fifeskies

Now you have a permanent home for your scope and are not setting up each night, if you intend to use more than 1 scope then it makes it easier to swap over systems if you mount the control equipment off the OTA. The other advantage is that the reduction in weight should improve tracking. Downside is that a little more care needs to be taken over cable management. (There is an advantage of having everything on the OTA if you are having to cart it outside and place it on a mount and tripod each time.)

It will soon be for sale (with reducer and dewshield), but want to check out the 9.25 on a few targets first.

I started of with the 290mm in my OAG , but it was a struggle esp at f10 to find enough guidestars. I changed over to the 174mm and now never have any issues.

I actually image both native and with the reducer depending on target. That said f10 imaging will take you a long time to get enough data , especially when you dont get a lot of good clear nights. Going forward I dont see me imaging at f10 very often except on the moon. I use a 2x Powermate to image bright planets at f20. If your new to SCT , I highly recommend using an OAG not a guidescope. The Celeston OAG has a nice large prism compared to others.

Its new to me so cant say how they hold collimation , however I have a set of Bob's Knobs to fit to it just in case. My 8 never drifted so I guess they are fine , tho mine lived in a dome on a permanent mount which no doubt helps it stay good as its not ever moved about.

The f2.5 primary (and so the longer OTA) has a particular benefit for this system when loaded with an OAG and ZWO camera train. I no longer need as much front counterbalance weight for the system. I was using 2kg front weight on my EdgeHD 8 to get it to balance. The Edge HD 9.25 imaging system can balance without any front weight, as long as it sits towards the rear of the Losmandy. (with metal dewshield added.) This means the overall mount load for the HD 9.25 is actually only around 1.5kg heavier than for the HD 8, even though the OTA itself is 3kg heavier. It is around 14.5Kg all in (with 2nd Losmandy on top and a telrad). (The top losmandy provides adequate front counterweight).

This will live on a permanent pier in a dome so it's not such an issue for me. Would not want to be setting this up and taking it down each time.

I am swapping over from an 8 inch EdgeHD to a 9.25 inch EdgeHD. I carefully researched to check sizes and weights, but there were few comparison photos about. Here are the 2 mid transition. 8 on the way out 9.25 on the way in. There is a big step up in overall size with the 9.25 despite it only being a little bigger on aperture.

I use a big linear power supply that gives plenty output to power everything and never dips voltage even with the mount slewing both motors at once. Multiple outputs, some to run dew heaters that I leave on if it's a damp cold night, (In my dome), to ensure my scope stays dry. It also runs my LED based lighting both low level marker lights and bright lights when I need them. This includes external path lights. I found mine used , they come up fairly often. Very reliable.

EQ6-R (on pier) works very well with an Edge HD8 SCT with OAG and large ZWO camera train. (about 14KG). Guiding is around 0.5 arcseconds on a good night. (You will probably need a 3rd counterweight) I piggyback my smaller solar imaging scope on top and that works just as well (solar uses video capture) , that takes it up to around 17.5kg. I dont try to image with the Edge while the solar gear is piggybacked.

A well known object NGC2237 , or more commonly called "The Rosette Nebula" Well placed above Fife in Jan 2024 , and we got a rare couple of clear nights so had the chance to collect around 90 subs of 300sec. GT81 (with 0.8 reducer) and 2600mc camera.

Used PixInsight to bring out the detail of the gas and dust clouds that surround the Orion Nebula. Taken from above Fife on a rare couple of clear nights in Jan 2024. GT81 (with 0.8 reducer) and 2600mc camera.

It has been a poor season so far , storm after storm ruining imaging possibilities. A few clear nights in January however allowed some time with my new 2600mc and GT81 (with 0.8 reducer). A wide-ish view of the Veil Nebula

Microsoft Word - Top10_NightSky_Objects.doc (rochesterskies.org) Handy beginers guide of top 10 easy objects to look at.

I have an older AZ-EQ6 without a dedicated USB on board so use the FTDI eqmod cable. I also have a newer EQ6-R with the onboard USB , so just use that direct with a usb cable. Can't see any difference in the 2 systems , both work well.