Help with choice of refractor please

[Nightjar]

I'm lucky enough to have a big birthday coming up and have decided to get a NEQ 6 PRO, and start some proper imaging. I hope the mount will be a good choice that will serve me well for years. To start with I'm looking for a smallish refractor at about f6 to f7, in the price range £500 - £800.

Suggestions anyone ? I like the look of the Starwaves and also the Meade 5000 but am torn between too many options. My main aim, apart from fantastic images, is ease of use.

I will use a Canon 450D for astrophotography ( for now at least ) , and I already have a scope and webcam that can be used for guiding, as well as a laptop.

Thanks in advance,

Nightjar

[DirkSteele]

The Skywatcher Equinox 80 is a scope that might well fit the bill. It is within budget at £520 from FLO ( http://www.firstlightoptics.com/equinox/skywatcher-equinox-80-apo-pro-ota.html ) and at f/6.25 has the focal length you are looking for. I believe a number of astro imagers on SGL use the same scope.

[nmoushon]

I have an Equinox ED80. I couldnt be happier with it. Small, light, easy to use. Native f/6.25 and with a reduce/flattener you can get down into the f/4's. It should fit well with in your budget. I'm not sure what they cost but I think you might be able to look into a triplet or jump to a better manufacturer. A Tak 85 would be an awesome scope but not sure of price.

[nmoushon]

Sorry. Double post.

[Leveye]

AT65EDQ fantastic scope and you don't need a field flattener remember thats another 250-350

[lensman57]

I'm lucky enough to have a big birthday coming up and have decided to get a NEQ 6 PRO, and start some proper imaging. I hope the mount will be a good choice that will serve me well for years. To start with I'm looking for a smallish refractor at about f6 to f7, in the price range £500 - £800.

Suggestions anyone ? I like the look of the Starwaves and also the Meade 5000 but am torn between too many options. My main aim, apart from fantastic images, is ease of use.

I will use a Canon 450D for astrophotography ( for now at least ) , and I already have a scope and webcam that can be used for guiding, as well as a laptop.

Thanks in advance,

Nightjar

Hi,

I have an Starwave 80 ED, slightly older model with the huge 3.5" focuser. It is very nice but very heavy at about 5 Kg without the finder. The mount required is at least an HEQ5 pro for imaging, though I manage with the EQ5 Pro. Equinox 80 is very nice and light. So, your choice which way u want to proceed.

Regards,

A.G

[DirkSteele]

A Tak 85 would be an awesome scope but not sure of price.

Unfortunately that scope is above £3,000 so it would have to be a very big birthday indeed to bring that one into play.

[nmoushon]

Unfortunately that scope is above £3,000 so it would have to be a very big birthday indeed to bring that one into play.

LOL Ok...maybe not then.

[rowan46]

There was a thread a while ago where the starwaves were quite heavily criticised for their photography performance. it seems that there was a lot of blue bloat around stars which is a sign that it wasn't as well colour corrected as it should be. The ed80 however gets good reviews

[Nightjar]

Some great suggestions there. The Tak 85 looks great provided there's a lottery win soon. Otherwise the Skywatcher Equinox 80, or possibly Altair Lightwave 80 Doublet at around the same price. Thanks for all the advice so far.

[ollypenrice]

The ED80 is far better for imaging than the Lightwave doublet. Time seems not to touch the giant killing ED80 which is a truly remarkable doublet. It may not be a posh scope but it certainly performs out of its skin. I was processing some data from one of these a couple of days ago, data which included Alnitak, the bloat-prone giant near the Horse and Flame. It was dead easy to stretch the image and retain the clear split in Alnitak, which is a double. Have a spin around the net and see how many images of this region split it. Not many.

Olly

http://ollypenrice.smugmug.com/Other/Best-of-Les-Granges/22435624_WLMPTM#!i=2277139556&k=FGgG233

[Naemeth]

+1 for the ED80, it's been recommended enough and it produces fantastic images for the price . Just remember you will need a field flattener (and a focal reducer would be handy) if using a DSLR. Is buying 2nd hand an option? You could always get the ED80 and FF/FR (Field Flattener / Focal Reducer) 2nd hand, and sell them on if you're not happy, although you may have to wait a while for someone to sell one .

[nmoushon]

Oh just a note the SkyWatcher x.85 FF/R does NOT work with the Equinox ED80. They only one I'm aware of that works is the Teleview 2008 series one. I happen to come across a chinese copy thats x.76 that works great but I have no idea what the make or model is so I couldn't help you find another. But you will need the flattener as Naemeth said and a reducer is a plus.

[Twisted Lip]

I have William Optics GTF81 which I'm really happy with, great imaging and its pretty light. Towards the upper end of your budget but when you consider it has a built in flattener (so you save yourself a few quid there) and a guidescope so you get a pretty good package. Worth a look at least?

[Scott]

No suggestions really. Just envious of your dilemma.

[laser_jock99]

There was a thread a while ago where the starwaves were quite heavily criticised for their photography performance. it seems that there was a lot of blue bloat around stars which is a sign that it wasn't as well colour corrected as it should be. The ed80 however gets good reviews

The Starwave 80ED seems to be no longer for sale?

http://www.altairastro.com/manufacturers.php?manufacturerid=20

I have one and had to process out the CA in software. That said, the build quality of the Starwaves is excellent and in a different league to most Skywatcher offerings. I haven't used my Skywatcher ED80 for imaging yet even though I've had it for 5 months! A combination of bad weather and other/better scopes to play with. I can only confirm they can be used as guidescopes.....

[Earl]

From the current crop I think the William Optics Zenithstar 71 ED 2013 with reducer has lots of potential.

If i was looking for a scope in that price range I would be hard pushed not to.

[sloz1664]

From the current crop I think the William Optics Zenithstar 71 ED 2013 with reducer has lots of potential.

If i was looking for a scope in that price range I would be hard pushed not to.

I totally agree Earl. Together with the dedicated FF/FR it is imaging a f4.72 which has to be a massive plus.

cheers

Steve

[valefor]

just a little side question. what does the f number mean. i know faster and slower but what does that mean? ive heard for dso you want a low f number. i photo with a f5 newt yet ive been told by some that i should be thinking of using an ed80 (f7.5) with a ff/fr (makes it f4.5). whats the point in buying a scope and then using a ff/fr to make i roughly the same as the original scope?

[nmoushon]

The "f number" is actually a ratio that is taken from taking the focal length and dividing it by aperture. Its a factor that tells you how much photons your sensor can collect during any given amount of time. You're correct in saying that lower numbers mean "faster" and vise versa for higher numbers. So if you take a 2min exposure with a f/4 scope and a f/6 scope you will collect more data in those 2 min with the f/4 scope compared to the f/6 scope. I think the difference is like 2.3x as much data with the f/4 vs the f/6. Dont quote me on that number though but its a good chunk more. This will allow you to a) take few subs the achieve a good image or shorten your exposure time to achieve a good image.

For DSOs you want a faster f-ratio because you most of them are dim or faint and thus require either longer exposures or a faster f/ratio. Where as if want a slower f/ratio for planetary imaging because they are very bright objects comparative to DSOs.

So the reason people are suggesting a ED80 with a FF/R is because of several things. 1) It is faster than your newt and though the number might not seem like a big difference that actual difference is quite a bit. 2) The focal length is much shorter than your newt which gives you a wider field of view which in turn allows you to take longer exposures before you get star trails, which increases the quality and depth of your image. 3) It is lighter than your newt which is easier on your mount which allows it to track better and thus adding to your exposure length.

[valefor]

that explains everything i was asking. thanks very much for all that infomation. im thinking of getting an neq6 pro synscan. keeping my 8" f5 newt on it. and having an ed80 on that. align them both so i can view with the newt, and then snap threw the ed.

sounds like a plan.

[nmoushon]

that explains everything i was asking. thanks very much for all that infomation. im thinking of getting an neq6 pro synscan. keeping my 8" f5 newt on it. and having an ed80 on that. align them both so i can view with the newt, and then snap threw the ed.

sounds like a plan.

Not to burst your bubble but you wont want to image and view from the same mount at the same time. You trying to view at the same time as imaging will bump the mount and thus give you star trails and ruin your image. If you do do this I would suggest getting in a bit of view time first THEN start your imaging. But not at the same time.

[laser_jock99]

that explains everything i was asking. thanks very much for all that infomation. im thinking of getting an neq6 pro synscan. keeping my 8" f5 newt on it. and having an ed80 on that. align them both so i can view with the newt, and then snap threw the ed.

sounds like a plan.

I would bolt the two scopes together- you can then image with the ED80 and autoguide with the Newt or vice versa. The EQ6 will easily handle both scopes.

[valefor]

i wasnt thinking about doing both viewing and imaging at the same time. just so i can see something and photo it without faffing about taking my ep holder off and attaching the camera.

[brantuk]

You'd need three scopes on the mount to attempt what you're suggesting - one to image, one to guide, and one to look through. But imaging needs to be very steady and just walking round the mount can disturb the image - looking through a scope on the same mount will vibrate the picture and ruin it. You're dealing with very fine vibration tollerances.

Personally I'd set up a separate scope and mount entirely to observe through after setting up an imaging run on the camera rig. Your dream is something I naiively though of when I first started astronomy - but it just doesn't work I'm afraid.

(a good finder scope is probably more what you're looking for).