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Returning back to the hobby.

Nidge

By Nidge
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Nidge

Nidge

Posted
Posted

Hi All

In the last few days I've been having a reorg of the understairs

cubboard which is full of all my scopes and stuff. Unfortunately

it's all been sat there for a few years due to health problems

(disease of the spine). Anyways today I decided to check

everything out and give my imaging rig the once over which

includes:

Meade LXD-55 8inch Schmidt Newtonian.

Celestron CG-5 with Ioptron Gotonova system.

Helios ST-80 for guiding

My cameras include Canon 300d and 600d, and an Orion

Starshoot DSI Colour used for guiding but unfortunateloy it

only works with XP and I no longer have a XP machine.

Now the issue is that the system weighs in at over 100lbs and

to get everything setup requires carrying it up a series of stone

steps to the patio. So hopefully I'll be able to gain some advice,

via members of this site, about suitable replacements that will

be easier for me to put together but will still afford the same

accuracy and quality.

Regards

Nidge

Otley, West Yorkshire.

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Ags

Ags

Posted
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Hi, welcome to the forum! I think the big 8 inch is the heart of the issue - it is always going to need a heavy mount under it. Have you looked at widefield imaging with something like astrotrac?

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JamesM

JamesM

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Hi and welcome to the forum. I would second Atlas's suggestion of a shed as it avoids you losing any money by selling on your existing kit. Would also make for better alignment/tracking by avoiding the setting up errors that can occur.

Clear skies

James

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SteveA

SteveA

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I would second the idea of a shed or enclosure for you equipment...that's if you have the space.

Not only does it save your back...but the time spent having to setup and align your rig on every trip to the garden is a real pain....

PS...welcome to SGL....

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Macavity

Macavity

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With my perennial "heart trouble" <sigh> I tend to "quantise" things at modest weights. There are still some *occasional* "bigger lifts" (I take my time over those!) - But my Alexander's (commercially installed, personally fitted out) observatory helps me a lot. :hello2:

Astronomy can seem to be the domain of the "young and fit" (when you are less so! LOL) Most of my regular lifts are 10... 20lb (absolute) max though! The Egyptians doubtless built the pyramids "from bits" too... :D

The Bangles - Walk Like An Egyptian ( official music video )

(Canonical wealth warning re. the delightful Susanna Hoffs) :)

P.S. VIDEO astronomy (qv) can access fainter DSOs, without resorting to "aperture fever" (heavy stuff)!

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Nidge

Nidge

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Thank you everyone for the warm welcome and advice/suggestions on possible solutions.

As much as everyman loves a shed it is unfortunate that here there is absolutely no room for one. The idea of being out of the elements and not having the local wildlife running between my feet in the dark and scaring the wotsits out of me in the early hours would be great.

For a while I've been contemplating a compact ED or APO scope, sure I won't have the big aperture but it will certainly be a lot lighter and have the added benefit of a much more improved focuser.

The mention of video astronomy has also been looked at using somoething along the lines of the Minitron range, this has the added advantage of being able to share views with family and friends, more so my wife if I can ever convince her to leave the house when the temperature is below 10C (she's originally from LA).

Time to do some serious thinking, as they say " The worst scope in the world is one that doesn't get used ".

Once again many thanks to all on this site.

Regards

Nidge

Otley, West Yorkshire.

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