WO Redcat 51 First Light

[Roy Foreman]

Latest addition to my collection of telescopes, and one of my smallest.  Lots of people rave over this scope and I can see why.  Superb optics and mechanics.  Nice round stars right into the corners of a full frame sensor.

Despite the ongoing rubbish weather with persistent cloud and haze I managed to grab a few test shots to see what it can do.

Teamed up with a ZWO 6200 MC Pro full frame OSC and an IDAS LPR filter, this is just 12 x 60 sec at gain 300 on the Sadr region in Cygnus.

I am looking forward to pushing this scope further, pending longer, darker, cloud free nights nights !

Ever hopeful.

I've also included a version with star spikes for those that are addicted to them.

 

 

[Stuart1971]

Looks excellent, I had this scope and got rid as it showed poor star shapes on just a 2600 APS-C sensor, yours looks better, although the two bottom corners show astigmatism in the bottom right corner and elongation in the bottom left corner, but still better than the one I had, especially as your is with full frame sensor…👍🏻

[saac]

I had lots of fun last year playing with my Red Cat, absolute joy to use.   

jim 

Edited August 6 by saac

[Elp]

12 mins?!?

[Sarek]

Very nice!

I'm interested to know how you added the star spikes

[wesdon1]

58 minutes ago, Roy Foreman said:

Latest addition to my collection of telescopes, and one of my smallest.  Lots of people rave over this scope and I can see why.  Superb optics and mechanics.  Nice round stars right into the corners of a full frame sensor.

Despite the ongoing rubbish weather with persistent cloud and haze I managed to grab a few test shots to see what it can do.

Teamed up with a ZWO 6200 MC Pro full frame OSC and an IDAS LPR filter, this is just 12 x 60 sec at gain 300 on the Sadr region in Cygnus.

I am looking forward to pushing this scope further, pending longer, darker, cloud free nights nights !

Ever hopeful.

I've also included a version with star spikes for those that are addicted to them.

 

 

@Roy Foreman My goodness only 12 minutes!? I'd be over the Moon with delight if I managed this image with 3 hours of data from a Bortle 1 sky!! 😂

[Roy Foreman]

56 minutes ago, Stuart1971 said:

Looks excellent, I had this scope and got rid as it showed poor star shapes on just a 2600 APS-C sensor, yours looks better, although the two bottom corners show astigmatism in the bottom right corner and elongation in the bottom left corner, but still better than the one I had, especially as your is with full frame sensor…👍🏻

Thanks for your response. I think those misshapen stars at the bottom corners might be a camera tilt problem as I've seen it before on another scope.  Not sure why it doesn't appear in the top corners as well.  I can live with it for now by just cropping in a bit, as adjusting for tilt can be a bit of a faff.  I believe the Redcat has a built in tilt adjuster.  Something to explore at some point.

[Roy Foreman]

1 hour ago, saac said:

I had lots of fun last year playing with my Red Cat, absolute jpy to use.   

jim 

Yes I can imagine.  If I have one complaint it is the focuser.  Very sensitive and if you remove the dew shield, which acts as tensioner for the focus action, it becomes very loose and drops out of focus during an exposure.  In case you are wondering, I removed the dew shield so that I could attach a 77mm filter on the front via stepping rings.

[Roy Foreman]

56 minutes ago, Elp said:

12 mins?!?

 

9 minutes ago, wesdon1 said:

@Roy Foreman My goodness only 12 minutes!? I'd be over the Moon with delight if I managed this image with 3 hours of data from a Bortle 1 sky!! 😂

Yes, 12 minutes ! As usual it was a case of clouds stop play. On average I get one clear night a month, and mostly end up imaging between passing clouds or haze.  So I turn up the gain and keep my exposure times short. Case of having to.  As such I have spent a lot of time honing my processing skills to extract as much information from under exposed images as I possibly can.  My two most valuable Photoshop add ins are hyperbolic curves, and Astro Flat Pro.  Both work wonders.

[Roy Foreman]

28 minutes ago, Sarek said:

Very nice!

I'm interested to know how you added the star spikes

The star spikes are courtesy of Star Spikes Pro, a Photoshop add in by Pro Digital Software.  You would not believe the options it has available to create an almost infinite variety of spike configurations - length, spread, sharpness, angle, number of spikes, saturation, secondary spikes, ring flare, rainbow intensity and frequency, etc. etc.  You can spend ages experimenting and for people like me who love spikes, it is great fun to play with.

[saac]

44 minutes ago, Roy Foreman said:

Yes I can imagine.  If I have one complaint it is the focuser.  Very sensitive and if you remove the dew shield, which acts as tensioner for the focus action, it becomes very loose and drops out of focus during an exposure.  In case you are wondering, I removed the dew shield so that I could attach a 77mm filter on the front via stepping rings.

Mine is the White Cat edition, this chap shown below. Regarding focusing, I have a ZWO AF fitted which is mounted on a 3D printed saddle (can't remember which variant but purchased from FLO) it has a small pinion off the AF driving by contact a larger tooth wheel fitted tightly over the focuser ring on the scope.  Other than the odd occasional slippage and need to reseat the pinion I haven't had any mishaps with focusing. The addition of the filter drawer also makes life so much easier re swapping out filters. This is my first William Optics scope and like I said earlier I've just been impressed by how it delivers, the build quality is fantastic. Longer term I may try another to have a side by side setup, finances permitting.

 

post script - just a thought. On mine there is a ring just aft of the removable dew shield which tensions and locks the focuser. So removing the dew shield itself shouldn't cause any loosening the focusing ring. I can put a close up photograph it would help. 

Jim 

 

Edited July 15 by saac

[Roy Foreman]

22 minutes ago, saac said:

Mine is the White Cat edition, this chap shown below. Regarding focusing, I have a ZWO AF fitted which is mounted on a 3D printed saddle (can't remember which variant but purchased from FLO) it has a small pinion off the AF driving by contact a larger tooth wheel fitted tightly over the focuser ring on the scope.  Other than the odd occasional slippage and need to reseat the pinion I haven't had any mishaps with focusing. The addition of the filter drawer also makes life so much easier re swapping out filters. This is my first William Optics scope and like I said earlier I've just been impressed by how it delivers, the build quality is fantastic. Longer term I may try another to have a side by side setup, finances permitting.

 

post script - just a thought. On mine there is a ring just aft of the removable dew shield which tensions and locks the focuser. So removing the dew shield itself shouldn't cause any loosening the focusing ring. I can put a close up photograph it would help. 

Jim 

 

Thank you for that info Jim, a very neat setup you have there. Didn't realise the dew shield was separate from the locking ring. If that is indeed the case then problem solved for me. I will investigate and if I need a close up photo will let you know. Thanks for your kind offer 

Roy

[Albir phil]

2 hours ago, Roy Foreman said:

Thanks for your response. I think those misshapen stars at the bottom corners might be a camera tilt problem as I've seen it before on another scope.  Not sure why it doesn't appear in the top corners as well.  I can live with it for now by just cropping in a bit, as adjusting for tilt can be a bit of a faff.  I believe the Redcat has a built in tilt adjuster.  Something to explore at some point.

Great image ,you have to look very closely to see the elongated star's🔬like you say just crop, massive problem solved🤔

[licho52]

Blur Xterminator fixes Redcat corner issues with ease.

[wesdon1]

On 15/07/2024 at 12:33, Roy Foreman said:

 

Yes, 12 minutes ! As usual it was a case of clouds stop play. On average I get one clear night a month, and mostly end up imaging between passing clouds or haze.  So I turn up the gain and keep my exposure times short. Case of having to.  As such I have spent a lot of time honing my processing skills to extract as much information from under exposed images as I possibly can.  My two most valuable Photoshop add ins are hyperbolic curves, and Astro Flat Pro.  Both work wonders.

@Roy Foreman Hi Roy! Sorry for such late reply, I haven't been on here a week or two.

I have PS but I never even knew about those add ins? Thanks for letting me know, I'll buy them for my own processing, I was/am astounded with what you achieved with such little data, It's very inspiring, thanks.

The weather in UK has been utterly horrendous! Up here in Liverpool we've only had 3 cloud free nights THIS YEAR!! It's been driving me nuts!! LOL. 

[wesdon1]

@Roy Foreman Roy I just had a brief look through your website. You have some amazing astro images mate! Also how lucky you are to have a 16" 'scope in a dark sky location! That's the stuff of my dreams! LOL

[Roy Foreman]

5 hours ago, wesdon1 said:

@Roy Foreman Roy I just had a brief look through your website. You have some amazing astro images mate! Also how lucky you are to have a 16" 'scope in a dark sky location! That's the stuff of my dreams! LOL

Thank you, glad my website meets with your approval!  Regarding bad weather I thought I was having it rough with only 5 clear nights in 2024, but you beat me hands down. Most of my imaging is done between clouds or through haze, which is why I have to grab what I can and make the best of short imaging runs. At F/4.5 the 16" Newt was a big help but sadly I have had to put it in storeage for a while due to long covid- that's me, not the scope !

Good luck with those add ins, and if you need advice with them, just ask.

[wesdon1]

@Roy Foreman Good afternoon Roy, sorry for such a late reply, I've been hectic recently with family, so haven't been on SGL since we last spoke!

Wow just 5 nights yourself!? 2024 has been dreadful Roy! I'm hopeful that because mother nature tends towards balance long term, we are all due some cracking good weather in the near future Roy! Fingers crossed!

Bless you Roy, that long covid can be awful! I have a couple of friends suffering from it too! Hopefully your condition will improve faster with time, I wish you the speediest recovery Roy.

Thank You so much Roy, really appreciate it!

Clear Skies my friend.

[Roy Foreman]

9 minutes ago, wesdon1 said:

@Roy Foreman Good afternoon Roy, sorry for such a late reply, I've been hectic recently with family, so haven't been on SGL since we last spoke!

Wow just 5 nights yourself!? 2024 has been dreadful Roy! I'm hopeful that because mother nature tends towards balance long term, we are all due some cracking good weather in the near future Roy! Fingers crossed!

Bless you Roy, that long covid can be awful! I have a couple of friends suffering from it too! Hopefully your condition will improve faster with time, I wish you the speediest recovery Roy.

Thank You so much Roy, really appreciate it!

Clear Skies my friend.

Thank you for your kind words. As you say, maybe the weather, and my long covid,  will improve over time. At least the nights are starting to get longer. We have to be ever hopeful. With that in mind I have made a start in refurbishing the 16" but it's going to take quite a while.

Take care and clear skies !

[old_eyes]

Very nice image. Particularly impressive for such a short total integration time and a full-frame sensor.May be the perfect portable rig that is ideal for cloud dodging.

[Roy Foreman]

18 minutes ago, old_eyes said:

Very nice image. Particularly impressive for such a short total integration time and a full-frame sensor.May be the perfect portable rig that is ideal for cloud dodging.

Thank you and yes it would make a great portable rig, particularly teamed up with a harmonic drive