CCD camera for CPC 800 GPS XLT

[Monty]

Morning all,

Never done astro photography before, what ccd camera would be best suited to the CPC 800? Budget is limited to sub £750 but next year all going well and with some experience under my belt I'd like to move towards "HyperStar."

[DirkSteele]

One thing to think about before potentially spending a lot of money on a CCD camera is how is your telescope mounted? Do you have your CPC800 is the standard Alt Az configuration, or have you polar aligned it using a wedge? If the scope is in Alt Az mode, field rotation will limit the length of the exposure you can achieve to a minute or two at most. This problem will not manifest if your interest is planetary or lunar imaging where 30 seconds to 1 minute of video (to be stacked using a program like Registax) is more than sufficient for great results. If planetary is a goal, something as simple as webcam is all that is needed.

Also the F10 focal ratio of the scope will require much longer exposure times and very precise guiding. Though you could reduce it to F6.3 using a focal reducer.

[Monty]

_{Alt-Az mounted at the moment and planetary is the goal but with budget and experience growing then I'm thinking HyperStar and/or wedge next year for some easier DSO shots.}

[DirkSteele]

_{Alt-Az mounted at the moment and planetary is the goal but with budget and experience growing then I'm thinking HyperStar and/or wedge next year for some easier DSO shots.}

Then really no need to spend much more than a few £ at the moment to buy a decent webcam. Then download Registax (its free) and you will be getting pretty good results in no time.....Assuming the cloud ever clears.

[Monty]

Which webcam would you recommend?

[Freddie]

Your best bet is to have a look through the planetary imaging section and see some of the results with the various cams used. You can spend a few pounds on a web cam up to a few hundred on something like a DBK21

[Kerob_labs]

Hi guys...my first post!!

Just taking the topic about CCD, is there anything you would recomend for stellar observation? I've got a 5" polar mount, but I'm building a heavy duty GEM, that will turn 20kg easy (exaggerating lol!) if I can get a 12 inch at some point (dreaming), I'm willing to post some photos later on.

Cheers

[Freddie]

Welcome to SGL "kerob labs". I think your best best is to have a look at some of the existing "what cam" posts on here and then post up any specific questions you then have.