Trying to put together a kit list.

[dyfiastro]

Hi everyone.

I have spent the last few days trying to research kit and different options.
I am trying to put together a list of stuff so I can budget for everything and also to make sure that I am going to get a setup that I will actually be happy with.
I will apologize in advance for the amount of questions.

So far I have decided on the the following.

Scope - SW130PDS
Mount - EQ5 (with motors)
Imaging - Fuji XT1 (already own) + 0.9x Coma corrector

Are there any particular filters and lenses (barlows etc..) that anyone would recommend and how are these fitted when using the camera?
I have two options in regards attaching the camera. Am I correct in thinking that I can use a direct 2" T adaptor direct onto the focuser housing instead of the smaller 1.25" in place of the eye piece? 

I have looked at different options in regards to tracking but there is so much conflicting information that I would like some input if possible.
Without any kind of camera tracking which kind of exposure times can I expect?

If I go down the tracking route I have looked at going with the following but any further guidance would be great.

9x50 Finder scope (Am I able to use the standard scope that comes with the sw130PDS?) how does this fit to the main scope?
AstroEQ
Polarscope
Webcam (which are the cheapest / easiest to go with here and what is the easiest way to attach it to the finder scope?)
Laptop running Stellarium, PHD, EQMOD polar alignment tool. what kind of power is needed here, would any old cheap laptop do(intel core 2 duo with say 2gb ram)? 


I know there are a lot of questions here so sorry in advance but any help would be great

Mark

[Gino Arcari]

Hi mark, I have the 150pds on a heq5 pro with dslr to image, I connect the dslr via a t-ring that's connected to my coma corrector that just goes straight into the focuser, works great.

If you have bad light pollution I recommend a filter to reduce it, I use sky watchers one and works good.

Before I started guiding, I could get exposures of up to 4mins but that's about the max I could go and there would occasionally be star trails and errors. The eq5 however will probably be less accurate than the heq5 so to times will probably be lower, I highly recommend getting the heq5 pro as it is a great mount and people usually say it's the minimum for good astrophotography. So if possible spend a little more money and get a heq5.

I actually started guiding this month so haven't had a chance to probably take advantage of it but I've tried it out using PhD with ascom and eqmod etc and works like a charm!! I have a SW ST80 guidescope (£100) and a QHY5l-ii (£150).

If you wanna see any pictures just let me know :-)

[dyfiastro]

Thanks for the quick reply.

If I can find a heq5 going at the right price second hand then it may be an option. however, to buy new I have a feeling its going to be out of my price range at present.
I am due to start a new job on monday after being made redundant last year, with the decrease in hours and take home way I am on a pretty tight budget to put this lot together. If I can get some extra hours working over christmas etc... then it may be an option. The eq5 is already pushing my budget as I was originally going to start off with a eq3-2.

[Gino Arcari]

ohhh okay i understand, I started off the with eq3-2! 

[Ruud]

Hi Mark,

Here are some suggestions for keeping the secondary dew free: http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/222168-sw-130-pds-secondary-mirror-dew/

And you'll also want a cheshire or other collimation tool. 

When I photograph the Moon I use a T-ring on the camera which accepts a 1.25" nosepiece. The latter fits the barlow.

[cjdawson]

From the kit like that you mentioned above, seems like you'll have everything you need to perform auto guiding. There's free autoguiding software around lin_guider (linux) is one off the top of my head, there are plenty of others. The setup for autoguiding would be the webcam takes the guiding images and routes that to the guide software which then issues the corrections to your scope.

As for the camera, you'll need to get 2 adapeters - one from the 2" thread to an M42 thread, the second is from the M42 thread to the camera, this second adapter is known as the T-Adapter.

There are lots of ways of mounting the camera on the scope, the 2" to M42 tends to have other names like "prime focus adapeter". On my scope, I have a Flip mirror system that I put into my optical train here. The advantage of this is that you can focus the scope using an eyepiece rather than the camera's view finder, then flip the mirror so that the light goes to the camera. When setup properly it'll save alot of time trying to get the object into the field of view and getting the focus close. After that, a batinov mask would allow you to get the focus pin sharp for the camera.