equipment change again!

[sgazer]

well having finally thought I'd got the equipment I want, ie a C80-ED guided with an ST-80 on a HEQ5, imaging with a 1000d, (having sold the C8 SCT) I started to think that perhaps the C80 is a bit slow at f7.5, although it's a lovely scope and a great performer.

I've been looking at focal reducers/flatteners, but the recommended WO type II is hard to get hold of, and the new Skywatcher ones are still awaiting a suitable adapter and the total cost could be quite high. Also, the FL will be getting shorter and shorter and it would still only be about f6.2.

I felt I wanted a fast scope (f5'ish), but a fairly short focal length (700-1000mm) to keep guiding 'easy' and it had to be low cost and light weight. It started to seem that a reflector was the only option. I use to have a 10" reflector which was quite a beast and didn't really want to repeat that experience, but I came across the Skywatcher 150p and specifically the 150p-ds with the dual speed crayford and the mirror closer to the secondary for easier focusing with a DSLR. At f5, 750mm fl, only £180 and quite compact (in fact shorter than my C80 with the DSLR on the end) it seemed to fit the bill.

So I've taken the plunge and ordered one from FLO. So I'll be back up to 2 scopes again. The 150p will give me slightly more focal length and the image will be 2.2x brighter, cutting my exposure times by more than half. I managed to get a cheapish baader mpcc, so hopefully the stars will be nice and round at the edges too. I've read a report that these can be used very successfully on the C80 frac too, although the focal ratio will remain the same.

I'm looking forward to giving it a go, back to a good old Newt, although I still love the simplicity of the frac and it's excellent on planets, so will be keeping hold of that. I mount the imaging scope side by side with the ST-80 guider, so it's simple to swap the frac for the Newt.

Ideally, I would want a 750mm, f5, 150mm apeture APO refractor, but I suspect you can't get them for £180!!!

cheers