Should I ?

[Emanuel]

Hey guys, i need serious advice or maybe some psychiatrist, or something...

I own a Takahashi FSQ 106 ED, mounted on a Ioptron IEQ45 Pro mount. For imaging, i use the Nikon D5300 moddified, and guided with the mini guide scope from QHYccd and respective 5L mono camera.

Professionally, im a Licensed Engineer for Aircraft Maintenance. I work in Prague, Czech Republic, but my house is in Portugal, in a city called Maia, near Oporto. And my telescope is at my father home, which is 200km from my own house.

So, that leds me to have a peculiar situation, and to have some imaging nights, for me, is very difficult. The scope i have, although is fantastic, no presentation is required, obviously, is not as practical as i wanted, due to that situation.

What im saying is that ive been thinking on trading the all setup, for something on the realm of.... arrive, pick-up with one hand and start imaging as soon as possible. You know what i mean, right?

So, where is my problem? Should i depart from this awesome telescope? And if yes, what would equally satisfy me and be highly portable?

My initial thoughts would be something like RainbowAstro RST 135, Red Cat 71 ( if they ever release it), not sure about camera, if i should keep the Nikon or not, and to avoid the computer, the Asiair pro.

Can you help with some advice?

Thanks people 🙄

[endless-sky]

I would keep the current setup, maybe move it to the place where you are for the longest stretches of time, so you can get more use out of it. Or, if you have the means, build some sort of shed/observatory by your father's house and control everything remotely, could be an idea as well.

Another thing you could do is buying a smaller telescope - or even some good lenses for the D5300 (I have seen plenty of beautiful pictures with the Samyang 135mm f/2 or the Rokinon 135mm f/2) and a star tracker (Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer Pro, for example), a small guide scope and guide camera (you could even "steal" the same ones you already have from your current setup).

What I wouldn't do is sell that telescope. I think it's been in my "dream list" since I have seen the pictures people take with it. Definitely a life-time keeper.

EDIT: also, keep the camera, at least to start with. I have been using my modified D5300 for the past six months and - horrible kit zoom lenses aside - I absolutely love the results.

Edited August 3, 2020 by endlessky

[Waldemar]

construct a safe place for your gear in your own house, so you can use it whenever you are there and do not have to travel 200 km first to your father's house

[Emanuel]

I hear you guys, but the problem is that my own house sits on a Bortle 8 sky, and its a flat, so, no space whatsoever to build my own observatory.

On the other hand, at my father`s house, i have a Bortle 3 sky, which is about to say, as best as possible in Portugal.

Building an observatory at his place could be a option, i would have to study carefully that option.

Its a interesting choice, although expensive :)

[andrew s]

Send it to a managed observatory and run it remotely?  

Regards Andrew 

Edited August 3, 2020 by andrew s

[Waldemar]

A simple ROR set up does not have to be very expensive. I am building a ROR observatory behind my garage and make a door from my garage to the obsy, so it will be reasonably secure. 

[Emanuel]

Dont give me ideas, dont give me ideas!!!! 😁

Here´s a photo of it, scope and mount only.

Edited August 3, 2020 by Emanuel

[Waldemar]

The iEQ45Pro is a very nice grab&Go mount as well...
Put an OAG and an autoguider like Lacerta on your Tak, Nikon on it and you can go anywhere... Just need a nice battery like a LiFePO4 ...

Do not sell, just buy some more stuff so you can use that Takahashi!

[Emanuel]

I do have a OAG from Omegon. But due to my own inexperiency, i cant seem to make it work. And i do have the spacing correct...

[Waldemar]

Attach everything, guidecamera and main camera; focus main camera first with the scope's focuser. Then without touching the scope's focuser anymore, focus the guide camera by moving it in or out the OAG until focused. In fact very simple and easy as long as you do not try to focus the guide camera with the scope's focuser... only with moving it in or out the OAG. If using your QHY camera you will need a laptop or PC with an autoguider you can work without a computer

[Emanuel]

Yes, i know the procedure. The problem is to pick-up stars for guiding. After selecting a target, i initialize PHD2 and start the exposures. No stars to be seen. And im not sure were the problem is. The camera's gain is at the maximum. The scope focal lenght is of course the main telescope. Why cant i see stars on the field of view? Increasing the exposure time?

[Waldemar]

no visible stars most of the time means no good focus... increasing time maybe, but 2 seconds should be enough.
Does your Omegon OAG have a guider camera position rotation option?

[Emanuel]

Yes it does. And i also tried to rotate it. Even so i cannot see stars. Maybe if i aim to a bright star and focus on it...... 

To be honest, due to my situation, i tried two times, but not for that long, because i wanted to make exposures of a certain target and didnt had so much time to do it.

During day, i figured out the correct spacing and everything seems to work correctly, but at night......

I dont know.....

Edited August 4, 2020 by Emanuel

[Waldemar]

That is kind of mysterious ... Maybe use the scope's focuser just to see if you can get a star focused on your guider. If so, you will know that the backfocus distance of the main camera and the guider are not well adjusted, so check how much you have to go in or out and get the right extension ring for the guider to compensate for that.

[Emanuel]

Thank you for the help. I will try it as soon as i can 🙂