Advice on focal ratio

[allcart]

Dammitt, my heart got the better of my head today and I have ordered the ED80 ds-pro from FLO. It might be an exciting weekend.

[allcart]

Thanks for the CCDCalc link. I'll have a look at it. All info is useful to someone who ain't got a clue.

As in the above post, the ED80 has been ordered. I will use that and my cameras until I find the need to see further. It will keep me busy for a while.

[Interested]

Dammitt, my heart got the better of my head today and I have ordered the ED80 ds-pro from FLO. It might be an exciting weekend.

Allan, A good choice for imaging DSO's!

Although I prefer CCD cameras I will be trying out my 550D on a few galaxies this winter. Software like Nebulosity 3 supports Canons. By connecting the canon to the laptop using a USB and using the EOS utility software it is possible to frame (and focus) your take your images on the laptop using Nebulosity - a lot better than using live-view!

I'm sure there is other software/solutions that a dedicated DSLR imager can offer you to make your imaging experiences even more productive!

Regards,

Pete

[allcart]

Thanks again, But the only downside of that is that the laptop only has 2 processors and takes a lifetime to stack 22meg images. My desktop uses 8 processors and is much quicker. It isn't a big deal to capture the images on the card and then download to the desktop. I can even just swap cards and take a second batch of subs while I work on the first. I have used EOS utility to get the initial focus on the laptop, but I still capture on the card.

I may capture the first few trial images on the laptop in future just to check exposure etc. A lesson I learned last weekend when I actually blew out 20 subs by exposing too long. That was a wasted session I am not in a hurry to repeat.