Meade F3.3 Reducer

[Mav359]

Hi guys

I recently upgraded to a QHY8L and have quickly realised that with my C9.25 the FOV is quite small even though im using an F6.3 reducer, Andromeda the other night looked like it was about to land in my back garden.

Mosaics seem to be the way forward but ive image capturing & processing i need to be better at before i move on to that so i was wondering as a stop gap about the F3.3 reducer made by Meade, anyone any experience with these?

Cheers

[Mav359]

Heres an after thought, Hyperstar???

[JamesF]

ISTR reading somewhere that the 3.3 reducer is really only suitable for use with very small sensors, I think because of the field curvature. Be worth checking on that.

James

[Mav359]

Cheers James

[r3i]

James is right - the 3.3FR would produce far too small an illumination circle for the QHY8L. They were designed for use with CCDs with much smaller chips.

As you said Alan, you'll have to do a mosaic with your C9.25 to get a full image of M31, or invest in a scope with a smaller focal length scope that will give a much wider field of view.

[Mav359]

MMMMMmmmmmm

Decisions Decisions

Cheers Guys

[Freddie]

I had a 3.3 on my CPC925 before I got my MN190. Don't use it with a big chip !!!!

[ollypenrice]

Yup, it was intended for webcam chips in the early days. Now a dead loss. Spot the good dealers who are the ones who warn you...

Hyperstar can be great but be aware of the issues. You will need high order collimation, near perfect chip orthogonality (not exactly a QHY strong point!) and fine focus. The depth of field is in microns so the standard focuser won't do, you'll need something like the Feathertouch upgrade, ideally electronically controlled. I think this is why Hyperstar results vary spectacularly from terrible to excellent. You have to get them right.

Olly

[Mav359]

Think i'll just spend my time getting good with what ive got, then move on to the mosaics and then maybe looking at dual mounting another scope later down the road.

[pete_l]

I recently upgraded to a QHY8L and have quickly realised that with my C9.25 the FOV is quite small even though im using an F6.3 reducer, Andromeda the other night looked like it was about to land in my back garden.

You could try imaging Andromeda through your finder - or using a 60mm ED as a combined finder / widefield 'scope.