Focal Reducers

[bonsai]

Hi all ive been trying to image the orion nebula with my f10 sct and ameade dsi c with an antares 0.5 focal reducer but find the celestar 8 hard to focus and drifts out of veiw is there a focal reducer that would cut dow the magnification to a more manageable amount?If someone has something suitable or know where i can get one via paypal i would be grateful,or any other advice on the subject would also be great!Thanks for all help.nige:headbang:

[barkis]

I'm not sure if the Fastar unit fits your scope.

Not a cheap solution though.

Ron.

Look Here.

Fastar Imaging

[philsail1]

Hello "Bonsai,"

I don't know anything about focal reducers, (but it's an area I'm interested in myself, as I have a Celestron C8 which I would like to be able to use for wide field viewing.

I've heard about the "Meade 6.3" focal reducer, which can be used for imaging, and visual work?

It might be worth having a word with Steve from "FLO"

Regards,

philsail1

[John]

Meade do an F/3.3 focal reducer for SCT's which is intended for imaging rather than visual so that might be worth looking into. They do come up on e.bay from time to time or Astro Buy & Sell.

If your drives are working properly and the scope is properly polar aligned M42 should stay in the field of view for some time even without a focal reducer I would have thought. I used to have a Celestar 8 and it used to track very well - I could hold Saturn in the field of view at 250x for a long while.

John

[Merlin66]

If you are already using the 1.25" x0.5 reducer, you won't get much better reduction. Sure the Meade/ Celestron reducers will give better performance, but the FOV will be about the same.

What's the current problem??

[bonsai]

Thanks all i found a 3.3 focal reducer for 70 so will try that and try and improve my polar setup any adivce on this would be a great help.thnks again nige:icon_salut:ps how critical is it for the mount to be level in terms of tracking?

[bonsai]

sorry forgot to add to the abouve post how important is it for the mount to be level for tracking?

[Merlin66]

Is the scope mounted on a wedge or just Alt-Az?

[bonsai]

Hi the scope is on a wedge its the celestar8:headbang:

[Merlin66]

Ok found it!

This is a basic 8" SCT on a fork mounting, with RA clock drive, no Dec.

If it is correctly polar aligned, it doesn't matter too much about levelling.

You will be limited by the accuracy of the clock drive; reading the web you can get a "drive controller" and a Dec motor as extras....

[bonsai]

yes but you try finding the hand controller and dec drive!lol oh the focal reducer fell through as he wanted me to pay paypal charges even though the funding was bank transfer so still looking for 3.3 focal reducer.ps thanks for your time.nige

[John]

Hi the scope is on a wedge its the celestar8:headbang:

I think the Celestar used a thing called a "Wedgepod" instead of a fully fledged wedge. It would be worth checking that it is set to the your latitude as this can slip with Wedgepods. Some were retro-fitted with heavy duty wedges though so apologies if yours is one of those.

A dec drive and fine control handset would be great but can be difficult to find - as I found out when I was looking for a set for mine !. They are not sold new any more as the Celestar was discontinued a few years ago.

They are great scopes though - a classic IMHO

John

[bonsai]

I agree good scopes they are mine is in great condition i bought mine from ade ashford the astronomy writer top bloke!

[John]

I agree good scopes they are mine is in great condition i bought mine from ade ashford the astronomy writer top bloke!

Yes - I used to know Ade quite well - until he moved to New Zealand he lived about 15 miles from me. He did a great job of cleaning my ED refractor lens. Ade was (and still is I guess) a great fan of Celestron SCT's, particularly the C5 and the C8 - the optics on them are generally very good.

John