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sky watcher evostar 150...with NEQ6 PRO SynScan mount

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Gaze Away

Gaze Away

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Hi all, well I have maybe decided on this scope for all my astro photography......It will be the first time that i will have to polar align so can anyone tell me if this scope and mount are ok to align and whether you all think its good enough for imaging or can think of any problems i might have....much thanks,

Andy

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Daniel-K

Daniel-K

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the scope is great but for AP you may find that you get purple halos around stars but dont let this put you off my friend has found that using a CLS filter somewhat takes this away. as for the mount .. well im not jel one bit lol it would be a great set up

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Skybrowser

Skybrowser

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The mount is superb. The scope is good enough value for the price and the images you will get, after a lot of practice (be patient), will be stunning I'm sure. Besides actually taking the images, the processing of them is IMHO a skill in itself and this is the bit that takes time to get good at.

Plenty of You Tube help about though.

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Gaze Away

Gaze Away

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Thanks guys I appreciate the help. Its a step up from the meade Ls 6 " I had which was great but just no good for imaging. I now have to learn how to use a telescope properly... lol ...looking forward to it. Thanks for the advice on the halos, I will bear that in mind.

Regards Andy

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Gaze Away

Gaze Away

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Thanks Steve.

As for the imaging side of things I have had a certain amount of practice with registax and sharp cap......any more suggestions would be appreciated as registax seems to freeze out !!!!!

Also I need to or think I need to get away from the phillips flashed 880 and get a proper ccd !! I will at a later date ask on the imaging posts but as I was here......

Regards

Andy

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Gaze Away

Gaze Away

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Im wondering whether to stretch the budget and go for the Skywatcher Evostar 120ED DS-Pro Outfit !! Its a lot more but once bought it has to last me a good few years...is it worth the extra money I wonder and If so why ???

Andy

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laser_jock99

laser_jock99

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The mount is fine but as previously mentioned the refractor is an achromatic type and will therefore suffer to some degree problems with chromatic abberation (the inability to focus all wavelengths of light in the same plane). Photographically this will show as enlarged stars with blue/purple fringes. To some extent this can be corrected with filters of the 'minus violet' or 'fringe killer' type. Another way around the problem is to use narrowband filters- these will pass the interesting wavelengths and block the rest, allowing you to exactly focus the scope at the wavelength of interest. You can also 'lose' some chromatic abberation in software processing of the images- but at the end of the day it will always be there.

The 150mm achromat is a cheap way of getting some good astrophoto experience, its a lot of apperture for the money and the mount shouldn't let you down. If you get serriously into the hobby then it will be time to consider upgrading to an apochromatic refractor- for a 150mm apochromat you won't much change from £6000!!

Here's a narrowband image through my 150mm F5 Phenix (Helios) achromatic scope. It's fast and pulls in plenty of light but getting pinpoint stars is tricky- but then again it only cost £100 on e-bay.

Dsir8156.jpg

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Daniel-K

Daniel-K

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Im wondering whether to stretch the budget and go for the Skywatcher Evostar 120ED DS-Pro Outfit !! Its a lot more but once bought it has to last me a good few years...is it worth the extra money I wonder and If so why ???

Andy

youd be laff'n with a ed 120 mate no halos just super crisp stars add a field flattner which i think you get with it and a nice dslr before you jump into ccd :icon_salut:

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laser_jock99

laser_jock99

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Im wondering whether to stretch the budget and go for the Skywatcher Evostar 120ED DS-Pro Outfit !! Its a lot more but once bought it has to last me a good few years...is it worth the extra money I wonder and If so why ???

Andy

Optically the 120ED is a much finer scope and has a semi apochromtic lens (good colour correction but not quite the best possible).

The same Orion nebula as above but taken through my 120ED- note how much better the stars are.

Dscf3265.jpg

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swag72

swag72

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I have an Evostar 120ED and an HEQ5, and it works very well indeed. You do need a flattener / reducer with it and I would stick with the dedicated SW one. The scope will last you well and it is capable of some cracking images.

Most of my images http://www.flickr.com/photos/swag72/sets/72157613637893907/ have been taken with the 120ED - Poor examples are due to user error, not the scope!!!

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laser_jock99

laser_jock99

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I have an Evostar 120ED and an HEQ5, and it works very well indeed. You do need a flattener / reducer with it and I would stick with the dedicated SW one. The scope will last you well and it is capable of some cracking images.

Most of my images The sky around us - a set on Flickr have been taken with the 120ED - Poor examples are due to user error, not the scope!!!

Great images! I bought a Sky Watcher 0.85 focal reducer a few months ago but haven't had chance to use it yet. Must give it a go.

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Gaze Away

Gaze Away

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Nice images there Lazer, IL be over the moon when I have learnt to be this good !-).

Looking at them I think I have decided to go for the 120 pro with the NEQ6. More money but well worth it. I have a good start with the agreed sale of the ls 6 scope. The 150 apochromatic refractor may have to wait a while lol.

Thanks for all the advice and Im just off to have a look at your images swag.......

Andy

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laser_jock99

laser_jock99

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I have stopped using mine at times, if I want the full 900mm, but I am using a small chip camera. With the DSLR, you do need that field to be flattened.

I thought it was only a focal reducer, so much the better if it flattens the field as well (I only use DSLR's at the moment). The reason I bought it was to fit more into the field of view. The ED120 at 900mm focal length is not great for big targets M31 won't fit. I sometimes hanker after a 500mm focal length 80mm triplet apo scope. All in good time I suppose........

M31 through a 120ED- focal reducer needed.....

DSCF3221-33_STACK3_process.jpg

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Gaze Away

Gaze Away

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well Lazer and Swag,......( im not laughing) these are great images...one day Im hoping to produce images like these.

I was going to ask about the equinox 120 pro...!! any better or about same as its about 200 quid more!!

thanks

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laser_jock99

laser_jock99

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well Lazer and Swag,......( im not laughing) these are great images...one day Im hoping to produce images like these.

I was going to ask about the equinox 120 pro...!! any better or about same as its about 200 quid more!!

thanks

Optically the Equninoxes are the same but the tube is nicer and the focuser is different I think.

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