Celestron astro Fi 6 inch smidt cassegrain for planets?

[stafford_stargazer]

Looking at buying this for planets, what's your thoughts?

Anyone used one?

Any guidance appreciated.

 

Edited February 9, 2023 by stafford_stargazer

[PeterCPC]

Do you have any other mounts?

[stafford_stargazer]

12 minutes ago, PeterCPC said:

Do you have any other mounts?

Hi.

No just a small eq2 mount. Nothing else, just getting back into it and want nice planetary views.

[PeterCPC]

OK. In that case it might be worth considering BUT bear in mind that the mount will not be very suitable if you want to do DSO imaging at some point. As a rule, for planetary imaging you want the biggest scope that you can get/afford.

You will need a high frame rate planetary camera and a barlow.

[Alkaid]

Not sure that the OP stated imaging??   

Visually it will do pretty well.  The mount might shake a little at higher powers around x150-x200.   But there's nothing to stop you achieving focus.

You will easily pick out detail on Jupiter with a 6" aperture.  If you like Lunar viewing, there will be a host of detail visible.  At F10, the scope is 'geared' for higher powers, so well suited to what you want.

I'll add that it also looks quite portable, another bonus.   

[stafford_stargazer]

8 minutes ago, Alkaid said:

Not sure that the OP stated imaging??   

Visually it will do pretty well.  The mount might shake a little at higher powers around x150-x200.   But there's nothing to stop you achieving focus.

You will easily pick out detail on Jupiter with a 6" aperture.  If you like Lunar viewing, there will be a host of detail visible.  At F10, the scope is 'geared' for higher powers, so well suited to what you want.

I'll add that it also looks quite portable, another bonus.   

Thanks for the reply, no I don't do imaging just visual use..i was just thinking price for what you get seems very reasonable..

Appreciate it.

Gary 👍

[PeterCPC]

11 minutes ago, Alkaid said:

Not sure that the OP stated imaging??   

Visually it will do pretty well.  The mount might shake a little at higher powers around x150-x200.   But there's nothing to stop you achieving focus.

You will easily pick out detail on Jupiter with a 6" aperture.  If you like Lunar viewing, there will be a host of detail visible.  At F10, the scope is 'geared' for higher powers, so well suited to what you want.

I'll add that it also looks quite portable, another bonus.   

Sorry my assumption - obviously wrong.

[stafford_stargazer]

33 minutes ago, PeterCPC said:

Sorry my assumption - obviously wrong.

Peter.

Thanks for the reply, all advice is helpful, I don't do imaging yet, but maybe it's something I might get into. Just the cost I reckon could be expensive 😭 I took this one years ago with an old celestron neximager, was when Jupiter had one belt showing maybe 2010.. I just did a 30 second video as it crossed the field of view and extracted the frames and stacked.. is there better quality ones now simple how I did it then? Thanks Gary 

[PeterCPC]

Firstly let me state that all imaging is expensive and tends to be a bottomless pit. Having said that something like a ZWO ASI224 camera with a good quality Barlow would be good. Video stacked in AS3 and tweeked in Registax. I find a flip mirror very helpful as well.

[stafford_stargazer]

1 hour ago, PeterCPC said:

Firstly let me state that all imaging is expensive and tends to be a bottomless pit. Having said that something like a ZWO ASI224 camera with a good quality Barlow would be good. Video stacked in AS3 and tweeked in Registax. I find a flip mirror very helpful as well.

Thanks I'll check that out, what would you call a good Barlow?

Any males or links pls?

Thanks for the reply.

[PeterCPC]

12 minutes ago, stafford_stargazer said:

Thanks I'll check that out, what would you call a good Barlow?

Any males or links pls?

Thanks for the reply.

I like Televue but I'm sure there are cheaper alternatives. Just don't get very cheap E Bay type generic barlow.

[Greymouser]

Back to the OP, there is this review from You Tube fronted by a six year old Australian:

Quite a good review, informative.

Could I suggest as an alternative, the Celestron Starsense Explorer DX 6". https://www.firstlightoptics.com/celestron-starsense-explorer-series/celestron-starsense-explorer-dx-6.html

Doesn't have the annoying decal on the side!

[Cosmic Geoff]

14 hours ago, stafford_stargazer said:

Thanks I'll check that out, what would you call a good Barlow?

Any makes or links pls?

Bear in mind that the C6 has a f10 focal ratio, which renders a Barlow less than necessary for visual use and also of doubtful use for planetary imaging.  If you use a camera with a pixel size of 2.9 um rather than the 3.75um of the ASI224MC, the scope will deliver an adequate image scale without a Barlow.  

In practice I rarely used a Barlow for planetary imaging with a C8 as I found it delivered little or no benefit and made the outfit harder to use.

[Colin bacon]

I have this scope and find it a very good , easy to use, easy to take out side, value for money, 

excellent views of planets, yes mount is lightweight but easy to overcome .

Also it has a simple smart phone mount for very basic photography, easy to fix a dslr camera to it tho.

£1 for £1 a very good telescope at 150mm, can also operate the telescope via sky safari as well as I pad or smartphone.

easy to align to any three stars