Advice on accessories for Altair Wave 102 Triplet APO

[stevedrink]

Hi Folks

New to the forum and looks like there are lots of experienced people who will hopefully advise me what to get to compliment my new scope, I bought it second hand but looks like new so I'm happy so far....

It doesn't come with any accessories but luckily I've got a few bits I picked up for another scope, so far I've got a 2" dielectric diagonal which seems OK, a 1.25" Celestron eyepiece kit (maybe not so good) and a 2 x viewmate Barlow (WOW it's heavy) which looks OK. It's currently sat on a Bresser EXOS 2 mount which seems sturdy enough if a little flaky in operation.

I'd like to get into some imaging eventually (got a canon 600D) so I don't want to waste money (again) on anything sub standard, what do you guys recommend as a complimentary finder, the Altair 10x60 one looks good but expensive. I'm confused by the descriptions of these too as some say suitable for this or that size OTA so I don't know if 10x60 is suitable or 10x50 will be OK. I'd like to add a guide camera too so I'm looking for one that can serve both purposes if anybody has any suggestions.

What eyepieces do you recommend for visual work, I like the idea of the Celestron 2"/1.25" wide field ones but again not sure if they are worth the extra money.

Luckily I have a caravan in mid-wales so I hope I can get the best out of it eventually.

Thanks for any advice you can give, I'm pretty quick to learn but this hobby can get confusing very quick when you read lots...….

[fwm891]

You have a superb OTA in the Altair which will be your best friend for imaging. Before you buy lots of goodies you may need to think about the mount's capabilities for imaging. I'm sure visually it will track the sky well enough but I don't know whether its up to longer exposures for deep sky... Just my thoughts

[stevedrink]

Thanks for the reply Francis, I see you've got the big brother, what guide scope / finder do you recommend.

I think I will try and nail the basics first visually, the more I read about imaging the deeper my pockets need to be it seems. I've got short arms that don't reach deep pockets if you get my meaning.

[KP82]

Some of the Celestron eyepieces are pretty good (e.g. XCel LX), so it really depends on what series/models you've got there. As for the barlow although never heard of this brand viewmate, as long as it's a 2+ elements achro design it should be fine. If your Celestron eyepieces are the basic plossls and you'd like something wider without breaking the bank, take a look at the BST starguiders.

Looking at the specs of the Bresser EXOS2, it is equivalent to a SW EQ5 so should be good enough for visual. However for imaging with a 4" triplet, I'd opt for HEQ5 or above. A reducer would also help in minimising errors in tracking.

A 50mm guide scope would be a good starting point. It's lighter than the 60mm one so less strain on your mount. Larger guide scopes can produce brighter images to improve tracking performance but would require a much more hefty mount.

[John]

Or is it a Powermate 2x ? - they are heavy because they have 4 lens elements. Not really a barlow though they achieve a similar outcome.

 

[rwilkey]

Hi Steve, that's a lovely scope you have on order.  For visual, I found that I had to 'up my game' when I bought decent optics in a telescope (semi-apo as I don't intend to do photography), no point in having decent optics in a telescope and not in ep's as well (completing the chain), so I went for the Explore Scientific 82º series and am most pleased with the overall performance.  Since then I have moved onto the green & blacks.  Good luck with your choices!

[stevedrink]

Thanks for the replies, the 2" viewmate I described is a 2 x Telextender, copy of a powermate I think as it has 4 elements but weights 630g!

Do 2" eyepieces make any difference in this style of scope, or is it better to focus on higher end 1.25", my eyesight is definitely suffering as I get older and those basic plossls are hard work when you get below 10mm so I'd like something that makes viewing comfortable.

I'll have a look at the BST starguiders, not seen them before and they look reasonably priced.

I'm going to continue with the mount for the time being, it may get frustrating I know but I think I'll limit myself to shorter exposures to begin with and see what I can get. I like the sound of the new iOptron CEM40 as the cables already drive me crazy so I might wait for this to be released.

Thanks KP82, first test image looks so much better than that beast I was using before......

[John]

2" eyepieces enable wider fields of view than 1.25" ones and thats their main benefit. Astronomers often end up with a set of eyepieces with one or two 2 inchers for the widefield views and the rest 1.25" for mid to lower powers. There is no particular optical quality benefit of the larger format.

As I'm getting older I find that I've a preference for eyepieces that are comfortable to observe through so rarely use orthoscopics or short focal length plossls now. Modern designs such as the BST Starguiders offer more eye relief, larger eye lenses to peer into and a slightly wider field of view than orthos and plossls with little or no loss in optical performance.

Like Robin though, I fell for the Tele Vue and Pentax eyepieces, with a consequential lightening of the wallet

[Cjg]

From one Altair owner to another, congrats on your scope. I have the 125ED and love it. 

I also purchased the 10x60 finder, it’s big and a pain to set up, used it once and then replaced it with a simpler Altair Red Dot Finder. Your experience may differ though.  There’s a decent Astro society at Liverpool, so maybe worth visiting them to see what other folks use eyepiece wise...I bit the bullet when I purchased my Tak 76 a few years ago and love my Televue Panoptic 24mm eyepiece ....

Good luck!

Chris

[KP82]

14 hours ago, stevedrink said:

Thanks KP82, first test image looks so much better than that beast I was using before......

Glad to hear you like the scope.

The BST Starguiders are very reasonably priced. The whole set (7 pieces) together cost about the same as a single short/medium focal TV Nagler T6. As you can see this is very good value. In terms of performance you would be hard pressed to see any difference between them with a f/7 scope under average seeing condition in UK. Now if you actually want something even wider and plan to own a fast newt in the near future, that's when you splash out the cash for the likes of TV/Pentax (or ES68/82 if you want to keep the cost down). 

[GraemeC]

+1 for a red dot finder.  I find them so easy to use, just a quick glimpse shows you exactly where the OTA is pointing.  I don't need to have my eyes stuck on the end of the finder scope to align stars into the field of view.

Graeme