Which 8" SCT???

[twotter]

I enjoy visual astronomy, and would like to try astrophotography at a later day. Starhopping with my dob has been a lot of fun but I am interested in goto, without a loss of aperture.

Max budget £2000.

LX90ACF or CPC800GPS ???

[Wizz]

With your budget and the intentions of later going the astrophotography route, my money would be on an EQ6 PRO GEM mount and a second-hand C11 or C9.25 OTA. Fork mounted SCT's are great for visual but if you get deeper in astrophotography you'll need a GEM mount.

[gary1968]

I agree, if imaging is of interest go for a EQ mounted scope. Either the HEQ5 Pro or NEQ6 Pro would be good. If you go for the HEQ5 then I would recomend no bigger than a 8" SCT. The NEQ6 on the other hand will carry a bigger scope, as said above either a 9.25" or 11" SCT.

I have had a few Celestron scopes over the years and all have been great with no issues. Meade get really good reviews on their optics but as I aint had one I cant say for sure.

You will also need a focal reducer because at around F10 imaging will be a slow business. Get it down to F6.3 or even F3.3 and you should be fine.

You would be better staying away from fork mounts if you are considering imaging. Yes you can get a wedge for it but they are expensive and fiddley to use, a permanent pier helps with this though as you will only have to set it up once.

HTH

Gary

[Brinders]

I enjoy visual astronomy, and would like to try astrophotography at a later day. Starhopping with my dob has been a lot of fun but I am interested in goto, without a loss of aperture.

Max budget £2000.

LX90ACF or CPC800GPS ???

I had this dilemma last year after I sold my EQ6 Pro and C9.25. The dilemma wasn't whether to sell or not (I had really got fed up with the set up time for the EQ mount together with its mass and had decided that as I would only be doing planetary/lunar imaging an alt az mount would be fine), but whether to stay with Celestron and go for a CPC or move over to the Meade camp.

In the end I decided to stick with Celestron as I had been happy with the C9.25 OTA, it was just the EQ6 Pro mount I found a pain, and I could afford the extra aperture of the CPC925GPS over the 8" Meade. I had also read the Meade mount could be unreliable and heard from an owner that is it was noisier than the Celestron. Finally, I had an SLT mount and found the Nexstar alignment process far easier than the Skywatcher's and more informative too.

If you want to do anything other than bright planetary or lunar imaging, you will need a wedge if you opt for an alt az mount, so I think an equatorial would be a better option; just bear in mind the weight and time needed to set up and take down compared to an alt az. If on the other hand you only want to have a go at planetary imaging (Mercury, Venus, Moon, Mars, Jupter and Saturn) an alt az mount will be fine. I know for my use I made the right decision.

Brinders

[NickH]

Celestron EdgeHD... simply lovely optics...but then so is the ACF......

Tough one this!

[Psychobilly]

In the obs.. if find a fork mounted SCT on a pier and wedge a good soultion... especially as most of my imaging takes place around the Meridian.. no flipping "Meridian Flip" to worry about....

IF it isn't for a fixed install I would go the GEM route.... The GEM route is also more flexible in terms of mounting other scopes...

Pier and wedge makes a big impact on the budget.. unless you can make your own or know the men who can for "cost" price

Peter...

[gary1968]

Granted, set up time for a fork mounted unit is quicker, but I can be running off my 1st test shot within 30 mins, and thats after a complete build / set up / alignment of my HEQ5, imaging scope, guide scope and cameras.

Once you have set up a GEM a few times it gets like 2nd nature.

A NEQ6 weighs A LOT and might get a bit tedious RE set up after a while.

At the end of the day, as someone once told me way back when I was starting out, the best mount / set up for you will be the one you can live with and get most use of.

HTH,

Gary

[ollypenrice]

'Granted, set up time for a fork mounted unit is quicker, but I can be running off my 1st test shot within 30 mins, and thats after a complete build / set up / alignment of my HEQ5, imaging scope, guide scope and camera'

Not my experience at all on the fork mount side. (If I understand the post correctly.) Setting up a fork mount in the field is a complete nightmare in my view, to the extent of being a total non starter. For field use it is GEM every time.

Nor would I want to learn imaging at the long focal length of an SCT with its extreme demands on tracking accuracy, its difficult focus (you really need an aftermarket Crayford in my view) and the business of chip distance from the obligatory focal reducer. As for the Edge, do we know what they intend to do about focal reducers yet? D Hinds website says it is 'to follow.' I have always fancied a 9.25 but need to know what they intend to do about reducers, without which the scope has little to offer the DS imager.

Olly

[Space Bat]

I have to say the 9.25 is way better than I thought for both planetary and DSO chasing.

I use the std F6.3 for DSO's and yes there is degradation off centre - However I have had some pretty good views and have taken some good pics unguided and been really impressed. I know that my images are only as good as my competence which is getting better all the time so have some real hope of getting some really good stuff late summer this winter.

I am not a Meade man - so am not the man to ask, but if pressed 'pins in my eyes' would be somewhere in my review....etc.

I am sure you will be pleased either way you go.

Chris

[ollypenrice]

I think the Edge versipn, which has a near flat field, will need a different reducer from the standard, certainly at the imaging level. I think if not they would just advise the old one. It is a tasty prospect, though, this scope.

Olly

[Psychobilly]

Agreed....Setting a fork mounted SCT up on a wedge in the field is a nightmare especially if you are on your own...

[durr]

Hello everybody, can anyone suggest some program similar to registax that might take care of the rotation of images that you get with a fork mount, or single arm mounted Schimdt similar to the SE8 and CPC scopes? Steve

[johninderby]

The Edge HD does require it's own focal reducer, the old reducer simply won't work. Celestron just says that the Edge HD 6.3 focal reducer is due out "mid 2010".

An Edge HD 9.25 on a CGEM mount would be very desirable, if a bit pricey. The Edge HD 9.25 FASTAR f/2 on the new CGE PRO mount would be even better, but the price !!!

John

[Space Cadet USA]

I am seriously considering the 11 inch Edge HD on the DX mount and hyperstar (which is what used to be fastar i believe) as a reasonably low cost imaging solution using my DSLR - I know there will be obstruction from the camera but think it will still beat the pants off my current setup! And great planetary and lunar views are a must for me so the flexibility of F10/F2 appeals greatly.

[DoctorD]

Hi

For image processing look at Deep

Sky Stacker - it will rotate and align deep sky images (no good for planets but the again rotation should not be an issue as the exposures are much shorter).

Hope this helps

Paul

[Zakalwe]

Hello everybody, can anyone suggest some program similar to registax that might take care of the rotation of images that you get with a fork mount, or single arm mounted Schimdt similar to the SE8 and CPC scopes? Steve

DSS will cope with field rotation between images.

The problem you have is that the apparent field rotation will limit the exposures to 30-60 seconds (or thereabouts) before the image starts to get blurred.