Posts Made By: Wayne Gay

Hello everyone,

I have been lurking in this forum for a while admiring all the beautiful images you folks have been taking. Kudos to all of you!!
I have been at this for just under a year now, and I am finally starting to feel like I am getting the hang of it. So I think it is time to show my attempts at astrophotography.
So if you are interested, my web site is at
http://mysite.verizon.net/res07hmj/Images.htm
Attached is one of my more recent photos of M42.
Thanks for looking and all comments welcome.
Any thoughts or ideas to help me with my endeavor would be welcomed.
My equipment is an 8"lx200, Tele Vue TV-60, St7xme camera.
Oh yes, one question. What are the recomendations for light pollution filters and imaging. Do or Don't? And which one is recommended? I do 99% of my imaging from my light polluted back yard...
Wayne

Hello everyone,
I am in need of an inexpensive Alt/Az mount for quick grab and go with a TV-60. I looked and found only one within my current price range, that is the Orion AZ-3 Alt azimuth Mount. Is this mount any good? Is there something better out there. It has been suggested to me that a bogan 3046 tripod is good but I would need a mount to put on top of it. I only have about $200 to spend on this. Any suggestions?

Thanks in advanced

Wayne

Question for everyone. Which, in your opinion and why, is the best illuminated reticle on the market. I have used the Meade 12mm MA and the 9mm Series 4000 and have been dis-satisfied with both. The 12mm for the lousy optics, and the 9mm for the adjustable reticle.(Never could get it to go all the way to center). I use one for drift alignment and would like one with better optics, if they are available for a decent price.

I am looking for some insight into Illuminated reticles.
I currently have a 12mm MA Meade illuminated reticle that I am unhappy with. I would like to get a new one, but want to get something I will use for a long time.
I have used the Meade 9mm Plossl but was unable to get it to center.
Here is a list of the ones I could find on the internet.

Rigel PulsGuide with 12mm Crosshair Eyepiece with illuminator
Orion 5mm Ultrascopic™ Illuminated Reticle Eyepiece
Antares 1.25" 10mm Plossl illuminated reticle
Antares 1.25" 12mm Kellner illuminated reticle
Vixen Illuminated Guiding Adapter GA-4 (1-1/4")
(this one is nice, and allows me to use my own eyepieces, but man is it spendy)

Anyone have any opinions on any of these or any other reticles?

Thanks

Looks exactly like my meade standard field tripod..

Hello folks, I am looking at buying an apo or semi apo for a grab and go scope for imaging. I currently use an LX200 but it is becoming increasingly difficult to take with me as it takes up a lot of room in my car, and is quite heavy. I want to leave it in my observatory (nearly complete) and get an APO or Semi-Apo for field use. I currently have a televue TV-60 for my wide field work and have thought about getting a nice mount and using it for the time being, but I would prefer to go with something bigger, perhaps a 102mm or even a 127mm Apo. I have about two thousand to spend on scope and mount, so any of the top of the line apo's and mounts are out of range. There is a Meade 127 ED APO w/ 650 GOTO mount up for sale here and it is in my price range, but I hesitate because I haven't heard how well this scope and mount performs for astrophotography. I do like the fact that the mount is a goto, as I am fairly new to this hobby and am still learning the skies. I generally run a mount via my laptop and would prefer this ability. Does this mount allow this? Would I be better off getting a nice gm-8 with goto and using my TV-60? All help appreciated.

I have recently parted with my 8" LX200 and upgraded my mount to a G-11 gemini. I like to do astrophotography, almost exclusively. I have an ST7-XME Camera with CFW8, A07
and a TV-85.
Ok, so the question of the day is, I now have $2000 to spend on a new(to me anyway) telescope(OTA). I am looking for suggestions for telescopes and reasons why you would choose that telescope.
My thinking is as follows.
I mostly image deep sky. Nebulas and galaxies are my favorite. I live in a rural town of about 30,000
and have moderate light pollution. I have a permanant observatory for my equipment, so portability is not to important. (I do go to dark site at times, but not as often as I would like...)
The TV-85 is a great telescope, and I want to keep it. I was thinking about a 10-12" SCT ( I have a meade 3.3 reducer, a meade 6.3 reducer, and an optec 5.0 reducer to tame the focal length. Would this be a good setup? or would I be better off getting an additional refracter?

Comments, suggestions...

Thanks

I have recently parted with my 8" LX200 and upgraded my mount to a G-11 gemini. I like to do astrophotography, almost exclusively. I have an ST7-XME (soon to be upgraded to an st2000xm) Camera with CFW8, A07
and a TV-85.
Ok, so the question of the day is, I now have $2000 to spend on a new(to me anyway) telescope(OTA). I am looking for suggestions for telescopes and reasons why you would choose that telescope.
My thinking is as follows.
I mostly image deep sky. Nebulas and galaxies are my favorite. I live in a rural town of about 30,000
and have moderate light pollution. I have a permanant observatory for my equipment, so portability is not to important. (I do go to dark site at times, but not as often as I would like...)
The TV-85 is a great telescope, and I want to keep it.
But I wouldn't be opposed to selling it.
My current list of options:

ITE M606 6" F/6 Maksutov-Cassegrain astrograph
Vixen - VC200LDG - 7.9" f/9 Catadioptric OTA
Meade 10 Inch LX200R f/10 Advanced Ritchey-Cretien OTA w/UHTC Coatings
Celestron C-9.25 With Starbright XLT

Other ideas?

Comments, suggestions...

Thanks

Well, I have been following this group for a couple of years now, and have been refining my imaging and processing techniques. I am finally to a point where I am comfortable posting my images. So here is a first posting.

M-51
Lum 20@5 minutes
RGB 3ea@5 minutes (I know I need more color data.)
Imaged using:
ST2000XM/CFW8a/Astrodon LRGB E-series filter (again, I know I should be using the I-series filters, and have just installed them today..)
Alter MN74 Russian Mak-Newt
Losmandy G-11 Gemini Mounted in an observatory.
MaximDL for imaging.
MaximDL for Dark/Flat/Bias Processing and Combining.
PhotoshopCS for Detail processing.

Comments and suggestions are very welcome.
You can see my efforts to this point on my website.

for a full size image
http://waynesastronomy.com/GalaxyView.asp?index=1


Wayne
http://www.waynesastronomy.com

Hello all,
I am looking for information on automating my Observatory. My main concern at this point in time is weather related automation. I want to be able to have a system where if it starts to cloud over, rain, or high winds will cause the roll off roof to close automatically, the mount to slew to a park position, the camera to shut down, etc... Is there a system out there that can do all the automation? Or do I need separate systems and software.
Any input is appreciated. Addresses of sites with info are a plus...

Observatory info:
Roll off roof, with garage door opener.
Losmandy G-11 Gemini Mount
Sbig St2000 camera.
Maxim DL4
The Sky 6


I am thinking I will need a weather station, for the humidity, rain sensing. Software for Automation (CCDAutopilot??), software for cloud sensing from images?? Hardware for closer automation? Not sure what else.

Thanks in advanced.