Advice on equiping a C9.25 for planetary imaging/visual

[PAC]

Hi guys,

Several years ago I enjoyed deep sky and planetary/lunar imaging with a SW 8" reflector. I eventually sold the gear but now would like to get back into it. I've already bought a used C9.25 on a CG-5 mount with standard 'factory' accessories. I would like to image planets, moon and the sun with a Canon 550D in 640x480 movie mode and maybe add a DMK31 for infra-red. I was just wondering about the following ideas:

1   Should I buy something like a Moonlite focuser or just a SCT to 2" visual back (e.g. Baader or TeleVue) to attached the following accessories?

2  I would like to image at f/20 to f/40. Are the TeleVue 2" x2 and x4 Powermates the best option? What about for f/30? I like the powermates, I used to use the x5 powermate a lot with my previous gear.

3  For visual, I was thinking about a WO 2" diagonal and a TeleVue 13mm ethos and a 31mm Nagler. Good choices?

4  For solar imaging I was wondering about an Astrozap full aperture solar (Baader film) filter. Are these ok for imaging sunspots with the C9.25?

5  I've never used the Canon 550D for planetary imaging before (I bought it after I sold my previous telescopes). Does anyone have any experience with this and is it capable of imaging at f/20 to f/40 or is a toucam/dedicated planetary camera considerably better?

6  I've never owned a SCT before. For collimation, do I need to buy a cheap short focal length eyepiece (e.g. 8mm) or will the longer 13mm ethos (above) be sufficient?

Thanks in advance,

Paul.

[alan potts]

Paul,

I can only address the questions on eyepieces and say the 13mm Ethos is a fabulous piece of quipment and will be difficult to better in the massive FOV area. The 31mm Nagler is also one of the most talked about and sort after eyepieces on the market though having had both, I found the 30mm Meade UWA a close second place at less cost, you can still get them from Telescope House.

I have also used the TV 2 inch X2 Powermate and found it excellent though I never used it for camera work.

With regards to collimation I do use shorter eyepieces to fine tune the scope I have, I tend to finish on 6-5mm so you will need about the same.

Alan

[Mark in Macc]

For visual I use an ES 30 mm 82 deg, ES 20 mm 100 deg and ES 14 mm 100 deg. Significantly cheaper than the Televue equivalents and pretty close in terms of performance. The C9.25 is f10 and pretty kind on eyepieces, not that the ES eyepieces are second rate though. If you do a lot of planetary observing, binoviewers are amazing to use. I have the WO binos with the stock 20 mm eyepieces, a pair of 25mm TV plossls and a pair of 15mm Vixen NLVs. Check another of the recent posts that discusses diagonals. The Baader prism diagonals seem to be the best performers for planetary use.

[Mr Spock]

For visual use my most used eyepiece is 10mm (x235), followed by 8mm (x294) on good nights. For collimation I use a 6mm (x392) - also useful for double stars. I find my 13mm (x181) underpowered for planetary work, though it is useful on globulars.

A C9.25 can't really do wide field and the 42mm LVW is as wide as it gets. The 31mm Nagler will be fine For deep sky I use the 22mm T4 and 17mm T4 Naglers (x107, x138)

For 2" diagonals the Revelation is as good as anything out there. Spending more is just paying for a brand name.

[PeterCPC]

I use my Canon 550d for planetary imaging with my C9.25. I use it through BYE (Backyard EOS) where you control the camera through your laptop. You can take stills or AVIs to stack in R6 or similar. This is one I took of Jupiter showing the GRS and the transit of Ganymede.

Peter

[Owmuchonomy]

Similar to PeterCPC above I use a 600D in 640 x 480 crop mode, EP projection with a 25mm plossl inside a 65mm revelation extension tube. No Barlow or Televue. I connect directly to the visual back. I have just purchased a Baader click lock 2" adaptor but haven't really used it in earnest yet. Here is my first Jupiter with Gannymede just starting to transit, March 2014.

[PAC]

I use my Canon 550d for planetary imaging with my C9.25. I use it through BYE (Backyard EOS) where you control the camera through your laptop. You can take stills or AVIs to stack in R6 or similar. This is one I took of Jupiter showing the GRS and the transit of Ganymede.

Peter

Nice image Peter...better than those I recorded with my toucam! Did you record this at f/20 or f/30? I was also wondering how the Canon 550D would perform at f/40 in crop movie mode...

[PeterCPC]

Nice image Peter...better than those I recorded with my toucam! Did you record this at f/20 or f/30? I was also wondering how the Canon 550D would perform at f/40 in crop movie mode...

I'm not sure I understand the question. I took this using BYE - there is no control of aperture. The telescope is f10 of course. Taken in manual mode in BYE so you only control the exposure and ISO settings. I used a 2X Barlow and used the 5X digital zoom in BYE. Does that help?

Peter

[PAC]

I'm not sure I understand the question. I took this using BYE - there is no control of aperture. The telescope is f10 of course. Taken in manual mode in BYE so you only control the exposure and ISO settings. I used a 2X Barlow and used the 5X digital zoom in BYE. Does that help?

Peter

Hi Peter, I was just wondering how the Canon DSLR copes with the light levels for imaging. As I understand it, your x2 Barlow would reduce your f/10 to f/20. A x4 powermate would reduce your f/10 to f/40. The slower the optics, the darker the image so the longer the exposure or the higher the gain (ISO setting) needed to record the picture.

[PeterCPC]

Hi Peter, I was just wondering how the Canon DSLR copes with the light levels for imaging. As I understand it, your x2 Barlow would reduce your f/10 to f/20. A x4 powermate would reduce your f/10 to f/40. The slower the optics, the darker the image so the longer the exposure or the higher the gain (ISO setting) needed to record the picture.

Right I see what you are driving at. It copes very easily with the 2X Barlow and a 3XBarlow which would make the scope f30. That's the most I have pushed it. I generally end up exposing at about 1/20 sec at ISO 800 with Jupiter but,of course, it's taking an AVI at about 20fps. I don't think that you would have any problems with a 4x powermate but I have never tried it.

Peter

[PAC]

Thanks Peter, that's good to know.