RASA 6???

[Icesheet]

Celestron have just posted this announcement 📣 

Could it be a RASA 6 f2.2?. I would be on the list for that!

[ollypenrice]

330mm focal length. Nice, assuming it can cover an APSc chip. Pity the F ratio is so slow, though. 

(More seriously, 2.2 squared is 4.84. The 2 squared of the RASA 8 is 4. The difference is not totally insignificant at these speeds. Still, not a big deal!)

Olly

[bosun21]

I personally don't see what's innovative about making a product you already produce smaller. Am I missing something?

[Icesheet]

44 minutes ago, ollypenrice said:

330mm focal length. Nice, assuming it can cover an APSc chip. Pity the F ratio is so slow, though. 

(More seriously, 2.2 squared is 4.84. The 2 squared of the RASA 8 is 4. The difference is not totally insignificant at these speeds. Still, not a big deal!)

Olly

It would be great if it did cover apsc but I wonder if that might affect RASA8 sales? Suppose it depends how they might price it . 
 

26 minutes ago, bosun21 said:

I personally don't see what's innovative about making a product you already produce smaller. Am I missing something?

I should add I’m only speculating based on the 335mm FL I see in the background here. It could be something else too. 

Edited January 6 by Icesheet

[bosun21]

Just now, Icesheet said:

It would be great if it did cover apsc but I wonder if that might affect RASA8 sales? Suppose it depends how they might price it . 
 

I should add I’m only speculating here based on the 335mm FL I see in the background here. It could be something else too. 

A new smart scope perhaps? They don't presently have a horse in this race.

[Icesheet]

15 minutes ago, bosun21 said:

A new smart scope perhaps? They don't presently have a horse in this race.

It could be. If the picture hints at anything then it does look like a reflector of sorts. A fully automated RASA6? If it was something like that they would need to pitch it right as their market would be intermediate to advanced users and I feel many of those are still skeptical of smart scopes in general. Especially if it limits use of the equipment you already have. The SeeStar has been a success for sure but I feel a lot of that is the low price and the appeal to the beginner market. 

[bosun21]

1 minute ago, Icesheet said:

It could be. If the picture hints at anything then it does look like a reflector of sorts. A fully automated RASA6? If it was something like that they would need to pitch it right as their market would be intermediate to advanced users and I feel many of those are still skeptical of smart scopes in general. Especially if it limits use of the equipment you already have. The SeeStar has been a success for sure but I feel a lot of that is the low price and the appeal to the beginner market. 

100% Agree 👍.

[ollypenrice]

What the RASA needs, based on two years and hundreds of hours use, are the following:

- A system of collimation which leaves the camera in place.

- A system of tilt adjustment which leaves the camera in place.

If these could be managed remotely, or even automated into the system, the RASA would be perfect.

- A built-in slide drawer.

Olly

Edited January 6 by ollypenrice

[Elp]

Also posted here earlier:

 

 

 

[RobertI]

I was also thinking/hoping a robotic EAA scope of some sort. I think the Seestar et al have proven the demand. Interestingly many (most?) users of the Seestar, Unistellar, etc seem to be using them for imaging (ie: long integration times with post processing) instead of EVAA (ie: near real time ‘live’ viewing). I’m more into EVAA myself, and although I'm very tempted by a Seestar, it only really seems to work well for EVAA on the brightest objects, which is a bit limiting. So I’d be very interested in something that can go deeper more quickly even if it’s more expensive. 

Edited January 6 by RobertI

[AKB]

3 hours ago, ollypenrice said:

What the RASA needs, based on two years and hundreds of hours use, are the following:

- A system of collimation which leaves the camera in place.

- A system of tilt adjustment which leaves the camera in place.

If these could be managed remotely, or even automated into the system, the RASA would be perfect.

- A built-in slide drawer.

Those would be nice, for sure.  One disadvantage of the RASA 8 is limited back focus which restricts your options with respect to collimation and tilt adjustment.  The RASA 11, on the other hand, has much more space to play with, and a solution which works well (although, as usual, expensively) is the Baader UFC system, including its tilt adjuster which may be tweaked with the camera in place.  The UFC also allows space for a filter drawer.

Full automation of tilt and collimation would be great – I'm thinking of something like Starlight Xpress Active Optic guiding system – but we're getting into expensive realms here!

Tony

Edited January 6 by AKB

[ollypenrice]

2 hours ago, Elp said:

Also posted here earlier:

 

 

 

Whatever it is, we are all doing just what they want us to do!

lly

[GalaxyGael]

I wonder if the innovation will be in the optics, covering aps c properly in a 6 inch.

Then again, listening to many users, collimation and tilt adjustment in situ would be useful.

On the other side, I wonder if they are going for a smaller system with wider field to give an option for 1inch and smaller sensors with tiny pixels, which are now available as cooled options?

That's a way to get a decent fov like a smallish frac with easier tilt needs and ok pixel scale on 2.4 -2.9 um pixels?

But, this announcement could show something from left field, we only see the rasa-esque front part. I'm curious though, come to appreciate small imaging packages in a backyard setup these days.

[Elp]

1 hour ago, ollypenrice said:

Whatever it is, we are all doing just what they want us to do!

lly

Buy?

[GalaxyGael]

Forgot to add, maybe they'll go with focusing built-in to the camera attachment optics at the front? Unlike RCs, i dont think there is any primary to secondary distance to respect, so that might work...

[GalaxyGael]

Nothing to do but think when waiting at the bus stop.....😃

They emphasized BIG, so what if they went the honders route, or some variant as a fast, short astrograph a la Riccardo honders e.g.? 

Edited January 6 by GalaxyGael

[ollypenrice]

53 minutes ago, Elp said:

Buy?

No, doing their publicity networking for them...

Olly

[Nigella Bryant]

Someone wrote on cloudy nights "it is a rasa 6 on a little robotic mount,, a little much for a beginner, it was leaked a while back"

 

[Elp]

I'd doubt they'd make it difficult to use, Starsense shows how they're trying to make things easier

[GalaxyGael]

Ah, so some sort of turnkey robotic 6inch Rasa with inbuilt camera maybe, celestron version of the small robotic systems but faster?

[Icesheet]

It would be such a waste if they built a robotic RASA 6 and did not then offer just a standalone RASA6 for those that wanted it. 

[Clarkey]

57 minutes ago, Icesheet said:

It would be such a waste if they built a robotic RASA 6 and did not then offer just a standalone RASA6 for those that wanted it. 

I agree, but maybe it comes with a 'baby sized' camera.

Personally, I hope it a cloud gun.

[ollypenrice]

33 minutes ago, Clarkey said:

I agree, but maybe it comes with a 'baby sized' camera.

Personally, I hope it a cloud gun.

Well, in a way F2 systems are cloud guns...

Oly

[tomato]

If the RASA is a cloud gun, mine is shooting blanks…

[saac]

2 hours ago, tomato said:

If the RASA is a cloud gun, mine is shooting blanks…

The condition seems to have spread to other telescopes too, maybe we have another pandemic on our hands  

Jim