Autofocus for Celestron EdgeHD 800?

[PhotoGav]

Does anyone here use an autofocus system on their EdgeHD 8"? If so what is it and is it any good?! I am interested in taking my scope in that direction, but wondering what the options are.

[Daniel-K]

sorry gav a little off topic, how do you find the C8 edge on the HEQ5 ? ive wanted one ever since i first saw them

[PhotoGav]

No problem! The edge is a mixed bag... It works fine on the HEQ5, and that's with a heavy qsi hanging off the end. OAG is essential for it to be useful as a DSO imaging scope. However, it isn't really the best scope for DSO imaging! It does work, but at f10 it is very slow and you need lots of long subs. The trade off is a fantastic focal length so you can get in really close to those small or distant objects. I bought it for Galaxy season a couple of years ago and have managed some half decent results with it, but I do always curse it every time. It has that slight SCT softness about its images, not too bad, but a bit irritating. Were there a 2m refractor at a vaguely affordable price, along with the necessary mount upgrade, I would go for that with no hesitation. Back in the real world and with the HEQ5 mount, the edge is a great compromise. I have used it for some planetary imaging too and, with a 2.5x Powermate and a ZWO high frame rate camera, it is the seeing that gets me rather than the equipment. I have a colour ZWO and am thinking that results would be improved with a mono version. The scope itself performs very well.

So it isn't necessarily the ideal scope. It all depends on what you would want it for I suppose. And what is the alternative?!