New Celestron C11GPS Scope needs Camera.

[Ed27]

Hi, New to the forum as I have just bought a second hand Celestron C11GPS scope and am looking to eventually acquire a Hyperstar lens and CCD camera to tackle astrophotography.

Does anyone have this setup and what CCD camera would they recommend for use with the Hyperstar and without?  I also need to get some Dew control on it.  Any thoughts?

Cheers.

[ollypenrice]

The Hyperstar is quite a tricky beast despite what Starizona would have you believe. Atik make some cylindrical bodied cameras which won't intrude into the light path but if you want to use a mono camera you have the filter problem to deal with. You can't put a filterwheel in front of the objective so you would need to seek out a slide drawer. I don't know who makes them but it's the kind of thing to look for at Telescope Service. It strikes me as a bit of a palaver but I've never tried it. Going for a one shot colour camera would solve the problem but mono is more productive.

I'd have thought this would be a good match: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/atik-cameras/atik-460EX.html

Before believing all the optimism on the Starizona website about 'unguided' and 'alt az'  I'd have a good search around on the net for real results being posted.

Olly

[Waldemar]

I agree with Olly, after having owned a C-11 with HyperStar. It is far from easy to collimate and only has a 25 mm imaging circle. I used a QHY 8 Pro OSC camera on it, but basically an APS-c sensor is on the big side for it.
Another problem you will encounter is focussing. Because of the very steep lightcone with F 2, focussing is incredibly critical and a pita. The normal STC focuser will not be sufficient. You will need a 10:1  starlight instruments update for your SCT and even then without automation it will be very hard to get good focus if not impossible.
With the cooled camera in the front, you will not have a dew problem, because the camera heats up and prevents condensation on the corrector plate. A dew shield is handy though and prevents accidents.
little advice:  if you are new to astrophotografy stay away from that combination, it will be more than very challenging... and probably ruin your appetite for ap.

I attached a pdf about collimating the HyperStar for your convenience:  HyperStar Alignment and Use V3 9-25-15.pdf

And a word of caution:  the HyperStar with camera sticking out in the front makes the corrector plate VERY vulnerable!!! be very cautious! You would not be the first one to find his camera attached to the HyperStar and broken corrector plate on the concrete or tiles of his patio... expensive accident... 'sorry' will not be enough!

[Ed27]

Thanks for that guys. Will need to do more reading and getting to know my new scope.

Ed

[Waldemar]

Another little piece of advice, Ed:  do not try to use a DSLR  with a HyperStar. (in spite of the recommendations) It is too heavy and really causes a lot of obstruction, which kind of ruins the big aperture (light gathering power) of your C-11.
Get a camera that has a smaller cross section than your HyperStar. Many are available and try to get a small pixelsize camera, so you can profit from the huge resolution you get from the HyperStar (If you go that way)
ATIK as well as QHY make very suitable camera's.

And... buy that book:  "Making every photon count"