What should be on my shopping list next?

[ryandsimmons]

I am still fairly new to this whole malarky, but I am getting there and am having great fun doing a mix of visual and AP (both webcam and DSLR) but I am starting to reach a bottleneck of purchases.  I was just wondering if people could help me devise a wish list of items, and order of importance.  My time is spend maybe 50/50 observing and AP depending on my mood, so I am trying for a jack of all trades set up, I am aware that this does mean I am spreading myself thin and I would have a better AP setup if I focused purely on that, but I like to dabble.

My basic setup is:

Celestron C8 XLT SCT

CG5 GOTO mount.

Halfords power tank. (Can't remember exact specs, but I did go overboard.)

For visual:

Celestron X-Cel 9mm

Celestron X-Cel 2X Barlow

Celestron 25mm that came with C8.

Vixen NLV 40mm I picked up yesterday

Moon Filter

Light Pollution Filter

For webcam imaging:

Neximage solar system.  (The older one)

For DSLR AP:

Canon EOS 1000D (unmodded)

T-Adapter

T-Ring

Remote shutter release

Items I have that are homemade rubbish but do the job...

Dew shield made of thick cardboard

Home made bathinov mask.  (creased and starting to fall apart.

Given this list where would you go next?

The items I can see (with estimated prices) are:

6.3 Focal Reducer - £120

More filters - £20 each?

Dew controller - £40

Dew heater - £50

Cross hair EP - ???

Polarscope - £35

A durable plastic Bhatinov mask - ???

Canon clip in light pollution EOS filter. - £80? from memory?

Then at some point autotracking.  But that is not even a consideration at the moment.

Is there anything that really stands out that I am missing?  and what would people say is the next essential purchase?  Dew Control or Focal Reducer maybe?  I think EP wise I am now sorted at least.

Cheers in advance

Ryan

[swamp thing]

A TV Powermate is a good idea equally useful visually or for imaging planets. Great tool

[ianaiken]

You probably don't need a dew heater given you have a massive home-made dew shield.  But I would consider trying to get a dew heater that doesn't need a controller.  I think the dew-not can be used without a controller.  May save some money.  I know a lot of people that don't bother with the dew heater at all.

Polarscope - getting a nice polar alignment is beneficial, but you could probably get away with manual drift aligning at the EP if you are just using it for visual.  You could always just use the procedure in the hand controller (assuming you have a synscan to polar align, as long as you are roughly aligned it should work) so maybe this is not important at all.

I would only get the focal reducer if you are going to do photography so that would be high on my list but in conjunction with a finder guider otherwise I would probably not be able to capture much due to star trailing.  The LPS filter would be useful depending on how much LP you have.  Just be sure of what you can achieve without tracking if you go that route.  It's a slippery slope. 

Focus is important (especially for imaging) so a good mask will help if you get into planetary or even DSO imaging.  It's also good for visual but I find I can hit focus quite well just on my own at least good enough for my eyes.  For my 8 inch edge I also have one of those masks for collimation and some bobs knobs.

What about a high speed camera like ASI120MM or QHY5L-ii for lunar imaging?  That coupled with a IR pass filter will give you lots of opportunity when the moon is out.

Hope this helps

[ryandsimmons]

Cheers guys.  I was looking at more camera stuff, however I already have cameras for both planetary and DSO so would rather fill gaps than upgrade if you know what I mean.

I will look into the TV.  However I find seeing is already generally poor with a 2X barlow, will a TV be usefull given the UK air?

[hobsey]

If you are looking at imaging then I would go with the polar scope for more accurate alignment for longer subs and the reducer.

[ianaiken]

Finder guider might be worth it then.  When I first started astrophotography I went for HEQ5 to mount my Canon 40D and lens.  I then went for dual bar and finder guider.  I then went for telescope.  For me guiding was essential.  You may be able to use your Neximage which would keep costs down.  When I got my 40D modded it made a massive difference.

So many options :-)

[ryandsimmons]

So many options :-)

This.

I thought my £1,100 scope (on a budget of £1,000) would keep me happy.  But 6 months later between EPs, cameras, attachments, cases and so on I am already £600 further into the hole and it shows no sign of stopping.  Everytime I think I have everything I need suddenly I see another "essential" gap that needs filling.

It is bewildering.

[swamp thing]

Cheers guys.  I was looking at more camera stuff, however I already have cameras for both planetary and DSO so would rather fill gaps than upgrade if you know what I mean. I will look into the TV.  However I find seeing is already generally poor with a 2X barlow, will a TV be usefull given the UK air?

My bad sorry. I didn't check your kit properly. With a SCT a Powermate would probably be pushing it visually.

I use one every time I observe but I'm invariably using fast newts. Ignore the idiot from Sutton

[Caldwell14]

How about another eyepiece in the 12mm to 13mm department?

[ryandsimmons]

 Ignore the idiot from Sutton

Hah!  Up until a couple months back that would have been me!  All my observing was done from a balcony in Sutton.

Just moved to Horley now, with a nice garden and clear skies...

..

...and Gatwick Airport lighting up the sky just a mile away.

[rowan46]

Me I would think about an ed80  and finder guider  you would find it much easier to image with a shorter focal length on that mount