CPC800 turns up tomorrow

[zakkhogan]

Hi all my New baby arrives tomorrow CPC800

My main aim is AP, I currently own the Neximage, Meade DSI colour and a Canon EOS300D.

I havent bought a wedge yet (too expensive after buying the scope)

what sort DSLR exposure will i get with out a wedge? 30sec? 60sec?

Thanks

Craig

[nmoushon]

Depends on your mount. What mount do you have exactly?

[brantuk]

The CPC range are all on Alt/Az mounts. Great for imaging planets - run a webcam on them for as long as you have video storage. For DSO's I've heard folks quoting 20-30secs before star trailing starts to show up big time. To get round that you'll need two things - a wedge and a 6.3 focal reducer. F-10 is a long ratio for dso imaging - so these two additions are pretty essential.

(The 800 though is a beaut of a scope though - I had a lot of pleasure from mine before I upgraded - congrats!)

[zakkhogan]

Thanks for the replys,

What does the focal reducer do? does it increase the field of view?

[brantuk]

It reduces the focal length of the scope to make it "faster". This will enable you to capture images quicker than with a longer focal length - the CPC800 is f-10. The reducer brings it down to f-6.3 and reduces exposure time by a factor of 3. It's a corrector as well and also widens the fov so you can capture larger objects.

[zakkhogan]

And here it is!!! Good job its not Heavy!!!!

sorry to be a pain but what does the "corrector" do?

[nmoushon]

The corrected fixes the elongated stars at the edge of your FOV. Also know as field flattener. Most reducers incorperate field flatteners now because if you need one you almost always need the other.

[zakkhogan]

I have a question about storage,

I live on private land with my family but im in a flat. I dont fancy carrying in it up and down every time i want to go out so i want to get shed to store it in.

Im concerned that if i store it out side all year that moisture will get to and damage the scope,

heres one im interested in, my main concerns are , Heat, Damp and Frost

http://www.homebase.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?langId=110&storeId=10151&partNumber=1728525

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Nice piece of kit you have got yourself. I Store my C8 OTA in a case in my garage, and put in a load of silica gel (any bags that come with anything gets put in there). No problems yet, but the garage does have a bit of heating (not much) which keeps th eworst damp out.

[brantuk]

Take every precaution to keep moisture off the electronics. I keep mine in the house and allow adequate cooldown time when taken outside. I also let it warm up gradually when bringing inside with a spell in the utility room first. It does sit outside for up to a week at star parties under a good waterproof cover - but I wouldn't do that on a permanent basis. Do you have a shed or garage where you can keep it on ground level for convenience?

[zakkhogan]

i havnt got any where yet, and it is currently in the house.

I intend on getting a shed but shed to store it in,

will a shed be safe ie extreme heat and cold

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Heat and cold are not much of a problem, moisture is. If you can keep moisture at bay, you should be OK.