Stefek

I asked the same question to Player One I got quick answer from MrWang as below -Their cooled cameras are well sealed and they should be OK for several years in respect of sensor chamber humidity -Their cameras do have a connection point for an external desiccant container should re-drying be required. The connection point is sealed with a rubber plug that is glued, however could be removed in order to connect an external desiccant container and re-dry. -External desiccant container will be made available in the future as an accessory for cameras and will be priced low. So that makes my question fully answered. One remark from me: I do have QHY and Touptek cameras and they also have re-drying by external container, so that the sensor is not exposed to dust if re-drying is required. The container , bag of desiccant and o-rings are delivered with cameras though.

Hi all Does anyone know whether there is a desiccant inside Poseidon-C camera, if so, can it and how be exchanged. Can't find this information anywhere

I usually run Esprit 80 , with autofocuser, 2600 camera, and 1kg heavy mini PC mounted, so all together around half of iOptron max specification. With only encoders with no additional guiding, I can make 5 or even 6 minutes frames. (did not try longer) Sometimes I also put Celestron C8 (2m FL) , which brings it up to almost 9 kg and still can make frames up to 120sec. with no wind) . So, from my experience with 2 different iOptron mounts , one can run them (for astrophotography) at 70% of max specified load. without any issues. I belong to "traditional" school thinking that the mount is the heart of the rig and for photography , it should not be used with more than 60% of specified total payload.

I had Rowan upgraded HEQ5 . Decent mount. Now i have GEM28 , (with encoder though). GEM28 is lighter, more modern design and is veery quiet (can't say that for HEQ5, even with Rowan. ) GEM connects reliably via both USB and and WiFi. iPolar is nice, it works, although I use NINA for polar alignment which is more accurate, so it is for me redundant. Can't comment on guiding performance as I do not guide with GEM28 (encoders do their job quite nicely). In summary , two similar mounts, but if I would be buying now, I would go for iOptron, because it is lighter, quieter and more modern.

Welcome Daniel/ Dobrodošao !

I have Regal 100. It is really solid nicely built 100mm FPL51 doublet. It comes with zoom eyepiece (22 -67x manification) . Eyepiece has the thread to put camera on. Focuser is not really built for astro use , but can serve the purpose. I managed to put 178 camera instead of eyepiece, just to try is it of any use for astrophoto in primary focus. As it is f/5.4 , it is reasonably fast . Unfortunately an erecting prism introduces some artifacts on the stars and it is doublet so CA will be there as you can see it on attached images. Leo triplet is just one hour, M100 is 2hours integration. Images are just with removed background, color calibrated and stretched , with a bit of curves. No any other processing. Could have focused a bit better with Bathinov and made artifacts less visible. Well, Regal will not make an APOD image, but it cold serve someone who want to turn it to the sky for fun. I believe that standard astro APO refractor is a better choice for dual use than spotting scope.

I had something very similar with SW Esprit. Happened suddenly when the temperature outside dropped below -5C. When I tried without focal reducer stars were looking OK, so I somewhat attribute it to the focal reducer. Did not try again at "normal" temperatures yet to confirm 100% that low temperature induces some issues with focal reducer.

Well , every task requires appropriate tools . I tried all 3 types. Have Altair fan cooled 178c, using it for planetary . Of course, fan can't cool it below ambient , but keeps the temperature at ambient or around. It does not add anything much to the image quality so I removed it. Was also using Nikon, after a while usb connector became a bit loose, had to add additional 9V power supply (DC/DC converter) , clip in filters are more expensive... removing IR filter expensive again cost something,... At the end, got myself proper cooled astro camera .... so again the tool for the task.

Have a look to iOptron GEM28 . Reasonable payload and very light.

If there is one main factor that matters in visual, it is perhaps the size. If there is such one factor in photography , than it is the mount . As mentioned by some people above, it is not a bad idea to allocate significant part of estimated starting budget to good mount and tripod. Underperforming mount can't be compensated by type of scope/camera. The type of objects and and the level of details you wish to see will determine the type of scope , although seeing is the limiting factor. The focal length in the range of 500-900 mm is perhaps a good start . Is it Newtonian or refractor , it depends. Newtonian is more bulky , requires collimation but for the same money you can get larger aperture . Refractor is the easiest to start with , but is more expensive. I am relatively new in this hobby , but started wrong way for a beginner. (SCT with 2m focal length , HEQ5 mount and small pixel "2600" type OSC camera ) . Evolved very quickly to iOptron CEM70 mount and Esprit 120mm triplet refractor with focal reducer. Of course, the budget is always the limit for most of us , but if I would be starting now and the budget would be sufficient I would start with: -The mount with 20-35 kg payload and good base (tripod, or pier) -100-130 mm triplet refractor (middle range like Esprit 100 or 120 or something in that class ) and focal reducer . Of course , APM LZOS or Takahashi or TEC would be better but is quite expensive -APS-C format OSC cooled camera ( like QHY26C or ASI2600 or Omegon veTEC571 or any other clone based on Sony IMX571 sensor) -Dual band filter like Optolong L-Extreme or Antlia 5nm Ha/OIII dual band That would let you start quickly with collecting good images and enable you to change the focus from your gear to yourself and learn image processing , which is more complex and requires more time and effort than collecting the data

If you really want avoid guiding by all means , then EC version is the way to go , Especially EC2 . If you plan to guide anyway , than I am not sure that an investment in EC will be justified, especially because iOptron EC mounts and PHD2 is not the happiest marriage . Of course it can work together (there is an option to "filter" PHD2 guiding commands ) , but at the end , you either guide or let encoders control the mount. I have small GEM 28EC , and can manage in ideal conditions few mmites frames at 2m FL, without guiding, so CEM120 EC2 will probably do far better. I would personally buy another scope or camera for the price difference between "plain" and EC version, because my CEM70 with Esprit120 , guides very nicely (seeing and wind are the limits).

Like with everything in life and especially in our hobby there is alway something new and expensive coming . However, the best things are for free if available, like dark sites. Narrowband (at least as I see it) are good in light pollution situation and they reveal the details in images that would be hard to see otherwise. There is price that we pay, part in it in money, part in other aspects of image (like the fidelity of colors , especially the stars) Still , filters of any kind are not the (full) replacement for really dark sites... BtW Ido have Antlia 3nm SHO set and am very happy with them. Did not try it on really bright stars yet though. few images at https://www.astrobin.com/users/Stefek/

Vlaiv, sorry for brevity of my post. I rarely do visual, so was writing exclusively from AP perspective.

I have Esprit 120 , with reducer it is kind of two scopes in one. Have also 50mm Askar. That covers FL range reasonably . Would like to have another one (100mm) though. Found myself in a situation that I have two mounts and two 2600 cameras . Would be nice to run RGB (with OSC) on one and narrowband on another at the same time. Unfortunately I sold my kidney😄 for a mono camera and 3nm filters, so have to wait until it grows again

Sometimes ASI174 mini, (very sensitive, but bit big pixel for 2m FL, so binning 2x2) sometimes Altair 178 which has smaller pixel but is less sensitive. If you'll be buying a guiding camera, my suggestion is buy "mini" version camera, with 1,25" body, as this gives you a lot of freedom for focusing with OAG