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Hi from Ottawa


whitecraw

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Hi from Ottawa, Canada. 

I'm 50yo and have had a life long interest in astronomy. I was an avid observer as a young lad back in Scotland. I had a very simple 60mm refractor that my dad bought me, and we made a 4 inch reflector at one point although I remember the image quality was not great. I used to read Patrick Moores Yearbook, and watch Sky at Night regularly so I know the night sky reasonably well. In the years in between I always had a strong interest, and when the kids came along over her in Canada, I would pull the telescope out to show them Jupiter, Saturn, the Moon, and sometimes the Orion nebula, Andromeda etc. Now that they are older they all have an interest in the sky at night. But, I still have my 60mm reflector. Therein lies my reason for joining this forum. I am looking for advice on upgrading (after 35 yrs too late!). Bearing in mind the freezing winters over here, my dream setup would be a remotely controlled scope sitting outside on a motor drive, while I sit inside nice and warm and take photos through a CCD camera. However, realistically my budget would not go that far., although I would like to try my hand at astrophotography as well as visual (when its not too freezing). I have looked at various 6"-8" Newtonian and Dobsonian reflectors from Orion, Celestron and Skywatcher but would like more advice before making any purchase. I believe a medium/high power eyepiece, barlow lens and maybe a moon filter would be in order. I have a budget of around $800 thereabouts. Looking forward to chatting.

Cheers

Jim

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Welcome to SGL.

I understand where you are coming from.

For starting in imaging it starts with a good foundation the mount.

I started with a Celestron 6SE and then upgraded the mount to a Skywatcher AZ EQ6-GT. Works great for me.

I use a refurbished laptop at the scope and TeamViewer to control things from the house.

So far it all works pretty well.

Yes the winter gets cold here too in Alberta.

You'll find lots of help here with whatever questions you have.

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Hi Jim and welcome to SGL - I sure get your idea of imaging from the warm....... I sit on my sofa and I live in Spain :D Yes it does get chilly over here :)

I guess that it's worth saying at this point that a visual setup and imaging setup (For DSO work anyway) is rarely the same :( There's always some compromises to make sadly.

Look forward to seeing you around :)

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Hello and welcome to SGL... When you say your budget is $800, I think you can get a Celestron 8", like the Nexstar 8SE for that price, and I have been more than happy with mine. The views you get through it on clear nights are awesome.

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Hi Jim and welcome to SGL, I would direct you over to the imaging sections, where there should be information on remote control Astrophotography, I am sure by making your relative inquiries, you should acquire enough information to have some idea of what equipment you will need to source, to get you started. The only trouble is, I would imagine this side of things could be on the expensive side, but, never the less our members may well have ways and means of overcoming this. Enjoy the forum :) 

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