowe Atkinson, Maksutov and Newtonian which all seem to qualify because they have mirrors. Main use would be Galaxys and emission nebula, whirlpool, bods nebula, vile and pelican Any recomendashions?

Basically I took mine apart - nothing was attached to anything else. Spent a couple of weeks reassembling, centering, collimating. Focuser would hold a DSLR, comma corrector, focus wheel perpendicular to the ground.

Unfortunately you’ve not suggested a budget. Guiding uses very little CPU, neither does scheduling the imaging shots. A simple 2GHz 4-core CPU will do nicely. Circa £140 SharpCap, £10pa, will do the capture and include a polar alignment tool. Astrotortilla £0, will confirm your image centre PHD2, £0, also free will do the guiding, follow preparation steps as they make it more accurate yet. This also have polar alignment too. Photopills, £?, is usefully to get an idea for north using AR in day time so you can identify local landmarks to speed up polar alignment. Sources: https://smile.amazon.co.uk/Computer-Windows-Professional-x5-Z8350-Bluetooth/dp/B07MB9TC33/ref=sr_1_13?dchild=1&keywords=stick+pc&qid=1619258271&sr=8-13 https://www.sharpcap.co.uk https://sourceforge.net/p/astrotortilla/home/Home/ https://openphdguiding.org Guidescope & camera https://www.firstlightoptics.com/zwo-accessories/zwo-mini-finder-guider-asi120mm-bundle.html

I did some Astro imaging about 5-6 y ago. Automation got sorted, as did guiding - eventually. My preference is galaxies and emission nebulae. In my head an 8” aperture seems to “feel” right. Considerations are: RASA - F2 400mm fl potentially too wide an FoV for galaxies, but potentiall OK for some nebulae StellaLyra RC - F8 1600ml seems OK using FoV calculators 200-PDS reflector - F5 1000ml also seems OK, with 0.9 CC brings it to F4.6 900mm, SCT - F10 2032mm fl with 6.3 reducer comes in about F6 1200mm, Ignore mount, I can get whatever has suitable payload - £4K budget on that is stretching, but, potentially doable. Camera will be ASI cooled units e.g 1600, 294 I also have a filter wheel and focus motor kicking around

On the ‘pipes - that’d be sensational yes I know its a bit late

My tu’pence worth USB powered micro/stick PC, you don’t need much CPU power to control a mount or capture images wifi connection to allow upload to cloud storage power/usb distribution e.g. Pegasus PPB, to power dew heaters, focus motors image camera cooling image and guide camera data transfer Mount the stick pc run 2 separate conduits to the observatory base, 2 mains power+ 2 ethernet run 2 separate conduits from near entry point of above to pier, 2 x power + 2 ethernet PHD2 for guiding This can all run off a 17Ah battery Mains power required for dome rotation tho’, as far as I can make out FWIW this setup works for me - bar any dome control Sure I missed something tho

That’s good news..... I was sure I could get the OTA in with dew shield, and it looks doable. @steppenwolf has also noted use of a dehumidifier while not imaging, so, a combo should do. Now - to consider when to try to convince Finance Mgr to support the PO for this project.

Thanks, the OTA is about 700mm, with dew shield c625, so, expect it will fit.

Following on this older thread: I am looking at the 2.7m full Pulsar obs, but a CGX-L and something like a quattro 10” for the appeture and f4 benefits, just not sure a 1000mm tube with the dew shield will fit. Thoughts?

I was looking around, and these people seem to offer a reasonable, bespoke, build. Has anyone any experience of dealing with them? Thanks in advance

as an aside, we just found we have morel mushrooms in the garden courtesy of imported bark

blueberries are a great soft crop, we have 8-9 bushes, and in summer get enough to cover day to day plus some to freeze over late autumn/winter Do need occasional top ups from foreign climes, but its now reduced.

local forecast now says I may have some clear skies. but all the kit has been in storage for past few months, so, no time to sort anything. probably in the period to start checking a week ahead now