aeneas

Thanks for the tips! Will go step-by-step and will certainly look into ADM accessories for mounting stuff... someone also suggested Losmandy has some good solutions so will look into that as well. I think it does make sense to learn everything first doing well with a minimal setup and visual only and then adding one item at a time. The only item I am tempted to start with asap is the ASIAIR - not for AP, but even just using a guidescope with the ZWO174MM mini camera for the system to give me a more precise polar alignment and control of the mount for browsing the skies via the ASI iPad app... I guess I'll need to figure it out. For now, still waiting for clear skies... and desperately realising the jupiter-saturn conjunction will pass without being able to use the scope at all... due to Corona restrictions I cannot even drive 2h away to get to an area with at least patchy clouds... here it is as thick as it gets.

Hi all, first I would like to thank all that helped above... Christmas came early and the scope, the mount and a whole bunch of accessories have arrived. I have started a separate thread which will be used to guide through the setting-up process and troubleshooting; which I hope there will be quite some Please see the post here and please help out if you have some ideas / comments - I will appreciate it very much! Cheers!

Hi all, first I would like to thank all that helped above... Christmas came early and the scope, the mount and a whole bunch of accessories have arrived. I have started a separate thread which will be used to guide through the setting-up process and troubleshooting; which I hope there will be quite some Please see the post here and please help out if you have some ideas / comments - I will appreciate it very much! Cheers!

Hi all, Christmas came early; my new C11 scope with CGX-L mount has arrived; so have many accessories including the entire ZWO ecosystem (2600MC camera, 174MM mini guide camera, ASIAIR Pro controller, ZWO electronic focuser, small guide scope). Unfortunately ZWO does not provide much documentation / set-up guides... I need some help setting this up and to make sure that I don't screw up something during my first attempts before I learn more about how to use this well... Particularly I am considering whether best to learn step-by-step or should I try to automate and connect as much as possible so that I start learning immediately via the ultimate set-up I intend to have (i.e. via ASIAR app)? 1) Setting up for visual: A) Can the CGX-L GoTo mount guide decently enough itself to follow equatorial movement once a visual target is identified and in focus or should I immediately set-up the ZWO 174MM guide camera and do auto-guiding through ASIAIR pro even for visual? When attaching accessories to the rear end of the scope, I saw there are 6 screws in the back row - are these all safe to use for mounting guide scopes etc.? (see #1 comment in the attached image) C) For visual - should I set-up the ZWO 174MM guide camera through the ZWO mini guidescope or should I set-up the Celestron Off-Axis-Guider even for visual? D) Should I learn to focus first using the manual focuser of the Celestron, or should I install the ZWO electronic focuser asap to connect with the rest of the system; will the electronic focuser help me at all if I don't use an OAG to provide focus feedback back to the ASIAIR pro? I'm a bit lost on this one here... E) What is the best way to mount the ZWO ASIAIR Pro to C11? I was thinking to attach it to the underside of the dovetail of the OTA (see #3 comment in the attached image). Does this make sense? What mounting adapter should I buy to make this work? is there any other even better way of attaching the ASIAIR controller? F) In the original package there were two screws attached to the underside of the dovetail on the OTA - see #2 comment in the attached image. G) eyepiece comment: don't worry about the eyepiece - I have the celestron one mounted while I play with the set-up; I have a Nikon 17-14 NAV HW and TeleVue Ethos 8mm and Panoptic 41mm for actual viewing. 2) Setting up for photography A) I saw a lot of C11 EDGE HD image trains with a similar camera set-up so I will do my best to make this work... will come back if more questions; however I have one particular question here: once the scope is set-up for astrophotography with the entire image train well adjusted... but then you quickly want to switch to visual (e.g. kids come up and you want to spend 30min visual observing the target before going back to imaging)... what is the best way to switch between one an another? At what point to you "break" the image train and insert the 2" diagonal?

From purely AP perspective I would agree 100%; however in my case visual observing is quite important as well - great entertainment and educational experience for kids; seeing things with their own eyes for them is much much more special then looking at a heavily processed image on a computer screen. So I figure a C11 EDGE HD with a Hyperstar gives me kind of the best of both worlds - I can do either depending on the intent... Amazing though what some people have been able to achieve with these newer OSC without any narrow band filters... but clearly that is not just the camera but also many years of experience!

Great, thanks! ...this may be the wrong place to ask (and I'm sure a lot is written on it - I still need to read up on a lot), but if you don't mind a question: some nebulas that really impress with their colour spectrum are produced in the "Hubble palette"; would one ever be able to recreate a Hubble palette with OSC and some filters and good processing skill, or is this something one needs to go to monochrome with dedicated filters in order to get there? ...sorry if the wrong place to ask.

Thanks @Annehouw for pointing this out! This was a very informative read and I looked deeper... some quite disappointing reviews with RASA or Hyperstar combo indeed. This seems to be the way to go! Thanks @Phillyo & @DaveS! Specs look good... seems this one was developed particularly with fast scopes in mind and some initial reviews show it seems to work well with hyperstar. Thank you!!! That's a good point. I still have to learn all the processing stuff, but I've done quite a bit before in regular nature photography with RAW processing in photoshop. So I look forward to learning this. I was thinking: if I have the narrow band filter like IDAS NBX I can take some data without any filter, some data with regular UHC and some data with NBX. Then I could stack the three in layers and play with how they interact into a final image.... Would this make sense?

Thanks! I've read several reviews and watched a few youtubes with L-extreme... looks like the right filter to go with!

Any recommendations perhaps?

Hi, I recently purchased a (significant) upgrade for our backyard astro evenings - a C11 EDGE HD scope (and a steady CGX-L mount); ZWO ASI2600MC Pro is in my shopping basket. I also have Celestron's 0,7x reducer and UHC/LPR filter already. Starizona's Hyperstar v4 is on its way, but I'm not sure if that will help with the Horse nebula? I now received a challenge from my wife: with this "fancy" scope, will I be able to capture the horse nebula? Considering that I will not have a mono camera, but a colour OSC, what filters would you recommend me to go for so that I may generate decent combination of data/stacks to put together a nice horse nebula image? I live in Bortle 4 area so sky is relatively decent...

Hi all, I have just bought a brand new C11 EDGEHD. This is a big 2800mm f/10 SCT, which I intend to equip with a 0,7x reducer on one side and a Starizona Hyperstar on the other; with starizona - based on their claims, this would turn the C11 into a very fast f/1.9 with ~500mm. Many have warned me that C11 will be tough to get into AP, which I fully appreciate and expect much learning ahead. However, thinking about Starizona's Hyperstar: this set-up will prevent me to use my Off-Axis Guider and will need to switch to a guide scope if I want to have autoguiding... One idea that has been brewing in my mind: what if, instead of a small, cheap, crappy guide scope, I instead get a decent small refractor, such as a Sharpstar 61EDPH II or wait a bit for William Optics' RedCat 71mm (I hear it's coming soon). This could serve as a great fast small refractor for AP to be mounted on top of the C11 so I can take photos or, alternatively, can use it as a guide-scope when attaching the Starizona Hyperstar. Would this make sense? Would you advise on any particular scope as a "piggy-back" option for the C11 in this way? Which aperture (60mm / 70mm / 80mm) would be a best fit as a partner to C11, considering that C11 will be also equipped with a 0,7x reducer and a Hyperstar? Many thanks!

Haha... TeasMaid(TM) sounds like a wonderful idea! ...I'll try to convince my wife we need something like that! I've been reading up on Celestron & general SCT collimation, trying to get myself ready... of course until I have the machine in hand, it is difficult to be theoretical only. But all this is really helpful to at leat prepare me in some of the challenges ahead thanks also for the tip on daylight exercises... makes sense!

Hi all, After some years of having fun with our "toy" scope AstroMaster 130EQ we decided to make a significant step-up and invest into a C11 EDGE HD scope, mounted on the heavy CGX-L so that at some point in the future the mount will not be a limiting factor when starting to explore astrophotography as well. The purchase has been made and now it is waiting time until the equipment arrives (expecting early November): 1) scope & mount: 1100 Edge HD CGX-L 2) eyepieces: TV Ethos 8mm, Nikon NAV HW 17mm, TV Panoptic 41mm, 2" Baader BBHS diagonal with Clicklock, Celestron UHC/LP filter 3) accessories: Star Sense, SkyPortal WiFi, Focus motor, Reducer 0.7X, Off Axis Guider, Nikon T-ring, Vibration Supp pads, Lithium Pro battery, Dew shield etc. While we wait for the scope to arrive, I'd like to read-up on some beginner guides and how-tos when approaching skywatching with such a beast of a scope (e.g. setting-up, collimation, polar alignment, etc.). Any useful tips you could give me? There are many many threads in the forum here, but if there is any that you might suggest as a good intro read I'd really appreciate. Cheers!

it's been a while since any post. Any comments on my thinking above? Would really appreciate any input here at this stage as we are conceptually working on how to implement this. Much appreciated!

I fully agree cantilever is not an option - I did not even consider that. What I have in mind is to fix the onto the structural walls below; I made a simple sketch - not sure how this will be understood, but this is a birds-eye view of my roof; the three red lines horizontally mark the heavy structural trams below the roof structure. I was thinking to make foundation with a heavy steel cross (blue lines) that is rooted into these structural trams; then on top of that I could build the base for the observatory - first made out of steel plate then maybe layers of plywood or the jigsaw floors that you mention. Do you have a link to what you mean by that? I can't fully imagine. Regarding the "pier" - I was not considering building a pier for the scope; I was planning to just use the Celestron CGX-L mount (or possibly the slightly smaller CGEM-II). That gives me the flexibility to take the whole thing quickly apart and move to an offsite location (e.g. high up in the mountains) for some alternative viewing location. I've made two circles there - a 2.4m diameter required for the 2.2m Pulsar dome or a 3.0m diameter required for the 2.7m Pulsar dome. Looking from below the house, I made a mock-up with a similarly sized tent and from below the house the observatory would not be seen at all. One would need quite a bit down the road for it to be seen from the top of the roof and it would not really stick out much. Wife agrees that even the 2.7m mockup looked completely acceptable. See the photo attached; I will leave the photo on for a bit for people to see the idea then remove for privacy reasons. If only we could be sure we could make this as vibration-proof as possible. It will be some endeavour, time, cost etc. and if it turns out well, this would be a dream come true. If, on the other hand, we end up with a shaky construct that is useless for any serious observation, well... I would not like to end up there I think we could make it work, but will require some serious planning beforehand and any help from the community here would be greatly appreciated to help us avoid big mistakes!

Hi Chris, thanks for the tips. You have an absolutely amazingly beautiful and inspiring observatory! I agree I should not build the pier on a raised roof floor - that is why I am discussing with my architect how to fix the pier directly into the house's anchor walls (I'm not sure if that is the correct english expression - but the main load-bearing walls that carry the house statics)... It seems from your construct that building a concrete pier on top of wooden pyramid construct gave a solid result and the wooden foundation does not reduce the stability? When looking at how my pier could be created, it would also mount onto a very solid anchor wall foundation, with the only exception being that the architect says I cannot pour concrete pier but could get away with multiple layers of OSB or plywood planks. Perhaps with an additional anti-vibration insulation layer in between the planks or something... Hmm...

Thanks guys! ...I am aware SCT will probably not be the most optimal set-up for DSO imaging; but based on all I've read so far it is a great "all-rounder". I am a complete novice to AP - never even tried; so for us the first "growth" will be in considerably improved viewing pleasure and learning more through that. I would hope to "play" a bit with a DSLR to learn some of the basics (expecting to get some good tips in Steve's books) ...if AP starts pulling us in, I would certainly think C11 SCT will not be the only scope but would be eventually joined by a decent refractor. Considering the overall costs here in the initial set-up, I don't think another 1-2k for a refractor should hold us back. But we should first see whether we're even ready for a proper AP

Thank you for highlighting John's thread. Very interesting read - and inspiring (although tough) journey. It seems in his case a big issue was a very noisy (poorly executed) motor engine and then a direct transmission of that noise via dome wall to a poorly isolated base was a major issue. So buying a new model with (hopefully) an efficient Pulsar's own motor drives would be "cleaner" in this respect, but still, I appreciate how sensitive all this is and the question is whether a base can ever be built solidly enough if it is not concrete (which is not an option in my case). ...Certainly will need to explore this much much deeper (and have some expert architectural and static advise) before I take the plunge.

Hi John, Steve (steppenwolf) pointed me to jour posts and I now read through this amazing thread and a very intense journey! I am also considering investing in a roof-top Pulsar 2.2m dome (with fully motorised drives) and am faced with some limitations regarding what I could do on the roof in terms of base isolation (no concrete possible due to statics). So eagerly awaiting to hear how your story finishes with the new replacement model and any final tips you may have for the rest of us.

Hi Steve, I just bought your two books (they arrived a couple of days ago) so I'm honoured to receive your reply and feedback! Regarding AP - than you for your advice, and I'm starting to worry that this observatory may remain a dream, rather than turn into a reality; regarding the heat I am not worried - I have a passive house with heavy insulation and active climate control & ventilation so the house accumulates very little heat and the roof is covered with gravel that also feels cool in the evenings even on hot summer nights. However the concrete pouring may be an issue. I just spoke with the architect who did statics on our house and he said concrete will not be possible, but we could construct very thick multi-layered OSB or plywood base to be drilled and fixated into the house anchor walls. For viewing that might suffice but I guess for AP that puts the observatory out of the question?

Hmm... no - the roof is covered with gravel. We've often spent long evenings on the roof during the summer and despite a hot day the roof was pleasantly cool - I didn't feel any particular heat radiating. The house itself is a passive house with heavy insulation and active climate control & ventilation so the house accumulates very little heat. But I see your point...

Hi all, I've decided to make a big investment in our next set-up: we are purchasing the C11 EDGE HD scope, mounted on CGX-L. The aim: (a) with kids (and friends) the main purpose will be viewing; (b) I will slowly start learning about AP. I will probably start with my Nikon D750 full-frame DSLR but aiming to upgrade to ZWO ASI 2600MC camera in the near future. Ultimately we would like to build an observatory dome on our flat roof; we're thinking of installing the Pulsar Observatories but we need to decide between the 2.2m and the 2.7m model. Our roof can handle both and at the moment the price difference is not so huge that we couldn't handle it. Aesthetically from looking at the house (I made some simulations) the 2.2m would be les noticeable (which is what we'd prefer), but I worry that it would be a really tight space in there... especially since viewing will most often include several people - not just me. Has anyone seen first-hand in real life the comparison between 2.2m and 2.7m models? In most youtube video reviews I see mainly 2.2m dome (it seems to be the more popular option) so can't really make a decent guess how a 2.7m would compare from the inside etc. Any recommendations?

Hi all, thanks for all the replies and comments so far. Upon much further reading both inside forum threads as well as by online reviewers etc. we came to the following decision: we'll go with the C11 EDGE HD scope mounted on CGX-L to make sure we have a very very solid mount that can handle the weight and all accessories we can throw at it. The aim: (a) with kids (and friends) the main purpose will be viewing; (b) I will slowly start learning about AP. I will probably start with my Nikon D750 full-frame DSLR but aiming to upgrade to ZWO ASI 2600MC camera in the near future. Ultimate build: having an observatory dome installed on top of our flat roof; thiking of installing the Pulsar Observatories - just need to decide between the 2.2m and the 2.7m model. The scope would be mounted in the dome most of the time with an occasional transportation to an offsite location. ...as it will likely be more appropriate, I will post a separate question regarding building an observatory dome in the /Equipment/DYI Observatories/ section.

For the time being I will go with C11 and EQ mount and see where that takes me; might add a companion refractor at some stage, as you suggest, but would not plan for that now. So, with your comment of moving possibly to other mounts - what would you suggest? I was also looking at EQ6-R Pro but am not sure that would be enough for C11 with a full-frame DSLR body and other accessories mounted, or would it? Any others?

Thanks for all the replies so far! I've been reading further and looking at lots of youtube review and forum reviews. I think I'm quite set on 1100 EDGE HD optics; I will be able to handle occasional transportation without a problem for another 20+ years so wouldn't worry about the weight at this moment. Regarding the mount, I certainly would go for an EQ mount... A-VX certainly not strong enough for 11". Now split between CGEM-II (a price that seems reasonable to me) and CGX-L (seems like absolute winner in terms of mount quality but price is really high and pushing me out of comfort zone...). Would I be doing a great compromise if I chose CGEM-II (and then have a Nikon D750 body mounted plus all the other accessories that will eventually stack up) or will I regret it and should just take the plunge, go all-in and get a CGX-L?