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Imagemate

Chubster

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Chubster

Chubster

Posted
Posted

Following on from Geoff_K excellent saturn image and not wanting to hijack his post thought Id ask this on a new topic.

This imagemate thingy then....is it basically a 4x barlow. Just been looking on Astro Engineering site and it says it is primarily for use with modern webcam...bit confused ? I find it nearly impossible to focus with a 2x barlow....hate to think what it would be like at x4

Cheers

Chubs

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geoff_k

geoff_k

Posted
Posted

Thanks for the kind words re my Saturn image.

The Imagemate is really a way of increasing the effective focal length of a 'fast' Newtonian.

You could also use one of the Televue Powermates which are probably superior, but they cost a lot more.

No problem with focusing but rather that prevailing conditions where I live don't allow it to be used to its best advantage. I often find that a 3x Barlow is the most that conditions will allow.

As regards focusing, the basic rack and pinion focusers that come with many scopes are poor and the inherent image shift makes focusing very difficult. The other thing I also find very useful is the cheap reticle eyepiece I bought a while back.

The Imagemate is a worthwhile addition to your eyepiece collection (I am not on commision from the manufacturers!)

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Kaptain Klevtsov

Kaptain Klevtsov

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Eyepiece projection when I've played with it gives huge magnification. It would be great for filling a DSLR frame with a planet for example, so it's rather too much for a webcam unless its a really long FL eyepiece. It might have other uses, I don't know, or it could be that it seemed like a good idea to make it kind of thing.

WRT focusing with the Imagemate thingy, what you have to get is an electric focuser from the usual suspects. FLO and Modern Astronomy definitely sell them and they are the best thing you can get for imaging with the 200mm SW Newt. It lets you turn the focuser without wobbling the 'scopeso the blur on the screen is caused by out of focus rather than you having your hand on the focus knob. Essential piece of kit in my opinion. It also lets you turn the focuser slower than you could possibly do by hand when its set on slow. That way you don't fly past in both directions until you convince yourself that it's run away and hid off the screen.

Captain Chaos

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geoff_k

geoff_k

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Posted

Not sure if they were electric but the Williams Optics focusers I saw at Astrofest were rather neat and looked as though they moved pretty well.

A word of caution, however. The friend who went to the Astrofest with me bought a Revelation dual-speed Crayford focuser for his Skywatcher Newt. Not quite the same fit as the incumbent focuser so he is having to get an extra bit machined to make it all fit. Make sure you measure everything carefully.

Another aid to focusing is a Hartman Mask. They are quite easy to make and a link for a design can be found here http://billyard.servehttp.com/Hartmann.html

Geoff

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