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What are you planning to buy or is on your wishlist for 2012?

jonathan

By jonathan
in The Astro Lounge

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The_PSY3NTIST

The_PSY3NTIST

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Just as a general observation - do you find that the more you have, the more you want?

Yes :s an EMP generator wouldn't go a miss! They have replace the street lights near by with great big bright daft things. Not happy. I may have to move. Least it gives me the chance to find somewhere further out of town to live

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Demonperformer

Demonperformer

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With my new 8SE arriving on Monday, I have given some thought to my "wishlist". I may not get everything in 2012, but at least I now have a PLAN.

  1. Hands-free focusser (Battery Free Electric Focuser) - not expensive and looks as if even I could manage the DIY bit - no idea yet how I would be able to attach it to the scope without drilling holes in (and probably doing irreparable damage to) the scope itself.
  2. EQ6 syntrek mount, with EQ MOD - First Light Optics - Skywatcher EQ6 Syntrek & First Light Optics - HitecAstro EQDIR adapter - I really can't put off going EQ for too much longer :( (currently £865 incl delivery).
  3. Filter wheel with 7x 1.25" slots - something like Quantum Electronic Filter Wheel 7 x 1.25" | Telescope Accessories | Rother Valley Optics I guess, but I can consider the specific make and model at the time (currently £294 incl delivery). I already have a set of Astronomik Narrowband filters to occupy three of the slots.
  4. Finderscope with bracket (Celestron Finder Scopes) and an adaptor to attach my mintron to it Accessories @ Modern Astronomy, allowing me to start guiding. Actually, I guess this will happen pretty much at the same time as the filter wheel. (£68+£28=£96 currently).
  5. Astronomik LRGB filters, to match my narrowband filters and occupy the other 4 slots in the filter wheel - Astronomik LRGB Type 2 CCD Colour Filter Set 1.25" | Telescope Accessories | Rother Valley Optics (currently £225.66 incl delivery).

Well, that is just under £1500, which I think is quite enough to think about spending atm.

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cathalferris

cathalferris

Posted
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A low-profile 2" to Eos adapter, to allow the 600D to reach prime focus on the 8" newt. I'm about 8mm short, and I'd prefer not to have to cut the tube down to get it working (but I will if I have to). I've about 8mm in the 2"/1.25" adapter, and another few mm in the t-mount

An Ioptron minitower to stick the Onyx and the 6" Meade ota on, or to go on holiday and not leave goto behind when in somewhere sunny!

Other than that I'm pretty good with the astronomy stuff. I have a wishlist that includes a 3.7 Ethos to use with teh Onyx, but that's dreamland for me.

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bombassa

bombassa

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I want a new scope but after my daughter was a bit quick in releasing the seat belt some 50 meters in front of a police raid this will somewhat postponed.

Was also dreaming of importing an explore scientific eyepiece from 'over there'.

Sorry 'bout bad english.

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dishmop

dishmop

Posted
Posted

- HEQ5 Pro Synscan mount for the 2nd hand SW200p OTA I picked up plus a power tank.

- Most likely 9x50 right angled erecting finderscope (the second hand OTA doesn't have a finderscope, and a second telrad base :(

Then lots of reading to see how the heck the HEQ5 Pro mount works, what I can control it with (Stellarium, PHD, etc), and whether or not I can stick my current SPC 880 with 1.25" adaptor into the finderscope for a cheap guidescope!

Also scouting for a cheap meade DSI or a Canon 1000D DSLR :o

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Demonperformer

Demonperformer

Posted
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a eq mount to carry my sw 250px ,any suggestions pls ?

I'm no expert, but from what I have picked up in my research for picking up a mount, I think you will need to be looking at an EQ6 to carry a 10" newt. As I understand it, it is not only the weight, but the length of the tube which can act like a sail, and so you need the stability that an eq6 will give you.

HTH

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calibos

calibos

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Flextube 400 GOTO, hopefully next month, in time for SGL7.

Then a new car trailer to carry it, plus new tent as our last one died at SGL6 ( it was 12 years old ).

Ian

Is it only for a large dob that you need the trailer or do you need the trailer for any sized scope (because you need to transport a wife and 2 kids and camping gear in the back of the car for example?)

Its just that, if its the ginormous Flextubetube 400 GOTO (Have you seen pics of one with a well built bloke beside it) that is pushing you over the car capacity limit, then you could actually save money by getting a Meade LB16 and fitting a servocat because the smaller size might mean a trailer isn't needed. ie. an LB 16 with servocat might be a couple of hundred more than a FT400 Goto but if it means you don't need a trailer that costs a few hundred than you might come out ahead financially and have a smaller more managable 16" dob into the bargain.

Heres a picture of my LB16 in an Audi TT. Obviously no room for back seat passengers nor camping gear but thats the scope with out any mods that affect the size. (lots of other mods that make it not look much like a lightbridge I'll grant you though :icon_scratch: ) However, I'll be trimming the ground and baseboard. The feet aren't even at the extremities of the circular groundboard anyway. The big wide groundboard adds nothing to the stability oif the scope, just weight and makes it difficult moving the scope through doors. Its like they add these big wide circular groundboards to these chinese scopes because they think those buying at this end of the large dob market don't believe a big scope is stable. The result will be a lighter base, easier to get through doors and the clincher is that I'll be able to fit both the base and the OTA right up against the front seats leaving the boot arewa free for.....camping gear. :D

4086269070_e9715d645b.jpg

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IanC11

IanC11

Posted
Posted

The Estates all right for the scope on its own but for Family trips out i.e. SGL7 the trailer will be needed, had one stolen from out side my front door last year, so I'll only be replacing it. As for the size of the scope, I know its very large and unwealdly but I've got a once in a lifetime opportunity coming up and if I don't take it I'll be kicking myself in a few years time, this will be a long term investment not a short term apature fix.....lol.

Ian

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Astroscot2

Astroscot2

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Ive held off from a few purchases in 2011 due to the weather, these have sort of rolled into the 2012 list ;-).

My plan should it happen is to sell my widefield set up, Tak FSQ, H35 camera and also my astro trac.

Replace these with a new CCD camera, smaller chip suited to my newtonian, an ASA corrector (still waiting ) , TDM for my losmandy and an EQ mount for portable camera lens work.

Dont want much do I.

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calibos

calibos

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My plans basically had to rollover from 2009 to 2010 to 2011 and now finally to 2012. Its mental when I think about it. I bought my 16" Lightbridge in December 2008!! :icon_scratch: I already had a 12" intelliscope and had no real intention to jump in apeture but a confluence of distributor and dealer discounts and a short period of Euro/GBP parity at the beginning of the credit crunch meant I got a brand new LB16 from TelescopeHouse for 40% of the full price. I couldn't pass this up even though we had just moved into a house and were planning major renovations that required moving back out. It certainly wasn't the best time to be buying a new even larger telescope.

Anyway, the renovation was postponed 9 months and I embarked on a comprehensive series of modifications to the scope, during the lousy Spring/Summer of 2009. First light was in Autumn of 2009 nearly a year after I bought it. The problem was that some of the mods didn't work out and made the scope a chore to use......and then the renovations started and we moved out to rented acommodation. Scope/fixes/further mods mothballed till Summer 2010.

Finances, work, time, mental and physical exhaustion from renovations and all the house moves meant I didn't get anything done for the rest of 2010 or early 2011. Was all set to get back into it last Spring when a family health issue came up and finances were hit. All resolved by Autumn 2011 but had decided to do some major renovation work to our business premises. This took all my time till the beginning of December and by then it was too close to Christmass to think about doing anything to the scope.

Finally after 3 years of owning the scope I am now about to start fixing what I did wrong, buying the bits I need to do things right, implement some cool mods I thought of over the last 3 years and maybe just maybe get around to fitting the servocat Goto drive I bought for the scope in October 2009!!!:D

Aside from all the modding bits and bobs I need to buy this year I hope to get a decent mount to use both with my Stellarvue 80mm F80 Finderscope/Richfield scope and with a Solarscope I intend to buy. Car repayments finishing in April so I think my first major purchase will be a 60mm Lunt. I also need to buy a new pair of Binos as I wrecked my current 15x70's and my back when I slipped on ice in January 2010. They were hanging behind my back and I landed right on them!!

Hopefully after that lot I'll be done for a long time and can stop thinking about buying stuff and start actually using it!! ie. Hopefully I won't have any purchases to report in the 2013 version of this thread. :(

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