My gear

[iancandler]

I've been hanging fire on this as things where changing but I'm pretty much settled now.

These days mount wise I have the Celestron CG5 head on the HEQ5 pedestal, permanently set up on the balcony and am using the telegizmo 365 series cover to protect it.

I also have the Acuter Merlin mount, which at present is just used as a grab 'n' go on its original tripod, but the small wedge I had from Arthur is being modified to take the head, then that will fit on a TAL pedestal I have, giving me driven EQ mounts covering both the front and rear gardens.

*note* The small counterweight is all thats needed when using either OTA on its own.

Scope wise I'm now settled on the two OTA's I can manage to carry myself, namely the Celestron C5 and the William Optics ZS66 ED.

The ZS is mounted by directly bolting its L bracket to the WO vixen dovetail plate, length ways to allow balancing when the camera is fitted.

Though this means the focuser cant be rotated, it doesn't bother me as much as I thought it would and gives a rock solid fixing that I prefer over using rings.

The diagonals are a WO clone 2" converted to SCT fit, and a WO carbon 1.25 both Dielectric

Both scopes, mounts etc can be seen in the pic below..(forgive the debris in the background)

Eye piece wise, I have kind of sorted out now.

The ones in the pic are my keepers, from left to right.

Celestron e lux 2" 40mm, Celestron black top 40mm 1.25, Televue panoptic 19mm, Burgess planetary 9mm, TS planetary 6mm(identical to Burgess).

At the back is the GSO 2" ED barlow, at the front two ND filters, an orange filter and a 1.25" Lumicon deepsky filter.

Not in the pic :

Antares .63 sct focal reducer, WO 0.8 focal reducer/field flattener, Lumicon deepsky SCT fit filter ,SCT, 2" and 1.25" push fit camera adaptors, a selection of 2" coloured photographic filters (they fit 2" eyepieces), WO optics red dot with stand off fitting, Galileo reflex sight (for the celestron) +various odds & sods.

The mount outside is firmly secured and alarmed, as will the TAL pedestal be when its fitted out the back.

Camera wise I'm using a Samsung GX10 DSLR, 10.2 mp, with on-board SR and auto focus confirm when used with scopes. I have also started trying my Sony handicam on the bracket I got from Andrew, with a view to trying to shoot some avi's of the planets.

Software wise, its Red shift 5.1, Adobe photoshop CS3, registax, deepsky stacker and Tachyon on my O2 xda (PDA)

The only planned additions are a Televue 14mm radian which is on its way as we speak,I would like to get a larger panoptic to fill the hole between 40mm and 19mm, probably a 24mm, I would also like to get an APO 2X barlow at some point mainly for visual use, and finally I'm working on a duo mount bar to allow me to mount both scopes on the CG5 and use one as a guide scope.

[Zeffer]

Nice setup - I love the idea of having my mount fixed.

Is this lens any good to you - just found it on ABS:

http://www.astrobuysell.com/uk/propview.php?view=15872

[iancandler]

Not this side of christmas sadly..

[asteria]

Nice set up Ian - that pedestal mounted scope looks the business. Good selection of eps too. I've just purchased the 9mm planetary from FLO but haven't had a chance to try it yet. How do you find the 2" Celestron e lux in 40mm? I've just bought a tube that will take 2" eps and I was thinking of this range as a starting point. It's an f5 widefield refractor.

Take care - thanks for updating us on your setup.

Ed

[iancandler]

The 40mm 2" is fine, I used mine with both my current scopes and an F5 dob as well..I dont know how it would perform in the frac, but as the frac is non APO I would recommend getting a 2" william optics minus violet filter for it anyway to help battle CA.

[Rider]

Ian a lovely set up. It is good to actually see this set up because it shows what you can achieve. I still am a little green around the different parts and description, but it will be fun learning about it.

[asteria]

Hi Ian - thanks for the feedback. I'll take what you say on board, esp. re. CA which I know will be an issue. For the time being I've got my 1.25" inch eyepieces and the Baader FringeKiller which should get me started.

Enjoy your observing.

Best wishes

Ed