Long Term Equipment Advice

[Rich1980]

Hi,

I'm after some advice please, my Dad is on about buying a memorable birthday present (not that I'd admit to reaching any milestone nor getting old!), as we share an interest in astronomy it feels an investment into this field would be something that would get used on something we both love and always be a fond memory.

My question is being into astrophotography (although still learning it will be a consistent passion along with my other photography), what piece of equipment would be a good idea for a present that would be a long term item among my setup? I currently have a NEQ6 with a 200PDS, imaging with my dslr.

All ideas are welcome regardless of budget.

Cheers,

Rich.

[CraigT82]

An observatory! 

Failing that a really nice frac that could be with you for years. There's a used TMB LZOS 115mm triplet for sale on line for about £3200, snap it up! 

Edited April 23, 2020 by CraigT82

[Astrosharkey]

filter wheel, filters and dedicated camera, you can get a small frac later and open up a whole different world of imaging

[Dr Strange]

The question that comes to mind for me is, what is your budget, stretch budget, and maximum budget that you could spend though it wouldn't be your fist choice. With that in mind it will be easier to tailor an answer to your needs and wants. 

[Craney]

-        A kitchen sink full of adaptors / spacers / extension tubes / male-female threaded gizmos...

         ... because on that one clear night when you need that T2male-to-58mm spacer...you aint got it !!

-        A good reliable outdoor laptop-  like a Tough-book.  SSD hard-drive amd Win 10pro.  Without an observatory or fancy Teamviewer stuff then your lovely delicate household MacBook will  have to take a bit of an outdoor battering with dew, frost and the occaisonal droppage !!

 

-  EDIT:  late entry .....Something with the word Takahashi written on it. 

Edited April 23, 2020 by Craney

[Shimrod]

14 hours ago, Rich1980 said:

Hi,

I'm after some advice please, my Dad is on about buying a memorable birthday present (not that I'd admit to reaching any milestone nor getting old!), as we share an interest in astronomy it feels an investment into this field would be something that would get used on something we both love and always be a fond memory.

My question is being into astrophotography (although still learning it will be a consistent passion along with my other photography), what piece of equipment would be a good idea for a present that would be a long term item among my setup? I currently have a NEQ6 with a 200PDS, imaging with my dslr.

All ideas are welcome regardless of budget.

Cheers,

Rich.

I know you've mentioned AP, but I'd second the suggestion of a nice refractor (or camera lens), or a quality set of eyepieces. Good glass will last you a lifetime, electronic gizmos inevitably get replaced by newer tech.

A small refractor would give you portability and this may give you options to travel to dark skies if you are not fortunate enough to have some where you live.

As a bit of a curveball, something that will give memories but is not an equipment purchase: have you considered an astronomy holiday in the UK or abroad? Challenging at the moment, but a week away in a true dark sky location, or hunting aurora in Iceland or Norway would certainly give you memories.

[NGC 1502]

Ok, not exactly imaging, but an inexpensive alternative that has a much less steep learning curve is -

 

 

 

Wait for it.......drum roll........fanfare of trumpets.........

 

 

A sketch pad, pencils, dim red light.....

 

 

 

😁

 

 

 

 

 

[Rich1980]

On 23/04/2020 at 19:28, Astrosharkey said:

filter wheel, filters and dedicated camera, you can get a small frac later and open up a whole different world of imaging

I can see how a filter wheel and filters would be a long term investment but how about the camera? How quickly does technology advance regarding these? I know there's always an argument that if it does a job now it always will but it is nice to keep up with new technology. Most of my general photography equipment I run a generation or two behind which seems to keep me progressing with equipment at a fair cost.

[Rich1980]

On 23/04/2020 at 18:57, CraigT82 said:

An observatory! 

Failing that a really nice frac that could be with you for years. There's a used TMB LZOS 115mm triplet for sale on line for about £3200, snap it up! 

That would be very nice, I'll put it to him and see what he says! 

On 23/04/2020 at 19:51, Dr Strange said:

The question that comes to mind for me is, what is your budget, stretch budget, and maximum budget that you could spend though it wouldn't be your fist choice. With that in mind it will be easier to tailor an answer to your needs and wants. 

Budget I'm unsure of at the moment, more sourcing ideas and present them and let my Father decide, so a covering of everything really.

On 23/04/2020 at 19:54, Craney said:

-        A kitchen sink full of adaptors / spacers / extension tubes / male-female threaded gizmos...

         ... because on that one clear night when you need that T2male-to-58mm spacer...you aint got it !!

-        A good reliable outdoor laptop-  like a Tough-book.  SSD hard-drive amd Win 10pro.  Without an observatory or fancy Teamviewer stuff then your lovely delicate household MacBook will  have to take a bit of an outdoor battering with dew, frost and the occaisonal droppage !!

 

-  EDIT:  late entry .....Something with the word Takahashi written on it. 

Some nice ideas here, everyday items that always come in handy, dedicated machine to process everything, to fingers crossed anything with Takahashi wrote on it. Although I might get a t-shirt if I phrased it like that haha

On 24/04/2020 at 09:34, Shimrod said:

I know you've mentioned AP, but I'd second the suggestion of a nice refractor (or camera lens), or a quality set of eyepieces. Good glass will last you a lifetime, electronic gizmos inevitably get replaced by newer tech.

A small refractor would give you portability and this may give you options to travel to dark skies if you are not fortunate enough to have some where you live.

As a bit of a curveball, something that will give memories but is not an equipment purchase: have you considered an astronomy holiday in the UK or abroad? Challenging at the moment, but a week away in a true dark sky location, or hunting aurora in Iceland or Norway would certainly give you memories.

I very much like the idea of a memorable trip away, that would be a great idea. A moment in time to remember. Thank you for suggesting that.

On 24/04/2020 at 09:43, NGC 1502 said:

Ok, not exactly imaging, but an inexpensive alternative that has a much less steep learning curve is -

 

 

 

Wait for it.......drum roll........fanfare of trumpets.........

 

 

A sketch pad, pencils, dim red light.....

 

 

 

😁

 

 

 

 

 

That would be right up his street being a Yorkshireman with the most lost or conveniently timed misplaced wallet in the world!!! 

 

 

Thank you for the input everyone, I will feed these ideas back to my Dad and leave the decision to him. Much appreciated.

[Dr Strange]

OK with that in mind and your mount capabilities... For visual (because quality (quality is important if your eyes are good) aperture rules. For AP quality of glass or mirror and mating/figuring is important... I would recommend at the top of the list the Takahashi TOA-130. I own one and it has the best color correction I have found in a reflector or refractor. Part of that comes from the fact that Takahashi uses two instead of one FPL-53 elements and the other because they have master opticians to figure and mate it.

An alternative to that would be the Takahashi TSA-120 and Mewlon 210. I also own both and, while not quite as good as the 130 the TSA comes quite close. In addition the Mewlon really punches above its weight in terms of visual. It acts more like a  245mm reflector than a 203mm one.

And this combination gives you a great deal more flexibility in imaging since the TSA has a 900mm focal length natively and 635mm with the Takahashi 35 reducer. The Mewlon has a native focal length of 2415 and a 1932mm one with the reducer. That gives you everything you need for imaging just about everything out there including planets and with both focal reducers, Feathertouch pinion for the TSA because the focuser pinions from Tak are rubbish for imaging, and Primalucie Labs rings for the TSA (I like them better than the Tak clamshell because you can mount other stuff on them easily) for £7,755. The TOA-130 with focal reducer Primalucie Labs rings and a Feathertouch pinion upgrade  will be £7,410. Not a huge difference. 

In my case the TOA is for home use because it is a porky little snot because of its build plus the glass. The TSA and Mewlon are my dark sky scopes both for imaging and visual. They are a really powerful combination and I would recommend them over the TOA for maximum flexibility. 

This is at the absolute top end of the scope market. If that is too high a price then I would suggest the Skywatcher Esprit 120 ED (it literally comes with everything you need to image or use it for visual except for EP's or a camera) and the Celestron EdgeHD 8" with TEMPest fans to cool it and the focal reducer for it. That is a less impressive combination than the TSA/Mewlon in terms of performance but still does well. It will cost you £3,090. 

Also all of the above will do quite well for EEVA which is just one more tool in the tool kit and option for you as you progress in age and visual becomes less satisfying or if you have heavy light pollution. 

Edited April 25, 2020 by Dr Strange