Focal reducer for ATIK 314 & C80 ED

[Coco]

Hi

I would like to reduce the focal length on the celestron scope due to the tiny capture area on the 314L... Has anyone used a focal reducer successfully? any recommendation

I have the Celestron SCT .63 reducer but by the time I extend to 110mm it wont achieve focus..

[angusb1]

There is a useful focal reducer calculator here and you can find the details of focal lengths etc of other reducers which aren't listed in it if you do a search on "reducer" on agena astro's site. As the 285 chip is small you may not need a reducer/flattener, just a reducer. I don't have any experience of this scope so can't offer any specific advice but I hope this helps.

[shaunster]

I think you can use the skywatcher reducer that they use for the ED80 using the FLO adapter.

[Uranium235]

I use the Antares 0.5x focal reducer camera side of the filter wheel. If you pop it on the camera nosepiece you get 0.5x, but if you use another 1.25 filter as a spacer (I use a baader IR/UV blocker as its got good threads) you can directly mount it on the ccd window (much like a QHY camera) and then use a 14mm t-extension to attach the camera to the filter wheel, that gives you around 0.8x f6... a small speed boost for not too much loss in scale. And at £30, its a fairly cheap punt.

Performance wise, the jury is still out. It worked well enough for my rosette nebula and HH in Ha but ive not had a good go at producing a colour image yet with it. But I always check my focus after changing filter too, just in case.

As far as im aware theres nothing in the rules that say where a FR has to be in order for it to work (ie: before or after filters), but so far ive stayed away from getting the skywatcher FR because its not a simple case of "plug and play", and will probably have to faff around with getting the spacing right.

Just added some pics, forgive the blur but it should give you the general idea.

[Coco]

Fantastic stuff... Ive got one of these reducers.... thanks for this..