Proposed set up

[cosmojaydee]

I am trying to get into auto guiding and I need a little advice .The equipment I have so far , HEQ5 Syntek, SW200P DS, ED80 DS PRO and a Logitech 4000 pro webcam no focal reducer.

        I do have an unmodded Canon 550 but was looking for a dedicated CCD. My concern is weight and cost , I have around 800 spondulicks (pound) to spend and any advice would be appriciated 

Jeff

[Uranium235]

An Atik 314L+ would have uses on both telescopes. Put it on the 80ED for nebs, or on the 200pds for galaxies. The Atik weighs about as much as fleas kneecap, so you have no worries there! Also you can grab one 2nd hand for about 700ish, but be quick as they dont hang about for long.

What you may need to do though is reduce the weight of your guiding setup - the lightest and cheapest being a 9x50 finderguider, and its very effective. A 200pds on an HEQ5 is a bit of a lump, so to make the guiding easier its a good idea to avoid adding unnecessary weight.

Dont forget to factor in some filters to the cost - a good place to start is to get a Luminance (LP, but has to be UV/IR blocking) filter and a Baader Ha filter. You can do an awful lot with those two - like take lum with the ccd and merge with colour from your DSLR, or shoot Ha mosaics at times when RGB isnt possible (eg: when moon is up & about).

Edit: Need to add that now you are considering going into CCD territory, you need to get correctors for both telescopes (or the one you will use most) - otherwise its going to be pointless (and/or slow). If youre paying top dollar for CCD pixels, you want to be able to use each and every one!

[cosmojaydee]

Thanks,  I have the Baader Neodymium IR-Cut filter 2", food for thought , just got to wait for a 314l+ to show its self   

Jeff

[Uranium235]

The new Baader Neo is ideal, so youre already sorted for Lum. All you need now is the 1.25" Ha, trust me - its worth it with a 314L+ (that camera eats Ha for breakfast).

[cosmojaydee]

The new Baader Neo is ideal, so youre already sorted for Lum. All you need now is the 1.25" Ha, trust me - its worth it with a 314L+ (that camera eats Ha for breakfast).

Question, which is better for my proposed set up  7nm or 35nm ?

[Tinker1947]

A Reflector will require a Coma Corrector, try it without.......

[cosmojaydee]

A Reflector will require a Coma Corrector, try it without.......

Yeah, I have taken that into account, so Camera , guide scope with camera, 2 filters , two correcter's , soon adds up to a freakin amount of cash       already at around 1300 quid 

[cosmojaydee]

Save the astrophotographer apeal, all donation are to deposited into my account PM for details  

[lensman57]

Question, which is better for my proposed set up  7nm or 35nm ?

The 7 will give you more contrast and slightly more reduced starfield than the 35 but at times I like the 35 better. When the Moon is up the 7 is a little more effective.

A.G

[Thalestris24]

The 7 will give you more contrast and slightly more reduced starfield than the 35 but at times I like the 35 better. When the Moon is up the 7 is a little more effective.

A.G

Hi

As a matter of interest, is the 35nm easier to focus with?

Thanks

Louise

[Thalestris24]

Hi

A qhy5l-ii is a good camera to use as a finder-guider though your webcam might do. PHD2 is free guiding software, and Astrotortilla will get you to your target for free too . If you're going to use your Canon 550, it's worth getting it astro-modded - doesn't cost a lot for a big improvement!

Louise

[lensman57]

Hi

As a matter of interest, is the 35nm easier to focus with?

Thanks

Louise

Hi Louise,

Yes it is as it allows a broader waveband through. With a CCD and 7nm I have not had any problems focusing but there are a lot more stars with the 35 nm in particular if an OAG  is used for guiding. With the DSLR I use the 12nm clip filter and for this I really have to get it focused on a really bright star after a proper cool down.

A.G

[D4N]

I use OAG but have the filter between the OAG and imaging camera so the guide cam isn't being filtered. Definitely worth considering where everything goes carefully.

TSED70Q, iOptron Smart EQ pro, ASI-120MM, Finepix S5 pro.

[Thalestris24]

Hi Louise,

Yes it is as it allows a broader waveband through. With a CCD and 7nm I have not had any problems focusing but there are a lot more stars with the 35 nm in particular if an OAG  is used for guiding. With the DSLR I use the 12nm clip filter and for this I really have to get it focused on a really bright star after a proper cool down.

A.G

Hiya

Ok, I thought so! I was trying out my 7nm last night on the ST-80, lol. I was trying out the filter wheel really but it was trial and error to get focus with the modded 1100d. No really bright stars about in the East at the time. I've posted about this before but now I'm trying to image in narrowband the problem has come to the fore again. I got 2 x 240s Ha images of M45 but after stacking in DSS they've come out very noisy... I obviously need to extract just the R pixels somehow...

Thanks

Louise

[D4N]

Not sure how you do that in DSS as the channel scaling is all relative to green, you can turn the blue off at least.

It might be you have to use other software.

TSED70Q, iOptron Smart EQ pro, ASI-120MM, Finepix S5 pro.

[Thalestris24]

Not sure how you do that in DSS as the channel scaling is all relative to green, you can turn the blue off at least.

It might be you have to use other software.

TSED70Q, iOptron Smart EQ pro, ASI-120MM, Finepix S5 pro.

Hi

Apologies to the OP for butting in on this thread... Can do it by stacking in DSS super pixel mode which seems to shift G+B to the left. Then post-processing to minimize any remaining G and B which I guess is mostly noise. It's a bit pointless on M45 but it's just a practice I kinda feel there maybe a better way of doing it but this will do for now (I don't have proper PS, or PI)

Cheers

Louise