Portable astro setup

[Tristan]

I have a budget of about 2k and would like some help choosing a portable astro imaging setup. Something that can preferably be easily carried to a dark sky site. In the past I've used a DSLR with a Sky-watcher 72ed and heq5 mount but it's just to combersome for what I want.

I'm looking for a quick to setup, portable solution so that I can photograph galaxies and nebula. 

Ive used ZWO cameras in the past and am debating between a cooled ZWO camera or DSLR. Perhaps something to pair with a redcat 51 and star adventurer mount?

Any suggestions or ideas would be much appreciated. 

 

Cheers.

 

[Davey-T]

Redcats are in short supply ATM but the SW 72ED should be ok on a Star Adventurer.

Dave

[iapa]

17 hours ago, Davey-T said:

Redcats are in short supply ATM but the SW 72ED should be ok on a Star Adventurer.

Dave

Tell me about it - mine is still 8 weeks away.

Star Adventurer payload is 11lb, I am assuming that this is an imaging load.

Sky-Watcher Evostar 72ED DS-Pro OTA Comes in at around 4.5lb So well with in scope <intended> of the mount.

Canon DSLRs seem to come in around 2lb

ZWO cooled cameras are around half of that

 

Edited April 10, 2021 by iapa
Corrected ED80 weight

[Erling G-P]

It sounds like you're going to rely on battery power?   If so, then keep in mind that a cooled camera has a fairly hefty power consumption - the cooled Canon I'm using is spec'ed as requiring a 12V 5A power supply.  I measured it drawing 3.5A (nearly melted the thin wires of my multimeter!).  I'm assuming the same goes for cooled, dedicated astro cameras, so others please correct me if this is not the case.

I have the larger Skywatcher powertank from a couple of years back.; I believe it's 17Ah.  Tried powering both my Heq5 & camera with it, but voltage dipped too low for the mount's liking.  Even without this issue, it would only have lasted 3-4 hours at most - and this was without guiding, which increases the mount's power consumption and needs power for the guider too.  Thus I now use mains power, which is possible as I image from my garden, but going to another location would be problematic - would need an additional power tank, or a larger one with higher capacity, neither of which is very portable at all.