Am I being greedy

[Garethr]

Soooooooooooo  as we do, I was pottering around in the Obsy the other day and a thought struck me.  I mainly image DSO's but sometimes hanker to do a Lunar image or some planetary work but the hassle of swapping out cameras and aligning puts me off. 

My current rig is as follows

NEQ6 pro

Skywatcher 200P

Canon EOS 1100D (modded)

Guide scope is Skywatcher finderscope with QHY5 camera

All in an Obsy.

So my thoughts are I have an 80mm refractor purchased a year ago to use as a guide scope but at the time I was using a modded EQ5 mount and this was a bit much for the mount so it's sitting there doing nothing, it's no great shakes but if this works and proves concept I may splash out on a better refractor.

Plan to mount the 80mm refractor on top of the 200P using scope rings and a ZWO 178MC for Planetary and Lunar work, on top of this will be mounted the finderscope/guidescope with the QHY.  It's a tripple decker rig but means I can switch from DSO'S to Planets without changing camera's or unpluging cables and a bonus would be using platesolve through APT for the tough Planets via the 200P and Canon camera.  Weight wise it works in my mind as a lot of people use a 200PDS with Skywatcher 80 as a guide scope all I'm adding is the finderscope and the 178MC in weight.

Is this madness or worth a go the idea is those nights with moonshine it woud encourage me to get out the and do planets or Lunar.

 

Thoughts appreaciated

 

Gareth 

 

 

[Starlight 1]

I will work ok . I am use a 60mm x700 scope on a sw150mm x1200 scope and useing Altair 60mm guide rings, so 80mm on top 200p-ds about the same.

[mikeDnight]

Go for it!

Anything that can enhance your enjoyment of this great hobby is worth a try. 

Mike

[carastro]

Sounds a great idea to me.  

Carole 

[triton1]

I'll third that go for it.

[Garethr]

Aligning all 3 might take some time 

Gareth 

[swag72]

1 minute ago, Garethr said:

Aligning all 3 might take some time 

Gareth 

I think that as long as you aren't planning on using them at the same time then aligning won't be an issue.... Just  point the appropriate one at the appropriate place!

[Garethr]

Sarah

 

Was hoping to use the 200p and plate solve for the tough planets like Uranus ect 

 

Gareth 

 

 

[Garethr]

Decision made and a small dovetail ordered to eliminate flexure between scope rings and main scope 

Worth a try 

Gareth 

 

[Garethr]

Sara

Sorry for the Sarah response, brain not engaged nor fingers 

Gareth 

 

[Garethr]

So after all the positive replies I had to have a go with a jury rig to test the electronics and balance.   Balance will need looking at and another support needed under the extension tubes on the ZWO camera to prevent foucuser flop but I managed to get all 3 cameras up on the screens at once and stable so no conflicts on USB ports  

 

 

 

Gareth 

 

 

[Garethr]

So following the brief proof of concept today I pressed the button on a skywatcher Evostar 80ED Ds pro from FLO today.  Also ordered the belt mods for the NEQ6 as it was second hand when bought and the gears are starting to sound even "cunchier" than newer mounts I've used..  So now looking forwad to stripping down the existing scopes from the mount and a rebuild.  Nothing better to do with this rubbish weather.

 

Gareth 

 

[Garethr]

Blummin heck

The ED 80 turned up today and wow it's a lot heavier than the cheap guide scopes I was playing around with.

Not sure if this is going to work now, I need to get the scales out and do some calculations. 

The plan was to be able to switch between scope and cameras on the PC without moving from the screen.  Looks like I'm right on the limit with about 20kg all up.  As it's on a pier and with the belt mods I still think it's worth a go.

lots of work to do now with the belt mods to carry out and then mounting the scopes and aligning.  

Will keep you posted 

 

Gareth 

[Garethr]

So. ED80 mounted with the ZWO on top of the 200P with the 1100D and guide scope on top. Need to play with the guide scope mounting as too open to flexure but will give it a go. 

 

Gareth 

 

[Garethr]

Well it's working

2 camera feeds at once. Not quite aligned but can tinker with that tomorrow. 

Happy it seems to work

 

Gareth