Imaging with the 130pds

[ollypenrice]

While I've been knocked out by Uranium's images for some time, and said so, I've missed this thread.

I don't see anything remotely 'entry level' about the best images posted here. If you want to image at this kind of focal length on a medium to small chip then this telescope clearly has a lot going for it. I think it will take on, quite literally, all comers at any price. It is fast enough to be fast but not so fast as to invite exasperating complications that will rob the imager of many good nights. In refractor terms it has a fair bit of aperture. Apart from the coma corrector it is inherently apochromatic - totally so.

What do you get with a car-priced Takahashi FSQ that you don't get with this scope? A vast flatfield circle which you only need with a big chip. Freedom from collimation. No diffraction spikes. These are not nothing, but, yikes, they come at a price...

Olly

[Thalestris24]

While I've been knocked out by Uranium's images for some time, and said so, I've missed this thread.

I don't see anything remotely 'entry level' about the best images posted here. If you want to image at this kind of focal length on a medium to small chip then this telescope clearly has a lot going for it. I think it will take on, quite literally, all comers at any price. It is fast enough to be fast but not so fast as to invite exasperating complications that will rob the imager of many good nights. In refractor terms it has a fair bit of aperture. Apart from the coma corrector it is inherently apochromatic - totally so.

What do you get with a car-priced Takahashi FSQ that you don't get with this scope? A vast flatfield circle which you only need with a big chip. Freedom from collimation. No diffraction spikes. These are not nothing, but, yikes, they come at a price...

Olly

Based on this thread I wholeheartedly agree, Olly! It's certainly very good value for money!! I've had my 150pds for nearly a year now - still not had to collimate it! I probably should have got the 130pds - in fact, they are so cheap I might yet get one anyway Of course, it helps to like diffraction spikes

Louise

[Uranium235]

Hi everyone,

I don't suppose anyone has had any experience using a 130pds on a cg5 WITH an ED80 as a guide scope with dslr etc?

Cam

Unfortunately, with that mount its a case of either/or - not both, becuase that will far exceed the imaging payload for that mount (tried it and failed).

[Uranium235]

While I've been knocked out by Uranium's images for some time, and said so, I've missed this thread.

I don't see anything remotely 'entry level' about the best images posted here. If you want to image at this kind of focal length on a medium to small chip then this telescope clearly has a lot going for it. I think it will take on, quite literally, all comers at any price. It is fast enough to be fast but not so fast as to invite exasperating complications that will rob the imager of many good nights. In refractor terms it has a fair bit of aperture. Apart from the coma corrector it is inherently apochromatic - totally so.

What do you get with a car-priced Takahashi FSQ that you don't get with this scope? A vast flatfield circle which you only need with a big chip. Freedom from collimation. No diffraction spikes. These are not nothing, but, yikes, they come at a price...

Olly

Kind words Olly, thank you

I must admit, I was jumping between the 80ED and 130pds for a while trying to decide what was better. While the 80ED can yield some pretty sharp results, I found the slight "fuzziness" I get with a reflector can be overcome by the depth of signal it provides - which allows for more sharpening and less noise reduction. Hmmm.... I havent used the 80ED for nearly a year now....blimey!

Im pretty sure the Baader MkIII corrector is apochomatic - since I dont have to refocus between Ha and OIII, which is something I cant get away with when using the Skywatcher corrector.

[laser_jock99]

While I've been knocked out by Uranium's images for some time, and said so, I've missed this thread.

I don't see anything remotely 'entry level' about the best images posted here. If you want to image at this kind of focal length on a medium to small chip then this telescope clearly has a lot going for it. I think it will take on, quite literally, all comers at any price. It is fast enough to be fast but not so fast as to invite exasperating complications that will rob the imager of many good nights. In refractor terms it has a fair bit of aperture. Apart from the coma corrector it is inherently apochromatic - totally so.

What do you get with a car-priced Takahashi FSQ that you don't get with this scope? A vast flatfield circle which you only need with a big chip. Freedom from collimation. No diffraction spikes. These are not nothing, but, yikes, they come at a price...

Olly

Never thought I'd hear Olly extolling the virtues of a humble Newt !

[Uranium235]

Never thought I'd hear Olly extolling the virtues of a humble Newt !

lol yeah

For a moment I thought he was actually going to give one a go!

[JimFR]

I have hope for my growth as an APer then, if Olly is impressed with it!

One thing, it is a bit of a git to balance properly.

I guess it isn't so important with only a webcam or sub-minute DLSR subs...

[ollypenrice]

lol yeah

For a moment I thought he was actually going to give one a go!

Hehheh, be fair, I've backed these little Newt images from the start. You don't have any choice, they are excellent. They really are.

I'm in a slightly different position in that I'm a provider, sometimes running around like a blue-posteriored fly and even with 'plug and play' I sometimes can't get it all working in time, so adding collimation tasks is not on my to do list. But, hats off, I think that bang for imaging buck I doubt that the 130 can be beaten.

Olly

Edited December 5, 2014 by ollypenrice

[Uranium235]

I have hope for my growth as an APer then, if Olly is impressed with it!

One thing, it is a bit of a git to balance properly.

I guess it isn't so important with only a webcam or sub-minute DLSR subs...

Mine is (very) camera heavy, so I had to strap x2 0.5kg leg weights to the bottom end to balance it out.

[Knight of Clear Skies]

It's really encouraging to see what this scope is capable of and it's something I'll consider further down the line.

[Russe]

Am super excited - about to jump in at the deep end - hovering over the buy button for an ATIK 314L Plus...

Anyone here imaged with the 130pds and this ATIK CCD???

[Uranium235]

Epicycle used an H9 (same chip as the 314) to great effect. Should be a good combination, a real Ha hoover.

[Uranium235]

And another to keep it rolling.... y Cas nebula, taken under a full Moon - so not as good as it should be:

[Russe]

Amazing! Which filter can you image with under full moon w/o problems? SII, OIII or Ha?

[Uranium235]

That will be Ha (and SII to some extent). However its not 100% immunity, you still need to be perferably pointing away from the Moon as targets near it will be prone to severe gradients (as I found out the other night!).

[laser_jock99]

Hehheh, be fair, I've backed these little Newt images from the start. You don't have any choice, they are excellent. They really are.

I'm in a slightly different position in that I'm a provider, sometimes running around like a blue-posteriored fly and even with 'plug and play' I sometimes can't get it all working in time, so adding collimation tasks is not on my to do list. But, hats off, I think that bang for imaging buck I doubt that the 130 can be beaten.

Olly

Newts are great IMHO- but there's no getting around the fact they need collimating before an imaging run. It needs to be do done but should not be more onerous a task than checking the focus with a Bahtinov mask for example,

[Uranium235]

The 130pds spanks IC1805: 

Original scale images are located in deepsky subforum.

[Russe]

Which light pollution filter are you using?

[Uranium235]

Which light pollution filter are you using?

Its all in narrowband mate, the best LP filters possible

I dont think I could achieve this level in broadband, my local LP is just too much for any kind of serious depth (IFN etc...). But when I do use Lum, its always with the CCD CLS filter (2").

[Russe]

Its all in narrowband mate, the best LP filters possible

I dont think I could achieve this level in broadband, my local LP is just too much for any kind of serious depth (IFN etc...). But when I do use Lum, its always with the CCD CLS filter (2").

Lol - I got that NB part - what about your lights?

[Russe]

Oops - should've read your entire post

[Robp]

The 130pds spanks IC1805: 

Beautiful images as always Uranium235

Russe, I recently purchased a CCD camera for narrowband.

Before I was using a 450D and light pollution would saturate my image in 2-3 minutes even with a light pollution filter. I've done 15 min narrowband exposures with my CCD and it hasn't even broke a sweat.

I even managed a run of subs with the moon right next to my target, and also very close to a streetlamp and still get some nice results. My 450D would just give up and walk inside

[Uranium235]

Cheers

Just topped up the data, and done a cropped version (full image in deepsky section):

[Russe]

Beautiful images as always Uranium235

Can't wait for Christmas now...

[Ishan Mair]

Here's my m45, m42 and m31 with 130 PDS..

All 3 min unguided subs with canon 1100d

M45

http://www.astrobin.com/140413/

M42

http://www.astrobin.com/124109/

M31

http://www.astrobin.com/122877/

Thanks,

Ishan.