Posts Made By: Charles Stevenson

Now THAT is awesome! =)

I have to add... this is a very sexy telescope and mount. I like the idea of laser polar alignment and USB power... But what is the pricetag on all of this together... over $20k it looks like!

Maciej Kapkowski said:

Taken with Officina Stellare Veloce RH200, STL 11000 and ASA DDM 60. Autoslew Comet Tracking module used.
For comet L:7x300 sec, RGB 5x120 each channel; for background L:7x300 sec, RGB 5x120 each channel.
The tail is very colourful!!

Enjoy!

http://cdn.astrobin.com/images/thumbs/2ea8009e71d26615431f5a26a8f63449.1824x0_q100_watermark.jpg

This is great! Thanks for the diagram. I'm emailing you my address. ~ Charlie

These are great, Floyd! I like the blues in the second photo.

Updated w/added support for guidescope... taking over the living room once again... I'm a whopping 37 years old today. Hopefully the family will help me feed the new hobby...

Hello again. I wrote the first posts from work, in hindsight not the best idea since the scope wasn't with me. When I got home I looked again at the Celestron documentation and at the guide scope. I have a cheap caliper that I used to measure the various diameters. Celestron's site says their guide camera can connect to the scope via M42 threads. At first I assumed these were the threads on the focuser. Now I believe I was in error and that these are the threads on the extension tube.

I'm hoping to eliminate all possible flexure while still being able to focus. Here's a rough photo sketch of the three components. I'm seeking guidance with determining threads and thereafter the best adapter to a C-mount CCD camera.

I ordered an M42 to C-mount (subsequently cancelled before it shipped -- see below), after I thought I had it figured out, which [won't] work. The thing is I thought it might be preferable to go M44 (if the focuser is indeed M44) to M42 to C-mount or just M44 to C-mount... I believe from my rough measurement that the focuser has some sort of 44mm threads.

Edit #1: Could the focuser thread be Maksutov thread = M44.5 x 1.0 Female? http://agenaastro.com/blue-fireball-sct-thread-adapter-maksutov-cassegrain-telescope.html

:S

Edit #2: I found some information on determining threads. I measured again and the focuser seems ~44mm (I counted a few time and believe it was 5 threads in 5 mm). The extension tube was ~41.5mm threads (the threads seemed smaller... In my mind I made it 4 threads over 4mm however the Celestron site says, compatible with NexGuide and the manual for NexGuide says the scope must have M42x0.75. So I think my first perception of them being smaller seems consistent with that document.

I might have to delete this whole thread in hopes of not confusing anyone else who may search down the road. lol

Edit #3: I'm now thinking the Celestron 80mm guidescope focuser sports a Zeiss M44 thread. Anyone want to chime in?

Edit #4: If the threads are Zeiss M44 male on the focuser then it looks like my image train would be expensive:

Baader Zeiss M44 Female to T2 Female Adapter # T2-09 1508041
Blue Fireball Gender Changer: T / T2 Male-Male Thread Adapter # G-TM
Baader Male C-Mount to Female T / T2 Adapter # C-T2 2958520

The Baader male c-mount to female t2 is nice in that it accepts 1.25" filters

Great stuff, Roland!

All camera'd up! Haven't decided how to route the cables yet so just dangling loosely. My Atik 16IC USB camera arrived from Australia today. It's attached to the Celestron f/7.5 guidescope in this photo. The current plan is to use Phd 2 with the Atik for guiding. The Basler A102f firewire which arrived from Singapore last week is attached to the C8 with a Celestron f/6.3 reducer. The plan is still to hotrod this with some TEC peltier cooling. It receives power from the firewire so there's less cables to manage. Torsten from FireCapture has been looking into getting the Basler A102f supported in his wonderful software. Now if the snow would just stop! I have an 8' drift in my driveway and a 6' drift in front of our sidewalk. I had to crawl over it to get inside when I came home from work. LOL

I think I need a pair of binocs. Notwithstanding the 5ft drift in front of my house, I setup the mount and scope where I cleared the sidewalk on Tuesday. First time trying out the cameras. Wasn't smooth sailing. Super cold. I did manage to get Jupiter onscreen and see the four moons. I dispensed with the cameras for awhile and fixed my collimation. Later indoors, I looked at the moon via the C8 sitting in my lap with the Basler while wife played games on her tablet. Very cloudy and trees in the way but promising. Torsten, FireCapture author, set me up with a version that supports my camera. Have to read up on gain, black level, exposure, etc.. This will be my first spring... anything worth planning ?

Wow!