michael.h.f.wilkinson

Thanks for the heads up, will certainly give it a look

First effort of the season. Had some issues with tripod stability, but salvaged some shots.

Just got a second-hand Optolong L-enhance filter in. Amazingly, there are some clear nights forecast. Looking forward to using it on the North America Nebula, or the Veil

Welcome from up north in the Netherlands ("Stad", a.k.a. Groningen)

Very nice indeed

Any model listed as a finder/guider should work. An off-axis guider is available for Celestron SCTs, that would also be an option. Many planetary cameras are suitable as guide cameras, and can be used for lunar/planetary imaging as well. If budget is tight, look for e.g. a second-hand ASI120MC or ASI224MC. Colour is not needed for guiding, but certainly makes life easier for planetary imaging

Unless the model has changed, the stock finder scope of the C5 is not easily adapted to use as a guide scope, because it doesn't have a 1.25" EP barrel, so guide cameras don't fit easily.

Added it to Stellarium. Will have to wait for a month before it is reasonably visible here. Fingers crossed

I wouldn't know that exactly, but you would need to guide. With focal reducer the C5 has a focal length of 787 mm, fairly close to my 6" Schmidt-Newton at F/5 (762 mm). I use a Vixen GP-DX mount for that, and purely with tracking (not autoguiding) you cannot go much beyond 30s (granted, the ASI183MC I use has small pixels, which demands higher accuracy than the larger pixels of a DSLR). I would simply use the C5 for planetary and lunar imaging, and use the 300mm for DSOs. You could always add a short refractor to your kit later to go after smaller DSOs

The length of the subs depends on the focal length. I have managed 90-120s with the 200mm, but 30-60s is more usual at 384mm (480mm with 0.8x reducer)

I hope to get a chance at using one some time when next the clouds buzz off

I don't know the CEM25P, but I should add that my contributions to the thread I quoted did not stem from a huge amount of imaging experience (except in planetary, lunar and solar, but no DSOs). My first efforts with a 200mm lens on the EQ3-2, without guiding, just tracking were these I used lots of short subs and stacked them in Astro Pixel Processor, did some postprocessing in t he same, and then tweaked with Gimp My first attempts with the 80mm F/6 triplet and 0.8x focal reducer were these: The latter is a 7 h 11 min stack of data, captured over three nights (more data are needed ). All were done from my suburban back garden (Bortle 5 at best), using a modded Canon EOS 550D. Patience is needed more than experience, I feel.

I would have a look at the EQ3 DSO imaging thread to see what is possible. The C5 will be fine for planetary and lunar imaging on it, but even with a focal reducer is a bit long for an EQ3-2 for DSO imaging I would guess. The 300 mm should bpose no problems. I regularly shoot at 384mm on the EQ3-2 I have

What object were you trying to find?

Great Advice by Louis. I had the TMB Paragon 40mm (the Aero EDs are clones) and that was stunning, but the 35mm isn't considered as good as the 40mm. I used the Paragon at F/6 which was fine, but it would give rather a large exit pupil at F/5.

Your best hope is to look for another damaged pair. Note that Yashica bins were sold under different brand names. I have a CombiFoto branded 7x50 pair which is identical to the Yashica pairs I have seen

Lovely collection of images

Good points. The sun will probably be behind a tree at ingress if I pick the location of the scopes right. I will have the mounts running off mains power, so battery failure won't be an issue

IF the weather is good, I hope to use the C8 to image the transit, or perhaps even use two scopes: the C8 with ASI183MC for close-ups and the APM 80 mm F/6 triplet with Meade 2x TeleXtender and Canon EOS 80D for full (lunar) disk shots (with interval timer)

Sounds exciting. Mostly cloudy here, alas

I suppose kit makes you happy if it is the right kit. My C8 on its Vixen GP mount has been with me for nearly 25 years, and I still thoroughly enjoy that scope, in part because it is easily set up, and incredibly versatile, great for visual, but also at planetary and lunar (and even a little solar) imaging. The APM 80mm F/6 triplet has been around a while too, and is a very useful complement to t he C8, shining in wide-field observing, and solar and deep-sky imaging, and a neat travel scope. The Meade SN6 sits nicely in between, a lovely wide-field and comet chasing scope, and lovely for imaging smaller DSOs than with the APM. Am I fully content? Yes and no, to quote Sir Humphrey Appleby, but mainly yes, because I have a very versatile set of good quality kit. I do, of course have further things on the wish list. The GP-DX mount I bought from @Stu now allows me to support a 6" F/5.9 frac to create a dedicated 6" solar scope, for white light, Ca-K and H-alpha. I would mount my Beloptik 85 mm tri-band ERF halfway down the tube, and simply switch between Herschel wedge with solar continuum filter, Ca-K module, and H-alpha unit in the focuser. That would really give me a huge boost in resolution. I am on the lookout for a second-hand OTA of this calibre. The other thing on the wish list is a C11 OTA, which I am told will actually sit happily on the GP-DX, despite being heavier than the (conservative) Vixen spec. When will I get this stuff? Time will tell. And maybe a really nice portable Dob will come along, and I will pounce on that instead. Self-control? I have heard of it

I am on the lookout to improve things, but I do enjoy the gear I got myself long after I acquired it (or else I sell it to get new kit). So, yes, buying kit can make you happy in the long term, not because you own it, but because of what you can do with it; because it allows you to explore the universe. This is doubly true if you manage to get a really good deal (like, most recently a 6" F/5 Schmidt-Newton in very good nick for just 165 Euro). One thing which I have found a useful guidline is to get new kit only when you have started to run into the limitations of the old. This is probably why I haven't bought any EPs in a long time, what with a box full of Nagler, Delos, XW, and other very nice EPs indeed.

Managed a very quick look before clouds rushed in with the APM 80 mm F/6, Lunt Herschel wedge, solar continuum filter, and Vixen SLV 5 mm. This is a nicely complex group of at least four spots by now, with one or two pores, and one ofthe spots showing an umbra split in two, and some nice faculae. Couldn't do any imaging, but this is the nicest view in white light I have seen in a while on the sun

Nice captures there. Would love to take a shot with the ASI178MM (colour? what's that), but it is pouring down with rain here

Superb stuff!