Refractor / Reflector? (again!!)

[williamnohair]

Hi everyone I know this question has been asked a thousand times but some advice would be appreciated.

I am a fair weather observer who dabbles in astrophotography and so far has not had much luck living just North of the M25 with light pollution.

I am considering possibly my last purchase having owned a Skymax 127  Maksutov and a Meade 102mm refractor both of which have given reasonable results but nothing stunning. On holiday in Croatia I was blown away with the results from an amateur observatory staffed by volunteers open to the public, it was a possibly a ten inch reflector and Saturn was unbelievably clear!

So given my new budget can anyone give a clear choice between a Skymax Pro 180mm versus an Evostar 150mm reflector, and what sort of mount  should I aim for astrophotography.

Yep I'll know I'll get lots of different opinions but if you own either of these bits of kit pluses and minuses would help me choose.

Thanks

Williamnohair

[Langy]

I probably can't give too much advise here but suggest you get a copy of Making Every Photon Count if you want to do AP.

The mount is key to the whole thing if you want to take DSO images.

If you do go down that line then the shorter focal length scopes are used as this reduces movement where for observing the FL tends to increase.

So basically a lot of money on a mount for AP and a visual setup is totally different to an imaging setup.

It might also be better if you give an idea of what you want to do long term with AP and what your budget is.

[nmoushon]

I'm assuming you are wanting to do planetary/lunar imaging? If that is so then I would go with the 180 Pro. The extra aperture and FL will come in nicely. If you are wanting to do DSO AP then neither would work well.

[Wetsparks]

So given my new budget can anyone give a clear choice between a Skymax Pro 180mm versus an Evostar 150mm reflector, and what sort of mount  should I aim for astrophotography.

The reason for the reply above, I presume, is because the Skymax is a Max at f15 (slow) and the Evostar is a Refactor not Reflector. The Reflector is the Explorer and at 150mm it's a f5, fast, scope.

[happy-kat]

Do you have access to a darker site you could use to escape the light polution?

Budget is probably going to get spent more on the mount than the tube.

I have seen images from light polluted locations members have shared but I guess they did loads of post processing to extract the data.

I think a bit of researching on imaging in light polluted locations would give you ideas on what type of tube to go for.

[Davey-T]

Hi, not far from you in BR8,  I've  managed a bit of imaging from my back garden with three street lights shining in, better than I expected when I started, more in hope than expectation.

Need a half decent mount to start imaging, have you exhausted the Astrotracs possibilites.

Probably easier / cheaper to start with planetary, interesting thread on planetary imaging with Canon video mode going at the moment, worth a read. http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/208610-planetary-imaging-with-dslr-video-mode/

Planets are easier with long focal length scope.

Dave

[williamnohair]

The reason for the reply above, I presume, is because the Skymax is a Max at f15 (slow) and the Evostar is a Refactor not Reflector. The Reflector is the Explorer and at 150mm it's a f5, fast, scope.

Yes sorry got my refractor / reflectors wrong way around!